The three large patriarchal religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) all trace their origins back to the Garden of Eden with the belief that Adam and Eve were the original male and female. Genesis is the recorded account of creation that most mainline religions and denominations use as the foundation of their faith. So what does Genesis say about the original nature of man and woman?

When one reads the Bible and the story of Adam and Eve in the original Hebrew, it is apparent that Adam was originally created both male and female (Genesis 1:27). Adam was the first man but man did not mean male. Man was the species just like a Lion is a species; an Elephant is a species and so forth. God created Man (the species) and God made Man both male and female, just like God made the Lion both male and female and the Elephant both male and female. So when the scriptures refer to Man, it is not necessarily referring to male. That is why one must look at the original Hebrew to see if a name is masculine or feminine.

God created Woman (the Man with the womb or the female Man) from Adam by pulling the female nature out of Adam. This is represented in scripture by God taking the rib out of Adam’s side and forming the female but the spiritual truth of this is that God took the nature of the female out of Adam and made a unique creation, then joined them back together through marriage. Adam was made in the image of God so God must also be both male and female. The scriptures do not describe God as a male but refer to God as a Spirit with both male and female traits.

To authenticate this, the Jewish names for God in the Old Testament are both male and female. Jehovah/Yahweh is YHWH, Y/El, father; H/Asherah, mother.

In addition, the word that describes Eve as being Adam’s helpmate is the Hebrew word “ezer” which means that she was to assist Adam from a position of authority. It is the same word the Bible uses to describe God when it refers to how God will assist us when we need help. God assists us from a position of power and authority and Eve was created to assist Adam from a position of authority. Eve’s subjection to Adam in the Bible was the result of the fall of mankind due to sin and not God’s original plan for Adam and Eve. Woman’s subjection to man was called a curse in the Old Testament (Genesis 3:16-17). The New Testament says that Christ has paid mankind’s debt in full and has restored mankind back to God and has delivered mankind from the curse. However, most Christian denominations are still based on a patriarchal view of God and they refuse to see what the scriptures truly say about the true nature of Woman.