Abstract
Pain helps us navigate our fallen world, but did God design us to feel pain from the beginning? Ouch! Your daughter snatches her finger back at the first prick of a rose. Eek! Your son jumps back the instant his bare feet touch your sunbaked deck. Our reflex response is a blessing, prompting us to withdraw at the first sign of trouble and preventing worse harm. Pain protects us from bigger problems-not just outside but inside. The pain of an inflamed appendix, for instance, often drives us to seek medical care before the appendix ruptures. As a medical doctor and a Christian, I've seen innumerable cases where such pain has helped people in this sin-cursed world. Yet pain still raises some natural questions. Did God design us to feel all this hurt from the very beginning, even before Adam's Fall? And why does pain sometimes afflict people even after the root problem has gone away or when there is no obvious cause?