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In Likeness and Unity: Debunking the Creation Order Fallacy Allison J

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In Likeness and Unity: Debunking the Creation Order Fallacy Allison J In Likeness and Unity: Debunking the Creation Order Fallacy Allison J. Young One of my first experiences as an intern with Christians for tions in masculine and feminine roles are ordained by God as Biblical Equality (CBE) involved my staffing a CBE booth at a part of the created order, and should find an echo in every human conference. Here, I met a woman who was very excited about heart”; (3) “Adam’s headship in marriage was established by God egalitarianism; however, in spite of the enormous favor toward before the Fall, and was not a result of sin.”1 egalitarianism that she found in the Bible, she still considered In the chapter entitled “Male-Female Equality and Male Head- herself a complementarian. Why? She said it was due to the “or- ship” in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, the au- der of creation.” The creation of Adam before Eve was the last and thor defines “headship” to mean that “the man bears the primary major “obstacle” that she could not surmount. responsibility to lead the partnership in a God-glorifying direc- Her response surprised me greatly. In my opinion, the “order of tion.”2 According to him, man was created to lead, and woman creation” is one of the weakest objections. As my internship pro- was created to submit to man, who is to be an authority or “head” gressed, I encountered more people who, although supportive of over the woman. His claim is that, because the man was created CBE’s mission, were convinced that Adam, being created first, had first and the woman second as a helper, or partner, for the man, a special role as representative of humanity that Eve did not share. the man is to be the leader and an authority over the woman. The “order of creation” argument is significant to the hierar- The Genesis accounts chical case. If inequality between man and woman was part of the original creation, it is logical that inequality was part of God’s How valid are such claims as readings based on the Genesis 1 and 2 original design for male/female relationships. By interpreting the accounts? Genesis 1 explains that “in the beginning God created creation order to imply that man was created to be an author- the heavens and the earth” (v. 1). God first created light, then the ity over woman, hierarchists teach that men are to be authorities sky, the water and land, the plants and vegetation, the sun and the over women today. A woman’s authority is, therefore, limited so stars, the creatures of the air and sea, the creatures of the land, that she cannot be in a position of authority or leadership over and, then, the end of creation was humankind (Gen. 1:1–7): men. To be so, according to this line of thought, would be to ig- Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, ac- nore her God-given “role” as a subordinate helper to man. cording to our likeness; and let them have dominion over While hierarchists refer back to the original creation for sup- the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the port for hierarchy in female/male relationships, egalitarians refer cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over ev- to the original creation to support equality. Because we are living ery creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God cre- after the fall and in the midst of broken relationships, egalitar- ated humankind in his image, in the image of God he created ians believe one must look to the biblical account of creation to them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, gain a clearer understanding of God’s original intent for human- and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the ity. What implications does the “order of creation” in the Genesis earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the account have for the structure of human relationships? sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing Two perspectives that moves upon the earth.” (Gen. 1:6–8 NRSV). According to the egalitarian perspective, the creation account in The account concludes with God giving humans the plants for food, Genesis indicates that (1) man and woman were created equal in and God looking at everything and calling it good (vv. 29–31). value, both being made in the image of God (Gen. 1:7); () man What is clear from Genesis 1 is that both man and woman and woman were both given equal dominion over the earth and were equally created in the image of God (vv. 26–7), told to be its creatures (Gen. 1:6–30); and (3) there was no hierarchy in fruitful and multiply (v. 28), and given dominion over the world male/female relationships in the original creation, but this came God created (vv. 26–31). Both were created equal in value in the as a result of sin (Gen. 3:16). image of God, and both were given the same task of caring for the According to the hierarchical perspective, as quoted from earth. Genesis 1 gives no indication that man and woman were the Danvers Statement, (1) “both Adam and Eve were created in created any different, other than one being “male” and the other God’s image, equal before God as persons and distinct in their “female.” Both are included within the Hebrew term for human- manhood and womanhood”; () “distinc- ity, adam. In Genesis 1, man and woman are created at the same time, and no temporal ordering appears. ALLISON J. YOUNG is a Master of Divinity can- Hierarchists agree that man and woman were both charged didate at Princeton Theological Seminary. She with authority over creation, but argue that they will not exercise earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in biblical and theological studies from Bethel University. She authority over creation in the same way.3 Women, they claim, are served as a theological intern for Christians for to be stewards within a position of submission under authority, Biblical Equality in the summer of 2007. and men are to steward within a position of leadership. But, such a distinction is not made in Genesis 1. 1 • Priscilla Papers ◆ Vol. 3, No. ◆ Spring 009 In Genesis 2, another account of creation focuses in more de- ner, for none was like him. God wanted to make it clear to Adam tail on the creation of humankind, male and female. In Genesis what or whom he was missing before creating Eve, so that the :7, God formed the being (adam) from the dust of the earth (ad- creation of Eve would be fully appreciated by Adam.4 amah). This word usage in Hebrew is intentional. It is a play on Similarity and unity words to demonstrate the connection of human life to the earth. God then put adam in the garden of Eden to till and keep it, God The next main point of this passage is the similarity and unity gave the command to adam not to eat of the tree of the knowl- between the man and woman. Eve is a fitting partner for Adam edge of good and evil, and then God perceived that it was not because, unlike the animals, she was like him. Woman was cre- good that adam was alone: ated by God from the side of the man (vv. 21–)—not from the dust, but from the same flesh as the man. This is a beautiful and Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should poetic way to describe the “one flesh” relationship between men be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the and women. Some interpret this part of the story to show wom- ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and an’s subordination to man. However, since the animals were cre- every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what ated first and Adam later as their superior, one could just as easily he would call them; and whatever the man called every living conclude that Eve, created after Adam from his flesh, superseded creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, him and became his superior. Such understandings miss the main and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but intent of the story: to show the unity between the two humans. for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Adam rejoices in this similarity when he exclaims, “this is at Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken” (v. 23). To un- flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man derstand the full force of this statement, it is necessary to recog- he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the nize that the Hebrew word for man used here is ish, and the word man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my for woman is ishah. Just as the man (adam) was formed from flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one the ground (adamah), so woman (ishah) was formed from man was taken.” Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother (ish).
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