The problem of Geneis is in reality a non-problem unless one insists on imagining a literal Eden on this planet somewhere in created time. Paul describes the whole of creation 'groaning until now, awaiting the redemption of our bodies. Earth, our place of exile, is where salvation history is worked out in the mortal sphere. The myth of the Fall could have described something that occurred somewhere else at some other time in some other universe, or on some other planet. Were there no pain, or suffering, there woujld be no death, and no sin. The reality of our situation can be summed up as one of mortality-the reality of death is the factor in our universe that allows sin to be a componenet of the human condition. I was even more intrigued by the failure to cite the counterexplanation for this explanation provided by Gerald Vann in his book THE HEART OF MAN, where Vann provides some 20 pages to an appendix dealing with a similar approach taken by a friend of his who was a professor of chemistry Vann identifies perhaps a dozen of more fallacies involved in the professor's discussion of the Fall of Man and subsequently offers rebuttals to each and every one. I was quite intrigued by the article providing an explanation for original sin and what sense it makes in the modern world of investigative empirical science overshadowed by the influence of Logical Positivism. As Father Szebenyi noted in his letter, the pieces of his puzzle did not fit reality in light of our faith. (12/10/01).Possibly, in response, America could provide another article on the subject, avoiding the distortions presented by Mr. Patterson and another critic of the article, Andrew Szebenyi, S.J.

I was dumbfounded that such an article would ever see the light of day in America, as was Robert F.

Sinful magazine issue 16