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One of the challenges of considering an evolutionary genesis is dealing with the doctrine of original sin. The traditional teaching on original sin is that once mankind sinned the whole world changed; that all of creation became infected and/or subjected to sin. The idea that mankind evolved over million of years due to natural forces that we see at work today in nature does not seem to be compatible with teachings of original sin. So, that would lead to questions of either the Bible is wrong or evolution is wrong. However, I don't believe either one is wrong, but I wonder if our interpretation of original sin doesn't need to be modified some what.
The author of Genesis 1 paints a peaceful picture of creation. One that is good and obeying the will of God. Life does not seem to go contrary to the will of God until Adam and Eve eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But there is one exception of the tempting serpent that is not quite fully explained. How does a good creation get inhabited by the devil?
We might first assume that the serpent was physical manifestation invented by the devil, similar to how the Holy Spirit is in the
form of a dove, and therefore conclude that evil didn't affect the physical world until after Adam and Eve ate of the fruit. But Genesis makes clear that the serpent is a part of God's creation that embodies the devil.
The serpent is described in Genesis 3 as “more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made”. And God addresses the serpent as cursed “above all the livestock and all the wild animals” which puts the serpent in the same created order as all the animals. But the serpent is also acting the part of the devil tempting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. This connection between the animal serpent and the devil is reinforced by the apostle Paul in Romans 16:20 when he says “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet,” an allusion to God's curse on the serpent. The idea that God's creation can embody the devil is reinforced in the New Testament. When Jesus cast the demons out of a possessed man he gave permission for them to go into pigs, which promptly drowned themselves.
So if animals can embody the devil, does that mean that they can also sin? In other words, just because animals are under the control of evil does that mean that they are sinning? Could evil be in the world, but sin not be in the world? And is sin or the ability to sin a characteristic of humanness?
The Old Testament makes clear that there are several different kinds of sin -wrongs done out of ignorance, wrongs done on purpose, and wrongs done through lack of action. Wrongs done on purpose and wrongs done through lack of action are sins as a result of the choices that one makes. Even though a sin of ignorance is done unintentionally, it is still something that is chosen. The sin of ignorance becomes a sin of choice as we learn from consequences we experience that we have done wrong . So sin is a wrong choice.
Humans aren't the only ones who can make choices. Scientists John Conway and Simon Kochen have shown that all matter has the ability to choose.
http://users.tpg.com.au/raeda/website/theorem.htm
But does nature know which choices are wrong or right? If the sin remains a sin of ignorance then the perpetrator cannot be culpable. The whole point of the story of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is that humans became culpable when they acquired the knowledge of which choices were wrong and which were right. Prior to the consumption of the fruit, the only knowledge of a possible wrong choice was the revelation that they weren't to eat the fruit. Once Adam and Eve ate the fruit their ability to know of what choices were wrong or right expanded. Humans acquired the ability to reason what their hearts felt and have it inform their actions.
Once the ability to reason is acquired as a human characteristic, it is not possible to undo it without somehow annulling what it means to be human. The ability to choose right from wrong does not predispose a person to choose one avenue over the other. An ignorant yet innocent person might make a choice wrong due to his ignorance. The consequences of those actions would enlighten the individual about the 'wrongness' of that behavior. Once aware, the individual would experience guilt. The shame felt would create a negative feedback loop that reinforced the poor choices that caused the guilt to begin with, leading the individual to sin by choice.
The term 'original sin' would refer to the original guilt conferred on humanity through an action that brought about the ability for reason to predicate action. The influence of guilt over the course of human history is not negligible and has helped to shape us into who we are and our relationship with the rest of creation. What was once a diversity of humanoid species is now a single species. Ecosystems have been shaped by human activity. Other species have been either cultivated or extinguished based on human selection. Civilization has developed in large part to human desire for justice.
The beauty of the gospel is that Jesus frees us from our guilt original to Adam and Eve or inherited along the way through our own action or that of our ancestors. The good news is that not only are we free from guilt but that we are (can be) empowered by the Holy Spirit to make right choices. The catch is that we have to repent and surrender our lives to loving the Lord our God (Father) with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. And loving our neighbors as our selves. The wonderful mystery is that in giving up our lives for God, we experience life more abundantly, both now and later. Death cannot control us anymore.
