Rethinking Eve: courage, deception, and the truth about Adam
Since the publication of my book, Equal Protection Under God: Gender equality and women’s roles in the church, I’ve heard from women time and again that they “never knew that” about Adam. I’ve also heard repeatedly, “why have I never heard that part of Adam and Eve’s story preached?” Many of these women have been in church, listening to sermons, or been reading the Bible, their entire lives and never realized what I wrote in my book, excerpts of which I’m including in this blog.
Genesis 3 is a familiar chapter to most Christians, particularly those of us who grew up in the church. However, some key elements of this chapter are left out of many sermons and get completely ignored by many. This chapter is the beginning of the divide between God and humans, and man and woman.
It took just six verses in Genesis to set into motion the divide between the sexes and to cast the blame females would take for the fall. It was “Eve’s fault” for eating that fruit. It was “Eve’s fault” that sin entered the world, and all of the subsequent consequences. It was “the woman”. The consequences for Eve and her daughters have been severe. I hope this rethinking of Eve’s story inspires women to read the story again with fresh eyes and a fresh understanding.
Eve was not alone
I think the first eye roll in history probably happened when God confronted Adam and Eve for their sin and Adam pointed the finger at Eve, knowing the whole time he had stood by her, yet stood silent. I have this image in my head of God asking Adam what happened, Adam pointing at Eve, saying it was all Eve’s fault, and Eve standing there with her arms crossed, tapping her foot, and then rolling her eyes saying, “REALLY Adam. I mean, REALLY? You were standing there the WHOLE time and didn’t say anything.”
Scripture is clear that Eve is the one who conversed with the Serpent and Eve is the one who first took from the prohibited tree. Eve, however, was not alone during this conversation; Adam was “with her.” The “You” in verses 1, 3, and 4 are plural, indicating there was more than one subject; that is, Adam and Eve were the subjects of the verbs. Additionally, Genesis 3:6 states, “She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. . .” Never caught that? Go back and read it in your Bible. You are not alone, many women have never caught that or realized Adam was there. And if they did, not many have asked the next questions.
Since Adam is present, why does the conversation take place between Eve and the serpent and not Adam and the serpent?That is, why is Eve the one targeted and tempted? And, why does Adam remain silent?
Eve: the target
Why was Eve targeted by the Serpent and not Adam? I speculate part of the reason is she was not who God spoke to directly. When God gave His command to Adam in Genesis 2:16-17, Eve had not yet been created. It was Adam who presumably told Eve what God said about the one tree in the Garden they were to avoid. Indeed, she had to know something of the prohibition to be able to respond as she did in 3:2-3. Someone told her, but it’s not recorded who, so it’s doubtful that it came straight from God. Rather it was more likely that Adam filled her in on what God had told him about the tree.
Because she did not receive the command directly, the serpent’s cleverly worded question, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”, placed Eve in a position of questioning herself, doubting God’s Words and doubting His goodness. Have you always been 100% sure of what someone told you someone else said? We don’t know what Adam told Eve about God’s command. We don’t know if he told her verbatim what God said, or if he paraphrased what God said. We do know that when the serpent challenged Eve’s understanding of what God said, Adam remained quiet. You would expect if something was said that wasn’t correct, Adam would have corrected it, right?
The very one who received God’s Words directly remained quiet. Not once does Adam interject to tell the Serpent he was wrong. Not once did he stand in front of Eve to protect her from the Serpent, telling him to shut up and go away. When Eve added slightly to the commands she had been given secondhand, Adam didn’t correct her. Was he scared?
The Deception
The best con artists are those who mix a little truth in with a lie. Hearing someone tell a story that you know is at least partially true — that is, the story has some facts in it that you know to be true — makes it so believable that you think the rest of the story must also be true as well. It’s a very clever technique and quite effective. It began here in Genesis 3.
The serpent, by beginning his sentence with “For God knows”, undermines God and plants a seed of doubt of God’s goodness when he refutes the pronouncement that Eve will die if she eats from the Tree. He says “For God knows...” accusingly, sarcastically, to insinuate to Eve and Adam that God’s not telling them the truth and withholding something from them. He’s appealing to their desire to avoid embarrassment, giving them a chance to “win”, and encouraging them to act quickly. Beginning with this phrase again paints God as one who, at a minimum, wishes to withhold something good from Adam and Eve and, at worst, is a cruel god. Instead, he says to Eve that she will be like God if she eats from the tree. The temptation to be independent, to be autonomous, and to know what God knows is far too appealing to Eve, particularly in light of the doubts of God’s goodness now firmly planted in her mind. And, there was Adam, who was with her but remained silent. The very person who received the command directly from God remained silent through this exchange, never interjected to correct Eve or the serpent, and never objected to the suggestion that Eve eat of the fruit. Why is that? Why did Adam remain quiet?
Adam’s willful disobedience
Eve was deceived. Adam was not deceived. Adam’s act was a willful disobedience of a direct command from God. Adam was weak. Maybe he was scared as well. At a time in which strength, fortitude, and character were needed, he faltered. Adam remained silent in the face of the confrontation between Eve and the Serpent. You could say he remained silent in the face of evil. He said nothing as the Serpent questioned the character of God and misrepresented God’s Words. Women have been labeled as inferior and easily deceived because of this interaction with the Serpent. Those labels remained for centuries. Men, however, have not been labeled for the characteristics displayed by Adam during that same encounter: silence in the face of evil, lack of leadership, lack of courage, unwillingness to engage in a confrontation, and unwillingness to correct a misrepresentation of God.
Adam was a willing participant in taking the forbidden fruit, he was not an innocent bystander. When it mattered most, he lacked any leadership abilities, assertiveness, or courage.
The fallout for women
Church history has traditionally taught that women should have subordinate roles. This is based in large part on early interpretations of 1 Timothy 2:14, which has its root in the Genesis Fall story. That Eve was deceived has been used as an excuse to prohibit women from teaching. The prohibition’s reasoning is rooted in the deception. The thought is that since the woman was susceptible to the Serpent’s deception, she could therefore be susceptible to false teaching. This says nothing of a woman’s ability to lead, but rather is based on what is perceived as a woman’s innate character flaw.
If being easily deceived is a character flaw of women based on Eve’s action at the fall, what does Adam’s silence and failure to step forward and be a leader say of men’s character and ability to lead? This is not to point a finger and say, “Men. Bad.” This is to point out the hypocrisy of maintaining a set of beliefs about a gender based on one single action while failing to recognize the lack of action by the other gender and, consequently, not holding that gender to the same standard.
Women have proven throughout the Bible, to be full of courage and valor. Eve can serve as an inspiration to women to have courage in the face of evil.
Conclusion
Did you know Adam was present with Eve, yet remained silent? What are your thoughts on this rethinking of the Genesis story?
Excerpt from my book, Equal Protection Under God: Gender equality and women’s roles in the church, available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books A Million.
Photo courtesy of #KathySmithImages