Phillip Cary

I’m not done puzzling over God’s word to the woman in Genesis 3:16, connecting pain in childbirth, desire for her husband, and his ruling over her. So far I’ve been thinking primarily about the connection between the first two, procreation and sex. But now it’s time to think . . . . Continue Reading »

I’m still thinking about why Genesis connects sexual desire and procreation only after the first disobedience. Both are mentioned before, but not explicitly connected.There is no question that both belong to the goodness of creation. The divine blessing of procreation (“Be fruitful and . . . . Continue Reading »

I am still thinking about God’s word to the woman and the man in Genesis 3. I want to understand the justice that God is doing here. My assumption is that when God does justice he begins a process of setting things right.The wrong God aims to set right, I have been suggesting, is a failure to . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been trying to understand the justice in God’s speeches in Genesis 3:14-19. For this is the context in which to make sense of the great puzzle I find in his words to the woman: “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (3:16). It is, strikingly, the first time . . . . Continue Reading »

I have been trying to understand why Genesis speaks of the woman’s desire for her husband only after the first disobedience. This requires an understanding of the justice of God in the sequence of three speeches addressed to the serpent, the woman and the man (in that order) in Gen. 3:14-19. I’m . . . . Continue Reading »

In the story of Genesis, why do we hear of the woman’s desire for her husband only after the first disobedience? The answer must lie in the interlocking meaning of all three speeches in Genesis 3:14-19,  where God speaks in sequence to the serpent, the woman and the man.The common thread of . . . . Continue Reading »

I want to return to the deeply puzzling question: why does Genesis treat the woman’s desire for her man (Gen. 3:16) so differently from the man’s joy in the woman (Gen. 2:23)? Why does the one come after the first disobedience, and the other before—as if a woman’s sexual desire is a . . . . Continue Reading »

In many churches, Christmas Eve is the first time we hear the Gloria since Advent began. We have been awaiting the coming of glory, and now here it is, the angels singing Gloria in excelsis: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace (Luke 2:14). Both the song and the occasion speak of a new . . . . Continue Reading »

The sequence of three speeches of God in Genesis 3:14-19 (to the serpent, the woman, and the man) illustrates biblical justice, which is to say a justice that does more than punish ; it sets things right and corrects what is wrong. The sequence begins with the only curse God directs at a living . . . . Continue Reading »

One of the deepest puzzles I find in the book of Genesis is its treatment of sexual desire and procreation. Whereas the man’s joy in his wife is an expression of the goodness of creation  that takes place before sin and death enter the story, the woman’s desire for her husband is mentioned . . . . Continue Reading »