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Thus we can say that the incredible suffering, even death itself, that came upon mankind, resulting from the treachery of our First Parents, depicts just how stupendous is the dignity given to man.
P 1 3 16 To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions:
in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children,
and thou shalt be under thy husband's power,
and he shall have dominion over thee. P Genesis
In spite of my contention that the female of the human race is that preferred by The Almighty, it was, nevertheless, Eve's compliance with the devil that drew Adam into the act of defiance.
Indeed, it is no doubt, that this dominion of the male over the female has made the female of the species the most humble and therefore the most desirable before The Almighty. Whereas the male who, after Eden, was dominant, thinking himself god-like, lacked humility and lacked obedience.
It follows naturally that when God brought forth Mary - The Immaculate Conception - the new Eve, it was her humility and obedience - as well as her perfection -
by which The Holy Spirit
was enabled
- because God works within His Own created parameters -
to place The Son in her most chaste womb.
Again we observe this probability in the words of Scripture:- P 1 3 15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. P
We observe that the enmity was between the woman and the serpent. Somehow the warfare was pin-pointed, in the final analysis, as between them - no specific mention of the man!
It might be alternatively translated that the enmity was between the woman and her seed, and the devil and his seed, yet that does not take anything away from the singling out of the woman.
I am taking nothing away from her seed - Jesus Christ, God made Man - Who certainly defeated evil once and forever, through The Cross.
Nor am I taking anything away from the rest of her children, (Revelation 12) who comprise the Mystical Body of Christ.
I merely highlight
the crucial and incredible part
the woman had to play
in the salvation of all creation.
We can glimpse in this part of Scripture that just as the first woman Eve, encouraged Adam into the rebellious action, it would be another woman, Mary, who would encourage her offspring into the Redemptive Action.
Just as Eve was definitely involved in the rebellion of Adam so was Mary definitely involved in the Redemption of Jesus.
Indeed, we might also say that
just as Eve was instrumental in the rebellion of Adam
so was Mary instrumental in the Redemption of Jesus.
This conclusion is reasonable - it is common sense - it is fact.
It is fabulous; it is delightful.
Eve
It is most interesting that the devil chose Eve to tempt, rather then Adam.
Perhaps he had already tried to tempt Adam but he, being a male of simplicity in the image of God, merely said No, I can't eat of the tree because God said not to.
The devil would have no answer for such a child-like, unarguable statement.
In any case, Eve was deceived by the devil in that, instead of a simple negative reply to him, she considered the fraudulent suggestion and became conscious that the fruit of the tree was beautiful and obviously delicious and also, that it provided wisdom (or knowledge), just as the devil suggested.
And so Eve made a decision to eat the fruit but not content with that, she gave it to Adam who could not resist his wife's influence - and he also ate it.
So we have the so-called weaker-sex overcoming any objections of the stronger-sex might have had.
And this scenario has not changed since then! The weaker sex being, in reality, the stronger.
It is interesting to note that God gave the commandment to Adam (not Eve)
Genesis 2:17 Thou mayest eat thy fill
of all the trees in the garden
except the tree which brings
knowledge of good and evil;
if ever thou eatest of this,
thy doom is death.
Now this happened prior to the Lord God saying:- I will give him a mate of his own kind - that is, that God will give Adam a wife.
So Eve would have been told by Adam - presumably - that the fruit of that particular tree which is called knowledge of good and evil, is forbidden.
(Perhaps this knowledge of good and evil might be termed wisdom?)
However, in the process of providing Adam with a mate, Scripture deviates from that intention somewhat and describes how all the living creatures of the world are brought to Adam that he may give them names.
Only after that does Scripture return to the intention of God to give Adam a mate.
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