Adam and Eve: Original Unity

Fr. Anthony Percy

From The Theology of the Body Made Simple by Fr. Anthony Percy:

"...Adam awakes from the divine sleep to find that God has been at work fashioning Eve. Adam sees her and is really delighted. "At last," he says, "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Adam notices two things about this new creature. She is the same, but different. She is a woman. She is human, to be sure, but she looks different. Adam is immediately attracted to her. We are told that henceforth man will leave father and mother and cleave to his wife. The man and woman, we are told, become one flesh.

...All this enables us to see the deep connection between Original Solitude and Original Unity. On the one hand, Adam experiences that he is unique in creation: he is alone with God like no other creature is. On the other hand, his experience tells him that something is lacking in his life... He feels alone. With the help of God he searches for this other. In fact, the biblical text says God himself presents the woman to the man. In effect, God is saying , "This is my daughter - care for her, love her! Adam accepts Eve. He becomes one with her; they become one flesh.