Male and Female in Genesis 2

In the first creation story (look at the last blog for more about the two creation stories in Genesis), Adam and Eve were created at the same time and created equal in status.  In the second creation story, Adam was created before Eve and after the animals.  In other words, Adam was created, then the animals and finally Eve.

Eve was created to fill a void in Adam's heart, an emptiness that the animals could not fill.

1 Timothy 2:11-14
A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.  I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.  For Adam was formed first, then Eve.  And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 


Paul clearly looked back at the second creation story to base his argement concerning male and female.  Because Adam was created before Eve, according to Paul:


1.  Women should not have authority over men.  Taken literally, this means women should not be leaders of any male or any group of people that includes at least one male.  This applies to politics, the church, to business and any where else.
2.  In such groups, women literally should not even give opinions, but keep their mouths shut.

However, notice that Paul qualified "I do not permit...."  He is not saying that it is a command from God. Not all scripture is meant to be taken universally and literally.  The proverb that states gray hair equals wisdom is not universally true, but is a generalization (as many other proverbs in the book of Proverbs). Paul is simply telling Timothy that he does not allow women to teach or position themselves above men. 

This leaves a lot of questions.  How far should we take Paul's advice?  Consider these:

1.  Aquilla and Priscilla worked with Paul, and Priscilla was probably the dominant person in the husband/wife relationship.   
2.  Junius was a woman's name and was mentioned by Paul in Romans 16.  She or he (with a woman's name) was a fellow apostle.

My point is this: Paul may have held to a certain theological position/belief about women; but in practice, he was more liberal.  BACK TO GENESIS

 
In 1 Timothy, Paul established the pecking order of male over female on the basis of two things:
1.  Adam was created before Eve.
2.  Eve was deceived by the serpent.

I have already shown that the first creation story equalized the relationship between man and woman.  It is in the second story of creation that we get differences.
1.  Adam was created before Eve.
2.  Eve was made for Adam.
3.  Adam named the woman, just as he named the animals before her.
4.  Eve does not even talk until she is tempted.  In other words, creation in the second story is all about Adam.

HOW SHOULD WE RELATE THIS TO TODAY'S WORLD?

In every group and in every society, there are women who excel.  Should we hold them back?  Keep them confined to using their gifts and skills for women only? 

The American Evangelical circles are usually conservative in these matters and encourage men to take leadership over women.  Their churches are (once again) usually led by men; some have written rules against women in leadership positions and some have only unspoken rules.

Many of these same Evangelicals would vote for a woman to become President of the U.S. if she was sufficiently born-again, anti-abortion/pro-life, anti-homosexual/pro-family and Republican.
Many of these same Evangelicals pay money to go to conferences with women speakers.
Many of these same Evangelicals watch women speakers who teach about Christian stuff on T.V.
Many of these same Evangelicals work under women in the work place, and accept their authority.
Many of these same Evangelicals do whatever their wives tell them to do.

There is a minority (probably a good sized minority) of Evangelicals who would allow women to become pastor or deacons (more of the latter).  They either ignore Paul's family rules or point to the exceptions of his rules such as Aquilla and Priscilla.  Some claim that Paul's rules were designed for the particular city and culture to which he was writing.

I just find it all very interesting.

How do Europe, Russia, Australia and other places deal with the Bible and women?  Any of you want to comment?




 

Male and Female in Genesis 1:26-27

TWO CREATION STORIES

In another blog, I have already established that there are two creation stories.  Some would say there were two different stories that were passed down through generations and written down at some point in time as Genesis 1 and 2; others have suggested that Chapter 1 is an overview of creation and Chapter 2 focuses in on the garden during the first days.

GENESIS 1:26-27
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

EQUALITY OR NOT EQUALITY?

On the surface, this verse from the first story of creation looks like male and female were equal in creation, but in Hebrew grammar, this could be either complete equality or it could mean that men were first among equals.  In Hebrew, the most important names were always mentioned first, but if someone wanted to write about equals, the author would automatically choose the male name first because the language and the culture always placed the male first, unless the woman was more imoportant.

In fact, women's names were placed first only when they were very important.  Aquilla's and Priscilla's names were sometimes switched to Priscilla and Aquilla.  The fact that Aquilla's name is mentioned first in about half of the times they are menioned tells us that she was not only equal in their ministry, but probably the more dominant of the two.

In Genesis 1, the Hebrew gives us two equal possibilities:
1.  Because the male is mentioned first, he was the more imortant of the two or his status was higher.
2.  They were absolutely equal.  Adam was mentioned first only because the Hebrew language would place the male before the female in an equal relationship.

CONCLUSION ABOUT CHAPTER ONE

1.  Genesis 1 gives us no indication that there was any difference in status between Adam and Eve.
2.  Genesis 1 does not give us an order of creation.  Adam was not made first, but both Adam and Eve were created at the same time.
3.  The fact that Adam's name was mentioned before Eve's is most likely grammatical and does not indicate status.

Why Does Genesis say "Let us make man?"

GENESIS 1:26-27

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

SOME POINTS TO MAKE ABOUT THIS PASSAGE

1  This last half of the passage is marked off as poetry by the NIV interpreters.  There is a lot of poetry throughout the Bible, and when the modern interpreters discover it, they put poetry in stanzas to identify the verses as such.
2.  The word "man" is Adam in Hebrew.  In other words, Adam is a man's name and it is also the Hebrew word used to define all of humankind.  So, Genesis is telling us that Adam represents all of humankind.

3.  Adam (humankind - not the individual) is made male and female.

4.  The image of God is male and female.

WHO WAS GOD WITH WHEN HE SAID, "LET US MAKE... IN OUR IMAGE?"

1.  Some (including Mormons) have suggested that this verse implies that God has a wife, but there is no other place in the Bible that even suggests that possiblilbity that God is married.  A few people believe that the asherah were God's wives/concubines during certain eras in Israel.  The Asherah were probably imported from other local tribes and nations that worshiped them.  But the prophets of the Bible universally condemned the worship or the continuence of these gods.  It is highly unlikely that generations of biblical prophets and priests in Israel would permit Genesis 1 to remain if they believed that it suggested that God had a wife that helped create the world.

2.  Many suggest that "let us..." is evidence of the trinity, but the beginnings of understanding the trinity began shortly after Jesus' death and took hundreds of years to nail down.  As good as it sounds theologically, the context of Genesis and the tme this was written does not suggest the trinity in any way.  Besides, nowhere else in the Bible does God talk among his 3 distinct natures in this way.

3.  Others suggest that Genesis 1 is an old story (mythological in nature) that passed down by word of mouth in Israel, and "us" refers to several gods who were creating in this story.   Who these gods were, I have no idea, but we do know from archeology and from the Bible that Israel worshiped many gods during its long history.  According to this point of view then, the creation story in Genesis 1 developed during a time when Israel believed in multiple gods, however, held God as first among these gods.

4.  God may be talking about Himself and his angels.  The context of Genesis best serves this view.  Genesis is filled with angelic manifestations; and when the Lord visited Abraham, he went with two angels.  Hebrew traditions state that an angel was active in setting up Israel's Law, so in the Ancient Hebrew worldview, it is entirely possible that angels were involved in creation as well.

The worldview of Genesis 1 is so much different than ours today.  Consider these:
a.  It is very likely that the "sons of God" mentioned in Genesis 6 were some type of angelic beings that we don't even have classifications for today.
b.  When people built the tower of Babylon, they thought they could reach heaven.  I believe they thought they could reach the dwelling place of the angels mentioned later on in Jacob's dream (Genesis 28:12).
c.  In Genesis 28, when Jacob dreamed of heaven, the angels of God were ascending and descending on a ladder that reached heaven where angels lived.

The world according to Genesis was filled with angels and other heavenly beings that moved among us working God's will.  I would argue then, that God was with the angels and other spiritual beings (perhaps the sons of God mentioned in Genesis 6) when He said, "Let us make Adam in our likeness...."