Lin

“Can you tell me from the passage where we know that the first man and woman had marital relations before the fall? I don’t see it in there. I’m not saying they did or didn’t nor would I ever claim “sex is a consequence of the fall” as God told them clearly to “be fruitful and multiply” before the fall, and they would not be able to do that apart from sex. But I don’t see any indication in the text that they did have sex before the fall. Maybe they were just busy enjoying each other’s and God’s company, the great fellowship and non-sexual affection and intimacy? When you just assume they had sex aren’t you imposing something on the passage? reading your own assumptions into it? (You point that out to others when they do it)”

We also have to ask why they all of a sudden became ashamed of their nakedness after they ate the fruit. I also believe the ‘be fruitful and multiply’ command is a very strong indicator that they had sex before the fall. This was a command of God to them. As Cheryl pointed out, there are other indicators. But why be ashamed of nakedness after their eyes were opened?

“I think that the “desire” in “your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you” must have a sexual component to it.”

I think this is reading into it. We see early translations with the word ‘turning’ instead of desire. That was a later translation by a monk Pagnini (sp?). I believe it was turned into making it a sexual thing by male translators. But history does not bear this out. Who has the sexual drive in a relationship in general? It is the man. That is not in anyway to say that the woman does not have it more in some cases but like Tiro alluded to above, our hormones must have changed after the fall.

“I base this on the context of Genesis 3:16 which mentions pregnancy and childbirth twice. As you observed, God increases her fertility post-Fall per Gen 3:16. I think God not only increased her fertility but also increased her sexual desire. The consequences of the Fall are not God’s “curse” or “punishment” but are genuinely redemptive. Thus seeing increased sexual passion in marriage as a consequence of the Fall does not make me view sexual passion as “negative”.”

Keep reading in Gensis after the fall. What is one of the first things we see? Polygamy by Lamech. Sexually this sends a different message than what you are saying. Polygamy lessened a woman’s opportunity for sex but they went along with it willingly all through the OT. Why?