Cheryl Schatz

What is error?  If I have two choices of colleges to go to and I pick one over the other, is that an error?  Perhaps I missed the better opportunity but I don’t see this as an “error” but rather one is a better choice than the other.  Today we make many errors because we still struggle against the flesh.  We have temptations all around us to sin and so we make sinful decisions.

The question is whether Eve had any struggles against the flesh and had any limitations that would produce forgetfulness.  I don’t think that we can find an indication in scripture that she was in the category of a senior citizen’s forgetfulness.  God made Eve to be a “helper” to Adam, one who could provide what he needed.  Eve then was a strong woman who was able to rescue Adam in the areas where he needed help.  There is no doubt in my mind that if Eve had seen the things that Adam saw (the creation of the garden of Eden by God himself and the creation of the second “act” of animals after Adam’s creation), she would have been a successful defender of God’s character.  The fact that she started out as a defender but fell through her inexperience with God doesn’t lessen her strength at all but is a good example to show the absolute necessity of sound doctrine.  Sound doctrine can make the weak strong and the strong stronger.

Lastly I don’t think that Eve was any kind of a woman that needed to be watched to make sure that she didn’t forgetfully wander off into forbidden territory.  I believe that she was a strength for Adam in every way.  For centuries we have sidelined women’s strength believing that the strength of the man is all that we need for spiritual maturity.  But God has a different plan.  His plan is that we inherit the kingdom together and that each one’s gifts are to be valued as well as needed.  When we do “church” without the spiritual input of women, we miss out on some of God’s special blessings.  Together we are strong.  One gender alone is not so strong.  We need each other very, very much.