If you don't buy the literal idea of a talking snake and a man created out of dust and a woman created out of man's rib, then how can you possibly believe the concept of original sin?
All of Christianity collapses without this biblical myth. Without "original sin", human beings wouldn't be "sinners" in need of "redemption in the form of a "redeemer or savior", Christ. Until Augustine, Christians regarded freedom, not redemption as the primary message of Genesis.
"...I came to see that for nearly the first four hundred years of our era, Christians regarded "FREEDOM as the primary message of Genesis 1-3. Freedom in its many forms, including free will, freedom from demonic powers, freedom from social and sexual obligations, freedom from tyrannical government and from fate; and self mastery as the source of such freedom. With Augustine, this message changed.
(E. Pagels, ADAM, EVE, AND THE SERPENT, intro p.XXII, 1988, Random House)
Original sin is passed down from generation to generation because all parents are imperfect. All parents unwittingly leave emotional scars on their children who then pass down emotional scars to their children.
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