The motif of human testimony
The testimony of any one person might be drowned out by the overwhelming pluralism of human history, but by viewing human testimony as a motif, Hegel shows that there is an objective, comprehensive human opinion about time and nature, and he shows that this comprehensive history tends to be relating to the problem of human death and suffering. Although some cultures take up more dogmatic religious answers, and others take up mysterious, duty-oriented answers, all humans tend to view life as a dilemma of survival.
The symbolic East
The East is symbolically connected with mystery and timelessness in Hegel's assessment, because the tendency is to preserve those ideas. Instead of individuality and competition, the tendency in the East is to consider the culture as a sacred aspect of life, so that changes tend to be more drastic and sudden, instead of moving forward in general progress. He notices that there are belief systems that seem specifically "Eastern" in nature, like Taoism.
The symbolic West
The history of the West can be seen (as Hegel sees it) as the progress of the development of order, because the Western kingdoms and nations tend to press forward into new ways of life, including breakthroughs in religious points of view, government theory, and culture. The flow of time matters significantly more in the West, because the West has a historical tendency to adapt to changes by adjusting their culture.
The theodicy
The theodicy is a philosophical conundrum that Hegel mentions for its symbolic merit. He approaches this question from two points of view, the linear/temporal point of view, and the comprehensive/supernatural point of view. Within the human narrative, the problem of suffering has comprised a significant portion of human writing and literature. Without the human narrative, suffering seems to be a symbolic dilemma, pointing to the mysterious "intention" of its "design," which Hegel mentions theoretically.
The problem of evil
Hegel brings the issue of evil under a microscope to analyze its philosophical components. He begins by asserting that evil is only evil within its context, which makes it into a human symbol, because without human society, Hegel believes nothing could be done that might "offend God," so to speak (he means these terms as philosophical symbols). This is because humans have an animal nature, so evil occurs, in his opinion, when humans prefer natural animal instincts over the developed philosophies of their culture.
