Boyce's thesis is interesting, and has some attractions, but is completely unproven and untested. The problem with this book is that it has neither comparisons nor surveys, which makes it difficult to assess the author's assertions. Are people in the traditionally Western Christian cultures more anxious than other people as he suggests? Surveys may be hard to come by, but it should be possible to compare their view of human nature to other cultures. How about completely different cultures – do they have an optimistic view of human nature in contrast to the Western Christian perspective?

Boyce argues that the Original Sin idea is so imbedded in Western culture that no-one can escape its subtle influences, even if they dismiss the myth, making for an unfalsifiable argument, even though he admits that the question of whether the dismissal of religious beliefs can overcome “the ingrained suppositions of the religious tradition.” cannot be definitively answered.

According to Boyce, among the religions that share the Adam-and-Eve myth, Western Christianity is the only one that believes in original sin. I understand the distinction, but does it make a real difference? Boyce cites Western Christian leaders quoting Hebrew scripture that appears to indicate that humanity is born sinful, i.e., in Job (“No-one is pure from uncleaness … not even the infant, whose life is but that of a single day upon the earth”); and an unspecified prophet (Behold I was shapen in iniquities, and in sins hath my mother conceived me.”). (When I googled the latter, it came up as being in Psalm 51.) There are dozens more that could be used. It appears to me that the other religions find humanity to be quite sinful, even if they posit that the sins are the result of poor choices rather than inate depravity. It would be particularly appropriate for Boyce to have examined the beliefs of the Orthodox and other Christianities.

Boyce sees the continuance of the Original Sin theme in any Western thinker who has a pessimistic view of human nature, even if they use no other part of the motif. This includes Freud, who after all was from a Jewish background. He ignores the Western schools of though that believe in innocent babies and noble savages like some forms of Romanticism, Transcendentalism, and gives only glancing attention to Communism, and makes an unconvincing claim that Rousseau's thought is consistent with Original Sin.

[Added 12/31/2023: I had picked up this book again, having forgotten that I had read it. I read the ending again, particularly struck this time by the second last paragraph in which Boyce describes the West as 'a people brought up to believe that their deity had turned his back on his own creation." How did Boyce come up with this idea? I was certainly taught by my Christian religion that God is intimately involved in his creation and always available through prayer. The Jewish scriptures describe a deity very active in their history. It seems to me to be in the foundation of Christianity: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.[John 3:16]" Over the centuries, people have very actively believed that God is directing history to an end, and has a life-plan for every person. I suppose that Boyce might be describing the beliefs of some Western Deists, but I wouldn't have thought that they had much concern for original sin.]

Boyce ends with “Freedom from the bondage of original sin has not come from throwing off the chains of religion, but it might yet come by bringing grace back to earth.” I'm not sure quite what he means, but grace is what the church has been offering for fifteen hundred years. On the other hand, the notoriously godless (even if some of them still have a state church) Scandinavians rate in every recent survey as some of the happiest people on earth. (See Society without God by Phil Zuckerman, for example.) ( )

Born Bad provides an excellent overview of the emergence and development of the concept of original sin in Christian thinking. However, its second half falters badly. Author James Boyce attempts to make the case that everyone from Adam Smith and Charles Darwin to Sigmund Freud and Richard Dawkins has retained the idea of original sin while repackaging it in non-Christian trappings. But the argument that hypothesizing that self-preservation is adaptively beneficial is equivalent to claiming that all human beings are born guilty for the moral crime of a distant ancestor doesn't stand up to even superficial scrutiny.

Boyce himself seems aware of this, resorting to ever more tenuous arguments to try and make his case. For example: he states that Apple's logo is a subconscious reference to the story of the Fall, before acknowledging in a lengthy footnote that multiple company bigwigs have stated it had nothing to do with the bibilical story...and then concluding that it must have anyway, despite everyone's statements to the contrary.

Born Bad's first 100 pages are a succinct and well-written history of an influential concept in Western culture; unfortunately, the second 100 aren't as illuminating.