Adam, Eve, History, Truth (4)

I knew the story of Adam and Eve quite well long before I read it in the Bible. It first appeared in children's books. It was a staple of my early Catholic education. It received catechism treatment, that is, it was filtered through teaching truths about God and humankind. This is not a bad thing, but it means that the actual text is not encountered. There is, however, one problem: was it perfectly blissful in the Garden?

Trying to read the text without all the preconceived ideas about 'how it was' is difficult. After all, I already knew it before I read it. But already in Genesis 1 we run across some words which make it possible that all was not bliss in the days before sin. Here is God's word to the (hu)man (the Hebrew word is 'adam) ("male and female He created them")

"Be fruitful and multiply" This is the first command from God. It is repeated to Noah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
"fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion"

• subdue (kabash) comes from the root to trample under feet, to make subject (the next four times the word appears it refers to the military conquests of Israel). Jeremiah uses the word a couple of times to refer to making men and women slaves. Lastly, in Esther, it refers to a man forcing himself on a woman. [I recall an expression of threat as a child "I'll put the kabash on you" which is no doubt related to this usage.]  
• dominion (radah) is equally strong: to rule, to subjugate, to tread down, to dominate. In several instances the leaders of Israel are warned to respect God and not dominate their fellow Israelites.

I think that from the beginning, we are being told, there was effort expected. It seems that the earth was not so compliant and the work of humanity more challenging than the stories I was told as a child. Greater minds than mine need to ponder the texts and do the linguistic analysis, but I see nothing which indicates that in the beginning humans were on a permanent vacation and life was pleasure island!

The same is true of the second account in chapter 2. Adam is a tiller of the earth in Genesis 2:15, he is supposed to work (abad = to labor, to work, to serve) and keep/guard/watch over/protect (shamar). Once again, the text seems to indicate that there was work and that there was a need to care for, even protect, the Garden. What will change with the Fall is the results of the labor. The earth will be cursed and the results of the work will be opposed by thistles and thorns. Things are much worse.

Some may ask, what difference does it make? Well, for one, if humans always had to work, even struggle with the earth, then there is less disonance between the Biblical account and the 'scientific worldview' then we are led to believe. Human sin complicates mattes and makes things worse, but there does not seem to be an idea that the world was "perfect" prior to the Fall. This also means that work is not a curse, but actually part of the original state. The curse is the opposition to our work, not the labor itself.

This will have repurcussions on how we understand our final destiny as well. If we are called to return to an Eden-like existence in God Kingdom someday, perhaps it will include effort and work. Perhaps we are best when we face and overcome challenges. I do not know completely. What I do know is if you actually read the Bible it sometimes says unexpected things. It is God's word, so we do well to listen to it, to ponder and pray and be transformed by it.