At the end of the chapter on Instinct in Origin of the Species Darwin wrote:

“… to my imagination it is far more satisfactory to look at such instincts as the young cuckoo ejecting its foster-brothers, ants making slaves, — the larvae of ichneumonidae feeding within the live bodies of caterpillars, not as specially endowed or created instincts, but as small consequences of one general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.”

Darwin was arguing here with other naturalists, not with theologians, but the argument represents theodicy as well as science.  Natural selection exonerates the good creator from the problem of evil in life – the apparent cruelty of life is actually good because it leads to the advancement of all organic beings.

Imagine the implications for the beatitudes:  Blessed are the strong for they will inherit life.  And the meek shall perish.