Dan, I agree we with you that humans defy the laws of physics. Consciousness isn’t 'physical', in the strictest sense. Self-awareness , intrinsic experience, feelings and emotions etc. are spiritual, not physical. Yet the fact that they are all part of reality means we can’t really say that they exist ‘outside’ cosmic law, in the sense that they require miraculous explanations. They require natural explanations, which speaks volumes about the profundity and depth of nature.

Creation might not have conscious free choice, but it has freedom, which might explain some of nature's apparent imperfections

No it doesn't. It is governed strictly by the laws of physics. When have you ever seen nature defy the laws of physics?

Creation is free in the sense that it has been left to its own devices. The fact that Creation is governed by its own physical laws demonstrates that the Creator is not a coercive, manipulative dictator. God’s gift of allowing the Creation to ‘become itself’ renders plausible evolution’s experimental winding through life’s cosmic story.

“God is love”, proclaims the epistle of John. Since it is the nature of love, even at the human level, to refrain from coercive manipulation and selfish control, we should not expect the world that God creates to be instantaneously ordered to perfection, (i.e. ‘fully grown’.) Instead, we can expect God to bestow the beloved, in this case Creation, with opportunities for growth, creativity and freedom.

Due to the risks and vulnerabilities of love, we ought not be surprised to find suffering and tragedy occurring throughout life’s unfolding and growth. Yet in the symbol of the cross, Christian belief discovers a God who participates fully in the world’s struggle and pain. Reflection on the Darwinian world actually leads us to contemplate more explicitly the mystery of God as it is made manifest in the story of life’s suffering, the epitome of which lies for Christians in the crucifixion of Jesus.

Christian faith provides us with an image of God that is not only logically consistent with but also fruitfully illuminative of the Darwinian picture of life.

THe glaring and cruel question haunts us nonetheless: if you were God would you create such a universe as this?

if you were God would you create such a universe as this?

Steven, that's a good question, and the answer is yes I would. God remains infinitely secure at all times, and from God's perspective, a greater good will arise because of the existence of suffering, rather than in spite of it. (This principle can be understood when we face a harsh challenge of some kind. If we can get through the challenge, then we will emerge stronger and wiser than if we had not faced the challenge at all. This same principle applies on a larger scale to the whole cosmic story. The ultimate outcome is already assured, from God’s point of view.)

Understandably, in the midst of our challenges we cry, "Dear God, why do you allow us to experience this pain?" But we should not doubt the infinite wisdom of God. It is during troublesome times that we need to trust God most. Incidentally, Jesus' cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”, demonstrated that God is not insensitive to our frailties and pain. On the contrary. He intimately shares them.

A divine attribute commonly assigned to God is "omnipotence", which means unlimited power. However, many people ask why God would permit pain and suffering if He possesses unlimited power. I found a good insight from theologian Denis Edwards: "God's omnipotence can be understood as God's capacity to enter into love with all its costs. Divine omnipotence is really the divine capacity for love beyond all human comprehension.”

If we can understand that the beloved's freedom is a necessary act of God's love, then we can gain a glimpse of logic regarding why suffering might arise necessarily. Christian revelation, (along with all our religious revelations), declares that there is a happy ending to life, and that this world is not the be all and end all.

If we could behold the beauty, wonder and serenity of the Heavenly Realm, (which is actually the Real eternal Universe), then we would not only see how God can afford to create a crap-hole like this physical plane, with all its costs and overheads, but we would also see that everything is created for an all-wise and beneficent purpose.