C.S. Lewis on the Problem of Evil (from Mere Christianity)

The following are excerpts I have chosen from “Mere Christianity” (Book Two) by C.S. Lewis:

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such violent reaction against it?...

C.S. Lewis 1898-1963

Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too – for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my fancies.

Thus in the very act of trying to prove God did not exist – in other words, that the whole of reality was senseless – I found I was forced to assume that one part of reality – namely my idea of justice – was full sense… If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. “Dark” would be a word without meaning.” 

“Goodness is, so to speak, itself: badness is only spoiled goodness…

And do you now begin to see why Christianity has always said that the devil is a fallen angel? That is not a mere story for the children. It is a real recognition of the fact that evil is a parasite, not an original thing…

I know someone will ask me, ‘Do you really mean, at this time of day, to re-introduce our old friend the devil – hoofs and horns and all?’ Well, what the time of day has to do with it I do not know. And I am not particular about the hoofs and horns. But in other respects my answer is “Yes, I do”…



“God created things which had free will. That means creatures which can go either wrong or right… and free will is what has made evil possible. Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having…

Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently He thought it worth the risk. Perhaps we feel inclined to disagree with Him. But there is difficulty about disagreeing with God. He is the source from which all of your reasoning power comes: you could not be right and He wrong any more than a stream could rise higher that its own source. When you are arguing against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.”

Christ on the Cross by Rembrandt

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, 

God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 

He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, 

by triumphing over them in him.” Colossians 2:13-15