Our Christian fundamentalist friends like to use the creation story or stories in their defense for opposing marriage equality. But, is this really an accurate or legitimate defense? For the record, I believe that both creation stories (yes, there are two) are Jewish folklore and should not be taken literally. However, that is not how many of our opposition feel and think about the issue. So, for purposes of this diary, we will assume that the creation story is valid. Both of the following passages are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Genesis 1:26-28
26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
And, Genesis 2:18-25
18) And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19) And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20) And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21) And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22) And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23) And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Let's go below the fold for the discussion of these passages.
Since Genesis was written in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic, we will look at the language context in at least one area/verse. But, we can stick to this English translation for the most part.
If we just look at the way that Genesis 1:27 is written, it appears that Adam was originally male and female (and, in the image of G-d). That would make the adam androgynous. Many scholars accept that interpretation, and I do as well. Eve is not created until G-d is looking for a "help meet" for Adam as is indicated in chapter two. So, G-d did not create Adam and then Eve from Adam because strict gender roles are important. G-d did not want Adam to be alone. S/He needed a "help meet."
From my rabbinical student friend:
The text says "male and female S/HE created them, not "males and females." The Adam was originally an androgyne, both male and female, created in the Divine Image.
Indeed, G-d is spoken of in feminine terminology in the Bible as well as masculine.
G-d is often referred to as feminine in the Bible, El Shaddai means G-d with breasts, female breasts, and El Rachum means G-d with a womb.
And, then in verse 28, G-d tells them to go and multiply (reproduce). There is nothing about a (civil) marriage there in chapter one. However, if we are to assume that there were only two human beings at the time (notwithstanding the story of Lilith), reproducing would seem to be mandatory if extinction is to be avoided.
In chapter two, G-d decides that Adam needs a "help meet." So, first G-d brings each of the different animals to Adam to see if they will be acceptable as his help meet. I won't go into what some liberal scholars believe "naming the animals" entails or involves. But, at any rate, they are found lacking, so G-d puts Adam to sleep and then creates Eve from Adam's rib (or side). And, Adam decides to call this new human being "woman." It appears that Adam is quite pleased with Eve, and launches into this little speech about her being bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. And, we assume that the part about becoming one flesh means that they had sexual intercourse (and, reproduced).
From Gay Christian 101"
In reality, the traditional view of Genesis 2, believed by many Christians, distorts scripture by assuming facts not in evidence. Genesis is an explanation of origins. It is not a dissertation on marriage relationships. God asserts the importance of human relationships by observing:
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Genesis 2:18
(from the KJV - the most gay-friendly English Bible available today. "Meet" means fitting, suitable, appropriate for).
Again from my rabbinical student friend:
In Genesis G-d decides to create a helper for the Adam, "ezor," a masculine form, not "ozeret," the feminine. It appears that Adam and Steve WAS the original plan.
I believe that verses 23 and 24 of the second chapter is where we get the bit about there being a marriage in the creation story. However, there is no mention of a wedding ceremony. There is no ancient Hebrew word for marriage. And, the word translated as wife in verse 25 is actually the ancient Hebrew word for woman. There is no separate word for "wife" in ancient Hebrew. The only part that might indicate a marriage is the part about the cleaving. However, this same language (d-v-q) is used in Ruth to describe Ruth's cleaving to Naomi.
Even if we assume that Adam and Eve were married, there is no prohibition of same-sex marriage in those passages. That is simply read into the story by conservative Christians, but it's NOT in the text. And, of course Adam and Eve needed to be heterosexual if they were to reproduce and if Eve was to be an acceptable help meet for Adam. Adam is speaking in that text, so this would seem to be his fantasy, not G-d's.
More from my rabbinical student friend:
Genesis 2:23-24:
The verse is not a commandment, but merely a description of what generally happens. In Autumn leaves fall from trees to the ground, but not every leaf lands on the ground.
Furthermore, the word for cleave, "d-v-q," is the same word used of Ruth's cleaving to Naomi.
I think, however, that my favorite answer to this use of the creation story in this way by conservatives comes from a lesbian Christian friend of mine. She has authorized me to repeat her words, and I have on numerous occasions. They follow:
Were Adam and Eve Black, Brown, Red, White, Yellow skinned?
Were Adam and Eve black, brown, red, blonde headed?
Were Adam and Eve right handed or left handed?
Were Adam and Eve seven feet tall or three feet tall?
There is a lot of diversity in the human population G-d created when G-d created humanity. Gay males and Gay females are also some of that diversity.
And G-d said it was good.
5:50 PM PT: As is noted in the comments, there are only two Aramaic words in Genesis.