mattd
11-12-2007, 12:56 AM
i was reading a book for school the other day, and the author was making a point about Adam and Eve, and brought these thoughts to mind, even though this wasn't the topic the author was on at all.
i worked the past year as a youth ministry intern and without a doubt the subject with the most materials out there to teach from is the subject of dating. the underlying theme of most of these resources is that "you don't need a boyfriend/girlfriend to be happy," or "if your relationship with God is right then you should be perfectly happy by yourself." but yet, it seems to contradict the reason that Eve was made for Adam in the first place. the author said that Adam was lonely, although i can't find that in any of my translations of the Bible, and i find it hard to believe that he was seeing as how it was a perfect world at that time. what the Bible says is that God saw the need for woman while Adam was naming the animals and says that "God saw no helper that was suitable for Adam."
this says to me that God saw a need for us to have that companion, that he created us for companionship with someone besides him. that seems to be the oppisite of what we teach, but think about it: this is BEFORE the fall: God was still walking right next to Adam in the garden of eden, they still had unbroken communication. yet the text implies that Adam had a longing for something more, and God saw and met that need.
it seems to me that what we teach our youth these days is in direct contradiction to this and if anyone has thoughts on this topic i'd love to hear them, although this is more of me just thinking out loud than an actual question.
i worked the past year as a youth ministry intern and without a doubt the subject with the most materials out there to teach from is the subject of dating. the underlying theme of most of these resources is that "you don't need a boyfriend/girlfriend to be happy," or "if your relationship with God is right then you should be perfectly happy by yourself." but yet, it seems to contradict the reason that Eve was made for Adam in the first place. the author said that Adam was lonely, although i can't find that in any of my translations of the Bible, and i find it hard to believe that he was seeing as how it was a perfect world at that time. what the Bible says is that God saw the need for woman while Adam was naming the animals and says that "God saw no helper that was suitable for Adam."
this says to me that God saw a need for us to have that companion, that he created us for companionship with someone besides him. that seems to be the oppisite of what we teach, but think about it: this is BEFORE the fall: God was still walking right next to Adam in the garden of eden, they still had unbroken communication. yet the text implies that Adam had a longing for something more, and God saw and met that need.
it seems to me that what we teach our youth these days is in direct contradiction to this and if anyone has thoughts on this topic i'd love to hear them, although this is more of me just thinking out loud than an actual question.