20.       RE-READING THE FALL
                                                                        Gen. 3

                                                                      Jacinta Prakashappa

Introduction:

    In this Bible study, we continue our reflection on the story of creation, re-reading the third chapter of Genesis with new eyes.
The Image of God is Obscured:
    Down the ages the creation story has been misinterpreted.  Religion which has tremendous hold on the consciousness of people is misused by patriarchal tendencies, to propagate anti-women attitudes.
    Both creation stories in the Bible are told from a dominant male perspective.  In their retelling even into the present, woman is depicted negatively as a seducer, temptress, weak willed and emotional.  This has given rise to portraying woman as a sex object.  She is feared, devalued, ignored, and abused.  By dominating over woman, man has obscured the image of God and humiliated himself.

I.    Sin and Its Consequences (Gen.3)
    The author of the second story of creation continues the narrative: Adam and Eve disobey God and are punished.  It has come to be referred to as “original sin,” since it is considered the origin of all sins, but the term “sin” is not used by the writer.  Neither does the term “Fall” appear anywhere in the Biblical text, with the connotation of human sin and disobedience.  Gen. 2:5-25 confirms that sin is not part of God’s intention in creation.

a.    Sin  Causes  Disharmony:
    When sin disrupts the harmonious creation, the earth shares the punishment of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:17-18).  The cosmic world revolts against injustice (Ezek. 6:10, Mt. 27:45, 51).  Creation bears the deep wounds of sin, the devastation caused by human greed, cruel and cunning devices, and weapons of death.  Creation groans with pain for the liberation that can stop violence.  Even though humans are thoughtless, creation who once nurtured her children longs to continue her material obligations (Rom. 8:22).

b.    Sin is an Offense:
    It is an offense to grab what is not our own.  Depriving the poor and amassing profit at their expense, making policies that cripple them for life, are perennial sources of sin.  If a brother or sister is hungry or naked, we are obliged to find out their need and render help, not to further reduce them to misery.  Life is from God, it is to be respected, however small or insignificant.  Death and decay are the outcome of sin.  Every tendency to acquire more, and every attempt to force and control is offensive to the creator.

c.    Sin is Estrangement
    After committing sin, Adam acts independently by himself, the verbs thereafter are singular.  The man blames the woman, and she in turn blames the serpent.  Every domination over another or evading responsibility perpetuates sin.  Sin becomes a chain action of estrangement.  Irresponsible decisions lead to bigger sins.  Sin is social, structural, and contemporary.  “Blaming over-population for environmental destruction obscures the main causes of crises:  war, military spending over consumption needs, unequal holdings, debt, the oppression of women in all forms.”  Such actions force humans to turn away from God, from each other, and from the friendly creation.
    The story of creation speaks  of our human situation tainted by sin.  The victims do not choose this wretched situation, yet in some  strange way they desire it.  Childbirth is both joyful and painful.  Women hate their dominating husbands but crave for them.  The cultivated land yields corns and thorns.  Humans are mortals, yet death is dreaded.  Creation is meant for celebration, but there is devastation and destruction for selfish gain.  Humans are meant for fellowship and communication, yet they form sinful social stratifications based on race, class, caste, sex and so on.  This is our ambiguous human condition.

d.    God’s Intention:
    Sin is contrary to God’s creation which is good.  Jesus Christ came to liberate us from sins of injustice, greed, insensitivity towards creation and other humans, and passivity which helplessly accepts all forms of domination.
    Jesus Christ came to restore order by making peace, by breaking barriers, building bridges (Jn. 14:27).  We are invited to follow Christ who has inaugurated the Year of the Lord’s favour (Lk. 4:19) as a time of reconciliation that is interpersonal, political, economic and ecological.

II.        New Creation: Mary, in the Catholic Christian                    Tradition:
    When the image of God was no longer visible among humans, God projected a new humanity, the mother of the Messiah, the new Eve, who will restore creation.  As the spirit of God moved over the formless void and blessed it with fruitfulness, Mary was over shadowed by the spirit to become the mother of God.  The new Eve places her confidence in God’s messenger (Lk. 1:38), and not in the serpent.

a.    Mary is prophetically over shadowed in the promise given to Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:15).  She is the Virgin who shall conceive and bear a son (Is. 7:14, Mic. 5:2-3, Mt. 1:22-23).  Death came through a woman and life too comes through a woman.  The woman of Genesis (3:15) is regarded by Catholic Christians as the ray of hope and new humanity.  Tradition through centuries has called Gen. 3:15, Proto Evangelium,  she is the divine choice and hope that humans will ultimately be created in God’s true image and likeness.

b.    God speaks to Eve/Mary and awaits a response from her.  She makes a decision independently.  For her God alone matters.  Stereotyped roles do not affect her and she is not shaken by the consequences of the decision.  Mary, the plenitude of grace (Lk. 1:28), a woman of great faith, says “YES” to God (Lk. 1:38).  Her answer is a challenge to the patriarchal norms, the privilege of making independent decisions.  Mary gains through her obedience what Eve lost through her disobedience.

c.    Mary herself predicted, “all generations will call me blessed because the Mighty has done great things for me” (Lk. 1:48).  Honouring Mary is a special tradition among the Catholic Christians.  However, authentic honouring of Mary should be more oriented towards imitating her role and virtues than to external pious devotions.  Elizabeth Johnson observes, “the exaltation of Mary can indicate the missing dimension of the concept of God in a traditionally Catholic theology which has been heavily conditioned by patriarchal thinking.”  Today Mary is hailed as the model of the liberated woman, strong, mature, a person of deep faith experience, who places her confidence in God, coupled with ceaseless effort to do God’s will.
    In her life Mary experienced the pain of being marginalized in society.  She was displaced in Bethlehem and exiled to Egypt.  She experienced the humility of the hard working poor when she could only offer the offering of the poor, a pair of turtle doves, as she presented her son in the temple (Lk. 2:24).  She may have been the bread earner of the family in later years.  Being victimized by the power structure, she experienced the traumatic shock of sending her innocent son to the gallows.  She endured with him the intensity of his suffering, associating herself with his sacrifice.
    God trusted Mary with God’s son, and Jesus entrusted the Church to her protection (Jn. 19:26-27).  She was present in the upper room with the disciples in prayer, awaiting the empowering spirit (Acts. 1:14).  But Mary , the Christ bearer, today, would find herself excluded from this inner circle by Christology.  The dignity and status that women gained in the Jesus movement and the early church was replaced very soon by hierarchical segregation and gender discrimination.  God created humans in God’s image and likeness, but the image quickly becomes hazy whenever women are concerned.
    Growth, mutuality and reciprocity are needed, be it in the familial, social or ecclesial area; always the human person is more important than sexuality.  The New Testament scholar C.H. Dodd expresses,

More than half of the members of Christian churches find themselves inferiorised and excluded by Christology. God revealed in Jesus Christ was the same God who created the world... this concept of divine identity of Christ is inclusive of women.

Mime (without words)

    Use a few members to make a cart with wheels, using two wheels.  1) wheels are unequal,  2) wheels are equal.  Load the cart fully and drive it across the room (or stage).

1.    Cart breaks down
    Full of problems
    Fights, unhappiness, sad, frustrated.
2.    The cart is successful
    No problems
    Has speed
    They sing along, Happy.

    Speak of equality of male and female, support it from Gen. 1 & 2.

Endnotes:

1.    H. Patricia Hynes, “Beyond Global House Keeping,” in     Woman in Action, 4/91, 19, p. 21.
2.    Gabriele Dietrich, “Development, Ecology, and     Women’s Struggles,”  Social Action  38, 1988, p. 6.
3.    “Women, Power and Empowerment,”  Women’s Link,      2 July-Sept, 1996.
4.    Elizabeth A. Johnson, “Mary & the Female Face of     God,”  Theological Studies  1989, pp. 500-526.
5.    C.H. Dodd,  The Interpretation of the Fourth Gospel,      New York:  Cambridge U.P., 1963, p. 263.
6.    Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza,  “Breaking the Silence -     Becoming Visible,”  Concilium 182, Edinburgh: T & T     Clarke  Ltd., pp. 3-16.


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