In which an alternative view is offered regarding the exit of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, the action of women and the relationship of men and women are explored and the story of Cain and Abel is reinterpreted in light of the actions taken during the Garden of Eden Story.

In order to fully appreciate this discussion, it is recommended that the posts comprising the series “In God’s Image” and “Imagination and the Mind of Man” be read before reading the posts in this series.

Another Interpretation of the Garden of Eden Story

Review of the previous post.

The previous post, post number 6 of 19, discussed the two creation stories in relation to the “banishment” of humans from the Garden of Eden.

Preview of this post.

This post, post number 7 of 19, discusses how human imagination figures into the Garden of Eden story.

Imagination in the Garden of Eden Creation Story in general

As previously discussed in the series “In God’s Image,” the characteristic which separates humans from the other entities created in Genesis is man’s imagination. Thus, it would seem logical to explore the development of human beings in the second creation story through the lens of the development of man’s imagination. As defined in that discussion, “imagination” is the ability to form a mental image of something that is not being immediately sensed by one’s senses. Even though some entities possess the ability to remember and memory can sometimes be confused with imagination, no other entity created in Genesis has the ability to form a mental image of something that is not being sensed.

With regard to imagination in general, while in the Garden, man was provided with all his wants and needs, and was apparently safe and had no reason to make any choices[1]. While in the Garden in this condition, Adam and Eve, and by extension all humankind, were no more than the animals, or pets^[2]. Thus, while in the Garden of Eden, human beings had no reason to exercise their free will and with no choices to make, humans had no reason to exercise their imagination. As such, humans were really the same as the other animals. On the other hand, outside the Garden, humans had to make choices, and hence exercise their free will[3]. As discussed in other series, the exercise of true free will requires an imagination. Thus, it could be argued that Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden in order to exercise their free will, which requires exercise of imagination.

As was also discussed in other series, one must have knowledge in order to exercise one’s imagination. This, in turn, requires a memory. Memory is used to store past and learned experiences so one can visualize these experiences and connect them to the choice of acts being faced in order to choose one act over others. As was also discussed, human memory may have developed along with human imagination and became more sophisticated as human imagination became more sophisticated, which resulted from the more sophisticated memory – a cycle.

In order to have experience, Adam and Eve had to experience life. Such was not possible in the Garden of Eden. Therefore, God required Adam and Eve, and by extension human beings in general, to undergo several experiences. The first experiences were rudimentary, and not far removed from the experiences of animals. However, as humans gained experiences the experiences and choices could become more complex. Again, such a progression could not occur in the Garden where God made all the decisions. Thus, initially, the woman experienced pain at childbirth so she would be inclined to nurture and protect her children, like animals, but more evolved as the mother of a human being is required to nurture and protect her children for a period much longer than most animals; the man experienced work so the children would be cared for, much like the children of animals, but, again, in a much more complex manner.

Progressing to more complex circumstances, men working would learn to live with and get along with others, learn to respect the commandments of others, especially the commandments of God, learn that actions have consequences (leaving the Garden as a consequence for the act of eating forbidden fruit) and to connect certain consequences to certain actions through imagination. Furthermore, both men and women learned to be humble and not put their judgments above God’s, humility is one of the prerequisites for getting along with others.

Still more complex experiences were learned after leaving the Garden. Since both Adam and Eve left together, they learned that they were equal partners and will have to co-operate with each other in all things, including family and interaction with others, in order to survive and prosper. And leaving together, Adam and Eve learned that loyalty to each other is a necessity for survival since a family will not survive if the man and woman are not loyal to each other. It is also observed that when God confronted the man and the woman about the eating of the forbidden fruit, their first reactions were to blame others. In Genesis 3:12, the man blamed the woman and the woman blamed the serpent. As events show, God did not buy those excuses and all experienced consequences. This is the first instance of man learning to accept the consequences of his actions and thus the first instance of man accepting personal responsibility for his actions. One must accept the consequences of one’s actions otherwise nothing is learned. This will be further discussed below.

Preview of the next post.

The next post, post number 8 of 19, discusses the Tree of Knowledge.

[1] As discussed by St. Augustine in De civitate Dei, “In Paradise, then, man lived as he desired so long as he desired what God had commended.” This is clearly not free will.

^[2] This conclusion seems to be supported by God’s statement to Noah after the flood, “The fear and the dread of you shall be upon all the beasts of the earth and upon all the birds of the sky – everything with which the earth is astir – and upon all fish of the sea; they are given unto your hand. Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses, I give you all these.”  This seems to change the status of the living creatures with respect to humans. The status change from equal status (a sort of primitive fellowship in the Garden of Eden) to subservient status over which man has dominion and control. Thus, it seems that while in the Garden, humans and animals were essentially the same…..until man demonstrated that he had imagination as well as an ability to use that imagination to understand and visualize the effects of his actions on others whereby man could and would restrain his natural impulse to exert his power over the less powerful and was thus capable (and trustworthy) of fulfilling his charge of exercising dominion over the creatures identified in Genesis.

[3] Archibald MacLeish in Songs for Eve (1954, in New and Collected Poems, 1917-1976 [1976]), actually glorifies Eve’s sin as a kind of Byronic rebellion, seeing the unfallen state as tedious and insipid.