The original Evangelion/EoE is about the struggle to achieve self-control and self-realization and the value of relationships despite the difficulties involved. It's a masterpiece and one of two anime series that share the #1 rank and transcend their genre (Cowboy Bebop being the other one).

The Rebuilds were the hate letter to the fandom that everybody thought that EoE was. They're less of a real story and more like a polemic. Anno might as well have had Asuka yell at Shinji to touch grass.

Some people here seem to be confusing the 2DEEP4U groupies with the actual story. I used to complain about the reckless use of religious imagery, but when I watched the original series as an adult I realized that there is no pretense involved. The iconography simply frames the moral and existential nature of the show, as opposed to the temporal conflicts in a regular mecha show.