Hello Notch, thanks for taking the time to respond, my friend.

You said:

"Regarding God's punishment of *all* of humankind, it was in fact based on the single sin of a single man."

Adam's sin was the first, of course.

But show me one verse in all the Bible that says God is punishing me for Adam's sin.

Rather, we are all Adam's children in that we all sin. We suffer for our own sin.

We are all affected by Adam's sin, in the sense that he sinned first, and the first is always going to affect those who come after.

But that's a very different matter than being punished for that sin.

If I had alcoholic, abusive parents, I would be affected by their sin. Growing up in that house would affect me.

But I wouldn't be punished for their sins.

Do you see the difference?

You said:

"There was only one sin on the shopping list when Adam sinned.

What would be the state of the world right now had Adam not sinned?"

Just the same, I'd wager.

Adam and Eve sinning brought sin into all creation because they were given dominion over all creation. They were the doorkeepers, and they let the monster in.

Yet ALL humanity is given that dominion.

If any human sinned, we would be opening the door to that monster, because we all have dominion over this creation.