Anthropogenic Garden of Eden?

David conquering the supposed impregnable city of Jerusalem may not have been the first time the city was sought after, but the takeover would aid in Jerusalem becoming “one of the most sacred—and hence one of the most disputed—places in the world” (Armstrong, 37).

Some people believe the city to be the location of the famed Garden of Eden, and when one looks into the lore surrounding the garden, it makes the story of Jerusalem that much more interesting. In the story of Eden, “we can see what the divine meant for the Israelite worshippers in Solomon’s Temple.” (Armstrong, 51). Eden was a divine creation meant specifically for humankind—a place in which evil does not exist, where wrong is not an option. Furthermore, the Garden of Eden was “the source of the world’s fertility; in its midst was a river that divided into four streams once it had left the garden and fructified the rest of the earth” (Armstrong, 51). Eden, according to the stories, was created as a place in which humans could experience complete wholeness; something that temples and other places of worship could only attempt to mimic. In Eden, “God and humanity were not divided but could live in the same place… there was no distinction between good and evil. Adam and Eve… existed on a plane that transcends all opposites and divisions” (Armstrong, 51).

Even just the hope that a place like this could have ever existed is enough to draw people by the millions to Jerusalem. It’s a fundamental aspect of religious worship to want to get as close to god as possible, and Eden was made for just that. Eden was sacred—being divinely created only elevates that status even more. People then and now had a desire to recover that lost paradise, even if just for a moment.

As the story of Babylon warns us, man-made attempts to recreate such a divine place will fail, so try as we might (if one is following religious texts at least) it seems to be impossible that there will be such a place as Eden seen on Earth anytime soon. Religious history telling of attempts to recreate an Eden always seem to end in “alienation, disharmony, and disunity, [something] that characterizes mundane existence at its worst” (Armstrong, 52). Ironically, in humanity attempting to create a sacred space to feel whole, closer to god, good, they only end up with alienation and disharmony. It doesn’t seem likely that earth will see another Eden anytime soon, not unless that Eden is divinely created, not human-made.