Your Inner Eve Discovering God's Woman Within

God did not make us to be eaten up by anxiety, but to walk erect, free, unafraid in a world where there is work to do, truth to seek, love to give and win. Joseph Fort Newton I received an e-mail one day that contained humorous stories about children in a Catholic elementary school. One child said, "The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple." This child's understanding of the story is indeed humorous. But upon rereading the creation story recorded in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, I've started thinking about Eve and what she must have been thinking when she ate the fruit. First, though, let's look at the fact that there are two creation stories. The first one is found in Genesis 1:2627: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." It is the sixth day, and God has been working all week long creating the worldspeaking light into existence, separating the waters from the waters, and making firmament (whatever that is). Now God makes humanity in God's own imagemale and female. They both are given dominion over all things. There are no instructions about not eating from a particular tree. There is no language of husband and wifeit's all good in God's eyes, just be fruitful and multiply. Then, in Genesis 2:2, God has finished working and rested on the seventh day. But things shift by verse 7God is making man again out of the ground. "And the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." God then creates Eve from Adam's side. God commands them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What happened? Was God dreaming when God made them equals yesterday? Something must have happened that we are not privy to, because here on the eighth day there is a different creation story. This time there's talk about husband and wife, and leaving mother and father, cleaving and becoming one. Where did mothers and fathers come from? God is the only parent Adam and Eve have knownthere are no other people on earth. Maybe Moses had too much palm wine when he wrote this section, I don't know. But I do remember that as a young seminarian, I learned that according to the Hebrew tradition Adam's first wife was Lilith, who was his equal. She was a very liberated woman and did not like the way Adam was doing things, so she left the Garden. Let's just say, she wasn't interested in being a "helpmeet" for Adam. So this second wife, Eve, is created not equal to Adam, yet a part of him. Trust me, every theologian, minister, prophet, and priest will have their own interpretation and explanation of the creation story. Remember, some folks believe we evolved from primates. Still, whether you see this as two stories, or one story with a follow-up detailed summary, the impact throughout the ages has been the sameEve has borne the blame for "original sin." She was tempted to eat from the forbidden tree by the serpent, and she did eat. She also gave fruit to Adam, and he did eat. Their eyes were opened; they became fully aware of their nakedness and covered themselves with fig leaves. Later, when God came looking for them, God called out, "Adam, where are you?" They both were hiding from God among the trees. Adam answered, "I heard thy voice and I was afraid because I was naked." Then the inqNewman, Susan is the author of 'Your Inner Eve Discovering God's Woman Within', published 2005 under ISBN 9780345450807 and ISBN 0345450809.