All Die
The problem of pain
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So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned
Romans 5:12 (NET)
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In C.S. Lewis’s brilliant book, The Problem of Pain, talks through the struggles that all philosophers have when dealing with a world with pain.
Especially how atheists have to deal with pain.
See, the most normal experience in the world is pain, specifically the pain of death.
We all hate death.
Many people fear it.
Most all of us have an innate feeling that things ought not be this way. That death should NOT exist and the pain of this world shouldn’t happen.
It’s a problem for most worldviews because why do we feel this way?
Why do we feel like death & pain ought NOT to exist?
It must be because we know — somewhere deep in our souls — that we were made for eternal perfection. Yet the world is broken. It doesn’t exist as it should.
In other words, things ought to be better.
Death & pain ought not to exist.
As believers we have an answer for why these things do exist even though we feel like they ought not to:
Sin brought consequences of separation from a perfect & holy God.
In some ways, death is a blessing. I know it’s painful, but how horrible would it be to exist in a broken world for all eternity?
Seriously, think about that.
Because death releases us from this broken world, we have the opportunity to be made whole in Christ’s presence. A perfect existence free from sin.
I find it hard to even imagine what that existence is like.
Of course, this is only possible for believers.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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