So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 12, 2018): Genesis 1

With the birth of a little brother for Prince George and Princess Charlotte on April 23, 2018, something happened in the English Royal Family that had never happened before, at least not for those who live at the core of the Royal Family and who are first in the line of ascension to the throne. The birth of a second male heir to the family of William and Kate, a boy named Louis, did not move Charlotte down the list simply because she was a girl. In the past, that would have always been the case. Even Great-Grandma Elizabeth II could have been prevented from the ascending to the throne and reigning over the United Kingdom simply through her parent’s decision to have another child and that child turning out to be male. Before the birth of Charlotte’s younger brother, the line of ascension went Charles, William, and George, with Charlotte standing fourth in line to the throne. In the past, the birth of a male child to William and Kate would have moved Charlotte to fifth, behind her younger brother, in the line of ascension. But that was in times past. In a gesture of Royal gender equality, the rules have been changed. Louis now occupies the spot formally held by his Uncle Harry. Charlotte will move down the ascension list someday, but the only thing that can make that happen is George growing up and having children, male or female, of his own.

The Christian Church has often seemed to lag behind in issues regarding gender equality. And sometimes the blame for that is laid on the creation story in Genesis. What we sometimes forget is that there are two creation stories, and if proving gender inequality is your thing, then you have to refer to the second creation story, conveniently found in Genesis 2. It is in that story that we find the tale of God putting Adam to sleep and making a helpmate for him out of one of his ribs. This idea of a helpmate has caused no small amount of trouble for women who have for centuries been made to feel like they are second rate people. But the story in Genesis 2 is more of an allegory trying to explain a cultural reality which no longer exists in many parts of our world. And because the cultural reality is absent, the words make less and less sense to the contemporary ear.

But in Genesis one, we are presented with an alternate explanation and less of a cultural story. Genesis 1 lacks an Adam and Eve and simply states that we are made in the image of God. All of us, male and female, reflect God’s image. To say that there is no difference between a man and woman isn’t quite true. But neither is it true to say that one is doomed to be forever second to the other, or that one is doomed to be the helpmate throughout eternity. God created us male and female so that together we might reflect the whole of who God is. We really do need each other.

Of course, the Genesis 1 creation story reveals something else which we seem to find to be an important detail. Is God male or female? The Genesis 1 reality is that he is both or neither. Just because he created us to be male and female does not mean that he needs to be either, and in creating us in his image as male and female, God refuses to restrict himself to such a binary reality.     

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Genesis 2