Adam's War ©2008 Rafael Vila

You know, from the beginning of history a pitched battle has erupted that even in these days it is felt. It is a war without end, apparently. It is a division greater than the social, religious, political and economic divisions. More degrading than World War II; it has created more victims than the Holy Inquisition and the concentration camps of Adolph Hitler. It is a war that still destroys the foundation of our society. I imagine that you ask yourself…

What war am I speaking about? Well, definitively it is not the war in Iraq, nor the Gulf War; Neither the North American invasion in Puerto Rico, much less the conquests of Yenjis Khan.

The war in which I’m talking about still affects our churches, our marriages, our young people and our children. It has brought about a greater world-wide division than the divisions of both the Berlin Wall and the Wall of China. It is a historical war that still in this present day and age leaves a lot of damage, and in spite of the time instead of decreasing it has increased.

Which is the War?

Although it seems like a joke, it is not, and it is a serious subject. The War is the war of the genders. During centuries we have divided genders by different categories, which I will call mechanic, permissive, structural and hierarchic power. I will call this War, the War of Adam; because, according to the scripture, Adam originally means “Humanity” and not only a male. When God created Adam, declares the Bible “male and female He created” (Genesis 1:27) and confirmed by the verse in Genesis 5:2 saying: “Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.” (KJV)

We need to create consciousness that the Bible declares “and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created”. For God there was no difference. Adam was in essence male and female, at the moment that God instructed Adam, when still the female had not been formed out of him, God instructed both. It would not be bad then, to interpret, the reason God called Adam at the time of the fall, because until that moment for God Adam was male and female. I say until that moment because it is therefore that the hierarchic difference between the woman and the man begins.

This is why in the this edition I will speak of the Hierarchic Power. I want to make it clear that this study will be based on the scriptural reality of the Word of God and it will also abound in researches done throughout history. Which will include writings not necessarily used by the Protestant Christian Church, because I will not limit this study to our small existential picture but I will analyze each aspect within all the religious points of view, social and economic, because each of these aspects is an essential part of the structuring of the Church, their beliefs, taboos, realities and the no complete truths. I understand that this is a subject for a mature public and it is not to create any disputes or divisions.

After discussing the subject, the Hierarchic power, I will continue with the permissive, mechanical and finally the structural power.

Hierarchic Power

From where does the idea that the male is the dominant sex come?

“Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Genesis 3:16 (KJV)

As I mentioned previously, God created the man under a perfect dominion of communion between male and female. Both, before his eyes, were one, a perfect Reign were put between two beings. They will control and they will reproduce.

If we realize, when God said: “It is not good that the man should be alone;” (Gen 2:18), Adam never recognized he was alone. This could be for two reasons, by the total presence of God in his life or because within himself he was a complete being. He didn’t knew what was to be alone until God said to him that he was, only then Adam understood the meaning of loneliness, not a social loneliness (God and Human) but a loneliness as species (Human “male and female”).

It is then when God begins to create animals of all the species the same way that he formed Adam, of the Earth. Realize God voluntarily brought each creature before him so Adam could give a name to each of them. Then God gave supremacy to Adam (Male and Female) of the creation. Perhaps it is when the need to take dominion begins in the Male. When God extracts the female from the male He brings her before him, it never specifies in Genesis that He brought her before the male with the intention for him to give her a name, God had already given a name to both of them. By this I understand that the male in supposition thought to have dominion on the female and he put a name to her. But before God both were one, and called them Adam (Gen 5:2). This might be the answer to a personal long time question…

Why did the male let the female go alone to gather food?

Peter Paul Rubens © to author for term of life

We can suppose that this feeling of dominion made the male to send the female to look for food alone. Also, maybe, both thought because they were two complete beings they could make that decision, and by consequence of this perhaps the female wanted to go alone, or the male was very comfortable and he did not want to go with her to look for food… Which was the reason? We will never know it; it is a detail that the Bible never clarifies. It does not deepen either in the writings older than the book of Genesis. Unfortunately, both the female and the male were alone; specifically when God told them that it was not good.

We know the rest of the story already, the female eats of the fruit, she takes it to the male and he also eats of the fruit. At the moment that the male eats of the fruit, then, the voice of God is heard calling to Adam. Many interpret this as an indication that God didn’t pay any attention to the subject until the male ate of the fruit because the male was the dominant one. But if we understand that for God both were Adam, we can understand that for God Adam hadn’t eaten of the fruit until both had eaten of it.

What would have happened, then, if the male had not eaten of the fruit? In reality, we will never know, but many think that the male would have redeemed the female and others think that God would have destroyed the female and form another one. But what would’ve come to past, is a mystery. What we know is what actually happened.

Both ate of the fruit and God came looking for both of them. It is when the Ping-pong match begins, who the culprit was and who was not. It is at this moment that we realize that our Adam underwent the first divorce in history, each betrayed each other and Adam was separated from God’s covering. God’s most important creation fell apart before His eyes.

It is then, when God begins to emit responsibilities, not curses, to each of them. If it would have been, by order of dominion, according to what some would impose, then God would have begun with the male. But it was not thus, God began by order of arrival, first the serpent (the tempter), the woman (receiver) and afterwards the male (the fulfiller). As we all know, God always works with a purpose. We can only observe two “Because thou hast”, when God spoke to the serpent and when He spoke to the male. We must notice that God does not use the phrase thy wife until He emits the result of the disobedience over woman.

The woman’s covering was the power of God, but this covering was broken and it was not until the fall of Adam when the woman comes to be possession of her husband, like the other sub-creatures, animals, insects and vegetables. We see how the fall of Adam reduces him to a simple creature, not any more to the image and similarity of God. We can observe this when we read in Genesis 1:29 - 30 and Genesis 2:15 - 17 where God gives instructions of what to eat, if you observe closely, none of the foods for Adam (male and female) forced them to incline, but to maintain a straight position and of dominion, but the foods of the other creatures forced them to incline, a posture of submission. However, when we observe Genesis 3:18, we see how his actions reduced Adam to a submissive creature: “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field...”

The fall of Adam not only brought division between God and mankind, but between the male and the female. This brought terrible consequences that still affect us today.

I will abound about this subject in the next edition, where we will observe how Christ restores the woman to her original position of equality between male and female. Be very blessed.

Credits and bibliography

Resources:

The First Book of Adam and Eve

Presentación De La Carta Apostólica “Mulieris Dignitatem” De Juan Pablo II Sobre La Dignidad Y La Vocación De La Mujer by Card. Joseph Ratzinger

Strong Hebrew and Greek Numbers Dictionary

Bibles:

Nueva Versión Internacional

Biblia de las Américas

Reina Valera 1909 and 1960 version

Sagradas Escrituras Version Antigua

King James Version 1769

New International Version

American Standard Version