I was unable to attend and present last year due to a university requirement, so I am resubmitting that proposal that was accepted.
Genesis 1-2 depicts an idyllic world in which humans occupy the prominent place of bearing God’s image and ruling over all creation. Notably, God creates these image-bearers as “male and female” (Gen 1:27), and his commission to multiply and rule well over the earth is directed to “them” (Gen 1:28), not just “him” or “her.” This condition is assessed as tov meod (very good) by the creator (Gen 1:31). Contrastingly, Genesis 2 presents another angle of the creation narrative in which the male was created first, and God assesses this condition as lo tov (not good) in Gen 2:18. When God creates the woman and brings her to the man, the narrative implies the change meriting God’s assessment of tov meod in Genesis 1. Finally, the pair’s mutual disobedience of God’s command concerning the fruit of the tree in Genesis 3 demonstrates that a corrupted relationship to God yields a corrupted relationship to one another. They hide their nakedness from one another with fig leaves (Gen 3:7), which previously communicated remarkable trust and unity (Gen 2:25), and in his pronouncement of their consequences, God states that the woman’s desire would be for her husband, but he would rule over her (Gen 3:17). In egalitarian and complementarian discussions, of course this verse is understood in various ways, yet all agree that it demonstrates a corruption of the tov meod relationship the man and woman previously enjoyed.
One gains some clarity in debates by centering the discussion around disagreements, yet this tendency also serves to further division and to conceal the tov meod reality of God’s activity to create and, post-Genesis 3, restore the beautiful complementarity of male and female as God’s image. This project will present the findings of a work-study group of undergraduate students working with me to explore examples of beautiful male/female complementarity in the Old Testament, giving particular attention to details that highlight the unique male or female contributions to these relationships. A secondary exploration, particularly if the first yields little data, is to consider the opposite: Can we identify particular harms brought about by uniquely male or female impediments to the relationship? We expect this study to: (1) cultivate worship because of God’s wisdom and goodness in the male/female design, (2) identify the compelling beauty of working from our gendered selves to love our opposite-gendered neighbors as ourselves, and (3) possibly identify conclusions which might inform further healthy discussion regarding egalitarianism and complementarianism.
Initial subjects to study will include Adam and Eve (Gen 1-4), the marriages of the Patriarchs (Gen 12-35), Mosaic laws involving male/female relationships in marriages, families, and neighbors, Moses and Miriam, Hebrew midwives and the male children (Exod 1), Rahab and the spies (Josh 2), Barak, Deborah, and Jael (Judg 4-5), Boaz and Ruth (Ruth 2-4), David and Abigail (1 Sam 25), Mordecai and Esther, Male/Female relationships in Proverbs, and the lovers in Song of Songs. The group will continue to identify other passages to study as the project unfolds.