Was there Sex in the Garden?

The second aspect of Genesis, which the authors of “The Uncensored Bible,” explore, is whether or not Adam and Eve were sexually active in the Garden, or just became aware of and practiced their sexuality after leaving the Garden. Looking at Genesis 2:25, Adam and Eve were naked but unashamed before eating the forbidden fruit. After the fruit was eaten, however, they realized they were naked. So the authors suggest that once Adam and Eve realized that they were naked, their sexuality was aroused and they probably had sexual intercourse (though there is obviously not any explicit proof of this in the Bible.)

According to a theory proposed by biblical scholar, Jacob Milgrim, which the authors explore, Adam and Eve must have had sexual intercourse before they were expelled from the Garden and before they felt the shame for their bodies that caused them to cover themselves with fig leaves.

As we know from Genesis 3:13, God discovered Adam and Eve’s disobedience to his command that they not eat from the tree of good and evil, and punished them. The authors suggest that perhaps one of the reasons God later made clothes for them in Genesis 3:20, was to curb their sexual interest and arousal for each other. If we take the author’s argument at face value, perhaps this may explain the widespread Catholic guilt and shame about sex that has pervaded Church followers for hundreds of years (e.g. sex is bad, the flesh and body is bad, and one should feel shame for being naked and having sex).

Does “Knowing” Someone Equal sex?
The first time the Bible refers to Adam and Eve having sexual intercourse, occurs after God expels them from the Garden. “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain.” In this context, the passage suggests that the two had sexual relations only after they were ejected from the Garden. Looking at Hebrew meaning of the verb, “to know,” Milgrim and the authors argue that not only does the verb refer to the occurrence of sexual relations, but the tense of the verb suggests that Adam “knew” or “had known” his wife so there is a good chance that Adam and Even had sexual relations before leaving the Garden. (This concept could parallel the ideas of John Paul II on sex as a creational gift from God, rather than the sinful, recreational act is has been viewed as since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden.)

The Pangs of Childbirth
Looking at Genesis 3:16, Milgrim points out that the punishment laid on Eve significantly increased her pain in childbirth, which implies that she already had the potential to bare children before being expelled from the Garden. He also suggests that it was only after eating the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve became aware of their nakedness and sexuality and became sexually aroused.

Milgrim’s opinion clashes with that of St. Augustine. The doctrine of original sin was proposed by Augustine based on his interpretation of the Garden of Eden. Augustine believed Eve was created for the purpose of having babies so it is conceivable that Adam and Eve had sexual relations in the Garden because that was the purpose for which Eve was created.

Augustine also thought that lust was the original sin, which resulted from Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit, and this sin was consequently passed on to all newborn babies. So it is possible according to both Milgrim and Augustine that Adam and Eve had sex before original sin manifested itself through the eating of the forbidden fruit.

The authors argue then that lustful sexual thoughts and actions were absent from Adam and Eve’s behavior before they ate the fruit. I would propose, however, that it is entirely possible that Adam and Eve had NO sex drive (healthy or unhealthy) in the Garden, and only after eating from the tree and leaving the Garden did they have “knowledge” of either their individual or shared sexuality.

The authors note a possible objection to Milgrim’s thesis, pointing out that God prohibited the eating of the forbidden fruit before Eve was created, so why would God have been concerned about Adam’s “knowledge of sex” when there was no one yet for him to have sex with?

Milgrim argues that the ability to have sex is a creative/creational force that, as a result of the Fall, allows Adam and Eve to now “be like God.” This argument can be backed up with the words of Eve who says, after giving birth to Cain, “I have acquired a man with Yahweh.”

Parallels to The New Eve
We can see parallels to sex being equal to “knowing” someone in the New Testament when we Mary is visited by the angel Gabriel. Gabriel says in Luke 1:31, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus.” And Mary responds by saying, “How can this be since I don’t know man (or since I am a virgin)?” In this context (as in the Genesis story), Mary is suggesting she has not yet had sexual intercourse with her fiancé, Joseph. To which Gabriel says, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child will be called Son of God,” and Mary responds by saying, “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.