Where Is God When It Hurts? by Philip Yancey
Week 2: Chapter 1 — A World Without Pain
Read Chapter 1 of Where Is God When It Hurts? Key Scripture: Genesis 3:14–19; Romans 5:12–14
Previewing Week 2 of Where Is God When It Hurts?
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Before we can understand why pain is difficult, Yancey invites us to imagine a world without it — and the picture that emerges is more terrifying than we expect.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Yancey introduces Dr. Paul Brand's work with leprosy patients in India, where the disease's cruelest feature is not disfigurement but the destruction of the ability to feel pain. How did this illustration change or challenge your initial assumption that pain is simply an enemy to be eliminated?
2.Brand observed that leprosy patients unwittingly destroy their own hands and feet because they cannot feel warning signals. In what ways does physical pain function as a 'gift' — even when it is deeply unwelcome?
3.Yancey asks us to imagine a world engineered without pain. What would such a world actually look like? What everyday activities would become dangerous or impossible?
a.Does imagining this world make you more or less grateful for the pain-signaling system in your own body?
b.How might this thought experiment apply beyond physical pain — to emotional or relational pain as well?