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.

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.

Slay the Woman Loose the Dragon

Out of the wonderment and the power that was the very early church came a very angry dragon. The time of equal right and unity between men and women within the new faith was unfortunately short lived. The dragon had lost his hold over the woman and the huge polytheistic pantheons had begun to crumble. So the devil had to come up with a new way to revive the goddess and the catalyst came from within the church.

Remember how I discussed earlier that the woman seem to have a better perception of the spirit realm? I believe that is a gift that God gave woman that was intended to be coupled with mens strength of sober evaluation. So that together the perception of the woman and the evaluation of the man could produce proper judgement in situations. In Eden Eve could perceive the serpent but Adam was silent in his evaluation of the situation. Therefore proper judgment was not made. Maligned judgement of the situation lead to deception for both Adam and Eve.

Now we saw that the devil chose the woman not only because she was the one that bore the seed of man but also because of her spiritual perception. In this way the devil could use her for his spiritual deception via her sexuality and power of persuasion based in her spiritual sensitivity. This is how the role of the goddess flourished from the time of the Sumerian Inanna all the way through to the Greek goddesses like Artemis/Diana. What added fuel to the flame is that spiritual power was the only power that women were "allowed" to have in a man driven world. Then we saw how Jesus changed all that. The very early church was a spiritual power to be reckoned with because of the unity between men and women.

Greek Myth of Pandora

Before we move on I wanted to be sure to share one last Greek myth with you. You will see as we move into the time of the early church how this attitude towards woman was adopted by many a "church father". It was this attitude that fueled the fire while women were burned at the stake! If only these "fathers" had remembered the words of Paul to the Ephesians instead of seemingly ascribing to the paganist thought they were suppose to be rooting out! Again, you can not slay the dragon by killing the woman.

"For our struggle is NOT against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 5:12

The Greek Myth of the Mortal Pandora

"The gods keep hidden from men the means of life . . . Zeus in the anger of his heart hid it, because Prometheus the crafty deceived him; therefore he planned sorrow and mischief against men. He hid fire; but that the noble son of Iapetus stole again for men from Zeus the counsellor in a hollow fennel-stalk, so that Zeus who delights in thunder did not see it. But afterwards Zeus who gathers the clouds said to him in anger : `Son of Iapetos, surpassing all in cunning, you are glad that you have outwitted me and stolen fire--a great plague to you yourself and to men that shall be. But I will give men as the price for fire an evil thing in which they may all be glad of heart while they embrace their own destruction.'

Slay the Dragon Not the Woman

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28

I was going to try to avoid the verses in the new testament that have caused so much division in the church between men and woman. These verses have been re-hashed so many times you almost don't want to hear of them again! But because of what we have been discussing I find it necessary to visit a few of them. Many women have been deeply hurt by the way these verses have been taught. Which is a big indicator to me that they are not being taught correctly because God is not in the business of hurting people. I am hoping that you maybe see them in a different light putting them in context as to what type of women Paul was speaking to.

The words of Paul to women seem very harsh at times. But we have to remember that many of the people he was writing had never heard the gospel. The most common explanation is that the majority of the female coverts of the new testament church were prostitutes. It is true that prostitution was rampant throughout the Roman empire; both street and temple. They were always scantily clad, loaded with make-up, jewelry and spoke brazenly. Like most sexuality during that time there was an attitude of "anything goes". Sexuality was not an intimate male/female thing it was a ritualistic/hedonistic thing{as we have discussed in the other posts}. Infidelity, adultery, drugs and alcohol fueled the fire!

Power of the Goddess

So we have been discussing the word of the goddess through the old and new testament. I find it so interesting that in the way of "fertility goddesses" we went from Inanna and Ishtar whose temple practices involved copious amounts of sexual activity, a generous blurring of the lines between genders, and the consecration of any virginity or loss there of to the goddess herself.

As we moved into the new testament we have the goddess Cybele who still requires copious amounts of sexual activity for her worship but it is done in such a way that there in no fertility. Meaning that the sexual activity was between same sexes making it impossible to produce a child. Then we found Artemis to really be the antithesis of fertility in that she required anyone who worshipped her to never marry. This wasn't for virtuous reasons, this was because of the refusal to be attached to any man. Not only that but if one did marry and have a child it was quite possible you would suffer her wrath. Remember any woman who died in childbirth was attributed to Artemis. Their tunics would be taken to her as sacrifice. {according to the picture above maybe it was their bodies too!?!}We also discovered the eerie connection between a known abortion causing herb of the ancient world wormwood and the goddess. The herbs Latin name was Artemisia Vulgaris.

Sacred Sex & Ritual Marriage

So I have been spending a lot of time looking at mythology and ancient religions. Most of this was research for my "Bible Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll" post that I am adding to as I find new information. What I began to notice is how big a role the ancient fertility cults played in the world at that time. Also how under the guise of "sexual freedom" the devil was destroying sexuality and intimacy. Seeing that we have been discussing sexuality I thought it would be interesting to see how the devil has blurred the lines of sexuality from the very beginning. I believe it is part of the reason that he was in the garden.

Yesterday I read an interesting description of alchemy. Alchemy was known throughout the ancient world. But it really had a large following through the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Alchemy on one hand was the study of chemistry and paved the road for our modern day chemists. That side of it I think is wonderful...I have nothing against science! :D But the dark side of alchemy was the quest for a sacred elixir. A potion that would cure all diseases and give eternal youth. So in that sense it was more along the lines of the occult. Here is the definition I read.

Relationships: The One

Relationship Series...Click here to read the overview.

Fulfilling***Married***Passion***Ardent***Secret***Intimacy***Private***Unity

So we have made it to the very top of the list for loving relationships. This is when you and your beloved become one. Now I have already talked about "Why Marriage ?" in other posts so in this post I want to focus on the sexual side of marriage. It seems like the Bible is fairly silent as to what is to take place within the marriage. It tells us what NOT to do, but not real what we should do. In the new testament it basically just says to love and submit. Therefore I believe that even in Christian married circles the act of sex still seems a little un-spiritual. Even though...GOD INVENTED SEX FOR PLEASURE AS WELL AS PROCREATION!

So let go back to the Song of Solomon. Some say that this book is to be an allegory of God and the church in hopes to "spiritualize" the book. Look guys...this is a book about the courting, marriage and expression of two human people in love. This is a book that show the celebration of the two sexes becoming one in spirit and body. Intimate, sensual, passionate, steamy yet totally holy and ordained by God!

Relationships: Beloved {Part Two}

Relationships Series...click here to read the overview.

***Special***Exclusive***Intimate***Captivated***Sensual***Desire***Intrigue***Charmed

"He has brought me to his banquet hall, And his banner over me is love." Song of Solomon 2:4

So in the last post we talked a little about the difference between "L-longing O-obsession" and LOVE. You need all four letters for LOVE. L-longing O-obsession V-validated E-equally. To be "in love" the feelings need to be reciprocated from the other person. So what I want to discuss in the post is a couple that are committed to one another but not married. They are in a committed relationship with one another only.

The Song of Solomon is a beautiful poem of the deep intimacy and love that God desires for us to have with one another. The first three and a half chapters of the book are the courtship between the two lovers. It is the conversations of the two pledging their love to one another and also pledging their intimacy to one another. So what does it mean to be intimate with someone prior to marriage? These days when people hear the word "intimacy" they automatically think of sex. While sex is the most intimate act that God created for two humans to experience; it should be the celebration of an intimacy already in place.

Relationships: Beloved {Part One}

Relationship Series....click here for an overview.

Beloved***Delight***Desire***Captivated***Exclusive***Sensual***Promised***Charmed

"I charge you...do not stir up or awaken my love until she pleases." Song of Solomon 8:4

So we have worked our way up the relationship chart to come to "Beloved". This is someone that you have been affected by and you have deep affection for. Hopefully the affection is for both for the physical and the spiritual in that person. Also that the affection for the spiritual is rooted in God's truth and principles.

So how do you know if you are "in love"? Well I'd say one of the most important things is that the other person feels the same way as you do. You can't be in love with someone that has not reciprocated the same feelings. Now I am not saying that you don't feel genuine love for that person. But you are only half of the equation. Think of it like this.     L-longing O-obsession V-validated E-equally

If the other person does not feel the same way about you, you only have the first part of the word...L-longing O-obsession. Also known as infatuation or a crush. Now I do not believe that it is wrong to have a crush on someone, to a certain extent. If you start lusting over that person that is a different story. But I think people can have intense feelings for someone and not be lusting. Remember God created us to have relationships. He created us to be attracted to one another. The biggest problem with a crush is that it is easy to get hurt. You have to remember to love yourself too.

Relationships: Kindred Spirit

Relationship Series...click here for an overview.

Delight***Cherish***Devotion***Integrity***Dear***Admiration***Praiseworthy***Esteem

So we have been discussing relationships. In the last couple of posts we have been discussing friends in general. This post is dedicated to some one that we would call a best friend. Someone that you have a deeper affection for more than your other friends. This could be someone of the same sex or someone of the opposite sex, but is necessarily a boyfriend or girlfriend. We will get to them in the next post.

I can think of no better example of what a kindred spirit should be than David and Jonathan in the Bible. These were two men that had a deep affection for one another. They were committed to each other and committed to God. They are a perfect example of the deeply satisfying relationships that we can have without any hint of romance being involved. Today in our society David and Jonathan's relationship could easily be misconstrued as a homoerotic relationship or a "bromance" at the very least. Which again is very sad. Society has sexualized everything to the point that it seems almost impossible to think of being friends with someone with no sexualization involved! The devil is stealing what would otherwise be a deeply satisfying, affectionate, non-sexual relationship. It doesn't have to be this way folks. Let's look at what the bible says.

Relationships: Friend {Part Two}

Relationship Series...click here to read the overview.

Fellowship***Edify***Confidant***Companion***Esteem***Trustworthy***Positive***Righteous

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have a sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart." 1 Peter 1:22



So we are continuing from the last post discussing the specific relationship of "friends". Friends are people that you have personally been affected by and now have affection for. What is different in this relationship compared to the "neighbor" relationship is that the feelings of affection are reciprocated. Two people are actively involved.

In this post I want to discuss the idea of fellowship with our friends. It seems that these days we have lost the true, deep fellowship that we are to have with our friends. Anytime I see the word fellowship, I think of "Lord of the Rings" or the "Knights of the Round Table". People that had such strong affection for one another that they were willing give their lives for one another. They stood together through lifes perils and challenged one another to be better humans{or elves, hobbits and dwarfs...lol}.

So the question here is why are we friends with the people we are friends with? Is it because they agree with everything we say? Is it because they have the same character weaknesses as us? Is it because they have the same addictions as us? Is it because they are weaker than us and we can control them? Is it because they are the "beautiful" people or the cool crowd? If the answer is "yes" to any of those questions, that is not the foundation for a loving relationship. You are neither loving yourself or the other person. Our friendships and affections should always bring glory to God.

Relationships: Friend {Part One}

Relationship Series...click here for the overview.

Fondness***Honor***Respect***Admiration***Empathy***Regard***Esteem***Warmness

"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." Proverbs 17:17

We have covered what it is to love you enemy and to love your neighbor. Now we come to the largest group of people. Your friends. Who are your friends? Friends are people that you have personally been affected by and now have affection for. Now we saw in the last post that God can give affection for a certain group of neighbors. What is different with a friend is that the affection is reciprocated to the point that a friendship is formed. You continue to interact with this person. It isn't just a one time thing.

So with friends we already have the feeling to love. It is not something that we have to will in obedience to God's command like with the enemy and neighbor. Now for the sake of this post I want you to just think of friends in general. I am not talking about your best friend or boyfriend/girlfriend or spouse. We will get to them in the next posts. What we are discussing here are the friends that you have affection or a fondness of, not someone you are "in love" with.

Relationships: Neighbor

Relationships series...click here for the overview.

Charity***Sympathy***Compassion***Mercy***Justice***Dignity***Loving-Kindness

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27

So we have discussed what it means to love our enemies. Now the next level of intimacy is our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? These are people that you actually come in personal contact with. These are the people that you live by or work with. Friends of friends or acquaintances. This is the girl in the checkout line at the grocery store. This is the lonely guy at the party. People that you have an interface with but are not friends with.

Your neighbor is also the bum on the street corner. The poor and the needy. The oppressed and forgotten. So these are people that you have been affected by personally or that God has affected your heart for personally. You hear people say "God has really given me a heart for the girls enslaved in sex trafficking." That is a call from God to love a specific neighbor. But these are people that you don't necessarily have affection for or personal relationship with. For all intents and purposes you do not call them a friend. But you are called to love.

Relationships: Enemy

Relationship series...click here for the overview.

Goodwill***Forgiveness***Reconciliation***Openness***Listening***Testify***Intercede

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." Luke 6:27-28

This relationship is the most broad. These are people that otherwise wouldn't fall into one of the other "relationships" we will be talking about. {see pic}. Now people either think this command is really easy because they have no enemies. Or people find it very hard because they do have an enemy and the last thing they want to do is love them. But none the less we are commanded by God to love our enemies. So lets start with the people who think they have no enemies.

When you see the word enemy think in terms of opposition. Not people that are necessarily personally opposed to you but people that are different than you. People that have different beliefs than you. People with a different theology than you. People that have different morals than you. People that are indifferent to you in any way. These are the people you are to love. Think on a global scale. These are not people that you have necessarily been in contact with or personally affected by; this is mankind in general. {we will get to neighbors in the next post}

The Lost Art of Relationships

The world seems to be in a whole lot of confusion and deception when it comes to the subject of relationships. There are tons of people out there that have been deeply hurt in this area. There are a whole lot of people out there who are desperate for love and acceptance. Sexuality in our society have been grossly mistreated. There are so many wrong things being done in the name of love that many people don't have any concept of what love is really suppose to be.

Love is not subjective to be defined by each person individually. All love is not God. God is love and therefore love should be defined by his truth and principles. Love outside the truth and principles of God is not what love is suppose to be. Now I am not saying that someone outside God's truth doesn't feel love. Love is most certainly a feeling and a emotion that is inherent to all mankind. But love is also a command from God. So that tells me that there are rules and boundaries that go with that command to define what it is suppose to look like. It also means that we are able to control it.

Song of Solomon Outline

This is by far the best outline I have found for the "Song of Solomon". It is from the Ryrie Study Bible. Although I do not agree with all of Ryrie's commentary, his outline for this book is spot on!

It is different than the breakdown in most NIV bibles, but to me it flows much better. It paints a wonderful picture of a righteous courtship, wedding and marriage that is full of passion, sex and pleasure! Just the way God created it to be!  {photos by Punam Bean}