‘origin’ passage, Genesis 3, asking whether we should read it as history or as myth, saga or symbol (chapter 2). Then the other scripture upon which the doctrine of original sin was founded, Romans 5, will engage our scrutiny (chapter 3); against all the odds, will a new proposal break through the deadlock of interpretations ancient and modern? In the next chapter (4), we shall observe how the doctrine of ‘original sin’ unveils human experience, unlocks the enigmas of life and sets them in proper