gengwall

Gen. 3:15-16 informs us that the male/female relationship would now, because of sin, be affected by mutual enmity. In particular, the woman would have a desire to usurp the authority given to man in creation…

Most complementarians understand the curse of the woman in 3:16 to mean that sin would bring about in Eve a wrongful desire to rule over her husband (contrary to God’s created design), and that in response, Adam would have to assert his rule over her.

What an extraordinary contradiction. Ware conceeds that Genesis 3:16 outlines “a mutual enmity” between the man and the woman but then goes on to describe Adam’s “enmity” as a positive remedy to Eve’s. If rularship is an act of “deep-seated…hatred” (American Heritage Dictionary – “enmity”) on the part of Adam toward Eve, then how can it be a positive godly remedy to Eve’s corresponding enmity? Maybe Ware has not ever heard that “two wrongs don’t make a right”.

Moreover, if this was to be a God directed remedy to Eve’s rebellion, why did God not issue the command to rule directly to Adam? After all, Ware claims that “Adam would have to assert his rule over her”. That presumes it was not asserted prior to the fall (although, mysteriously, was available as an option for Adam???) Since God is now dictating that something needs to happen that has never happened before, wouldn’t you think God would give Adam a little shove? Does God think Adam will just pick up His meaning and run with it?

Of course, this is all absurd. God’s chastisement of the parties involved with the fall contains nothing positive to say about any of them. “Desire” and “rule” are consequences of sin entering the world. The marriage relationship, which was once selfless, loving, and EQUAL, would now be full of pettiness, selfishness, and enmity (Ware got that part right). Patriarchialists basically are equating sinful consequences with godly remedies. Can these two coexist? No, the correct question is even more dire: can they be synonymous? As Paul might say: “may it never be!” There simply is no good news in Genesis 3:16 (the good news came a verse before), and any attempt to find virtue in fallen humans in that verse is not only folly, it is fantasy.