The daughter of a friend of mine has a rare mentally disabling genetic disorder...Did God visit this upon them because of sin? What's interesting about this question, is that I believe this is the same problem that led Darwin to "see" Evolution...for the deeply personal purpose of explaining suffering without "implicating" a perfect God. For 15 years, Darwin had been wrestling with origins over such metaphysical questions as "Why do cats play with mice before killing them". However it was the personal pain brought on by the tragic illness and death of Darwins' beloved daughter Annie that finally convinced him of his materialistic worldview. (Read great-great-grandson Randal Keynes research in his book "Darwin, his daughter,& human evolution.")The "scientific establishment" is often blind to the effect of personal experience upon theoretical formulation.original sin had no affect on our physical selves, but on our spiritual selves and our relationship with God and nature. So where do defective genes come from? A perfect creator God doesn't make defective goods.It's confusing that these comments accept some of the "non-scientific" (sic) precepts of scripture, such as original sin, spiritual beings, and even God, but reject how scripture views these precepts. This means that not only are you rejecting the bible as an authoritative source of reality...you are also rejecting science. I fear your worldview is a self styled convenience, conforming to neither the assertions of science nor the assertions of scripture. The bible states clearly that the curse of sin did indeed affect what was a perfect spiritual and physical creation, resulting in a marred universe of "defective goods." Gen. 3:16-19 "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee...cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."Paul talked about not only the spiritual restoration of man, but the physical restoration of creation itself.Romans 8:20-22 "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.1 Cor. 15:53"For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality".Regarding the issue of mutation as mentioned...I just wanted to know how Christians explain genetic defects -- which evolve and change -- while denying evolution.Christians don't deny evolution. Nobody resonable can deny biological adaptation and genetic mutation. Likewise nobody reasonable can defend macro-evolution---the creative power of matter and energy to generate entirely new groups and spieces of life. Even with purposeful and intelligent expert breeding, species can be taken to the edge of their DNA and no more. Inspite of truckloads of genetic data, belief in macro-evolution is de facto unreachable by physical science. Rocks don't lie.Neither do they submit scientific papers. One needs only a brief familiarity with the short history of uniformitarianism to be aware that the new science was forced to decide that radioactive decay must be constant, in order to remain a science at all. From this arbritrary and expedient foundation many men such as Kelvin, Rutherford, ect. were then given to the task of finding a "measurement" that supplied the mindboggling expanse of time required by evolution. As a result there was a progressive sequence of proposals and rejections for measuring methods near the turn of the century untill someone found a way to "prove" the quantities of time that scienctists were mandating. (pun intended...)Believing in the infallibility of radio-carbon dating requires more audacity then believing in the infallibility of scripture.The following type of quote reveals how philosophical or theological assumptions prevent pure observation."...you have to admit that there is a genetic relationship. (Chimpanzees and humans share well over 90% of their genetic material in common.)Having faith in evolution is not required to explain these kinds of phenomena.Shared common genetic material, or even physical design only demonstrates apparent relationship. For instance, airplanes, automobiles, and motorcycles also share very much of the same technology, systems, and materials. These shared features are explained by shared design.It is perfectly reasonable to accept that the world we know was at one time a perfect creation. I believe the scriptures show us that once sin had corrupted creation a new divine perrogative took over...that of messianic redemption. Soon after Adams' sin, there is heard the first "ping" of the second Adam, Jesus on the prophetic radar screen. Gen 3:15 "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,and you will strike his heel."Within this context there is an answer to your important original question.Did God visit this upon them because of sin? If this question is in regards to "original sin" or "the fall" then the answer is yes.Because of sin, all creation groans for Christ. That is to say, that nothing in this world will be complete untill Jesus restores creation. "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." While on Earth we take heart that all suffering, even death itself, is left behind in this realm.“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” After that "theological" perspective there is a more personal side to your question. You may be asking if physical suffering of a child is punishment on the parents as a result of their sin.The ultimate answer to your question comes from Christ himself. Jesus said in answer, It was not because of his sin, or because of his father's or mother's; it was so that the works of God might be seen openly in him.Without first considering the due glory and worship of a perfect creator, all of fallen creation becomes philosophically absurd, emotionally painful, and spiritually void.MC