Chapter III: The Problem of Pain

The problem of pain admits of no new treatment, but the attempt
to use it as an argument against Christianity calls for a
recapitulation of what may be said on the other side 113

Pain is (1) animal, (2) human.

(1) Animal pain is a thing of which we can only form
imaginative conjectures; and these, besides being liable to
exaggeration, are not of a nature to form premisses for
argument 113-116

(2) Common sense tells us that human pain contributes as
(_a_) punitive, (_b_) purgatorial, (_c_) prophylactic,
to the development of the individual and the race 116-119

Natural religion further views it as the necessary condition of
approach, by sinful beings, to the Divine; and looks for its
fuller explanation to a future existence 119-122

Christianity carries on the view of natural religion, and sees
in pain and suffering:--

(_a_) The antidote to sin 122-124

(_b_) The means of individual and social progress 124-125

(_c_) The source of sympathy with man 125

(_d_) The secret of union with God 125-126