Copyright © 1988 by
THE THEOLOGY OF SEXUALITY
IN THE BEGINNING:
GENESIS 1-2
RICHARD
M. DAVIDSON
The first two chapters of the Bible
deal directly with the
question of human sexuality. Not only is human
sexuality presented
as a basic fact of creation, but an elucidation of
the nature of
sexuality constitutes a central part of the
Creation accounts. These
opening chapters of Scripture, coupled with the
portrayal of dis-
ruption and divine judgment
presented in Gen 3, have been
described as of seminal character and
determinative for a biblical
theology of sexuality. It has been correctly
noted that a clear under-
standing of these basic statements is crucial,
since here "the pattern
is established and adjudged good. From then until
the close of the
biblical corpus it is the assumed norm.”1
In this article we will
focus upon the theology of sexuality in the creation
accounts
(Gen
1-2), and in a subsequent article we will explore the theo-
logical insights on sexuality emerging from Gen
3.
1. Sexuality in Genesis 1:1-2:4a
In Gen 1:26-28 "the highpoint
and goal has been reached
toward which all of God's creativity from vs. 1 on was
directed.”2
Here
in lofty grandeur is portrayed the creation of man (ha'adam
=
"humankind"):
26 Then 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
birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over
every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27 So
1 Dennis F. Kinlaw,
"A Biblical View of Homosexuality, in Gary R. Collins,
ed.,
The Secrets of Our Sexuality: Role Liberation
for the Christian (
1976),
p. 105.
2 Gerhard von Rad,
Genesis: A Commentary, Old Testament
Library (Phila-
delphia, 1961), p. 57.
5
6 RICHARD
M. DAVIDSON
God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he
created
him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed
them, and
God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill
the earth
and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the
sea and
over the birds of the air and over every living thing that
moves upon
the earth."3
It has been rightly observed that
discussion among theologians
over this passage has largely focused on the meaning
of man's
creation in the "image of God" and has
almost entirely ignored the
further affirmation that humankind is created
male and female.4 In
harmony with the concerns of this study we must
focus in particu-
lar upon the neglected
statement--"male and female he created
them"--without ignoring the question of the imago Dei and the
wider context of the chapter. The fundamental
insights into the
theology of human sexuality which emerge from Gen
1:1-2:4a are
here discussed under seven major subheadings.
Creation Order
In the clause concerning man's
creation as male and female
(Gen
1:27c) we note, first of all, that sexual differentiation is pre-
sented as a creation by God,
and not part of the divine order itself.
This
emphasis upon the creation of sexual distinction appears to
form a subtle but strong polemic against the "
'divinisation' of
sex"5 so common in the
thought of
Throughout the mythology of the
ancient Near East, the sexual
activities of the gods form a dominant motif.6
The fertility myth
was of special importance, particularly in
resulting from the union of male and female
deities: "Copulation
and procreation were mythically regarded as a
divine event. Con-
sequently the religious
atmosphere was as good as saturated with
mythical sexual conceptions.”7
3 All English renditions of Scripture
herein are from the RSV.
4 Paul K. Jewett, Man as Male and Female: A Study of Sexual
Relationships
from a Theological Point of View (Grand Rapids, MI,
1975), p. 19.
5 Gerhard von Rad, Old Testament
Theology (New York, 1962), 1:27.
6 Raymond Collins, "The
Bible and Sexuality," BTB 7
(1977):149-151, conven-
iently summarizes the major
aspects of sexuality (fertility, love-passion, destructive
capacity, sacred marriage) in the ancient Near
Eastern myths.
7 Von Rad,
Old Testament Theology, 1:27.
THEOLOGY OF SEXUALITY 7
In contrast to this view of creation as divine
procreation, the
account of Gen 1, with its emphasis upon the transcendant God
(Elohim) and a
cosmic view of creation, posits a radical separation
of sexuality and divinity. God stands
"absolutely beyond the polar-
ity of sex."8
The sexual distinctions are presented as a creation by
God, not part of the divine order.
A Duality from the
Beginning
Secondly, it may be noted that God
created the bipolarity of
the sexes from the beginning. The popular idea of
an ideal andro-
gynous being later split into
two sexes cannot be sustained from
the text. Gerhard von Rad
correctly points out that "the plural in
vs.
27 ('he created them') is intentionally contrasted with the
singular ('him') and prevents one from assuming
the creation of an
originally androgynous man."9 The
sexual distinction between
male and female is fundamental to what it means to
be human. To
be human is to live as a sexual person. As Karl Barth expresses it,
"We
cannot say man without having to say male or female and
also male and female. Man exists in this
differentiation, in this
duality."10 Whether or not we
agree with Barth that "this is the
only structural differentiation in which he [the
human being]
exists,"11 the sexual distinction is certainly presented
in Gen 1 as a
basic component in the original creation of
humankind.
Equality of the Sexes
A third insight into the theology of
human sexuality stems
from the equal pairing of male and female in
parallel with ha-'adam
in Gen 1:27. There is no hint of ontological or
functional super-
iority or inferiority between
male and female. Both are "equally
immediate to the Creator and His act."12
In the wider context of
this passage, both are given the same dominion over
the earth and
other living creatures (vss.
26 and 28). Both are to share alike in the
blessing and responsibility of procreation (vs.
28). In short, both
participate equally in the image of God.
8 Ibid.
9 Von Rad,
Genesis, p. 60.
10 Karl
11 Ibid.
12 Helmet Thielicke,
The Ethics of Sex (New York. 1964), p. 7.
8 RICHARD
M. DAVIDSON
Wholeness
A fourth theological insight will
serve to bridge our discussion
from "male and female" to the imago Dei. In Gen 1:27 the generic
term for humankind (ha'adam) includes both male and
female.
"The
man and the woman together make man."13 The holistic
picture of humankind is only complete when both
male and female
are viewed together. Such a description points to
the individuality
and complementarity of
the sexes, and will be more fully developed
in Gen 2.
Relationship
The existence of the bipolarity of the sexes in
creation implies
not only wholeness but relationship. The
juxtaposition of male
and female in Gen 1:26 intimates what will become
explicit in
Gen
2: the full meaning of human existence is not in male or
female in isolation, but in their mutual communion.
The notion
of male-female fellowship in Gen 1 has been
particularly empha-
sized by Barth, who
maintains that the "I-Thou" relationship of
male and female is the essence of the imago Dei.
For Barth,
Gen
1:27c is the exposition of vs. 27a. and b.
Man-in-fellowship as
male and female is what it means to be in the image
of God.14
Barth's exclusive identification of the sexual
distinction with
the image of God is too restrictive. Our purpose at
this point is not
to enter into an extended discussion of the
meaning of the imago
Dei.15 But it may be noted
that the Hebrew words selem
("Image")
and demut ("likeness"), although possessing
overlapping semantic
ranges, in the juxtaposition of vs. 26 appear to
emphasize both the
concrete and abstract aspects of human beings,16
and together indi-
cate that the person as a
whole--both in material/bodily and
13 Johannes Pedersen,
14 Barth's
discussion of this point extends through major portions of his Church
Dogmatics,
vols. 3/1, 3/2, and 3/3. See the helpful summary of his argument in
Jewett,
pp. 33-48.
15 The literature on this subject
is voluminous. For a survey of views, see
especially Claus Westermann,
Genesis 1-11: A Commentary (
pp.
147-155; G. C. Berkouwer, Man: The Image of God (Grand Rapids, MI, 1962),
pp.
67-118; Anthony A. Hoekema, Created in God's Image (
1986),
pp. 33-65; and cf. Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality
(
16 See Francis Brown, S. R.
Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and
English
Lexicon of the Old
Testament
(
THEOLOGY OF SEXUALITY 9
spiritual/mental components--is created
in God's image. In his
commentary on Genesis, von Rad
has insightfully concluded with
regard to Gen 1:26: "One will do well to split
the physical from the
spiritual as little as possible: the whole man is
created in God's
image."17
Von Rad has elsewhere
further elucidated the meaning of the
imago Dei in terms of mankind's dominion over the earth. Just as
earthly kings set up images of themselves
throughout their king-
dom as a "sign of
sovereign authority," so in the context of Gen
1:26-28
man is God's representative--his image--to uphold and
enforce his claim as sovereign Lord.18
If the image of God includes
the whole person, and if it involves human dominion
over the
earth as God's representative, this, does not,
however, exclude the
aspect of fellowship between male and female
emphasized by Barth.
The
sexual differentiation of male and female (vs. 27c) is not
identical to the image of God (vs. 27a-b), as Barth maintains, but
the two are brought into so close connection that
they should not
be separated, as has been done for centuries. The
synthetic par-
allelism of vs. 27c, immediately
following the synonymous paral-
lelism of vs. 27a-b, indicates
that the mode of human existence in
the divine image is that of male and female
together.19
The aspect of personal relationship between the
male and
female is further highlighted by the analogy of God's
own differen-
tiation and relationship in
contemplating the creation of humanity.
It
is hardly coincidental that only once in the creation account of
Genesis--only
in Gen 1:26--does God speak of himself in the
plural: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." There
have been many attempts to account for this use of
the plural, but
the explanation that appears most consonant with
both the imme-
diate context and the analogy
of Scripture identifies this usage as a
plural of fullness. The "let us" as a plural
of fullness “supposes
that there is within the divine Being the
distinction of personal-
ities" and expresses
"all intra-divine deliberation among 'persons'
within the divine Being."20
BDB]:
cf.
PP.
57-58.
17 Von Rad,
Genesis, p. 58.
18 Von Rad,
Old Testament Theology, 1:1-16.
19 See the argumentation for
this point in Jewett, p. 45, and passim.
"See
Gerhard Hasel, "The Meaning of 'L .et Us' in Gen
1:26,'' AUSS 13
(1975):58-66;-the
quotation is from p. 65. Cf. Derek Kidney, Genesis:
An Introduction
10 RICHARD
M. DAVIDSON
The juxtaposition of the
plurality of the divine "let us" in vs.
26
with the plurality of the "them" (male and female) in vss. 26-28
is not without significance. Karl Barth appears to be right in his
contention that a correspondence or analogy is
intended "between
this mark of the divine being, namely, that it
includes an I and a
Thou, and the being of man, male and female."21
The statement of
this correspondence "preserves with exceeding
care the otherness of
God,"22 precluding any notion
of the bisexuality of God, and yet at
the same time underscores the profound importance
of the personal
relationship and mutuality of
communion in human existence as
male and female. Just as there takes place in the
divine being
deliberating over humankind's
creation--"the differentiation and
relationship, the loving coexistence
and co-operation, the I and
Thou"23--,
so the same are to be found in the product of God's
crowning creative work.
Procreation
It is clear from Gen 1:28 that one of the
primary purposes of
sexuality is procreation, as indicated in the
words "Be fruitful and
multiply." But what is particularly
noteworthy is that human
procreativity "is not here
understood as an emanation or manifesta-
tion of his [the human
being's] creation in God's image." Rather,
human procreative ability "is removed from God's
image and
shifted to a special word of blessing."24
This separation of the
imago Dei and procreation probably serves as a polemic against the
mythological understanding and
orgiastic celebration of divine sex-
ual activity. But at the
same time a profound insight into the
theology of human sexuality is provided.
Procreation is shown to be part of the divine
design for human
sexuality--as a special added blessing. This
divine blessing/com-
mand is to be taken
seriously and acted upon freely and responsibly
in the power that attends God's blessing.25
But sexuality cannot be
and Commentary, Tyndale Old
Testament Commentaries (
1967),
p. 52.
21 Barth,
3/1:196.
22 Trible,
p. 21.
23 Barth,
3/1:196.
24 Von Rad,
Genesis, pp. 60-61.
25 The Hebrew word for
"bless" (berak)
in Gen 1 implies the power to accom-
plish the task which God has
set forth in the blessing. See Josef Scharbert,
"'117
THEOLOGY OF SEXUALITY 11
wholly subordinated to the intent to propagate
children. Sexual
differentiation has meaning apart from
the procreative purpose.
The
procreative blessing is also pronounced upon the birds and
fish on the fifth day (vs. 22), but only man is made
in the image of
God. Gen 1 emphasizes that the sexual distinction in
humankind is
created by God particularly for fellowship, for
relationship, between
male and female. This will become even more apparent
in Gen 2,
where the motif of relationship dominates and
procreation is not
mentioned at all.
Wholesomeness and Beauty
A final insight from Gen I into the theology of
human sexu-
ality emerges from God's
personal assessment of his creation.
According
to vs. 31, when "God saw everything he had made"--
including the sexuality of his crowning work of
creation--"behold!
it was very good." The Hebrew expression tob meod ("very good")
connotes the quintessence of goodness,
wholesomeness, appropri-
ateness, beauty.26 The syllogism is straightforward. Sexuality
(including the act of sexual intercourse) is part of God's
creation,
part of his crowning act. And God's creation is very
good. There-
fore, declares the first chapter of Genesis, sex is
good, very good. It
is not a mistake, a sinful aberration, a
"regrettable necessity,"27 a
shameful experience, as it has so often been
regarded in the history
of Christian as well as pagan thought. Rather,
human sexuality (as
both an ontological state and a relational
experience) is divinely
inaugurated: it is part of God's perfect design from
the beginning
and willed as a fundamental aspect of human
existence.
It is not within the scope of this study to draw
out the full
range of philosophical and sociological implications
that follow
from the theology of human sexuality set forth in
Gen 1. Perhaps it
may suffice to repeat again the central clause--"male
and female
created he them"--and then exclaim with
Emil Brunner:
brk" TDOT, 2:306-307; Hermann W. Beyer,
"eu]loge<w, eu]loghto<j, eu]logi<a,
e]neuloge<w, TDNT, 2:755-757.
26 BDB, pp. 373-375; Andrew Bowlings, "bOF (tob)," in R. Laird Harris,
Gleason
L.
Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament (
27
Harry Hollis, Jr., Thank God for Sex: A
Christian Model for Sexual Under-
standing and Behavior (Nashville, TN, 1975), p. 58. (This is Hollis'
phrase, but not
his view.)
12 RICHARD
M. DAVIDSON
That is the immense
double statement, of a lapidary simpli-
city, so simple indeed that
we hardly realize that with it a vast
world of myth and Gnostic
speculation, of cynicism and asceti-
cism, of the deification of
sexuality and fear of sex completely
disappears.28
2. Sexuality in Genesis 2:4b-25
In the narrative of Gen 2:4b-25 many of the
insights from Gen
I
into the theology of human sexuality are reinforced
and further
illuminated, while new vistas of the profound nature
of sexual
relationships also appear.29
Creation Order
The accounts of creation in Gen 1 and Gen 2
concur in
assigning sexuality to the creation order and not
to the divine
realm. But while Gen 1 does not indicate the precise
manner in
which God created, Gen 2 removes any possible
lingering thoughts
that creation occurred by divine procreation. In
this second chapter
of Scripture is set forth in detail God's personal
labor of love,
forming man from the dust of the ground and
"building"30 woman
from one of the man's ribs.
Androgyny or Duality
from the Beginning
Some recent studies have revived an older theory
that the
original ha'adam described in Gen 2:7-22 was "a sexually undiffer-
28 Emil Brunner, Man in Revolt (
29 Weighty evidence presented by
several recent seminal studies points to the
conclusion that the first two chapters of Genesis
do not represent separate and
disparate sources as argued by proponents of the
Documentary Hypothesis. See
especially Jacques Doukhan,
The Genesis Creation Story: Its Literary
Structure,
MI, 1978). Doukhan's
literary/structural analysis shows that instead of comprising
multiple sources, Gen 1-2 provides a unified dual
perspective on Creation-and on
the God of Creation. In Gen 1:1-2:4a we find the
picture of an all-powerful,
transcendent God (Elohim) and a
cosmic view of Creation. In Gen 2:4b-25, God is
further presented as the personal, caring,
covenant God (Yahweh Elohim),
with
Creation
described in terms of man and his intimate, personal needs. From this
unique dual perspective of infinite/personal God and
cosmic/man-centered creation
emerges a balanced and enriched presentation of
the divine design for human
sexuality.
30 See below, pp. 16-17.
THEOLOGY OF SEXUALITY 13
entiated earth creature,"31
or "basically androgynous: one creature
incorporating two sexes."32
But such an hypothesis is not supported
by the text. According to Gen 2:7, 8, 15, 16 what
God creates before
woman is called ha’adam "the man."
After the creation of woman,
this creature is denoted by the same term (vss. 22-23). Nothing has
changed in the makeup of "the man"
during his sleep except the
loss of a rib. There is no hint in the text of any
division of an
originally bisexual or sexually undifferentiated
being into two
different sexes. It should be concluded that ha'adam,
"the man"
formed before woman, was not originally androgynous,
but was
"created in anticipation of the future."33 He
was created with those
sexual drives toward union with his counterpart. This
becomes
apparent in the man's encounter with the animals
which dramati-
cally points up his need of
"a helper fit for him" or "corresponding
to him" (vss. 18,
20). Such a need is satisfied when he is introduced
to woman and he fully realizes his sexuality vis-a-vis his sexual
complement.
Equality or Hierarchy of
the Sexes
The one major question which has dominated the
scholarly
discussion of sexuality in Gen 2 concerns the
relative status of the
sexes. Does Gen 2 affirm the equality of the sexes,
or does it support
a hierarchical view in which man is in some way
superior to the
woman or given headship over woman at creation. Over the cen-
turies, the preponderance of
commentators on Gen 2 have espoused
the hierarchical interpretation, and this view has
been reaffirmed in
a number of recent scholarly studies.34
The main elements of the
narrative which purportedly prove a
divinely-ordained hierarchical
31 Trible,
p. 80.
32 United
United
33 C. F. Kell,
The First Book of Moses (
34 For examples, see Samuele Bacchiocchi. Women in the Church: A Biblical
Study on the Role of
Women in the Church
(Berrien Springs, MI, 1987), pp. 31,
71-79:
Barth, 3,1:300: 3 2:386-387;
Stephen B. Clark, Man and Woman in
Christ: An
examination of the Roles of Men and Women in the Light of Scripture and
the
Social Sciences (Ann Arbor, Nil, 1980),
pp. 23-28; Jerry D. Colwell, "A Survey of
Recent
Interpretations of Women in the Church" (Unpublished Master's Thesis,
God: A Response to
Biblical Feminism
(
14 RICHARD
M. DAVIDSON
view of the sexes may be summarized as follows: (a)
man is created
first and woman last (2:7, 22), and the first is
superior and the last is
subordinate or inferior; (b) woman is formed for the
sake of man--
to be his "helpmate" or assistant to
cure man's loneliness (vss. 18-
20);
(c) woman comes out of man (vss. 21-22), which
implies a
derivative and subordinate position; (d) woman is
created from
man's rib (vss. 21-22),
which indicates her dependence upon him
for life; and (e) the man names the woman (vs. 23),
which indicates
his power and authority over her.
Do these points really substantiate a
hierarchical view of the
sexes? Or is Phyllis Trible
correct in asserting that "although such
specifics continue to be cited as support for
traditional interpreta-
tions of male superiority and
female inferiority, not one of them is
altogether accurate and most of them are simply not
present in the
story itself."35 Let us look at each
point in turn.
First, because man is created first and then
woman, it has been
asserted that "by this the priority and
superiority of the man, and
the dependence of the woman upon the man, are
established as an
ordinance of divine creation."36
But a careful examination of the
literary structure of Gen 2 reveals that such a
conclusion does not
follow from the fact of man's prior creation. Hebrew
literature
often makes use of an inclusio
device in which the points of central
concern to a unit are placed at the beginning
and end of the unit.37
This
is the case in Gen 2. The entire account is cast in the form of
an inclusio or
"ring construction"38 in which the creation of man
at the beginning of the narrative and the creation
of woman at the
end of the narrative correspond to each other in
importance. The
movement in Gen 2 is not from superior to
inferior, but from
Hooke, "Genesis," Peake's Commentary on the Bible (London, Eng., 1962), p. 179;
James
B. Hurley, Man and Woman in Biblical
Perspective (
1981),
pp. 206-214;
1958),
pp. 156-157.
35 Trible,
p. 73.
36
Keil, p. 89.
37 For discussion of this
construction, see especially the following: James
Muilenburg, "Form Criticism and Beyond," JBL 88 (1969):9-10; Mitchel
Dahood,
Psalms, AB (New York, 1966),
1:5; Phyllis Trible, "Depatriarchal-izing
in Biblical
Interpretation,"
JAAR 41 (19'73):36.
38 Muilenberg,
p. 9.
THEOLOGY OF SEXUALITY 15
incompleteness to completeness. Woman
is created as the climax,
the culmination of the story. She is the crowning
work of creation.
If a hierarchy of the sexes is not implied in
the order of their
creation, is such indicated by the purpose of woman's creation, as
is suggested in a second major argument for the
hierarchical
interpretation? Gen 2:18 records the
Lord's deliberation: "It is not
good that the man should be alone; I will make him ‘ezer kenegdo
[KJV,
"a help meet for him"; RSV, "a helper fit for him"; NASB,
a helper suitable to him"; NIV, "a
helper suitable for him"]."
The
Hebrew words ‘ezer
kenegdo
have often been taken to imply
the inferiority or subordinate status of woman. For
example, John
Calvin
understood from this phrase that woman was a "faithful
assistant'' for man.39 But this is not the
meaning conveyed by these
terms!
The word ‘ezer is usually translated as
"help" or "helper" in
English. This, however, is a
misleading translation because the
English word "helper" tends to suggest
one who is an assistant, a
subordinate, an inferior, whereas
the Hebrew ‘ezer
carries no such
connotation. In fact, the Hebrew
Bible most frequently employs
’ezer to describe a superior
helper--God himself as the "helper" of
Israel.40 The
word can also be used with reference to man or
animals.41 It is a relational
term, describing a beneficial relation-
ship, but in itself does not specify position or
rank, either superior-
ity or inferiority.42
The specific position intended must be gleaned
from the immediate context. In the case of Gen 2:18
and 20, such
position is shown by the word which