Why are we punished for Adam’s sin?

This is a big question to pose for a loving God, so I'm surprised that AiG decided to tackle it in under 200 words. Well... not really tackle. More like brush-by-so-that-its-shirt-barely-ruffles.

A: When Adam sinned, his punishment was death (Genesis 2:17). Because of Adam’s sin, death came upon all men. Some have said that it is harsh for God to punish all of Adam’s descendants for something Adam did. But is it?

If it is true that we are punished for what he did, then that is extremely harsh. (But to be sure, we're not punished for what she did, even though she did it first, because women weren't as important. Or something equally as stupid.) Parents, I know that disciplining your child can be a hassle sometimes, but just imagine doing it the bible's way. If your firstborn is a complete rebel and gets all into trouble, you are to punish him. Then, when your next child is born, you are to punish him for his brother's crime. Your next daughter? Punish her for it too. You will repeat this for as long as you have children. It's about as fair as what we have in Genesis which comes from the perfect book, so I would see no conflict there

The answer is simple—we are without excuse since we sin too (Romans 3:23; 5:12), and we all deserve death before a perfect Holy God. To assume Adam’s descendants are innocent is a false assumption. Due to the sin nature received from Adam, death is coming for all since all have sinned (Romans 3:23).

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.

But I thought the theological reasoning for us all sinning was because we have a sin nature, not the other way around. If that's so, and our sin nature causes us to sin, and we all have sin natures against our will, then this is just circular reasoning. I'd imagine, according to what I was brought up learning, that if I never had a sin nature, I'd never sin. Then I'd never need punishment. But because God gave me and all of you sin natures, we don't have a choice and we're all doomed. Thanks big guy!

It is illogical to think that two imperfect people could produce perfect offspring. Since Adam and Eve had both sinned and been cursed then it would be impossible for their children to be perfectly free from sin. So the real question is: why would God permit sin nature to pass along to Adam’s descendants?

In what sense do you mean "imperfect?" If physically, then I would probably agree. But when it comes to invisible non-tangible spiritual things I wouldn't know. Are sin natures passed down in the genes when a baby is formed so that it has its own brand-spanking-new sinful nature? Or is God planting it there and hoping we won't blame him for it? Or is it somehow duplicating from its parents and spiritually attaching itself to the child while God sits back and calls it good? I don't know, but the logic here is very suspect. Without the sin nature, I think it would be safe to say that yes, Adam and Eve's children could have been perfectly free from sin. Besides, "nothing is impossible with God," so couldn't he just remove it with a snap of his fingers? It would be a good starting point.

But thank you for asking a question and then not answering it. I'm guessing you most likely don't have a good response and want to leave it up to the reader to decide. I'm going to deduce it's because the idea of original sin is full of holes and doesn't match up with the attributes of the Judeo-Christian god. No, you never answered the original question. God "permitting" sin nature to progress is still a punishment no matter how you play with the semantics. The God of the bible isn't perfectly loving, fair, just, merciful, powerful, or knowing, despite what your bible may tell you.

I'm not expecting believers to look at this blog post and say, "yeah, now I see his point of view!" But hopefully this will act as a starting point for doubt. If you can look at an issue like this and not be challenged by it, you either have far too much faith or simply aren't being honest with yourself. Try looking at this from an outsider's perspective and try to rationalize Yahweh with the word "fair."