Sentence:  Because he interprets the primitive state of man as one of mere potentiality or capacity and believes that Adam and Eve were created as children , Irenaeus often seems inclined to extenuate their disobedience as <WSD>being</WSD> `` due , no doubt , to carelessness , but still wicked '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)