On the other hand, it is difficult to believe that God would create an immense number of suns or stars, many of which have probably planets round them, if only one out of the whole series was to be inhabited by personal beings. But however strange this may seem to us, it entirely agrees with God's methods in nature, where what seems to be needless waste is the universal rule. So this is not an insuperable difficulty. The question, however, may well be left open, for even if other planets are inhabited, there is no reason why God should not take an interest--and perhaps a great interest--in their inhabitants, as well as in ourselves; since all His capacities are boundless, and even the smallest part of _infinity_ may be very large.
We now come to the other, and perhaps more important, difficulty--that arising from the _existence of evil_. This term in its widest sense includes both _pain_, which affects a man's body; _sorrow_, which affects his mind; and _sin_, which affects his spirit. The two former may be called _physical evil_, and apply also to animals; while the latter is _moral evil_, and applies only to man. And as the world is full of pain, sorrow, and sin, one may naturally ask how could it have been designed and created by a God Who cares for the welfare of His creatures? Or, to put the objection in other words, does not the existence of this evil show that God either could not or would not prevent it? If He _could_ not, he is not All-Powerful; if He _would_ not, He is not All-Good. This is an undoubted difficulty; and we will examine it in detail, both as it affects animals and men.
The objection here is that animals of all kinds suffer a vast _amount_ of pain and misery, which is wholly _unmerited_ and perfectly _useless_; since, having no moral nature, they can neither deserve pain nor profit by it. We will consider these points in turn.
And first, as to the _amount_ which animals suffer. One animal does not suffer more because a million suffer likewise, so we must consider the suffering as it affects the individual, and not the _total_ amount. And as to its extent we know but little. That animals appear to suffer greatly, _e.g._, a mouse being caught by a cat, is obvious; but how far they really suffer is doubtful, as their feelings are probably far less sensitive than those of man; so it is quite misleading to think what we should feel like in similar circumstances. This is indeed evident when we reflect that suffering is connected with the brain, as is shown by the fact that savages suffer much less than civilised nations. And therefore we should expect animals, whose mental development is far less advanced, to suffer still less; while the lower forms of life we should not expect to suffer at all.