GOD DID NOT CURSE EVE

So over the past couple of months we have been talking a lot about the roll of women in the Bible and in ancient mythology. I find myself always going back to Genesis to look at what exactly happened there.  There are still things I am trying to figure out.  I have talked a bit about the fact that God did NOT curse Eve. {He only cursed the devil}I've talked about the Sumerian goddess Inanna and the myth of her garden tree. Now I want to put everything all together. I'm not totally sure on all my thoughts but really just thinking out loud and working some ideas out. As we approach good Friday I think it is important to see what Jesus accomplished and fulfilled on the cross in regards to women. So here are my latest thoughts on the subject.

In my research yesterday I came across a woman named Katharine Bushnell. She was a bible scholar, doctor and missionary in China in the early 1900s. She helped translate the Bible into Chinese{Mandarin or Cantonese; I'm not sure}. She has come across several interesting findings that co-inside with what we have been discussing. I have just begun to uncover her writings. So far I am in agreement with what she has to say about what happened in Eden and especially the mistranslation of Genesis 3:16. Which we will get to in a moment.

First let's recap some of the things that we have discussed in the other posts on Eden. I think that Eve was the one tempted by the Devil because of her dominion and her ability to bring forth life. I also believe that Eve could see in the spirit differently than Adam. This could of been part of how she was to "help" Adam, just as the Spirit a "helper" of God and those that yield to him. It's curious that Adam never mentions the serpent and I think that is because he couldn't see him. Notice it wasn't until after Adam ate the fruit that "both their eyes were opened" maybe Eve's eyes already were.

Tear Down the Wall

{illustrations by William Blake}

Jesus and Gender

As I was reading through the gospels the other day looking for how Jesus related to women I was struck by two sets of verses. They are verses that I had read many times before but this time saw in a different light in regards to gender and how God relates to his people. Moreover the groundwork that Jesus was laying for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Acts. For it is through the Spirit that man and woman become one and equal in Christ.

"Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." Matt. 12:47-50

"And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." Luke 8:21

I find it very interesting that Jesus spoke these words after he had been talking about the Devil and spiritual warfare. It where he says "every house divided can not stand"{Matt.12:25}. I have always read these verses to mean that God should be the most important. God should be number one in your life even above your family. And I think that is true. But this time when I read these verses again I heard Jesus speaking out against inequality in gender. Jesus was saying "Be One!".

In the body of Christ there should be no divisions. In the body of Christ male isn't above the female. In the body of Christ female is not above male. In the body of Christ male and female are equal! Not that we just both get to go to heaven. God's kingdom on earth should be as it is in heaven. We should be equal in our relation to one another so that we can be unified in our reaching out to the lost. We are both heirs{male} and we are both the bride{female}. This was ground breaking for the times. This shouldn't need to be ground breaking 2000 years later.

Yet there is still so much gender division in the body of Christ. And I believe that is part of the reason why we are not standing as a light to the lost; both male and female.  Only having respect for women is not the same as seeing them as equal.  People are finding their equality in places other than the church.  That is sad indeed!  This is part of the huge swell of women being drawn to Wicca and the goddess worship we have discussed in other posts.  The church should be the cornerstone of justice and equality of women, not the goddess. The church should be filling the hunger of these women to be healers, prophets and purveyors of the supernatural; not the goddess.

Feminine Spirit of the Gospels

This is just a list of some verses from the gospels of women who who could perceive the Spirit before the outpouring in Acts. I think it is so cool to see that women were already sensitive to the Spirit and moreover that the authors of the gospels mention them. These women were facilitating and acting in a Spirit of wisdom that should inspire all of us.

An angel appears to Zechariah to tell him he and Elizabeth will have a son. Zechariah questions the Lord, but Elizabeth believes.

"Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on [me], to take away my reproach among men." Luke 1:25

I am sure it is this attitude that had to do with the Lord choosing Mary to be the mother of our Savior.

"And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour." Luke 1:46-47
Anna, a prophetess at the temple, Recognises Jesus as Savior even though he is only a few days old.

"Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem." Luke 2:38

This woman knew Jesus was not like the other rabbis and would not think her "unclean" for her blood issue.

"And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years...When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole." Mark 5:27,28

The rejected Canaanite women is not too proud to beg even for the crumbs of Jesus. She had a hunger even though she was rejected. Jesus honored her by saving her daughter.

"And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, [thou] Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us...But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast [it] to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." Matt. 15:22,26-27

Male & Female Function of God

Continuing from the last post{click here} we are discussing the male and female aspects of God. Not that God is part male and part female; God is a spirit. But God can and does function as both male and female. The male function tending to be through God the Father and Jesus His son; the female function being through the the Holy Spirit. We don't need the bible to make God neuter in order to see this. Any thought that the Bible needs to refer to God as an "it" instead of a "he" is silly and at the very least impersonal. God is a personal God and he personally functions as both male and female. I want to draw out these functions to give women especially a sense of who they are and who they can be in God.

On that same note we don't need the Bible to be neuter when referring to mankind either. The Bible is the word of God to his people, not just men and not just women. So if you come across verses that seem to be just talking to "men" don't think that you can glean from it as a woman. Same goes for the opposite. God tells us that male and female are mankind. So read His word as such.

"He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them Adam {mankind}." Genesis 5:2

Women were equally created in the image and likeness of God but have seemed to be but a shadow among their male counterparts through history. {We have discussed much of this in the last several posts}. So for a quick review lets look how it all started.

God is NOT a Man, God is a Spirit

So we have been talking about the goddess trough history and how the enemy has used to the goddess as a power and a comfort for women. We have discussed how through the ages that hasn't been hard to do since women have been faced by a largely misogynistic world or at the very least one that has been in large part run by men. Therefore women who have been hurt in this area have shied away from any association with a patriarchal God. And really who can blame them? But what needs to be clarified is that any hurt or fear that has come in the name of a patriarchal God is Not God, because God is not in the business of fear and hurting people.

So where does a woman find her place within a patriarchal faith? I have touched a bit on what God intended when he created the two sexes and how the enemy screwed that all up. How the enemy used what happened in Eden as a catalyst for his role as goddess and gender confusion through the ages. So now that we know that it is the enemy behind the goddess how can women find what they were searching for from the goddess in God? That is what I am in the process of trying to figure out. So I will share what I have come up with so far. Starting things off with one of the ten commandments from God.