The Bible......


I was in another thread where it was btought up on the name of of a wife....It gave me an idea......to do a series on the Woman of the Bible.


The first one of course will be Eve....because she is the first one God created....


THE STORY OF EVE


Names in the Bible often tell us something about the person:
Eve was at first called Ishah, which in Hebrew means ‘woman’. Later she was called Eve, which means ‘life-bearer’.
Adam comes from the Hebrew word Adham, which means ‘dust of the earth’.

In ancient societies, giving something a name was a way of showing power over it. Adam gave the woman the name of 'Eve', thus exerting power over her, only after they had disobeyed God and the world had become imperfect.

The character of Eve in the Genesis story is the primordial first mother or Everywoman, and a personality in her own right.

Eve, like Helen of Troy and Guinevere, is presented as the pivotal cause of unwanted or destructive change in an otherwise stable world.

Creation stories in Genesis:
Genesis 2:4b-24 and 3:1-24).
God planted a garden in Eden with every good thing. Everything was as it should be, ordered and calm, but this idyll was destroyed by the actions of people.

In many religions in the ancient world, Evil was seen as one among a number of powerful forces existing in the universe. But for the Hebrew people, God was the most powerful force in the universe, more powerful than Evil. Evil could challenge but never conquer God.


THE FIRST STORY OF CREATION
(Genesis 1:1-31 and 2:1-4a)
In this elegantly structured story, the creation of the universe unfolds. The stages of development show a surprising resemblance to the stages proposed in modern theories about the beginnings of the universe: there is an empty void, then energy appears, the planets are born, the continents emerge and vegetation, animals and humans appear.

'So God created humankind in his image,
In the image of God he created them;
Male and female he created them,
God blessed them, and God said to them
‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth….'
(Read Genesis 1:1-31 and 2:1-4a)

God in the Old Testament is a spirit, without gender. Despite this, we use words such as ‘he’ and ‘his’ to describe God. Strictly speaking this is incorrect, because God is neither male nor female. Our usage is an echo of the ancient practice of anthropomorphism, when gods were portrayed as male or female, with human personalities and characteristics. In the biblical story of creation, God is neither male nor female, but majestically ‘I Am Who Am’.

At the supreme moment of creation, God conceives a creature ‘in his own image’. What does the phrase ‘in his own image’ mean? Theologians suggest that people, like God, have a nature that is essentially creative. It is natural for them to imagine, to invent, and to change the world around them, as God does in the Genesis story. They themselves are part of, expressions of, the creative energy of God.

The Bible poses the question: how is this creativity to be used? For good or evil? In this first telling of the story of creation, men and women are created at the same time. They are spoken of in equal terms: ‘male and female he created them’. They form part of the harmony of all creation.

THE STORY OF CREATION
(Genesis 2:4b-25 and 3:1-24)

In this section of the story, God creates Adam but sees that there is something lacking.

‘So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.’ So God created Eve, and completed the creation of the universe.
(Read Genesis 2:4b-25)

Eve is formed from the rib of Adam. They are of the same flesh and the same bone. From that moment neither man nor woman can be complete without the other. Working together, they form the basic unit of society, the family. The story recognizes that men's and women’s lives interlock so completely in economic and social matters, that neither can survive without the other.

Eve and Adam are given a perfect world, but they are also given the power of choosing and of making decisions. One of the creatures in the Garden speaks to Eve, suggesting that God has duped her. If she eats the fruit that has been forbidden to her she will gain new understanding and wisdom, so great that it will be comparable to God's.

(Read Genesis 3:1-24)

Because she has no experience of deceit, Eve believes the snake and makes her choice, deciding to seek knowledge of good and evil rather than be obedient. As humans, we continually test boundaries and try new ideas, and in the Genesis story woman as ‘life-giver’ is the one who initiates this process. It is a dangerous choice, reminding us that the quest for knowledge should always be balanced by wisdom. Eve will soon realize her mistake.

Adam eats the fruit without thinking or arguing. Like Eve, he misuses his ability to make decisions and does not consider the consequences. Again, the quest for knowledge should be accompanied by careful judgment.

As the story continues, the original harmony between humanity and nature is disrupted. Both sexes become locked into fixed roles. In a perfect world, a world without sin, things like inequality and injustice do not exist, but the Garden of Eden is lost.

Summary

In Genesis 3 Eve is the central human character in the story. She is the mover and shaker, the active person. She explores the Garden, she meets and interrogates the snake, she makes a decision, then returns to Adam and makes suggestions for a course of action. People in ancient times saw women as active and inquiring, as shapers of society.
The Bible begins as it will continue, with the story of an independent and strong-minded woman who is, like all humans, both creative and destructive. Eve initiates change - was it a good thing, or bad? After all, if we had stayed in the Garden, we would have remained children forever.


PREHISTORY

The creation stories in Genesis 1-3 grew out of a society quite different to our own. There were two separate ways of life, co-existing with each other:

nomadic life, where people traveled with their cattle, moving from pasture to pasture as the seasons changed and periods of drought and plenty occurred

settled agriculture - farms and crops provided a relatively stable existence, and villages and towns gradually appeared.

Nomadic life was precarious but relatively free and easy.
Agriculture was more secure but entailed back-breaking labor and problems such as individual land ownership, hygiene and sanitation, and the stress of living with neighbors.

People chose the system that best suited the climate and fertility of their land, but agriculture gradually won out over nomadic life, because it was more secure and could support a larger population.

The struggle between these two ways of life is mirrored in the stories of the Garden of Eden, in Eve's choice of the apple, and in the fight between Cain and Abel.

Doodling

Take a little time to do the following: Print the words GOOD and EVIL. Cross out one of the O's in GOOD. Put a D in front of EVIL. What do you have?

Discovering the characters
The four characters in the Genesis story are God, Woman, Man, and Evil Working from the text, draw up a list of the characteristics of each of the four. Give at least three words for each. Be careful that the words you think of are related to the story as you read it in the Genesis text, and not to ideas you have inherited from other people.
Compare your list with the list of a learning partner. Are there differences?

Discussion

Topic 1: How might the creative potential we have, being made ‘in God’s image’, be used to restore the Garden?

Topic 2: How does the story of Eve illustrate the connection between actions and consequences?

Are the characteristics and actions of the people in the story still present in the world? How is the story relevant to modern life, especially your own?

Shouldn't we start with the story of Lilith? ooooh yea, sorry lol that was removed my bad

We can have her if you wish....

Yeah this thread went nowhere fast. Primarily because there is nothing to talk about in the bible. Its ALL about men. I did find some Lilith info.

Isaiah 34:14

Wildcats shall meet with hyenas,
goat-demons shall call to each other;
there too Lilith shall repose,
and find a place to rest.
There shall the owl nest
and lay and hatch and brood in its shadow

Thats it in the bible. Wow, dont over do yourself, guys.Pfft.


Here is more. There is actually a fair amount of information online but you have to look closely at what it is to see if it is merely a story that someone invented (creative license) or something based in actual historical significance.

Genesis 2:18: After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone.' He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. (In this act, Lilith becomes unique in that she is not touched by Original Sin, having left the garden before Eve came into existence. Lilith also reveals herself to be powerful in her own right by knowing the name of God).

Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof, to bring her back. "Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, fine. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'

"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.' "When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."

Lilith then went on to mate with Samael and various other demons she found beside the Red Sea, creating countless lilin.

The background and purpose of The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is unclear. It is a collection of stories about heroes of the Bible and Talmud, it may have been a collection of folk-tales, a refutation of Christian, Karaite, or other separatist movements; its content seems so offensive to contemporary Jews that it was even suggested that it could be an anti-Jewish satire, although, in any case, the text was accepted by the Jewish mystics of medieval Germany.

The Alphabet of Ben-Sira is the earliest surviving source of the story, and the conception that Lilith was Adam's first wife became only widely known with the 17th century Lexicon Talmudicum of Johannes Buxtorf

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lil lady you need to get off your high horse about whaaa whaa all the injustice to woman.....man oh man it's already done.....let me ask krimsa..I do a lot around the world to help women who are being treated poorly do you...or do you just bit*ch about the injustices.

Deb, this is a totally sincere question and I am asking without any sarcasm. I am truly interested to hear what you have to say. I was raised Christian by a father and mother who were pastors and missionaries. I converted to Catholicism and was a devout Catholic for several years. It was always my understanding that overly sexy portrayals of women were wrong as was immodesty in any way. I notice that a lot of your pics are very sexy. How do you reconcile the two - the sexy pics and being a Christian? I don't care at all and I'm not saying you have to believe anything in particular just because you are a Christian. I am honestly interested in your thoughts on this.

Feral I was attempting to contribute to your thread because as you can see, it had 3 posts. A simple "thank you" would have sufficed. I was not attacking you but attempting to bump it up and Jill had asked for Lilith info. Stop being so nasty!

Yeah truly.

Well now I'm confused... being a Christian doesn't mean we are dead. You don't have to be poor either...or ugly... or any of those things people WRONGLY perceive what Christians are.

I had a friend who was a really beautiful & sexy girl. She thought she looked like a boy because she was what some considered "flat chested." She saw nothing wrong with the skimpy clothing she wore because she didn't see herself as sexy.

Go figure???? Get it?

Answer for others much?

Ruth
Meaning: a friend

a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, whose father, Elimelech, had settled in the land of Moab

Upon the death of Elimelech and Mahlon, Naomi returned to Bethlehem with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who refused to leave her, the old home from which Elimelech had migrated.

Naomi had a rich relative living there. His name was Boaz, and Ruth was eventually married to him. Ruth became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David. The story of "the gleaner Ruth illustrates the friendly relations between the good Boaz and his reapers, the Jewish land system, the method of transferring property from one person to another, the working of the Mosaic law for the relief of distressed and ruined families; but, above all, handing down the unselfishness, the brave love, the unshaken trustfulness of her who, though not of the chosen race, was, like the Canaanitess Tamar (Gen. 38:29; Matt. 1:3) and the Canaanitess Rahab (Matt. 1:5), privileged to become the ancestress of David, and so of 'great David's greater Son'" (Ruth 4:18-22).

No as my question was in regards to modesty. If it's not important, it's not important. I just know it is spoken of in the Bible as being important.

I am very familiar with the story and was named after the "Ruth" in the Bible.

It is my understanding that in some more conservative Catholic settings, women are not even permitted to attend mass unless their hair is either up or covered with a scarf or something. They arent even having the hair visible because it is considered "sexually beguiling" to the menfolks and therefore an affront to god. Even though supposedly he made everyone. That leads me to believe that this is a "Man made" regulation and has nothing to do with anything "divine" at all.

Yes, that's true about traditional Catholics. And, actually the Catholic Church teaches that it doesn't matter if it's in the Bible or comes from the "teaching authority of the Church" it is all Divinely inspired.

I hope no one misinterprets my intentions by this question. I know there are many different kinds of Christians out there. The ones I grew up with took modesty very seriously and I've never known any who weren't concerned with it. That's the only reason I'm asking about it. It's different for me....something new. I'm wondering about some of the less conservative Christians out there, that's all.

Another similarity to Islam ...

Women cover their heads to protect the fallabilities of men.

We men are so weak that we just fall over ourselves with desire about you women ...

I thought I would continue on with my litany of horrible abuses of women found throughout the scripture.

Deuteronomy 21

21:11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

21:12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

21:13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

21:14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.


If you see a pretty woman among the captives and would like her for a wife, then just bring her home and "go in unto her." Later, if you decide you don't like her, you can "let her go."

Guess I'm not going to get an answer to my question.

Yes, this idea is actually more insulting to men than to women. It says that men can't control themselves. If this is true, how can any woman trust a man to be faithful? The first hussy who unveils her face and smiles at him can seduce him into her bed.

Then they will probably stone her.

jb