Posted on 03/06/2006 2:47:59 PM PST by Conservative Coulter Fan
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS:
Genesis 2:4-25 (excerpt) [4] This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- [5] and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground, [6] but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground- [7] the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
[18] The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
[19] Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. [20] So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. [21] So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. [22] Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib [he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
[23]The man said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man."
Dr. James B. DeYoung: This passage is foundational to all questions regarding sexuality. It is the Bible's description of how God formed Eve to be the companion of Adam, what role Eve was to play, and what the meaning of marriage is. The passage rests on the much shorter text of Genesis 1:26-27 where God clearly indicates his intent to make humanity — "male and female" — in his image and likeness, and that human beings were given the responsibility of "ruling" the remainder of creation (verses 28-30). Both man and woman were to serve God by carrying out a faithful stewardship of the rest of the created world, both animate and inanimate. Chapter one makes it clear that from the very beginning it was God's intent to make humanity to consist of male and female in order to display his image and likeness, and to carry out God's stewardship. Certainly such stewardship would eventually mean the establishment of the home, work place, the state, and the church. It seems clear that two males or two females would not reflect the divine image and likeness, and could not carry out the divine stewardship entrusted to them.
In chapter 2 Eve is described as a female made from Adam the male, to correspond to or be a helper for him. Verse 24 suggests the sexual unity brought about by the intercourse of a man and a woman. Its terminology suggests universality in contrast to the historical, limited nature of the account describing Adam and Eve that surrounds this verse.
These passages teach that God's plan for the propagation of the human race is for a man and a woman to form a sexual bond, which we call marriage. Two men or two women do not form such a bond. But such a union isn't limited to the purpose of propagation. Rather such a union alone reflects the divine image and likeness. Without one or the other, or having two of the same sex, the divine image is incomplete or distorted. We cannot see or know God correctly by any other union, such as a homosexual union or a union of humans with animals. Also this heterosexual union alone provides the complementary aspect implicit in the text, that one is the helper of the other. This implies emotional and inner bonding without any sense of shame because of nakedness. Since this pattern is carried over to chapter 3 it is implicit that only such a union has the pleasure and blessing of God, evident in the words of verse eight and the following verses that God had fellowship with these two.
The text of Genesis 2 is cited by Jesus and by Paul as setting forth the authoritative view of marriage in their day. Any deviation from this union of man and woman would not produce "one flesh" and was understood to be sin, violating what God had joined together (Matthew 19:1-6). Further such a union of one flesh alone pictures the relation of Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31-32).
Dr. David M. Carr: This text presents God's vision of human intimacy, an intimacy that includes sexual love. It affirms that humans were made for loving, that God's primal wish for the first human was for him not to be alone, but to work, cleave to and "become one flesh" with someone made from his own flesh. Humans were made for lovemaking. Yet this is not an "anything goes" vision. Instead, the story depicts a union of peers (no sexual violence), where the woman, in contrast to the animals, "corresponds" to the first man.
Read in context, this text also stands over against those who insist that all homosexuals be celibate and the church exclude "practicing homosexuals." Rather, the God we find revealed in Genesis 2 creates embodied people for sexual intimacy with each other. Humans were not made to be alone.
Yes, Genesis 2 focuses on a man and woman as any ancient text like this would. Heterosexual relationships are the most common in every human culture, and they were especially important in an ancient agricultural society like Israel, where children were desperately needed. Nevertheless, Genesis 2 is distinguished from other creation stories in the following way: it never mentions children — a primary product of male-female sex — as the aim of sexuality. Only after the couple have eaten the forbidden fruit, does God sentence the woman to endless childbearing. The first and primary aim of sexuality, however, is intimacy, an intimacy which some need find in shared life and love with another of their own sex.
Of course that leaves you with adoption for couples who cannot conceive but folks tend to believe there is a dynamic in the male-female relationship that is lacking in a relationship of the same sexes.
Some believe homosexuality is "curable," others believe it can be managed while pursuing a heterosexual life, and still others believe anything less than a natural, formed, heterosexual identity is inherently false and destructive to the relationship.
Platonic partnerships would seem workable for homosexuals to address "being alone" but it does nothing to address a calling to be "fruitful and multiply."
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