The only reason 'original sin' is a curse is because the universe was designed by God so that blessing can be passed forward. If Adam had not failed, there would have been no 'curse of original sin', but instead there would have been 'the blessing of original goodness'.

But Adam and Eve were the origin point, the original blueprint. The landing pad for God's love and purpose. So when they themselves were lost, there was NO foundation for recovery, so God had to painstakingly eke out a foundation, starting from the very beginning, to 'recreate' Adam, and this became the process of preparing a way to bring the Messiah, the second Adam. That's essentially what the scripture is a record of.

I'm highly sympathetic with anyone calling into question the very precepts and theological frameworks adopted by most of mainstream Christianity. Because the discerning mind is going to come up against a LOT of entanglements that have not yet been resolved.

I also have a lot of respect for believers who, despite recognizing their own limitations in understanding, resonate with God's love and adhere to what they feel or know to be true. It all helps.

I used to be 'anti-Christian', until I came to the realization early on that Christianity, as a faith and as a people, is like my own parents: not perfect, flawed, but they tried to love me as best as they could. And, I only exists because of the foundation they laid. When I realized that, I learned to embrace it for what it was, without feeling the necessity to ignore the shortcomings or failings.

I adopted a perspective that sees faith as something that also grows through a 'growing period'. To my thinking, there are three stages:

Faith of a child, which is blind faith, unquestioning and unblinking faith.

Faith of an adolescent, which is questioning faith, struggling faith. Faith where the critical faculty kicks on and tests the limits and robustness of the belief system.

That's where a lot of people are derailed, much like Adam and Eve who I believe were in their adolescence when they fell. If one can pass through that stage, one arrives at adult faith. mature faith.

Faith of an adult, which is faith with understanding. It is faith where logic & reason uphold faith, after having been tested and trialed. Adult faith recognizes its own limitations but is not restricted by them. It is open-eyed faith.

Anyway, that's my experience.

I strongly believe that God and Christ are perfect, but I am also firmly convinced that humanity so far does NOT have a perfect or even fully accurate understanding of them. We are still on the long walk of restoration to fully recover that which Adam lost. And, we suffer the consequences of what Adam (and Eve) did and what they failed to do.

Ultimately, each of us is destined to confront the same core issue: human responsibility, and how it needs to be fulfilled. What we're able to accomplish and restore, those who come after us will benefit from.

The only reason 'original sin' is a curse is because the universe was designed by God so that blessing can be passed forward. If Adam had not failed, there would have been no 'curse of original sin', but instead there would have been 'the blessing of original goodness'.

But Adam and Eve were the origin point, the original blueprint. The landing pad for God's love and purpose. So when they themselves were lost, there was NO foundation for recovery, so God had to painstakingly eke out a foundation, starting from the very beginning, to 'recreate' Adam, and this became the process of preparing a way to bring the Messiah, the second Adam. That's essentially what the scripture is a record of.

I'm highly sympathetic with anyone calling into question the very precepts and theological frameworks adopted by most of mainstream Christianity. Because the discerning mind is going to come up against a LOT of entanglements that have not yet been resolved.

I also have a lot of respect for believers who, despite recognizing their own limitations in understanding, resonate with God's love and adhere to what they feel or know to be true. It all helps.

I used to be 'anti-Christian', until I came to the realization early on that Christianity, as a faith and as a people, is like my own parents: not perfect, flawed, but they tried to love me as best as they could. And, I only exists because of the foundation they laid. When I realized that, I learned to embrace it for what it was, without feeling the necessity to ignore the shortcomings or failings.

I adopted a perspective that sees faith as something that also grows through a 'growing period'. To my thinking, there are three stages:

Faith of a child, which is blind faith, unquestioning and unblinking faith in the parent.

Faith of an adolescent, which is questioning faith, struggling faith. Faith where the critical faculty kicks on and tests the limits and robustness of the belief system.

That's where a lot of people are derailed, much like Adam and Eve who I believe were in their adolescence when they fell.

If one can pass through that stage, one arrives at adult faith. This is faith with understanding. It is faith where logic & reason uphold faith, after having been tested and trialed. Adult faith recognizes its own limitations but is not restricted by them. It is open-eyed faith.

Anyway, that's my experience.

I strongly believe that God and Christ are perfect, but I am also firmly convinced that humanity so far does NOT have a perfect or even fully accurate understanding of them. We are still on the long walk of restoration to fully recover that which Adam lost. And, we suffer the consequences of what Adam (and Eve) did and what they failed to do.

Ultimately, each of us is destined to confront the same core issue: human responsibility, and how it needs to be fulfilled. What we're able to accomplish and restore, those who come after us will benefit from.