Better Together Bible Study – Splitting the Adam

Kevin Giles
18 hours ago
10 min read

Read first of all Genesis 1-3

In discussing what the Bible teaches on men and women no text in the whole Bible is more important than Genesis chapters 1-3. Here God creates man and woman as the apex of his creative work and sets them in an idyllic world where everything is good. Tragically, however, the devil enters and both the man and the woman fall into sin and as a consequence are banished from the garden. All Christian theologians see this story as foundational to the whole Bible. It tells us that God made the world ‘good’, but the sin of man and woman destroyed their good relationship with God, each other and with the creation itself. It thus explains why a saviour and a 'new creation' are needed. The story is given in two forms. In Genesis chapter one, in grand poetic language, God creates everything in seven days with the apex of his creative work coming in the creation of man and woman, who are said to be 'made in God's image and likeness'. Chapters 2-3 give a different account of the beginning, this time in narrative form with a number of scenes. In the so called 'second creation story', after the earth is created Adam appears first and then God provides for him water, vegetation, animals and a partner in woman. It is these three chapters, at the very beginning of our Bibles, that we are going to consider in this study. Absolutely central to the sharp division over what the Bible actually says on the sexes is a sharp division over the interpretation of these three chapters in the Book of Genesis. Because this text is absolutely fundamental to all of Christian theology in general and all Christian thinking about the sexes, there is no more important text to study. This is where we should begin because this is where the Bible begins. First of all I outline very briefly the interpretation of these chapters by those who think God subordinated women to men in his good creation. The subordination of women reading of Genesis 1-3 In Genesis 1:26-28 men and women are created in God's image. They are thus equal before God - equal in dignity and equal in salvation. However, Genesis 2-3 adds that woman was created second, which means she is second in rank; Adam named the animals not the woman and this shows he was in charge of the Garden from the beginning; Eve was created as man's helper, which means assistant and it was Eve who succumbed to the devil's temptation. This indicates that women in general are more prone to sin and error and thus need men's protection and guidance. From such arguments it is concluded that while Genesis 1:26-28 teaches that men and women are spiritual equals, Genesis 2-3 makes it clear they are different in authority. Before the fall God sets the man over the woman. He gives to him ‘headship'. This is the ideal pattern that is unchanging and unchangeable. It is what is most pleasing to God. Those who read Genesis 1-3 in this way speak of woman's subordination as ‘a creation order’. In theological text books, a 'creation order' is a creation-given pattern of social ordering that structures relationships, irrespective of whether one is a Christian or not. Marriage and the State are two examples often cited. The majority of scholarly commentaries on Genesis written in the last thirty years[1] and the encyclical of Pope John Paul II[2], categorically reject the interpretation given above. The Pope's interpretation, it should be noted, is binding on the almost one billion Catholics. This means that what follows is not an idiosyncratic egalitarian reading of Genesis 1-3 but in broad terms, what the vast majority of contemporary scholarly commentators conclude and what all Roman Catholic theologians teach. First, Genesis 1:26-28 is taken as the primary and foundational comment on the sexes in the whole of the Bible. Here we are told four highly significant things:

Man and woman are alike made in the image and likeness of God. They are equal in dignity and status. This means that any denial, subtle or otherwise, of the fundamental equality of all human beings on the basis of sexual identity, race, age, social status, caste or anything else, is a denial of what the Bible says first of all about the sexes.
To both alike is given the command to rule over God's world. In other words, to man and woman alike, God gives authority over all creation. They are joint rulers, one does not rule over the other.
They are told to be fruitful and multiply. The family mandate is given alike to the man and the woman.
Nevertheless, one is man and one is woman. Sexual differentiation is one of God's good gifts. The creating of humanity in two sexes implies that the two sexes complement each other. In other words, men and women together are more than the sum of the parts, especially so in marriage, the most intimate of male-female togetherness and complementarity.

The two key words: 'equal' and ‘different’. In the above use of the word 'equal’, the spiritual and social equality of the two sexes is envisaged: the belief that the two sexes have the same God-given dignity, the same leadership potential and are thus to be given the same opportunity to use God-given gifts. This meaning of the term in relation to the sexes has been clarified in recent years by the now well-established distinction made between the terms 'sex' and 'gender'. 'Sex' refers to the unchanging biological markers that differentiate men and women and 'gender' to the socially constructed differences between the sexes that are not biologically determined and can change. Absolutely no one is arguing for biological sameness; the issue in contention is gender equality. Social equality of any kind is of course always an ideal in a fallen world. All human beings are not born or find themselves equal to others; some have far more opportunities and resources, and this is all too often the case with men in relation to women. The word 'difference' in this context means 'not the same', 'other than'. Sexual differentiation is God-given and is evidenced in differing chromosomes, genes and body forms among other things. Supposed differing leadership potential or differing gender based 'roles' are not biblical or scientific indicators of indelible sexual differentiation. From this we should unambiguously affirm:

· The substantive or essential equality of the sexes, not just their spiritual equality.

· The leadership potential of men and women.

· Parenting is a joint responsibility:

· Humanity is one species in two forms, man and woman.

· The complementarity of the sexes. Man alone or woman alone, in marriage or otherwise, are less than humanity in its fullness. Genesis 2-3 Nothing in the Bible should be taken to undermine, correct or contradict what God places on the first page of our Bibles. This means that Genesis 2-3, should be read in harmony with Genesis 1:26-28, presupposing that what follows teaches the same things as what precedes it, only in a different literary style. In the so called 'second creation story', a completely different picture of God's creative work is given in more symbolic and picturesque style. In this the solitary Adam finds himself in an idyllic garden where there are no plants or animals and step by step God supplies what he needs. I use the pronoun 'he' but Adam at this point is not fully man in distinction to woman because man can only be man/the male in distinction to woman/the female when man and woman both exist. God sees that Adam alone is help-less, incomplete, and brings the animals before him. He names them but none of them are suitable partners. Many have suggested that the naming of the animals by Adam apart from the woman indicates that he is uniquely ‘head over' creation. This is unconvincing. In Genesis chapter 1, the man and the woman are given dominion and rule over the animals. What is more, naming in the Old Testament does not usually indicate authority over. A name is most commonly given to signify something about the person. Thus Jacob is given his name because he grabbed his twin brother's heel and his name testifies to this fact. If name-giving does indicate 'authority over’, it is anomalous that women most commonly name children in the Old Testament. To provide a partner for Adam, God acts. From Adam's side (not his rib) God creates woman, one just like him, ‘bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh', but other than him: she is woman. The fact that in this symbolic story, the woman is created second has been taken to mean that woman is second in rank, subordinated to man, or in modern jargon been assigned the subordinate ‘role' for ever. However, 'created second' does not indicate subordination. Man and woman are created last in Genesis chapter I and yet they stand at the apex of God's creative work. Man is created after the carth in Genesis chapter 2, yet he is set over it. Often what is created second is superior, such as in the case of a second model of something So the old joke, 'God created Adam. Took one look at him and said. "I can do better than this", and created Eve?’ Nothing in the text of Genesis indicates created second means subordinate. What is more, nothing in the New Testament dictates that created second means subordinate. Paul once mentions the fact that woman was created second (1 Tim. 2:13) but what he meant by this comment is to be found in the literary context in which he made this comment — i.e. in the First Epistle to Timothy, which we will consider later. The unfortunate translation of the Hebrew word ezer as 'helper', has led many to think the woman is man's subordinate helper, his servant. In English, a helper is not necessarily a subordinate. Parents frequently 'help' their children. The Hebrew word ezer in fact actually suggests a superior helper. The Old Testament speaks 17 times of God as the helper of his people and three times of armies coming to help those under siege. The text itself, however, tells us that the helper or partner God provides for man is not a superior or a subordinate helper. She is his 'equal' helper, or better, his ‘equal partner'. The Hebrew word kenego that qualifies ezer, defines the helper as one corresponding to him, a 'companion’. Next we read that the devil came first to Eve and that she was deceived by him. One interpretation of this scene in this picturesque narrative is that the devil came to the woman first because he recognised that women are more easily deceived and more prone to sin, and thus needing man's supervision. Given the premise that women are a subordinate class, this seems a reasonable deduction for men to make, but nothing in the text suggests this interpretation. Indeed, that Genesis 1:26-28 speaks of man and woman alike made in the image of God and alike given dominion over the earth makes this most unlikely. An equally plausible deduction would be that the devil reasoned, 'If I can deceive the woman, the man will be a pushover'. This interpretation demeans men and so it too cannot be reconciled with Genesis 1:26-28. What seems to explain this mute detail in the story is that in this narrative with several scenes, the writer keeps changing the sequence in which God, Adam, Eve and the devil come to speak or act. This suggests that nothing at all is to be deduced from who is mentioned first or last in any scene. In the final scene, Adam and Eve are both punished for their sin of disobedience to God. In consequence of her sin, Eve is told she will desire her husband and he will rule over her. Here for the very first time the man's rule over the woman is introduced. This means the Bible makes the subordination of women a reflection of the fallen order, something not the ideal, something not pleasing to God. As such it waits a new creation and we know Christ inaugurated this (2 Cor. 5:17, In Christ there is a new creation.'). Questions for discussion

Discuss the two opposing interpretations of Genesis 1-3. How do you evaluate them? What fresh thinking have you had as a result of this study?
In the past, when patriarchy was taken for granted, what effect do you think this would have had on male theologians and on their interpretation of the Bible?
What do you think it means for man and woman to be made in the image and likeness of God? How does this idea enlarge your view of humankind in general and of man and woman in particular?
In Genesis 1-3, equality and sexual differentiation are both explicitly affirmed. While both sexes are made in the image of God, one is male and one female. How is it that the two sexes are 'equal yet different’? What does the oft-heard expression, 'equal yet different' mean for you?
As late as 1957, the evangelical Tyndale commentary says 1 Timothy 2:14 teaches that Eve's deception by the devil speaks of 'the greater aptitude of the weaker sex to be led astray’. What do you think about calling women 'the weaker sex?’ And what do you think of the deduction built on the fact that because Eve was first deceived by the devil that women are more easily deceived and prone to sin?
Of what importance is it for evangelicals, Pentecostals and charismatics that Pope John Paul il in 1987 ruled that the egalitarian reading of Genesis 1-3, as outlined above, is binding on all Catholics?
Why do you think it is so hard for men and women to fully respect each other and work harmoniously together?

[1] For scholarly support of what follows see, W. Brueggemann, Genesis: A Bible Commentary for Teachers and Preachers (Atlanta, John Knox, 1982) and R.S. Hess, 'Equality with Innocence: Genesis 1—3", in R.W: Pierce and R.M. Groothuis, eds, Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy (Downers Grove, Ill., Inter Varsity; 2005).

[2] Muliens Dignitaten: On the Dignity of Homer (Homebush, St Pauls, 1988).

See other studies in this series

Rev Dr Kevin Giles (Th.D.) is a graduate of Moore Theological College, Sydney and has completed post graduate study in England and Germany. He was in parish ministry for forty years in various ways; associate minister, church Planter, university chaplain, rector of a large multi-staff parish, and in "rebirthing' an inner city church. He has published widely on what the Bible says on the church, ministry, women and the Trinity. He writes with a passion to see the renewal of the church. This study has been reproduced from Better Together: Equality in Christ (2010) with permission from Kevin Giles.