Sentence:  Because he interprets the primitive state of man as one of mere potentiality or capacity and believes that Adam and <WSD>Eve</WSD> were created as children , Irenaeus often seems inclined to extenuate their disobedience as being `` due , no doubt , to carelessness , but still wicked '' . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  (Old Testament) Adam's wife in Judeo-Christian mythology: the first woman and mother of the human race; God created Eve from Adam's rib and placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden