Reading Notes: Adam and Eve, Part B

 The story that I really found the most intriguing in this half of the unit was Leaving the Garden.

The story begins with discussing when God plants the garden on earth. The garden is placed in the east of the earth, close to the border of eastworld, and when one goes far beyond it, there is nothing to see but water. That of which touches reach the heavens. 

The story then makes a shift to discussing Adam and Eve, who just now leave the garden for their sins of eating the forbidden fruit. God did not place him on the north of the garden border, because it was too close to the water that washed away their sins. He did not place them on the southern garden border, because of the possibility of the wind from the north blowing the delicious smell of the garden, they didn't deserve this small, for they were banished. It was like the placement of Adam and Eve was to be punishing. Yet, God also felt pity for them. 

He placed them on the western border, due to the broadness of the border. There were the caves and rocks, which was unfamiliar terrane for Adam and Eve. It caused them to fear and tremble. They fear they had caused them to fall on their faces. and they felt as if they might as well have been dead. They were used to the beautiful, lush Garden of Eden. They were uncomfortable with the transition, and they were not fond with the new scenery. 

God saw these struggles and felt pity for them, deciding to intervene, sending them help.

I focused on this particular story because of the juxtaposition between the feelings of God and his actions. He is punishing them because of their transgression, but he feels bad for what they'll have to endure, even though he has full control over what they experience. The dynamic here is much like a parent-child dynamic, much like when a parent must punish their own child after they break the rules. They don't necessarily enjoy punishing them, but they must do it in order to teach discipline and that there are consequences for your actions. I feel like it would be interesting to tell this story, this specific scene even from those roles of parent and child. While the nuanced feelings of punishment and pity remain the same. 

Le Dominiquin - Dieu réprimandant Adam et Eve. Source: Wikipedia

Bibliography:

Leaving the Garden

Story source: The Forgotten Books of Eden, edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr. (1926): The First Book of Adam and Eve 1-2.