Click here (Science Daily) to learn about a recently discovered ancient garden complex near the holy city of Jerusalem...
Do you think that such historical projects might have had an influence upon the Bible's creation imagery in Genesis 2-3?
7 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I feel as if the title to this article on the Blogspot page ("Gardens of Eden") is a bit of a misnomer in terms of the material presented in the article. What I mean by this is that they don't refer to the Garden of Eden whatsoever in the article aside from a brief example, but which in no way points to the garden found to be the one in the early Bible where Adam and Eve were present.
As for the question you asked, I'm sure the ancient people had gardens, or at least knew about them, and how elegant and "divine-like" they were (also how in the article it says gardens were used to show power around temples and the like) and thus included the Garden of Eden into the creation story to have God's first human creations put on a pedestal (which would ultimately fail them and cause humanity to come tumbling down). I personally think that was a good use of a known symbol in their world to put a point across in the story they told.
One old saying is "write what you know." Any sufficiently large or beutiful garden could serve as a model for the Garden of Eden. The garden discovered by the city of Jerusalem could have set the base line for what a earthly garden is. - Cameron Mutchler
I noticed something as we went over Genesis 3. In the last part of Genesis 3 is the first mention of an angelic figure: "He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life." Genesis 3:24. These beings exsist yet theres no mention of them while everything was being created. This implies that there was no need to create them as they were already there. Perhaps occupying seats on the divine council we discused in class?
This is quite the archeological find, especially since this site is so old. It is possible that these ancient gardens could have been used in the imagery in Genesis 2-3. Since this ancient garden was found not far from the old city of Jerusalem there will definitely be some people who think there may be a connection.
That's an interesting find, Cameron. It really does stand to reason that since they were so methodical about describing who/what/when/where was created, but yet no mention of these beings, that they would be already existing.
What also bugs me about this part of the Bible is that God made man/woman but wouldn't allow them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. As if God wanted us to remain ignorant.
That's an interesting thought, why God wouldn't want us to eat from the tree... I wonder why exactly He didn't. Was He afraid of what would happen, was He trying to keep us from making sinful choices?
Also, I do this that these kinds of gardens had great influence on the Bible, if not this exact one. People probably had to use gardens along with passed down knowledge to put together what the garden of Eden looked like.
Excellent comments & insights, folks. Your observation about the cherubim, Cameron, is spot-on with respect to Ancient Near Eastern notions of the divine assembly (we'll see actual iconographic evidence of cherubim in a few classes).
Eric and Timi, you raise the awkward (yet entirely valid) question about why God would create us as 'semi-broken' (or, bound to break) in the first place?? Theologians have pondered this across the ages, with no slam-dunk answers. I wonder whether Genesis' take on it is an attempt to reconcile humanity's incredible ability for good with its chilling capacity for evil. How can we be BOTH??
7 comments:
I feel as if the title to this article on the Blogspot page ("Gardens of Eden") is a bit of a misnomer in terms of the material presented in the article. What I mean by this is that they don't refer to the Garden of Eden whatsoever in the article aside from a brief example, but which in no way points to the garden found to be the one in the early Bible where Adam and Eve were present.
As for the question you asked, I'm sure the ancient people had gardens, or at least knew about them, and how elegant and "divine-like" they were (also how in the article it says gardens were used to show power around temples and the like) and thus included the Garden of Eden into the creation story to have God's first human creations put on a pedestal (which would ultimately fail them and cause humanity to come tumbling down). I personally think that was a good use of a known symbol in their world to put a point across in the story they told.
- Eric Dutton
One old saying is "write what you know." Any sufficiently large or beutiful garden could serve as a model for the Garden of Eden. The garden discovered by the city of Jerusalem could have set the base line for what a earthly garden is.
- Cameron Mutchler
I noticed something as we went over Genesis 3. In the last part of Genesis 3 is the first mention of an angelic figure: "He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life." Genesis 3:24. These beings exsist yet theres no mention of them while everything was being created. This implies that there was no need to create them as they were already there. Perhaps occupying seats on the divine council we discused in class?
This is quite the archeological find, especially since this site is so old. It is possible that these ancient gardens could have been used in the imagery in Genesis 2-3. Since this ancient garden was found not far from the old city of Jerusalem there will definitely be some people who think there may be a connection.
-Taylor E.
That's an interesting find, Cameron. It really does stand to reason that since they were so methodical about describing who/what/when/where was created, but yet no mention of these beings, that they would be already existing.
What also bugs me about this part of the Bible is that God made man/woman but wouldn't allow them to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. As if God wanted us to remain ignorant.
- Eric Dutton
That's an interesting thought, why God wouldn't want us to eat from the tree... I wonder why exactly He didn't. Was He afraid of what would happen, was He trying to keep us from making sinful choices?
Also, I do this that these kinds of gardens had great influence on the Bible, if not this exact one. People probably had to use gardens along with passed down knowledge to put together what the garden of Eden looked like.
-Timi Miner
Excellent comments & insights, folks. Your observation about the cherubim, Cameron, is spot-on with respect to Ancient Near Eastern notions of the divine assembly (we'll see actual iconographic evidence of cherubim in a few classes).
Eric and Timi, you raise the awkward (yet entirely valid) question about why God would create us as 'semi-broken' (or, bound to break) in the first place?? Theologians have pondered this across the ages, with no slam-dunk answers. I wonder whether Genesis' take on it is an attempt to reconcile humanity's incredible ability for good with its chilling capacity for evil. How can we be BOTH??
pdk
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