After having long and extensive debates with some respectful Protestants, I've decided to create a project explaining the origins of the term "New Eve," and its place as one of many titles for the Virgin Mary. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So, what does New Eve mean? Essentially, it is a title that refers to a place that Mary holds in Christian theology. In the beginning, man was created to be perfect. Adam was created out of the dust of the Earth, and was endowed with the breath of life, which is the Holy Spirit. From him, God created a partner: Eve, the first woman. The two became one flesh and were in joyous and harmonious union with each other. Of course, we know what happened next. Eve, choosing to listen to the words of a deceitful and crafty serpent, caused mankind to fall and sin to enter and corrupt the world. Eve and her husband were cast out of Eden and expelled into the dark, cold world. But God gave them a promise... he spoke to the serpent, saying: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[a] and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” -Genesis 3:15. This is obviously the first real prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. We are told that even after the Fall, God still loved his creation and was willing to save them. So, when the time came, God became incarnate in the form of Jesus Christ, taking on a human nature and "... humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." Philippians 2:8 Adam accepted fruit from a tree, and it brought him death. Christ accepted death on a tree, and it brought life and resurrection to every human being. We hear this theology displayed in Romans 5:12. "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned." Also in 1 Corinthians 15:45... So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”[a]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. So we know that by Adam, sin entered the world, and by sin death. And we know that by Christ, life entered the world, and by life, resurrection. So, what about Mary? The first Eve listened to the words of the serpent, and ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. She led Adam to sin as well, causing the Fall. Mary is often called "second," or "New" Eve in Orthodox and Catholic theology, because she represents the fulfilment of the prophecy first given in Genesis 3:15. Through her obedience, Christ entered the world and saved humanity. Through Eve's disobedience, (and Adam's,) death entered the world and corrupted humanity. The parallels are striking, to say the least. Mary, being the New Eve, brought forth the sinless one... the one who would heal our first mistakes. One of the first uses of this terminology among the Fathers of the Church was by none other than Justin Martyr, a philosopher, early Christian apologist, and martyr from the 2nd century. He writes, "Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary conceived faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy One begotten of her is the Son of God." Justin Martyr, (100-165 AD,) was born in the region of Samaria, the very same region mentioned in John's gospel in the story of the "Samaritan woman at the Well." He was, from his youth, a "restless seeker of truth." He began moving back and forth to different philosophical schools of thought. Around 125 AD, he became a Christian. He was a zealous defender of the Christian faith, writing many discourses and apologies and even starting his own Christian school of thought. He was martyred for the faith in 165 AD, during the reign of emperor Marcus Aurelius. Anyways, back to Mary. Saint Irenaeus, who lived in 130-202 AD, wrote in his famous book "Against Heresies," "As Eve was seduced by the speech of an angel, so as to flee God in transgressing his word, so also Mary received the good tidings by means of the angel's speech, so as to be God within her, being obedient to this word. And though the one had disobeyed God, yet the other was drawn to obey him; that of the virgin Eve, the virgin Mary might become the advocate and as by a virgin the human race had been bound to death, by a virgin it is saved, the balance being preserved- a virgin's disobedience by a virgin' obedience." (Against Heresies) So, we can see that there is both Biblical and Traditional evidence for the use of the title "New Eve."
Also, I'd like to point out that Eastern Orthodox theology does not say that Mary was born sinless. That just doesn't make sense when looking at Scripture.
