I’m trying to bring my best friend to Christ. I know you get a lot of questions, but I hope you wouldn’t mind prioritizing this one. Either way, Thank you.
I’ve rewritten my friend’s statements/questions here:
Theologically, humans are inherently prone to sin, and in this case, I’m referring primarily to cheating, deceiving, and acting in such a way which benefits a person, perhaps also groups, to propagate their culture and genepool. Any sin more or less could be within this framework, but I’m trying to refer to actions, which are rewarded by evolution primarily.
If nature operates under God’s rules, why do they favor the wicked? To clarify more, someone who cheats on their spouse, can spread their genes further. Women who submitted to conquerors in ancient times, their genes were past on, but those who resisted or committed suicide with their children to protect them from a worse fate and in a way "remain loyal to their slain husbands,” did not pass on their genes. I’m not claiming all behavior is genetically predetermined. But there can be no doubt that many people are prone to screw anyone they can to get ahead or otherwise put their own survival before morals, if they think they can get away with it. These types of behavior are common throughout nature where survival is the only law, and so my friend believes the game is “rigged” to favor “wicked” behavior.
It is difficult for him to accept that God exists (the Christian God) when the laws of nature / evolution itself seem to put good at a disadvantage. This isn’t the Problem of Evil exactly as we normally think. It’s NOT about why God allows evil to exist, since there are good answers for that, but why the physical world which God created seemed rigged in favor of evil. Wickedness, being beneficial simply due to evolutionary pressure / laws of nature, aren’t related to Satan or free will. Basically, this isn’t about Freewill or the influence of Satan and other evil divine forces, but the rules of nature and biology itself, which humans must operate under.
“The World is Fallen” because of Adam and Eve’s sin, is simply not an acceptable answer. He will not accept it, and I think on this forum we usually do not regard Adam and Eve to be truly literal. It is this question that must be answered to bring him to the Lord. I have tried desperately to seek answers, but I have found none.