Unless otherwise noted, this paper is based on Jewish Social Philosophy Class taught by Gabriel Fagin, MA, LCSW, Adjunct Professor at Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
Assignment One
I always believed that when Adam and Eve were created, they were created together, connected as if Siamese twins at their backs. As a student learning the Bible, I also came to the awareness that Eve was formed from Adam’s rib subsequent to his creation. The Bible tells of the creation of Man and Woman in Chapter One of Genesis, as well as Chapter Two of Genesis. There are numerous differences stated in the text between Adam and Eve created in Chapter One of Genesis and Adam and Eve formed in Chapter Two of Genesis. Below I will delineate the differences and explain how the dynamics are played out through future generations in the nature of humankind.
The Adam and Eve created in Genesis, Chapter One were “formed in the Image of G-d” and there is no actual mention of ‘parts of man’ created at that time. Furthermore, Adam and Eve’s main purpose and mission in life as stated in Chapter One only comprises statements of ‘active verbs’, such as “subdue, dominate, rule, multiply and replenish”. Adam and Eve appear to have been created at the same time and there were no restrictions placed on them.
In contrast, the Adam and Eve creation described in Chapter Two of Genesis appears quite different. Adam was created first, from the dust of the earth as well as G-d blowing into his nostrils. Furthermore, unlike Adam’s creation in Chapter One which included Man’s Purpose as active verbs, the Adam in Chapter Two’s mission in life includes only passive verbs, such as “keep, guard, protect”; these are verbs of submission. Moreover, as stated earlier, Adam was cre...
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...inger on it’, reading and discussing “The Lonely Man of Faith” has brought me to this awareness and therefore I feel relieved that it is not only me feeling this way. We communicate both on a functional level at times, as well as a romantic level. As a couple that practices many of the laws of Taharat HaMishpacha, I can understand how following them can help improve our relationships as well. As I noted earlier, it is my belief that when one can synthesize these characteristics, we become better people, and achieve the creativity and redemption we are looking for.
In conclusion, studying and reviewing “The Lonely Man of Faith” and beginning to understand a minute amount of the inborn characteristics of human nature has brought me to a new understanding regarding human nature, regarding my marriage, regarding myself. It has been a tremendous learning experience.
From the very beginning of time we have Adam and Eve from the Christian bible. The story has been told in many different ways, including in plays, and sometimes teaches more than just about god. Eve is made from one of Adam’s ribs. Once the two eat from the tree of knowledge, they are to be punished from eating the forbidden apples that introduced sin into the world. God puts the curse of bearing children on Eve, because she was the first to bite and then tempted Adam. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and
In placing humankind within this world, it is the intent of God that humans enjoy this world and flourish in it through a continuing relationship with Him. And God said, “Let us make a human in our image, by our likeness, to hold sway over the fish of the sea and the fowl of the heavens and the cattle and the wild beasts and all the crawling things that crawl upon the earth” (Genesis 158-159). Therefore, He creates a human in His image, the image of God. God did not want man to be alone and decides to fashion a companion from the rib of man. “And the Lord God cast a deep slumber on the human, and he slept, and He took one of his ribs and closed over the flesh where it had been, and the Lord God built the rib He had taken from the human into a woman” (Genesis 160). Upon learning of this the human said, “This one at last, bone of my bones / and flesh of my flesh, / This one shall be called Woman, / for from man was this one taken” (Genesis 160). Human beings occupy center stage in this account of the world’s origin, but are held in low regard in Mesopotamian and Greek creation stories. In Enuma Elish, Marduk spoke to Ea of his idea for the creation of humankind, but Ea was the actual creator who devised how it should come about. In the Sixth Tablet, Marduk says, “My blood will I take and bone will I fashion / I will make man, that man may… / I will create man who shall
After the creation of Adam, God takes a piece of Adam’s rib and makes a women, “She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man (Genesis 2:23).” “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living (Genesis 2:20).” Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden with God and live in tranquility, in a sinless world.
“26 Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’” Genesis 1:26a, 1:27
Where Genesis I describes a more ordered creation - the manifestation of a more primitive cultural influence than was responsible for the multi-layered creation in Genesis II - the second creation story focuses less on an etiological justification for the physical world and examines the ramifications of humankind's existence and relationship with God. Instead of Genesis I's simple and repetitive refrains of "and God saw that it was good" (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25), Genesis II features a more stylistically advanced look at "the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" (Gen 2:4). While both stories represent different versions of the same Biblical event, Genesis II is significantly more complex than its predecessor and serves both to quantify the relationship between God and his creations and lay the foundation for the evolving story of humankind as well.
People hold many differing opinions about Genesis 1-3. Some people believe that God didn't want Adam and Eve to have the knowledge of good and evil because it would make them as gods. The purpose of this essay is to show that Adam and Eve caused the downfall of mankind.
story. The account of Adam and Eve in Genesis 1-3 is extremely similar to the
In the Bible [Genesis 4:1-8] we learn the story of two brothers, one called Cain, and the other Abel. Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve who were the first humans created by Jehovah. Abel was a shepherd and Cain was a farmer.
First, let us analyze the particulars of the Christian Genesis story as to begin formulating the basis of comparison and contrast. We shall look at the two parts of Genesis, the first discussing the formulation of earth and its inner particulars, in concert with the first few verses associated with the second part of Genesis, which touches on the creation of the first man and woman:
John H. Walton, the author of The Lost World of Adam and Eve, is the professor of the Old Testament at Wheaton College. He was a professor at Moody Bible Institute for twenty years prior to working at Wheaton College. He loves his job and is very passionate about interacting with students for the purpose of training them for ministry, something he often does during his spare time. He loves to be challenged by the material he sets before his students and enjoys taking it home to his family, where they use it to learn and grow in the Lord together. John Walton has a PhD in Hebrew and Cognitive Studies from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, along
When the modern person ponders the formation of human beings, our mind automatically goes to Adam and Eve, whom were the first man and woman created by God according to the Book of Genesis. Before there was Adam and Eve, diverse cultures came up with myths about the construction of humans. These myths included: “The Song of Creation” from the Rig Veda, An African Creation Tale, From the Popol Vuh, and A Native American Creation Tale “How Man Was Created” Each one of these legends gives a diverse perspective on the creation of human beings.
In Genesis, God made one male and later one female companion for him from his rib. In Egyptian lore, Neb-er-tcher created multiple men and woman from his tears at the same time, as shown when he states “…I gathered together my members, and I wept over them, and men and women sprang into being from the tears which came forth from my Eye.” Another apparent difference between the two texts is displayed when Neb-er-tcher creates two more Gods from his own being. Where Neb-er-tcher expanded the divine hierarchy, in Genesis, God remained the sole deity.
As one would say, there is always a reason for all creations and Genesis makes that saying very true. I believed that our parents are the ones who gave us life, but that is completely wrong because God is the one who made us when he “…created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them” (The New American Bible, Gen. 1.27). With that being said, Genesis clearly explains the reason for why there are specific gender roles for both man and woman that has been accepted in society for years in every culture. God gave women the role of a fulfilling the roles of a mother by giving her “…the pangs of…childbearing; in pain shall you bring forth children” (The New American Bible, Gen. 1.16). Similarly, God made man as “The man [who gives] names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals…” (The New American Bible, Gen. 1.20). Before I read the book of Genesis, I thought specific gender roles were made by individuals in society, but now I found to be that there is evidence to the origins of gender roles which happens to be in the book of Genesis. Therefore, Genesis is more than the tale of God’s creation because it marks the beginning of all existence in all
Milton’s poem Paradise Lost tells the story of Adam and Eve’s creation and how they came to their fall from innocence in the Garden of Eden. The poem does not start from the beginning but rather in the middle of the current action. At this point of the plot, readers already know why God has created Adam and Eve. It appears that God’s ultimate purpose for creating Adam and Eve was so he could pass on his greatest traits into physical form. Adam was created first which led to Eve’s creation for the sole reason that Adam needed a companion. As we see in countless examples of history, and even continue to see today, men hold more power and are displayed as more important figures in society. Paradise Lost makes the argument that a gender