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Let’s stop blaming Eve for jump-starting original sin. As you answered M. Alexander’s letter (September issue), three were involved in the “transgression” reported in Genesis. Your answer notes their individual punishment as meted out by God. Please not the progression of severity: 1) Satan’s demise is pre-determined in the fact that God knows all things, and certainly did not have to wait for the Garden incident to let him know what his punishment would be. 2) Motherhood involves all sorts of suffering, of which pain during labor to be fruitful and bring forth, as ordered by God (Genesis 1:28), is but one. When Eve was formed by God from Adam’s rib, He gave her a womb; thus, she is a “womb-man.” The “seed” she would produce (it should be capitalized) had to have a place to go, something Adam could never accomplish. Satan is Evil, but not stupid (Genesis 3:1). He would have gained nothing to address Adam in regard to a Seed which would eventually bruise his own (Satan’s) head. 3) The priestly office was not given until much later. The man Adam’s sin punished not only the first family, but its repercussions are also felt around the globe to this day. The cursing of the ground is killing millions annually from starvation, although the Almighty One knew how to provide for all of mankind. Also, it was to Adam that the “Lord commanded” not to eat of that certain tree, before he made a wife for him (Genesis 2:16-17). The subject of leadership of women in the church is really another matter. The Bible has stories of several women who held leadership roles, and they are examples for women today. The “distinct differences” you refer to appear to be weighed in men’s favor due to the traditions of Judaism in the early assemblies. This was before the Body of Christ was revealed—not because God places women at a lower level of importance, but because He preserves their obvious physical status in their role as Mothers. -E. Arellano, CA
Arno's Reply
Thank you for the additional input relating to women, original sin, and leadership in the church. Of course, there is no difference between Eve or Adam; both sinned. What the first Adam lost due to sin, the last Adam regained for all who believe in the accomplished work of Jesus Christ our Lord. That is what the entire Bible is all about. And from that position, there is “neither male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus.” In the meantime, however, male still remains male and so does female, and that’s where the “distinct differences” come into play. The functionality of the local church is clearly described, and I am obligated to follow it. This has no relationship to your assumption that it “favors man.” Incidentally, the priestly office was already functioning when Cain and Abel sacrificed unto God. Actually, even before that, God made garments for Adam and Eve of skins; subsequently, an animal had to die. Granted, women have been disadvantaged throughout the centuries. In all countries of the world—and, doubtless, in the European world (the West), whose official religion is Christianity—the Bible contributed toward some of the oppression due to wrong interpretation. But I dare not eradicate Holy Scriptures such as, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:11-12). There are reasons for God the Holy Spirit to have it included in the New Testament. That these words have been misused often, is another story, but I must insist, based on Holy Scripture, that there is a distinct difference between male and female in the functionality of the local church. I dare not interfere.
MC DEC. 2012
