Genesis 2:20-25: Male and Female He created them
Male and Female as the Image of God
Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
God created us in his own image. And he also made male and female. So, I assume that both male and female are in the image of God. However, is there a connection between the image of God and the fact that we are male and female? I think that thereHere is my reasoning.
1) God is perfect and complete.
2) Humanity is not complete (even in the garden). We need something outside of ourselves to be complete.
3a) In the context of the Garden of Eden, God provided for the limited nature of humanity.
3b) He provided himself to walk with humanity in the Garden. Even in the garden, humanity still needed God's presence and stability. Without God, humanity cannot fulfill the created purpose provided by God. We need God.
3c) Genesis 2:20 says "But for Adam no suitable helper was found." So God made Eve to complement Adam and "complete" him in his humanity.
4) Therefore, being in God's image, among other things, can mean "being complete." Thus, male and female is not just a statement of design in nature, but also an illustration that we were made for community--with God and with humanity. We are made complete by other people, and we function in his image by acknowledging both the male and female in our existence.
So, here are some questions based on the above logic:
1) Is this aspect of completeness a reflection of the Trinity, where God has three persons who make One God? Can two "who become one flesh" reflect the depth and mystery of the Trinity?
2) God is unlimited by time or space. However, humanity is limited by time and space. So, is it through male and female (procreation) that humanity reflects the ability of God to expand in, impact, and relate to the universe?
I use the term "reflect" because I think that , even though we share the image of God, we can only reflect his glory, like the moon for the sun. The sun is fundamentally different from the moon, as are we different from God.
Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."
God created us in his own image. And he also made male and female. So, I assume that both male and female are in the image of God. However, is there a connection between the image of God and the fact that we are male and female? I think that thereHere is my reasoning.
1) God is perfect and complete.
2) Humanity is not complete (even in the garden). We need something outside of ourselves to be complete.
3a) In the context of the Garden of Eden, God provided for the limited nature of humanity.
3b) He provided himself to walk with humanity in the Garden. Even in the garden, humanity still needed God's presence and stability. Without God, humanity cannot fulfill the created purpose provided by God. We need God.
3c) Genesis 2:20 says "But for Adam no suitable helper was found." So God made Eve to complement Adam and "complete" him in his humanity.
4) Therefore, being in God's image, among other things, can mean "being complete." Thus, male and female is not just a statement of design in nature, but also an illustration that we were made for community--with God and with humanity. We are made complete by other people, and we function in his image by acknowledging both the male and female in our existence.
So, here are some questions based on the above logic:
1) Is this aspect of completeness a reflection of the Trinity, where God has three persons who make One God? Can two "who become one flesh" reflect the depth and mystery of the Trinity?
2) God is unlimited by time or space. However, humanity is limited by time and space. So, is it through male and female (procreation) that humanity reflects the ability of God to expand in, impact, and relate to the universe?
I use the term "reflect" because I think that , even though we share the image of God, we can only reflect his glory, like the moon for the sun. The sun is fundamentally different from the moon, as are we different from God.
8 Comments:
This is a point where I get confused by my own logic, so I end up having to say it is of the mystery that is God...Woman, according to microscopic chromozomology is more complete than man as man does appear to be missing a rib of chromosome, thus supporting the creation story of Gen 2 and becoming then the first Biblibcal site of 'one of those places' where science seems to be sayng 'an incontrovertible God'!
I may have to question to some degree the use of the word complete in referring to the state of Adam and Eve. While one of its nuanced meanings is 'perfect', it also and more primarily means finished, over, done. So Ish may be fulfilled when joined with Isha, and, while without sin, Adam and Woman may have been more nearly perfect(comnplete?) had they eaten of the Tree of Life, but they ate that other fruit whereby they realized their incompleteness(sin and guilt) so the Tree of Life was kept from their diet and thus they remain incomplete but perhaps fulfilled(less lonely) in each other. As to: Were they 'complete' meaning perfect? Not for long, if at all, and only in that euphemism called 'potential'....
more by clicking Robefre/Out of the Shadow above
RFR
At '3c' I wonder, 'if Eve is a Helper, why then is she more complete than Adam?'
And then I remember the purported example provided by the Geishas of Japan with their complete(consummate and ongoing) education and refinement in order to present to very wealthy and powerful figures a refreshing, exciting and deft ability at conversation on all topics, chiropracty, etiquettte and poetic recital but most especially humble service. hmmm.
I note that the verse cite d does not mention the purpose to tend the garden and so wonder if man's manual labor on earth should not be counted as a part of his fulfillment(reflection of the Godhead) as well?
rfr
else would he not be incomplete
Sorry I have been delinquent in my responses--I am displaced from my office, and thus living in some parallel universe through my home computer.
The key to the discussion is the definition of completiona and perfection.
In the garden, humanity was given everything they needed. The fact that they had needs indicates something less than self-sufficiency. They were given the opportunity to be "creative" with the environment that God created. So, I can see where "work" and "creativity" are both a part of God's intended purpose, and thus his image.
I don't seek to affirm any of these observations with scientific proof. To me, this is all theological observation. Science does not help me here. It simply bogs me down. This is not say that I am not willing to acknowledge some scientific observations. However, the reality of humanity is not measured by chromosomes, but by the identity endowed by the creator.
Thankyou Randy,
I hope the staining and carpet is coming down well.
I become scientist(perhaps faux or quasi is better) partly from upbringing and partly to become as scientist and thereby speak to scientists or faux scientists in order to help bring about an understanding of who God is--but is theology not some form in part of science if science is ideally defined as 'to know' or 'observation understood'?
RFR
Theology is a human system, and thus carries some form of orderly or "scientific" observation. But it does not always require absolute scientific proof. And science itself does not always require absolute scientific proof. So, in some ways theology and science are art--with room for interpretation.
I do not know how we completely divorce ourselves from our western mind set of empirical evidence.
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