THE GARDEN
Many have speculated about the location of the original Garden of Eden. Claims have been made about its location from time to time, but no one knows for sure where it was. The way we see it, it is not important to know where it was. In fact, we think God was wise in concealing its location. If people knew where it was, someone would set up a shrine or a theme park or recreation complex, or some kind of commercial religion venture there. It would become a business and God’s meaning of it would be lost in religious activity.

Perhaps the best reason for concealing the location of the Garden is that it was intended to represent a spiritual place. Therefore the natural facts about it have little significance compared to the spiritual meaning that God has invested in it. Another good reason for concealing the location is that sooner or later someone would build a theme park there and make it a shrine for religious tourists.

That the creation story is clouded in symbolic meaning is a well-known, but not often acknowledged fact. Therefore, people who are not experienced in understanding the mysteries of God tend to gloss over such writings and comfort themselves with whatever literal truths they can glean from a story. These Biblical literalists pride themselves on their ability to quote scripture, but, to their shame, they never dig for deeper understanding. This is a great handicap anywhere they read in the Bible, but it is especially serious in the creation story because a good grasp of it is foundational for understanding the rest of the Bible. Therefore we will try to remedy that gap for our readers. We begin by looking at the scriptures that introduce creation.

To do that we must acknowledge a doctrine in Judaism that allows for two creation stories.

Genesis 2:15-17:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”