Adam needs Eve just as much as Eve needs Adam…
I handed in my Women in Journalism essay- (about something to do with discourse in womens’ mags) and could safely say I was glad to see the back of those lectures. They were exhausting.
We mainly discussed feminism and how women have it tougher than men in the workplace because of sacrifices they have to make to get ahead etc. etc. These rapidly turned into several weeks of discussing the various sides of the argument and I found myself having to throw in questions to defend the male population of Britain as it was becoming more and more apparent we were determined to all fall into the bear-trap of becoming man-haters!
This was when I discovered that I was defending men because it seemed to me that women were no longer in pursuit of equality, they were in essence in pursuit of making men unequal to women.
If you’re a creationist like me then you’ll get the whole – God created the Earth then he created man and finally (perfecting his creation =P) woman. It says in the Bible that Eve was created as mans ‘helper’ and I think this has often been misinterpreted through the generations.
Being mans helper doesn’t mean that women are subservient to men, in fact Eve was enlisted with the most important job. Adam was the hunter gatherer (he was also in charge of looking after the animals) and Eve stood by his side looking after his physical, emotional, spiritual needs displaying great strength, a strength that was equal to her husbands.
Because this strength was not necessarily obvious on the outside the misconception that women were the ‘weaker sex’ was eventually born from the generations that followed. As more and more men became educated and took on various leadership roles in the church, cities, the world women were given the roles of bringing up family, working at home and doing things to support their husbands.
But the question is how does that relate today? The world has changed beyond recognition from the days of Adam and Eve . Women are out earning just as much as men and in essence some have become the ‘hunter gatherer’ types for their families.
I want your opinion… do you think the traditional roles portrayed in the Bible still hold some relevance in today’s world?
Let me know what you think, and i’ll get writing a little bit of an answer =)
Life through God's sunglasses 
This comment may sound a bit harsh, that’s not what I was aiming for, sorry 😛
If we are to believe that God only needed one of Adam’s ribs to create Eve then it’s hard to interpret women as anything other than inferior.
You can speculate over the definition of the word helper and Adam and Eve’s roles but she is the one that was tricked by the serpent (weaker) and in the same breath that God condemns women to increased pain during childbirth he says “Your desire will be for your husband,/ And he will rule over you” (weaker).
Yes, women have been misinterpreted as the weaker sex but I’m sure how else you are meant to interpret what the Bible says. To answer your question, while I think the Bible can tell us a lot about human nature, I don’t think the roles portrayed are relevant today.
Scribbleboy,
Whilst of course you are entitled to your opinion, I’m afraid I have to disagree with you on this one.
– God may only have needed one of Adam’s ribs to create Eve, but then again He only needed dust to make Adam, so we can hardly claim to be superior! If anything, this merely demonstrates the awesome power of our creator God.
– Eve may have been tricked by the serpent, but at least she was fooled by the devil, who is undoubtedly devious. Adam was fooled by his wife, who was in no way as clever as the serpent, so who was the more foolish?
– The punishment meted out by God after the Fall was undoubtedly severe yet just. But it should be remembered that the issues we encounter because of this (having to toil for our food, death and so on) are not the way things were meant to be, or how they will be in Heaven. Wives having their husbands ‘rule over’ them are suffering the after-effects of the Fall, as we all are, but it doesn’t mean that is the natural way of things.
GGF,
A very good post (although I’m sure there will be some arguments over your point about women going out and earning as much as men – they still don’t get equal wages in the main, and until that problem is resolved I think the feminist movement will keep on growing).
I think you’re right about the status given to the ‘helper’ though. People seem to think that this was like being a secretary to a CEO – a minor supporting role for the big cheese! This is simply not the case, as the ‘CEO’ wouldn’t be able to function without the ‘secretary’, in the same way that Adam was not complete without his ‘helper’.
I think the Bible has plenty of relevance in today’s world, however this is obviously a tricky issue. It has to be remembered that it was written at a time when men were definitely considered to be more important than women, and so the cultural aspect of it will naturally reflect this (eg Mary having to go to Bethlehem for the census, because Joseph was from David’s line). The simplest thing to look at for the role of women in the world is how Jesus dealt with them when He was on earth – He treated them with just as much respect as men, we are all equals in God’s eyes.
That doesn’t mean that we don’t have different roles, of course. Let’s face it, if women had been given the same skills as men, then there’d have been no point in providing Eve to help Adam!
Not sure how much sense all that has made, but there we go…
TBT
And yet Adam was created out of dust!!!
The original Hebrew word for ‘helper’ is used in Exodus 18:4 and Psalm 33:20 to describe God himself, and it carries with it overtones of military strength. So I dont think it can mean subserviant else it implys that God is also subserviant to man. Even in todays terms helper doesn’t imply weakness, it implys a choice.
As for the fall, from the narative it can be seen that Adam was there all along and he to is at fault for letting Eve eat the fruit. Instead of jumping to her defence and reminding her of Gods command and His character he abdicates his responsibility. Adam was condemmed too, showing that he must have been at fault. God says:
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
And again to answer GGF’s question, i think the roles portrayed are relevant but not in the literal sense, the roles given at creation still stand, we are different and we are different for a reason. Men and Women are designed to be a perfect compliment to each other, two seperates makng one perfect whole. If we distort the roles then the two halves don’t fit together perfectly and problems arise.
Women are referred to as “the weaker vessel” by Peter, and I take that seriously. Paul also clearly and repeatedly asserts male headship. Wives are to honour husbands as the church loves God (by joyful submission) and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loves the church, by providing, sacrificing, taking responsibility, and leading.
Paul roots this headship in the creation order, so it is pre-fall. The fall just made it hard to bear – the men struggle to provide, and the women struggle to submit. But in so much as it can be obeyed faithfully, it’s a glorious picture of our trinitarian God. Jesus and the father are equal in deity and value, but the father delights in glorifying the son in loving leadership, and the son glorifies the father in loving submission.
It’s been tragically abused throughout history, mainly by men, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
Male headship, yes, I agree with that. It was the ‘ruling over’ bit which I was pointing out to be a punishment, which seems to be a negative thing, as opposed to the church and family system where the male leads.
Leading and ruling are two different things, maybe only subtley but still so. I may be wrong on this, however, as I’m not exactly a scholar!
Everyone is equal, but not everyone is the same
The question of gender and identity is one of the more controversial issues that has faced western society and the church in the last 30 years. The advent of feminism and the push for equal rights has rightly made us question long held views about men and women.
Read more at: http://www.christianity.net.au/world/gender
This comment has been edited by GGF