The first couple undoubtedly had the least conflictual first year of marriage on record. There were no parents to forgive or childhood wounds to process. The absence of sin meant they carried no shame. We don’t know if they loved each other as we understand love today, but based on Adam’s exuberant response in Genesis 2, it does seem that they received each other as good gifts.
Looking back on this Edenic match — perhaps the only match truly made in heaven — it all seemed so simple and so enviable. Who wouldn’t want to form a lifelong partnership with a well-matched spouse, in a breathtaking setting with all our needs provided for at no cost?
Based on the myriad of challenges that we face in the 21st century, we may wonder why Adam and Eve weren’t content and why they couldn’t fully trust God. The truth is, we’re all vulnerable to greed and doubt. Because they gave in to those powerful temptations, they suffered a devastating wound. Instead of standing adjacent and upright before their Creator, they turned their gaze away from God and bent in: Eve to Adam, and Adam to his work, resulting in a relationship marked by disconnection, envy, and idolatry. The ramifications of this wound have reverberated through history.
And yet, the injury was not fatal. Marriage has survived.
To read the remainder of this essay on marriage as a common good, please click this link.
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