C. S. Lewis addresses the question of why God didn't create many sons from the start, explaining that God desired beings capable of genuine love and infinite happiness, which necessitates free will. A world of automatons cannot love. Humanity's exercise of free will led to them turning away from God, making the process of becoming sons "difficult and painful."

The concept of multiple eternal "Sons of God" is problematic. Applying "could have been" to God, the "rock bottom, irreducible Fact", is nonsensical as all other realities depend on Him. Furthermore, conceiving of multiple distinct eternal sons is challenging without the framework of the created universe (space and matter) to provide individuation. Our attempts to imagine this often implicitly rely on created concepts.

Lewis uses the analogy of humanity as one huge organism where individuals are like different organs in a body. This emphasizes our interconnectedness and shared life while also highlighting the importance of individual differences and unique contributions. This analogy helps navigate the errors of individualism, which neglects our shared humanity, and totalitarianism, which suppresses individual differences.

Humanity's free will allowed them to turn away from God, disrupting the intended easy transformation into sons. This choice introduced difficulty and pain into the process. God's desire for sons over automatons stems from the fact that only beings with free will can offer genuine love, which is essential for the relationship God desires and the possibility of true happiness.

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