Memories of Eden

NO DOUBT you are acquainted with the Holy Bible’s account of man’s creation and fall into sin. Adam and Eve in a paradise garden in Eden, the tree of life, the serpent and the tree of the knowledge of good and bad are familiar features. (Gen. chaps. 2, 3)

This is because they are associated with events that have had devastating effects on the human family and that have left an indelible impression on its memory. Mankind cannot forget completely that something tragic happened in Eden.The record in the Holy Bible has been the principal factor in keeping alive the memories of Eden. However, did you know that religious ideas of many non-Christian peoples reflect what the Bible says took place in Eden?The religious ideas of these peoples, of course, are not exactly like the record in the Bible.

Nevertheless, they do contain similarities to certain features of the Biblical account, and this makes them most interesting and intriguing to consider.First of all, they show how empty-headed men can become in their reasonings when they are ignorant of God’s truth or when they turn away from it. Also, the many polytheistic ideas throw into bold relief the beauty and majesty of the simple, pure, truthful account in Genesis.

This enhances our appreciation of the Bible as the inspired Word of God. Further, the very existence of so many diverse religious views, each containing some distorted features of the true account, offers confirmative evidence that there was a paradise garden that was lost to mankind.​—Rom. 1:21-23.Why They Differ from the Genesis Account Before considering some of the religious ideas of various peoples, we should know why they are different from the Biblical account. Yes, how did these differences come about? Accurate Bible history shows that at one time all mankind spoke one language and knew of the events that occurred in Eden. Adam likely talked about them to his offspring and thus these events must have become common knowledge.T

he eight survivors of the flood of Noah’s day also passed on the information about Eden to their children. However, after some time the majority of men began rebelling against God under a tyrant named Nimrod. It is reasonable to believe that by his proddings these rebellious ones began distorting the truth about man’s origin in expression of their defiance of God. Finally, Jehovah God broke up their common-language unity by causing them suddenly to speak different languages. By this act, he forced them to scatter to various parts of the earth.​—Gen. 10:8-12; 11:1-9.Though these rebellious peoples now spoke different languages, they did not forget their previous religious beliefs. So, wherever they migrated they carried these beliefs with them and expressed them in their new tongues. Of course, their new environments and the cultures they developed in various places helped to modify such beliefs.

Thus in the course of time each group came to have its own particular version of the features connected with man’s beginning in paradise and his loss of it by sinful disobedience