Religion And Religion In Arthur C. Clarke's The Star

Religion centers the lives of many human beings on this planet, with a large portion of the world’s population having faith in Christianity alone. However, through tragedy, the validity of the Christian church becomes questionable to the individual who comes across a certain calamity. In the short story “The Star”, author Arthur C. Clarke writes about a Jesuit priest who’s on a mission to keep the essence of faith while achieving scientific rationale. As an astrophysicist, the priest leads his intellect through ambiguity during the time he travels through space. His beliefs are strong up until he, along with his crewmembers, encounters a civilization that had perished long ago through the dying of their sun that ultimately led to the destruction of their planet. Through the

When the main character of the short story realizes through his calculations that the star that was destroyed was the same one that shone upon Bethlehem, he was confused as to why the star exploded, killing all the people it sustained. The quote with the crucifix is important because as the Jesuit priest stares at the figure of a crucifix on his wall, he begins to see that it is only an inanimate object that houses no actual holiness. Through the torture he faces with his thoughts, he begins to ponder on his faith, which as a priest is his entire life. I can imagine that discovering a monstrous piece of information like this can devour an individual’s spirit. Similarly, when I see the devious acts that befall humanity I too confront my beliefs. While I may not be a very religious person, I believe that initially humanity and God are good. However, when unnatural unfortunate events take place, it only makes me wonder whether or not the fundamental quality of life is supposed to be ethical. The thought that one day we all we face death haunts my most intense thoughts. How can death exist in such a pious