John Hick is a
christian philosopher and
theologian known primarily for his views on
theodicy and religous
pluralism.
As far as theodicy goes, he states that man's covenant of free will exists to allow him to experience the hardships that makes his soul complete.
It's an interesting thought really, and one of the better attempts to reconcile the concept of an omnibenevolant God and the occurance of atrocities in this world.
Hick's views on religious pluralism are also interesting. He states that all religions have bits of truth in them while also containing many lies. He uses this to say that all religions are a gateway to the divine.
All paths lead to the same mountaintop.(Unless you're Mohammed, and then the mountain just comes to you.)