Population Genomics, Confessionalism, and the Metaphysics of Original Sin.

This article addresses the challenge that contemporary evolutionary science and population genomics pose to the traditional Christian doctrine of original sin, which holds that all humans descend from an original pair, Adam and Eve, whose primal sin affects all their descendants. The scientific consensus suggests humans descend from a large ancestral population rather than a single couple, creating tension with historic confessional teachings that affirm monogenism. To reconcile this, the article proposes an account drawing on Jonathan Edwards's metaphysics of personal identity, where God arbitrarily constitutes all humans as one with Adam, allowing the transmission of original sin beyond biological descent. This "Fission Theory of Original Sin" maintains key elements of the traditional doctrine while accommodating current scientific views on human origins.