CJD

Note that while Paul would have been familiar with what we call "mythic elements" in the story, he still believed in a historical first pair. This is not a particularly Christian thing. According to what we know scientifically, the historical first pair may have been Ardepithicus Ramidus. Why could they not have disobeyed the command of God? Or maybe it was specifically the first Homo Sapiens to disobey (since, after all, the other species are our cousins, not our forefathers)?

drewjmore

From my debate a few weeks ago:
http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.p...05#post2625205
Karen Armstrong, former catholic nun and popular academic, continually stresses that during the axial age sacred myths were known to be mythical-- Who was there to transcribe the words of god during Genesis?
Modern talmudic scholars (of the line of the pharisees, right?) will tell you that, "there is no time in the torah;" meaning that OT stories were not intended to convey literal truths about historical facts, rather to educate the people regarding the will and power of G_d.
The stories convey complex "truths," about human nature and provide cautionary tales against particular world views and activities, like "Goofus & Gallant" from the Highlights for Children magazine in your doctor's waiting room, or a Disney movie.

Johnny Skeptic

Fundamentalist Christians claim that Adam and Eve were uniquely created without a predisposition to sin, but why should anyone believe the claim? If the first humans "were" created with a predisposition to sin, then how could they have been fairly held accountable for doing what comes naturally? What I mean is that even getting angry with someone without a just cause would have been a sin, and Jesus would had to have died for that sin. The best time for Jesus to die for the sins of mankind would have been right after the first sin was committed.