The Book of Genesis describes the creation of Adam twice. The first account signifies the creation of Adam's soul. Here, Adam is created in God's image - perfect, having dominion, plural, and androgynous (the Hebrew word 'Adam', which means 'creature of the earth', is gender-neutral). "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion .... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." In the second account, God creates Adam's body out of clay. God then breathes the soul into the body. Adam was given only one restriction: "You may eat freely of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." Adam lived a quiet, comfortable, and all but purposeless life in the Garden. He (really, 'it') tended the flora a bit and distributed some names to the animals. But God saw that Adam was alone with no emotional life, no struggle, no tension, no love. So God decided to put Adam to sleep and separate it into Male and Female, in order to provide a 'help-meet': that is, to provide an emotionally meaningful life for humanity. The Hebrew word 'tsela' appears many times in the Hebrew Bible. With one exception, it is translated as 'side', such as when it refers to the side walls of the Temple. On one occasion only, in Genesis, the word 'tsela' is translated as 'rib'. This unique translation has had devastating repercussions. But if we give the word the same meaning that it has on every other occasion, the story makes more sense. God took one side of the composite creature and out of this he made Eve, the woman, and the other half became Adam, the man -- and there is nothing in this description to indicate anything other than perfect equality. The isolation of one human creature could thenceforward be replaced with a new form of wholeness that is attainable through love between two people.



"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion .... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

In the second account, God creates Adam's body out of clay. God then breathes the soul into the body.

Adam was given only one restriction: "You may eat freely of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

Adam lived a quiet, comfortable, and all but purposeless life in the Garden. He (really, 'it') tended the flora a bit and distributed some names to the animals. But God saw that Adam was alone with no emotional life, no struggle, no tension, no love. So God decided to put Adam to sleep and separate it into Male and Female, in order to provide a 'help-meet': that is, to provide an emotionally meaningful life for humanity.

The Hebrew word 'tsela' appears many times in the Hebrew Bible. With one exception, it is translated as 'side', such as when it refers to the side walls of the Temple. On one occasion only, in Genesis, the word 'tsela' is translated as 'rib'.

This unique translation has had devastating repercussions.

But if we give the word the same meaning that it has on every other occasion, the story makes more sense. God took one side of the composite creature and out of this he made Eve, the woman, and the other half became Adam, the man -- and there is nothing in this description to indicate anything other than perfect equality.

The isolation of one human creature could thenceforward be replaced with a new form of wholeness that is attainable through love between two people.

The Fall

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said to the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

Notice that Adam's behavior in this story is completely passive. Throughout the scene he is there, but silent. The Serpent and Eve have their discussion, she decides to eat the fruit, she gives some to Adam, and he eats it too. The story does not say that Eve tempted him, and nothing in the narration or in his silence suggests that she did. There is no indication that he is reluctant to eat the fruit, that his better judgment is overwhelmed by treachery, or even that he thinks about it at all. He says nothing and takes no initiative. It is simply a passive act of acquiescence.

Socrates described the human soul as composed of three parts: Mind, Heart, and Body. He explained that "perfecting one's soul" means that each of these parts must perform its own proper function in a well-ordered harmony with the others. In the story of the Garden of Eden, which is a parable of our inner life and the need to evolve and perfect the soul, Adam represents the Mind, Eve represents the Heart, and the Serpent represents the Body. In their proper alignment, our Mind is the Active principle which governs the soul. The Body is the Passive principle which supports and is governed by the Mind. The Heart is the Reconciling principle that guides and integrates the complete internal relationship. But what happened in Eden is that this 'order' became inverted! The serpent (the Body) interfered, took the active lead, and convinced the Heart to go along with its wishes. The Mind, unnaturally passive, silently acquiesced and joined in.

This was the real 'sin' that occurred in the Garden of Eden, and that recurs within the soul of each one of us. 'Original Sin' is not 'something bad that a woman did a long time ago'. Original sin - that is, the 'fundamental' sin from which all the others spring, and which we are all committing right now - is the sin of an inverted, sleeping, soul.

It takes very little imagination to see that this allegory provides a complete and accurate description of our contemporary lives: the pop culture, the intellectual barrenness, the relentless vulgarity, greed, and gluttony. The Body's appetites are completely in charge of our lives, the Heart's emotions fawn over these cravings, and the Mind (at least, in the sense of any genuine human Wisdom) sits back silently and lets it all continue.