Original Sin and Evolution

[Brandon]

I'm forced to agree with the fundamentalists on something: Christianity and evolution are incompatible.

Original Sin, obviously, is a crucial part of Christian theology: the belief that Adam and Eve's transgression placed mankind in a state of inherent sinfulness. The need for redemption, particularly the redemption offered by Jesus Christ, centers around this idea.

But if evolution is true, the story of Eden never happened. If the story of Eden never happened, then the Original Sin didn't, either.

This is not to say that evolution is incompatible with Deism or Theism in general, but the Christian religion suffers without an explanation for mankind's "sinfulness" and "need for salvation."

I'm not familiar with how modern theologians deal with this problem, so if anyone can enlighten me, please do.