The

Mary Michael Machabee

Institute

Newsletter

October 18th, 2024

Joyful Marriages and Ordered Families
FORTIFIED BY
The True and Sacred Narrative of Genesis
 

Part II

We continue with Part Two in our series with several more lessons that Genesis can help with in bringing about Joyful Marriages and Ordered Families. For Part One, click here.

Lesson #2: Man Works

"Gen. 2:19 And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name.  20 And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself."

Adam has dominion over all of the other creatures on earth. All creatures were made before Adam. This shows how man is the greatest of all earthly creatures with his body-soul composite. It also shows that all creatures were made first for the glory of God. They reveal an aspect of God’s glory. Next, they are all for man’s use. A little earlier in Genesis Moses writes, “2:15 And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.” Work is a part of man’s life. A good life is not a life free from work. The curse applied to work was that it would become toilsome and less profitable. Man needs work. It is a gift from God. This fact should disturb those who look at retirement as a time for self-indulgence, dissipation, and a life free from any labor.

St Theophilus of Antioch (died ca. AD 183)

Lesson #3: Man’s Dignity is Supreme over Other Creatures by Grace

Man is the great work of Creation and as St Theophilus of Antioch in Ad Autolycum states:

"For when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness,” He first intimates the dignity of man. For God having made all things by His Word, and having reckoned them all mere bye-works, reckons the creation of man to be the only work worthy of His own hands."

This dignity of man comes from God. It is given to Adam when God makes him. After first introducing the creation of man on the sixth day and completing the narrative of Creation by describing how God rested on the seventh, Moses returns to the theme of man’s creation giving particular details of how man was made. This special act of creation where man is formed from the slime of the earth by God and then God breathes the soul into this body He had fashioned speaks to the special dignity of man within the order of creation. This dignity was a source of rebellion for the wicked angels who were jealous that though angels were superior to man in the natural order, man by grace could be elevated by God. Some authors state this perceived indignity is what led Satan to rebel. He would not be lower than the Virgin Mary or worship her Son.

Illustration of the Fall of Satan, “Paradise Lost“, Gustave Doré, 1866

Lesson #4: Woman is made from Man to form Families

"Gen. 2:21 Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.  22 And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.  23 And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.  24 Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh."

Adam sleeps, the image of death, and during this sleep, Eve is fashioned from his side. Where Adam was made from the slime of the earth, Eve is made from Adam. Adam was made for the glory of God. Eve being made from Adam’s rib is made not only for the glory of God like all creatures, but also for the glory of man. Eve was also made to be a suitable helper for Adam. St. Agustine wonders in what manner would a woman be helpful to a man “If it were not the case that the woman was created to be a man’s helper specifically for the production of children, then why would she have been created as ‘helper’ (Gen. 2:18)? ...I cannot think of any reason for a woman’s being made as a man’s helper, if we dismiss the reason of  procreation.” St. Augustine thinks that in any other capacity, other than childrearing, another man would have made a better helper.

St Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430)