Redeeming Eden & Eve: How the Bible Strategically Uplifts Women (Ingrid Faro) Ep. #237

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Jan 29, 2026

Ingrid Faro, Old Testament scholar and interim president of Northern Seminary, reframes Genesis and the Bible’s women as strategic movers in salvation history. Short takes: she reinterprets ezer and tzelah, redeems Eve’s role and Genesis 3, and traces patterns of dysfunction, healing, and the nature of evil across Scripture.

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INSIGHT

Women As Strategic Agents In Scripture

Ingrid Faro argues women are strategically placed throughout Scripture to initiate or advance key movements in redemption history.
God favors unexpected, humble, and overlooked persons as agents of redemption, including many women.

ANECDOTE

Theology Began After Church Abuse

Ingrid Faro recounts joining a controlling church where women were silenced and forbidden education.
That traumatic experience propelled her into theological study to discover who God really is.

INSIGHT

Genesis Language Undercuts Hierarchy

Faro reframes Genesis 1–2: humanity as a singular vice-regency created male and female to rule together.
Hebrew words ezer and tselah depict a powerful, side-by-side partner and temple-supporting sides, not subordination.

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Why does Scripture so often portray women as central to God’s work of redemption—even in stories of deep dysfunction and failure? In this episode, Dr. Ingrid Faro, Old Testament scholar and interim president of Northern Seminary, joins Dru Johnson to explore her groundbreaking work in Redeeming Eden: How Women in the Bible Advance the Story of Salvation.

Dr. Faro shares how her personal journey through theological trauma, cultic church experiences, and academic discovery led her to reexamine Genesis 1–3 and the women of the Bible. She explains how Hebrew terms like ezer and tzelah (often translated “helper” and “rib”) have been misunderstood, how Eve’s story actually radiates hope, and how strategic female figures consistently propel salvation history forward.

The conversation also tackles misinterpretations of Genesis 3:16, the patterns of dysfunction and healing across the biblical narrative, and what the Bible really says about evil. This episode is a deep and hopeful reconsideration of gender, power, and goodness within the story of Scripture.

You can find Ingrid's "Redeeming Eden" here:
https://zondervanacademic.com/products/redeeming-eden

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Chapters:

00:00 The Importance of Women in the Bible
02:58 Challenges and Misunderstandings
05:52 Theological Journey and Discoveries
08:56 Women as Key Figures in Redemption History
12:04 Genesis and the Role of Women
14:53 Understanding the Image of God
18:10 Eve's Story and Redemption
20:58 The Dynamics of Desire and Power
23:56 Women and Men in Collaboration
26:55 The Nature of Evil in the Bible
29:57 Future Works and Closing Thoughts