What's up with creationism?

[Catholic_Lady]

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.

Wow, just realized I missed this post from Ben Davis. Sorry Ben, wasn't meaning to ignore you. 

But yes, looks like Athrock did a good job answering for me though. This is all correct.