In one of his speeches in his home turf, our president shared a dream he had where he asked God to tell him why He created women as an “afterthought” (i.e., after seeing how Adam needed a companion) which led to “messed up” lives for men from thereon. This got me thinking. Am I, a woman, God’s Plan B? A cursory reading of the creation account makes it seem like our president might be on to something.

“To say that…is not just chauvinistic but denies the very existence of God who is perfect and all-knowing,” Dr. Jun Aguilar, a pastor, clarifies. “God cannot be God (if) He was incomplete in His creation and had to ‘add’ because he failed to foresee what man would need.”

Pastor Carlo Ratilla adds, “God is perfect.  So why would a perfect God miss some?  God is not like me who can miss a lot of ideas.”

It is because we know that God is perfect, we are confident that the following are not part of His vocabulary:

“Uh…”

“Uh-oh…”

“Oops…”

“Oh…”

“Oh no…”

“Trinity, we have a problem.”

“Emergency meeting, everyone.”

“Naku! Lagot! Paano na?”

But one can still argue that the woman was created after man. Didn’t He say how it was not “good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him?” (Gen. 2:18, 20). True, but the account does not say that “After God saw everything was good, He then realized He missed something that Adam might need.” It just says that after all the animals and nature were created, “no suitable helper was found.” This is to show us that no matter how cute and adorable animals may be and how beautiful nature is, neither can meet the needs of the one who is created in the image of God. Gen. 2:19 shows that work is also a poor substitute for companionship. So Genesis 1:18, 20 are not there to show an afterthought on the part of the perfect God but the reason for the creation of woman as part of His original Plan A.

I think the myth of the “afterthought” stems from the oft-repeated commentary how Adam was lonely and so God stroked His chin thinking of a solution, “Hmm…a-ha! I know! Adam, you are now getting sleepy…sleepy…” The creation account never mentions him being lonely because before he could feel an iota of loneliness, God had already planned to make a woman. God had all along intended to create woman after Adam, knowing no other creation can be a suitable helper. God just needed to editorialize for our sake to make us understand how the relationship between a man and a woman is to be. The man is to be the head and be responsible for the protection and care of his wife. (Gen. 2:23-24) The woman’s creation was not Act II but part of the first Act with her as the culmination of all that is “very good.”