It is a plain and simple fact, evil exists and it can be seen every where in today’s society. No matter how old or young, no matter where we look, whether it is in our textbooks or comic books, on TV or in our video games, evil is always there. There is evil of different types, with different causes and effects, with one event being more evil and has the power to stir up different emotions than the last. By examining opinions offered by people like John Hick, we can understand why God allows evil and the reasons extreme cases of destruction, as in “The Star” by Arthur C. Clarke to exist in our world or anywhere. There is no denying that evil has a tight grasp around the world we live in. It is this simple fact which defines the problem of evil. However, to understand this problem one must first understand evil itself. Webster’s English Dictionary defines evil as morally objectionable behaviour which causes harm, destruction, or misfortune. That being said, there are two different types of evil, moral and natural evil, each of which having their own unique characteristics. Moral evil, or wickedness, is the pain and suffering which is a direct result brought about from human action. Since humans are free to choose and act as they wish, they are free to choose to do good or they can choose to do evil. Most crimes and sinful act which cause pain and suffering, such as rape, murdered, and war are all considered morally evil acts. The second category of evil is natural evil. Natural evil is the pain and suffering which is a result of the supernatural, a result of Gods power. Earthquakes, hurricanes and tornados are all examples of natural evil. However the question still lies; why is there evil in our world? We are told that there are three characteristics of God; God is all good, all knowing, and all powerful. Surely then God must know of, and see the pain and suffering in our world and surely this all powerful God must be able to abolish it. Then why are we still forced to suffer? Maybe the answer is that there is no God and we are all free to live and act as we see fit, facing the responsibilities and consequences our own way. Over the course of the Earth’s history there have been many great minds who have made great attempts to give reason why there seems to be an abundance of pain and suffering. Many of these men have tried to explain the existence of evil without doubting existence of God and putting their faith into question. John Hick was one of these men and in his essay The Problem of Evil he gives a Christian perspective on the issue of moral and natural evil in our world. Hick’s reasoning for moral evil in the world was pretty simple and straight forward. Since the power of free will allows decisions to be made without being influenced, our actions may not always serve the purpose of the greater good but instead cause pain and suffering, it is because of this that moral evil exists. Hick’s words were that: “To be a person is to be the finite center of freedom, a (relatively) free and self directing agent responsible for ones own decisions. This involves being free to act wrongly as well as act rightly.”(T.P. p.65)

Moral evil exists because humans exists and are free, they are free to make their own decisions and choices, and these choices are fully capable o being evil. However, Hick never mentions motives or explains what a morally evil act is, leaving us to wonder if any act that causes pain and suffering, is evil? What about natural evil then? If there is a God, can there be any logical reason to why he would let such disasters to happen? The answer John Hick gives is harder to wrap your head around, yet gives less questions unanswered. God created natural evils in this world is to serve as a catalyst in our life process of “soul making”. To understand why natural evil exists, Hick says “This world, with all its “heartaches and the thousands of natural shocks that flesh is heir to,” an environment to manifestly not designed for maximization of human pleasure and the minimization of human pain, may rather be adapted to the quite different purpose of “soul-making.”” (T.P. p.69)

This process of “soul-making” is the process we as humans undergo while living out our life; it is the life-long process of continual growth to further our understanding of freedom. Natural evil exist in this world to help us grow spiritually and mentally, so we can become stronger and closer to God. As we live with our emotions and experiences of pain, suffering, and loss, the hardships that natural evil impose on our lives, we learn how to grow morally. Natural evil shapes our Earth and makes it the best suitable place for us to live in, so we can strengthen our relationship with God, and truly become his children. The best place for humans to live and grow would have to operate on general and dependable laws, and must have dangers, difficulties, sorrow, pain, failure, and obstacles. (T.P. p.69) This perfect place for human growth would have to be much like Earth, and if these problems did not exist, others would have too. Each case of natural disaster will always be different than from the last, some events will be entirely different on their own, and may not even fit under the category of natural evil. A case of such an event occurs in the short story “The Star” by Arthur C. Clark. “The Star” is about a Jesuit monk who along with his space exploration team who travel to the Phoenix Nebula and discover archives of a civilization which is thousands of years old. Their planet and entire solar system had been destroyed when their sun went through a super-nova. As the events folded out, it was discovered that the super-nova could be seen from earth as the star above Bethlehem, the sign of Jesus’ birth and God’s presence on Earth. Just as it was for the entire space craft, it may be hard to see why an all-loving God would allow an entire civilization which looked “disturbingly human” to perish in such a tragic way. An event that disturbed the crew so much to believe “there is no divine justice, there is no God.” (T.P. p.62) We can use Hick’s views and his theodicy to piece together and make sense of the events. Natural evil serves to help us in a process of “soul-making,” a process which is intended for “persons” only. We know that God is able to create beings of any and every conceivable kind; but only humans can be called “persons” for they can only become “Children of God.” Humans are the only beings capable of entering into a personal relationship with their creator by a free and uncompelled response to his love. So if the super-nova was not intended as means for the inhabitants’ to undergo soul-making” but rather served as means for the humans on Earth to undergo “soul-making.” God saw necessary to sacrifice the Phoenix Nebula so that of his chosen people here on earth could be given a sign of our salvation. As the super nova was seen above Bethlehem here on Earth, it signified and gave direction to the birth of Gods only son Jesus. This huge amount of destruction which ended millions of lives was not evil, for it offered salvation to the inhabitants, and brought humans here on earth closer to God, his son, and our salvation. Evil is its own problem. It exists in our world and there is nothing that can be done to change that fact, however, we can learn from it. From out of the pain, suffering and despair that evil brings, we can become freer, responsible, moral persons. Each step becoming closer in the likeness of God and one step closer to being fully one of his children.