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The Bible does not describe the fate of Homo perfectus, but it does detail the stories of the second human creation, which Hyland recognizes as Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens, which started with Adam and Eve, was never created in God's image, and these imperfect humans were limited to the role of gardeners in Eden. God gave animals to Adam as companions, never as raw materials for exploitation. Translators have often indicated that Eve was formed from one of Adam's ribs. Hyland shows that the Hebrew words describing this event actually indicate that Eve emerged from Adam's entire personhood, reflecting how man and woman are intimately related to each other and how each represents part of a whole. Interestingly, Hyland notes that translating from Hebrew, the Fall represented Adam and Eve's choice to experience evil by partaking of the fruit. This added a divisive element to their previously blissful lives, and destroyed their own androgenous, male/female identity. No longer automatically able to see both male and female attributes within themselves, humans could now only obtain self-knowledge by interacting with and learning from members of the (now) opposite sex. Hyland demonstrates how a major theme throughout Scriptures involves God's attempts to encourage humans to manifest their true, androgenous reality while humans, in their fallen state, repeatedly deny this reality and lead lives of violence and destruction. By failing to unite the "male principle"--action and overcoming--with the "female principle"--caregiving and concern-- humans lead lives of suffering and strife between communities and within their own communities. Action and overcoming untempered by the female principle of compassion is violence. Meanwhile, caregiving and concern without activism outside the immediate household is irrelevant to building a compassionate and just society. Raising boys in an environment of love and then delivering the boys to a culture that expects them to be warriors fails to achieve peace. And, raising girls to become mothers who accept their role of raising future soldiers continues the cycle of violence. The Hebrew Scriptures describe brutal wars that must have made the Hebrews one of the most feared tribes of the ancient world. Nevertheless, scattered throughout the Hebrew writings, particularly Genesis and the latter prophets such as Amos, Jeremiah, and Isaiah, are guideposts for peace that Jesus, a Jew, recognized as the best hope for human salvation. Jesus perfectly united the male and female principles. He was compassionate and caring, yet he recognized that encouraging others to show mercy was just as important as his own acts of kindness. Jesus' teachings, such as the Sermon on the Mount, make clear his belief that all people can and should follow his example, reflecting the view that all people may manifest the male and female principles. Unfortunately, Hyland notes, that part of Jesus' ministry which embraced the "female principle" was later neglected by attributing caring and nurturing to Mary, who has been venerated as his loving mother (the traditional, limited role of women). This has allowed militarists to regard Jesus as "all male," making room for the Crusades and other holy wars that stain Christianity's history. Jesus' message has not been lost on everyone, however. Ann Lee, who founded the Millennial Church (later known as the Shaker Church) believed Jesus valued women as equals, and her religious community reflected her feminist ideals. The Shakers met considerable, often violent resistance, and the women's movement continues to struggle against sexist ideologies and practices. Hyland asserts that the Scriptures offer a brilliant insight into human affairs, an insight that religious leaders and their political allies have generally ignored or suppressed. It is critical that men recognize and nurture their own female elements, and women their male elements. Without this, there can be no peace, not with nature, not with neighboring communities, and not within our own communities. Stephen R. Kaufman, M.D. |
Those
who believe that all the egalitarian movements are inter-related
will appreciate this provocative interpretation of Judeo-Christian
writings. J.R. Hyland, a Christian minister, first looks at the
two, quite different, creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2. Hyland
argues that the stories describe two different events. The first
human creation, which she calls Homo perfectus, was truly created
in God's image. This being reflected Elohim, an androgenous God
who unites what Hyland terms the "male and female principles" and
who gives these God-like humans "dominion" over all creation. These
humans, like inhabitants of Eden, ate no flesh (Gen 1:29).