So, Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
Most everyone knows this classic Biblical story from the third chapter of Genesis.
But have you ever considered in any detail the punishment received after Eve ate the forbidden fruit?
Moreover, have you given much thought to the fall out to this present day?
We’ll explore both topics briefly in today’s post. In particular, I will draw in the modern, feminist movement to see how they are trying to undo, as it were, Eve’s punishment.
EVE ATE THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Here’s a refresher for you (Genesis 3:1-6):
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?’
And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’’
But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die.
For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…”
QUICK ANALYSIS
Notice that Eve told the serpent that God forbade her and her husband from eating of that certain tree.
The Early Church Fathers teach that God had given this command directly only to Adam (Gen 2:17). Sometime later, Adam must have passed it along to Eve.
Where God told Adam he may not eat of the tree, Eve told the serpent they can’t even touch it. Perhaps Adam was trying to further protect Eve.
Thus, when Eve ate the forbidden fruit, she was guilty of disobeying two persons. Not only God, but also her husband. This is the teaching of the Early Church Fathers.
HER PUNISHMENT AFTER EVE ATE THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT
After Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God told her the punishment she would receive.
“To the woman [God] said, ‘I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you’” (Gen 3:16).
Notice the last couple there.
The Early Church Fathers teach Eve was made subject to her husband because she disobeyed Adam.
LET’S LOOK AT MODERN, RADICAL FEMINISTS
Modern, radical feminists are continually attempting to undo Eve’s punishments to this day.
A standard belief in Christianity is that this “Original Sin” of Adam and Eve’s is inherited by the entire human race (see Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], 402). This makes us, upon conception, devoid of the sanctifying grace of God. We also inherit a fallen human nature, subject to the attraction to sin, called concupiscence (CCC 405).
The radicals took over the feminist movement in the 1960’s and turned it into a sexual “liberation” movement. Outright rejection of men, particularly their roles as the head of marriage and of family life, took center stage.
Instead of being obedient to God and accepting women’s role in the family, radical feminists sought to undo the moral order.
Women were encouraged to forego married life in the name of “free love.” They were expected to be promiscuous, in order to become “equal” to their male counterparts.
By marrying later in life, or not at all, women were exerting a perceived control over their destiny or outcome in society.
But while rejecting men and their supposed dominion over women, these radicals were thumbing their nose at God as well.
The effects of this attitude pervade to this day. Some out there still embrace it wholeheartedly.
Rejecting God’s view of womanhood and family life is nothing new. After all, it originated in Eve when Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
YOUR TURN
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