Made to Be in God’s Presence
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
When read as part of a unified narrative, the creation story expresses in its literary portrayal of Adam and Eve the essence of embodiment and humanity. Various features in the account stylize the Garden of Eden as a sanctuary, like that of the Wilderness Tabernacle and the Jerusalem Temple. Within this sacred space, Adam and Eve are highlighted with sacred and priestly tasks, which include their abiding in the presence of God and their care for and protection of the sanctuary of God. The narrative highlights that God created the human race to dwell in and care for his presence in the world. When read canonically, we can observe that God continually works through the later sanctuaries and in the climax of his revelation in Jesus to restore all that was lost in the original disobedience so that the people of God can again dwell with God and be truly human.
Downloads
Article Details
References
Alexander, T. Desmond. From Paradise to the Promised Land: An Introduction to the Pentateuch. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002.
Alonso Schökel, Luis. “Motivos sapienciales y de alianza en Gn 2-3.” Biblica 43, no. 3 (1962): 295–316.
Anderson, Gary. “Celibacy or Consummation in the Garden? Reflections on Early Jewish and Christian Interpretations of the Garden of Eden.” Harvard Theological Review 82, no. 2 (1989): 121–48.
Arnold, Bill. “Deuteronomy as the ‘Ipsissima Vox’ of Moses.” Journal of Theological Interpretation 4, no. 1 (2010): 53–74.
———. “The Book of Deuteronomy : Pseudepigraphy, Pseudonymity, or Something Else Altogether?” In Sepher Torath Mosheh : Studies in the Composition and Interpretation of Deuteronomy, edited by Daniel Block and Richard Schultz, 139–60. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2017.
Barker, Margaret. Temple Theology. London: SPCK, 2004.
———. The Gate of Heaven: The History and Symbolism of the Temple in Jerusalem. London: SPCK, 1991.
Barr, James. “The Synchronic, the Diachronic, and the Historical: A Triangular Relationship?” In Synchronic or Diachronic?: A Debate on Method in Old Testament Exegesis, edited by Johannes C. de Moor, 1–14. OtSt 34. Leiden: Brill, 1995.
Beale, Gregory. “Adam as the First Priest in Eden as the Garden Temple.” The Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 22, no. 2 (2018): 9–24.
———. The Temple and the Church’s Mission: A Biblical Theology of the Dwelling Place of God. NSBT 17. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2004.
Berman, Joshua A. Created Equal: How the Bible Broke with Ancient Political Thought. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Block, Daniel. “Eden: A Temple?” In From Creation to New Creation: Biblical Theology and Exegesis, edited by Daniel M Gurtner, 3–29. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2013.
Boda, Mark. The Heartbeat of Old Testament Theology: Three Creedal Expressions, 2017.
Borgonovo, Gianantonio. “La grammatica dell’esistenza alla luce della storia d’Israele (Gen 2,4b-3,24).” In Torah e storiografie dell’Antico Testamento, 429–66. Torino: Leumann, 2012.
Carlo, Giuseppe De. “Servire e custodire, responsabilità originaria (Gen 2,15).” Parola Spirito e Vita 68 (2013): 13–25.
Cassuto, Umberto. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis: Part I. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1961.
Clowney, Edmund. “Final Temple.” Westminster Theological Journal 35, no. 2 (1973): 156–89.
Dochhorn, Jan. “Adam als Bauer, oder: Die Ätiologie des Ackerbaus in Vita Adae 1–21 und die Redaktionsgeschichte der Adamviten.” In Literature on Adam and Eve, edited by Gary Anderson and Michael Stone. SVTP 15. Leiden: Brill, 2000.
Doukhan, Jacques. “Women Priests in Israel: A Case for Their Absence.” In Women in History, edited by Nancy Vyhmeister, 29–43. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press, 1998.
Dumbrell, William. “Gen 2:1-17: A Foreshadowing of the New Creation.” In Biblical Theology: Retrospect and Prospect, edited by Scott Hafemann, 53–65. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002.
Elior, Rachel. “The Garden of Eden Is the Holy of Holies and the Dwelling of the Lord.” Studies in Spirituality 24 (2014): 63–118.
Elnes, Erik. “Creation and Tabernacle: The Priestly Writer’s Environmentalism.” Horizons in Biblical Theology 16, no. 1 (1994): 144–55.
Enns, Peter. Inspiration and Incarnation. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005.
Ginzberg, Louis. Legends of the Jews. Translated by Paul Radin. Vol. 3. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1911.
Grisanti, Michael. “Inspiration, Inerrancy, and the OT Canon: The Place of Textual Updating in an Inerrant View of Scripture.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 44, no. 4 (2001): 577–98.
Haran, Menahem. Temples and Temple-Service in Ancient Israel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978.
Hays, Richard. Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul. New Haven, MA: Yale University Press, 1989.
Hong, Koog. “Synchrony and Diachrony in Contemporary Biblical Interpretation.” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 75, no. 3 (2013): 521–39.
Hundley, Michael. God in Dwellings: Temples and Divine Presence in the Ancient Near East. SBLWAWS 3. Atlanta, GA: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013.
Hutter, Manfred. “Adam als Gärtner und König (Gen 2,8.15).” Biblische Zeitschrift 30, no. 2 (1986): 258–62.
Kang, Seung. “The Garden of Eden as an Israelite Sacred Place.” Theology Today 77, no. 1 (2020): 89–99.
Kline, Meredith. Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2006.
Levenson, Jon. Creation and the Persistence of Evil. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1988.
Lioy, Dan. Axis of Glory: A Biblical and Theological Analysis of the Temple Motif in Scripture. SiBL 138. New York: Peter Lang, 2010.
———. “The Garden of Eden as a Primordial Temple or Sacred Space for Humankind.” Conspectus 10 (2010): 25–57.
Luther, Martin. Predigten über das 2 Büch Mose. 1524-1527. LW 16. Weimar: Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger, 1899.
Maher, Michael. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Genesis. TAB 1B. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1992.
Mann, Thomas. The Book of the Torah. Atlanta, GA: John Knox Press, 1988.
Maston, Jason. “Introduction.” In Anthropology and New Testament Theology, edited by Jason Maston and Benjamin E. Reynolds. LNTS 529. New York: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Mettinger, Tryggve. “Cherubim.” In Dictionary of Demons and Deities in the Bible, edited by Karel Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. Horst, 2nd ed., 189–92. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999.
———. In Search of God. Translated by Frederick Cryer. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988.
Milgrom, Jacob. Leviticus 23-27. AB 3B. New York: Doubleday, 2001.
Morales, L. Michael. The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus. BTS 15. Leuven: Peeters, 2012.
Morrow, Jeff. “Creation as Temple-Building and Work as Liturgy in Genesis 1-3.” Orthodox Center for the Advancement of Biblical Studies 2, no. 1 (2009): 1–13.
Parry, Donald. “Garden of Eden Prototype Sanctuary.” In Temples of the Ancient World, edited by Donald Parry, 126–51. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2004.
Pearl, Gina. “Adam’s Garments, the Staff, the Altar and Other Biblical Objects in Innovative Contexts in Rabbinic Literature.” MA Thesis, McGill University, 1988.
Peñuela-Pineda, Jahisber. “Sanctuary/Temple in Genesis 1–3: A Reevaluation of the Biblical Evidence.” PhD diss., Andrews University, 2019.
Pereira, Ney Brasil. “Cultivar e guardar a criação: Estudo exegético de Gn 2,15.” Encontros Teológicos 31, no. 3 (2016): 483–92.
Rennaker, Jacob. “Dressed to Impress: Adam as a Priestly Figure in Eden.” In Sacred Space, Sacred Thread: Perspectives Across Time and Traditions, edited by John Welch, 158–70. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2019.
Richter, Sandra. The Epic of Eden. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2008.
Ricks, Stephen. “The Garment of Adam in Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Tradition.” In Temples of the Ancient World: Ritual and Symbolism, edited by Donald Parry, 705–39. Salt Lake City, UT: Maxwell Institute Publications, 1994.
Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch as Narrative. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992.
Schachter, Lifsa. “The Garden of Eden as God’s First Sanctuary.” Jewish Bible Quarterly 41, no. 2 (2013): 73–77.
Seitz, Christopher. The Character of Christian Scripture: The Significance of a Two-Testament Bible. STI. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011.
Silva, Sergio. “Creation and Sanctuary.” In The Book and Student: Theological Education as Mission, edited by Wagner Kuhn, 147–66. Berrien Springs, MI: Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary, 2012.
Stordalen, Terje. Echoes of Eden: Genesis 2-3 and Symbolism of the Eden Garden in Biblical Hebrew Literature. CBET 25. Leuven: Peeters, 2000.
———. “Heaven on Earth - Or Not?” In Beyond Eden, edited by Konrad Schmid and Christoph Riedweg. FZAT 2. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2008.
Strawn, Brent. The Old Testament: A Concise Introduction. New York: Routledge, 2020.
Tov, Emanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, MI: Fortress Press, 1992.
Ulmer, Rivka. “The Jerusalem Temple in Pesiqta Rabbati: From Creation to Apocalypse.” Hebrew Studies 51 (2010): 223–59.
Van Ruiten, Jacques. “The Garden of Eden and Jubilees 3:1-31.” Bijdragen 57, no. 3 (1996): 305–17.
VanderKam, James. “Adam’s Incense Offerings.” Meghillot: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls 5–6 (2008): 141–56.
Vasholz, Robert I. The Old Testament Canon in the Old Testament Church: The Internal Rationale for Old Testament Canonicity. ANETS 7. Lewiston, NT: Edwin Mellen Press, 1990.
Waltke, Bruce. An Old Testament Theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007.
Walton, John. Genesis. NIVAC. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001.
———. Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.
———. The Lost World of Adam and Eve. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015.
Walton, John, and Brent Sandy. The Lost World of Scripture. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2013.
Wenham, Gordon. Genesis 1-15. WBC 1. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1987.
———. “Sanctuary Symbolism in the Garden of Eden Story.” In I Studied Inscriptions from before the Flood, edited by Richard Hess, 399–405. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1994.
Wright, David. “Holiness, Sex, and Death in the Garden of Eden.” Biblica 77, no. 3 (1996): 305–29.
Würthwein, Ernst. The Text of the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Biblia Hebraica. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995.
Wyatt, Nicolas. “A Royal Garden: The Ideology of Eden.” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 28, no. 1 (2014): 1–35.