What's up with creationism?

[athrock]

Because, you're claiming that Catholics are required to believe in the literal interpretation of the story of Genesis. Which is a 100% completely false statement. Most Catholics believe the story in Genesis is allegory/symbolism for God being behind all of creation, and for human beings to have free will and have the ability/intelligence to choose between good and evil.

Hi CL, long time, no chat.

I can empathise here because my mother raised me in her Irish Roman Catholic tradition which interprets the Genesis creation story literally: Original Sin was a real thing that Jesus had to save us from. As I grew in the faith, I was introduced to Catholic, non-literal interpretations and that opened my eyes. You see, my father had taught me about classical Greek, Roman and Nordic mythology; that their religions were a myth was never in doubt. Once I saw that the Genesis story was as much a myth as the creation of Midgard, I understood that the entirety of christianity was made up.

My question to you is, understanding (as you do) that there was never a literal Adam or Eve, Eden, Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil (and subsequent fruit), a talking serpent etc., how/why do you believe/accept that Jesus was created to save you from the Original Sin that never happened?

First, the Catholic Church holds that there was a first man and woman who received their human nature from God. Whether their names were Adam (which simply means "man", btw) or not is unimportant. Consequently, Catholics who accept creation are obligated to accept the premise that there was an original set of human parents.

Second, it's not reasonable or important to the account of God's creation of the world to believe that Moses had to have all the facts of that creation (whether literal or via evolution) correct. God left some things (like DNA, for example) for us to figure out later. What IS important is that GOD created all things. How he did it is secondary.

Third, the account of the fall of man tells us of man's rebellion against his creator. The talking snake is a literary device. So, your assumption that Original Sin never happened because the story of the Fall of Man contains an apple and a serpent misses the point badly.