Fr. Dale Matson
“And Adam said this is
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because
she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis
2:23-24, KJV)
In the Garden of Eden,
before the fall of Adam and Eve, God declared all things that He had made as
good. In creating Eve as a helpmate for Adam, God established a complimentary relationship
between Adam and Eve. Even though they were different, they were unified. They
were both distinct from one another but remained one flesh. There was a sacramental
unity.
“And the Lord God
commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou may freely eat: But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in
the day that thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2: 16-17) Here
God established the law of the Garden. It was good and true.
“Now the serpent was more
subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And
he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of
the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the
trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the
garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest
ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” Here Eve
is confused (deceived) by the serpent and exchanged a lie from the serpent for
the truth of God.
“ And
when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to
the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit
thereof, and did eat,” (Genesis 3:6a) Eve disobeyed God and introduced sin with
her innovation. Eve and Adam were no longer one flesh. There was no longer unity.
“And gave also unto her
husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:6b)
Adam was
not deceived and knew better. “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived was in the transgression.” (1st Timothy 2:14) So why did Adam eat of
the forbidden fruit if he was not deceived? He ate for the sake of unity. Eve was manipulated by the
serpent through her senses and acquisitiveness. Adam intentionally sinned as he
looked at a fallen Eve and wanted to reestablish unity with her. In so doing,
they both fell into sin (error). He accepted her innovation for the sake of unity, and the truth of God that they
rejected became a judgment from God.
We have the truth of Scripture, the creeds of the councils of the church, the
traditions of the church and Reason informed by God. There is clarity. If some,
through their vanity and arrogance become confused, they will be manipulated
and beguiled to grasp for something more. They will go beyond what is necessary
and embrace what is forbidden. In this confusion they will seek unity; unity at the expense of truth.
The siren call to ‘reconciliation’ is for unity not truth. We must not make the
choice of Adam to sin for the sake of unity. If we do, we will be no different
than Adam.
“Love
does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.” (1st
Corinthians 13:6)
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