I would not say that it is absolutely necessary. It would only be so if one assumes that the present order of things is the only feasible one, but I do not share that assumption.
God could have created a system in which reproduction is compatible with the absence of death—for instance, a world characterized by the continual renewal of resources. He could also have intervened in human development so that the capacity to colonize other planets emerged much earlier in our history. Admittedly, this would entail the existence of other planets capable of sustaining human life, as well as an ever-expanding universe with an abundance of resources sufficient to sustain humanity until the Second Coming of Christ. Such a universe would differ significantly from the present one; however, I see no reason why an omnipotent God could not have created such a reality.
Moreover, this would not eliminate human free will. Human beings would still be capable of acting unjustly, of seeking to dominate one another, and of prioritizing their own will over the common good. The absence of natural evil, entropy, or even death would not, in itself, negate the possibility of free will. In fact, if we posit a universe in which human beings are naturally immortal—such that they are ordinarily judged only at the end of time, like those who will be alive at Christ’s return, when He will judge ‘the living and the dead’—and can die only through murder or accidents, rather than from old age or disease, then the moral gravity of murder would be even greater than it is now. I acknowledge that this is a purely hypothetical scenario. Nevertheless, it would not lie beyond the realm of possibility for a living and omnipotent God, nor would it contradict the existence of free will. In this hypothetical scenario, humans would still experience exploitation, poverty caused by the greed of others, isolation, and similar conditions; there would therefore remain a need for empathy and cooperation. They could even experience death by way of murder as i said.
Finally, Christian eschatology itself points to a “new heaven and a new earth” in which the current order of things will be no more , and yet this renewed creation is understood to be also material, not only spiritual.
God did not necessarily have to use evolution to create human beings. He chose to do so, but there is no logical or metaphysical necessity that required humans to arise from animal precursors. This is simply the present order of things; it is not the only possible one. Not the only one that was feasible or that could have been logically feasible. Nevertheless, I believe that this order will ultimately serve a greater good.
Non rational animals do not possess free will, which is why they are not morally culpable for their actions.”
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