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The Six Great Mysteries of the Bible

Stephen Beale on Catholic Exchange writes about the six great mysteries of the Bible. Most of them I hadn't even considered, but the first one, what happened to the Garden of Eden, I have wondered about from time to time, and my children have asked me about it as well.

What happened to Eden? The forbidden fruit had been eaten and mankind was banished from the Garden of Eden. So what happened to Eden? No one is quite sure where it was originally located, although there seems to be a general consensus that the garden was somewhere in the Middle East, perhaps in modern-day Iraq. Presumably, the great flood of Genesis would have wiped out it out, but, for centuries, the Christian world had an unquestioning belief in the continued existence of Eden on earth, hidden from man. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that the terrestrial paradise was “shut off by mountains, or seas, or some torrid region” which he said could not be crossed. So firm was the belief in the enduring physical presence of Eden that it was depicted on medieval maps. The belief persisted into the age of exploration: in 1498, Christopher Columbus recoiled with horror from sailing further up the Orinoco River in present-day Venezuela, believing that he was about to enter the Garden of Eden and would incur certain death as a result. Today, with our maps now complete, it seems that Eden has truly vanished without a trace.

Related link: Six Great Mysteries of the Bible

Comments

  1. Well, take them one at a time - Garden of Eden should be the easiest to locate. Just look for the flaming sword that turns in every direction. Gen 3:24.

    Since it has never been found, looks like just one more myth, eh?

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  2. Lucky X-Rays were eventually found, otherwise you'd call them a myth.

    All things lost, destroyed or perished become myths? Awesome logic.

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  3. The Bible, aka the inerrant word of god, tells us about the flaming sword. Are you saying the bible is incorrect? Is there no longer a tree of eternal life that must be protected, lest we eat of it and become gods?


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  5. LOL. No, what I'm saying is your suggestion that all things lost, destroyed or perished proves that such things were always myths is an example of flawed logic.

    I thought that was fairly clear.

    (Edited for clarity)

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