We’ve look at this text a few times before (here, here, and embedded below). This week, we look at this section of the creation narrative and focus in on a few important themes:
- choice
- the power of names
- the purpose of this story
- marriage, monogamy, and purity culture
We’re hosting an online workshop about Christianity & polyamory on Sunday October 14. Register at queertheology.com/polyamory
In this episode, Brian referenced understanding this passage better when he dated his first boyfriend. He writes about more here.
Genesis 2:18-24
Then the Lord God said, “It’s not good that the human is alone. I will make him a helper that is perfect for him.” So the Lord God formed from the fertile land all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky and brought them to the human to see what he would name them. The human gave each living being its name. 20 The human named all the livestock, all the birds in the sky, and all the wild animals. But a helper perfect for him was nowhere to be found.
So the Lord God put the human into a deep and heavy sleep, and took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh over it. With the rib taken from the human, the Lord God fashioned a woman and brought her to the human being. The human said,
“This one finally is bone from my bones
and flesh from my flesh.
She will be called a woman
because from a man she was taken.”This is the reason that a man leaves his father and mother and embraces his wife, and they become one flesh.