Wow, Woe, Whoa

Adam saw Eve and proclaimed, “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” I heard this could be interpreted as saying, "Wow!" Maybe so.

Not long after that, he might have cried, "Woe." The fall troubles Adam, the rest of humanity, of course, and depending on whom you listen, the woman’s culpability, creates degrees of trouble for the wow sex. A reader on this blog said, “But I still feel that the curse of Eve is emblazoned on all women to wear as a scarlet letter to be forever ruled by men.” That response gave me pause. It may be because the tradition in which I grew up doesn’t really teach a doctrine of original sin in the either the Catholic or Calvinist tradition, I have never been inclined to reflect much on the curse of Eve in such an intense way.

I did once hear a highly regarded minister say that it just means that women are more inclined to sin than men. I pause. I say, "Whoa."