(For an explanation of this series, see Introduction.)

It is here! The moment has arrived, that long-awaited moment where I explain to you all the mysteries of womandom since the dawn of time. Or perhaps not. Either way, it’s going to be Awesome. That’s awesome folks, with a capital ‘A’.

Three disclaimers, before I start. 1) I do not read or understand Greek or Hebrew, and therefore all my ponderings are based on an English translation of the text. The NRSV, to be precise. 2) What follows cannot be taken as a fully formed theological stance, I will merely be thinking aloud, or whatever the writing equivalent of that is. Thoughts from others are always welcome. 3) I have recently been watching a lot of ‘Lost’. This may or may not affect my analysis of scripture.

And with that, let’s get to it: Genesis 1: 26-28

God’s had a busy week, what with creating the universe ‘n’ all. Here, He creates something(s), for the first time, in His image. Humankind (or ‘Adam’ – but referring to male and female humans as a collective group) are:

• created in the image of God
• given dominion (power) over the animals
• commanded to ‘be fruitful and multiply’ (as if they needed encouragement)
• told to ’subdue the land’ *
• given authority and responsibility over the earth
• given plants and so on for food (interestingly meat isn’t mentioned, maybe I need to study Vegetarianism next…)

* Dave said in his brilliant talk on work that ’subdue the earth’ meant to organise and bring out the best of God’s creation. In other words, a big part of our purpose and calling as human beings is to bring out the best in God’s creation, to use what He has made in creative ways that glorify Him. Thus, when Adam names the animals and tends the ground in Genesis 2, he is continuing God’s creative work.

Got that? So Genesis 1 tells us that women are made in God’s image, that we as much as men have been given power over the earth and that we as much as men have been told to bring out the best in His creation.

And now we come to Genesis 2:15-25.

This, as Dave also said, is a slow motion replay of the creation of human beings. We’ve heard the basics in the previous passage, but here we see it in detail.

Man is created first. He is told by God what he can eat (pretty much everything that grows in the garden) and what he can’t eat (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) and what the consequences will be if he eats the forbidden fruit (death – on the same day that he eats it). Then, God decides that ‘it is not good for the man to be alone’. He needs ‘a helper as his partner’.

Firstly, partner implies equality. Which is nice.

But secondly,why is it not good for the man to be alone? Why does he need a helper? Didn’t God give him all the skills and qualities he needed when He created Him? What does he need a helper for?

Anyway, God brings Adam the animals, and Adam names them, but none of them are good enough to be his helper. (All that stuff about dogs being man’s best friend = blatant heresy.) So Adam clearly didn’t need a helper to pick fruit from the tallest tree (sorry Giraffe) or to lift heavy logs (sorry Elephant) or to take care of his fleas (sorry Monkey), and he didn’t need a helper who could fly or swim. So just what is it that he lacks?

God puts him to sleep, extracts a rib, creates another human and brings her to Adam. Straight away, Adam sees that ‘this one’ is different, and recognises her as just the helper he needs. They share flesh and bone, and he calls her ‘Woman’ (’from man’).

This was the point where my ‘Lost’-honed detective skills kicked into gear. Bear with me.

God made Adam from dust. Then he said Adam shouldn’t be alone, and made a woman to be his helper and partner, but this time, everything he used was already there as part of the man. So here is my tentative suggestion. Adam was a complete human being. He had all the skills and qualities that he needed. He didn’t need a woman for her emotional sensitivity, or her laundry skills. Everything that eventually formed the woman came from him in the first place. What he lacked was relationship, or more specifically, equal relationship (since God was way above him and the animals were way below him). So God, seeing that, took part of what made Adam human, and created from that a second kind of human. The two kinds were different, but essentially they were made from the same stuff. So quite literally, Eve completed Adam, because she quite literally was a part of him. Hence, “a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh” (v25). They started as one flesh, and they become one flesh again in marriage.

Am I off in Crazyland here or does any of that actually make sense? After all we know men and women are different and have different strengths and weaknesses. It’s clearly not a straight split – God didn’t pluck out all Adam’s love of cuddly animals and put it in Eve, while leaving all of Adam’s map-reading skills untouched. But interesting thoughts emerge.

• Perhaps an equal partnership has to include a need/lack on both sides. God didn’t just create a drone to be Adam’s helper, he put part of him into Eve, so that without her, he no longer had those aspects of humanity. Therefore should we look for a husband/wife whose qualities and skills compliment our own, who can see clearly in areas where we have blind spots and who can ‘bring out the best in us’ and us in them? (This seems to be what we do do, at least if we’re clever.)
• Following on from that, perhaps the unpopular notion of a husband/wife ‘completing us’ is Biblical? Not sure about this one, but ’tis a point to ponder.
• If man and woman are the two sides of the coin of humanity, then this obviously means we are equal, but also that we are different and perhaps that we should have different roles. If we all do the same things, maybe we won’t be fulfilling our whole humanity together…

That’s all I’ve got. No doubt I’ll think of more later… But for now, let the Jo-bashing commence.

(Tune in next time for Genesis chapter 3, where our heroes escape from the island monster and discover a new hatch…)

(For the next post in the series, see Part 2.)