Felicia Handoyo 11D

Theory of Knowledge
Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden, also called Paradise, is the biblical "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis
and the Book of Ezekiel. This garden was one of the firsts places ever mentioned on the bible, it is where
God had presumably placed Adam as well as Eve. It is well known for the tale of Eve that was seduced by
the serpent into eating the forbidden fruit from tree of knowledge of good and evil. For that, they were
expelled from the garden to prevent them from eating of the tree of life, and thus living forever.

There had been many assumptions towards the whereabouts and wether the Garden of Eden is simply a
myth. There were some conspiracies regarding the garden’s existence such as some say that the garden was a
life from another planet that perished due to humans (like the problems we are facing right now, pollution,
global warming, etc) and two people, known as ‘Adam and Eve’, was sent to earth in a pod that was the
assumed meteor that killed most of the prehistoric animals like the dinosaurs. Though it is mostly agreed to
be mythological by most scholars, there had been suggestions for its locations. The location of Eden is
described in the Book of Genesis, chapter 2, verses 10–14:

“And a river departed from Eden to water the garden, and from there
it divided and became four tributaries. The name of the first is
Pishon, which is the circumnavigator of the land of Havilah where
there is gold. And the gold of this land is good; there are bdellium
and cornelian stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon,
which is the circumnavigator of the land of Cush. And the name of
the third is Chidekel, which is that which goes to the east of Ashur;
and the fourth river is Phirath.”

According to experts and based on whatever clue and evidence that can be found in the bible regarding the
garden’s location, it has been assumed that it is located in somewhere around Iraq where Tigris and
Euphrates river run into the sea. From all the evidences I’ve read in the bible as well as according to science
(experts, such as archeologists), I am a firm believer that the garden is real. Aside from having the bias of my
religion, which is Christian, the descriptions mentioned in the bible fits certain real-life locations such as the
placement of rivers just with different names or labels for it. Despite the garden never actually be seen or
found by anyone, I believe that there is a more spiritual-based explanation behind it. Personally speaking, I
think that God had simply masked the garden from being seen by whoever had sinned, and that concludes
everyone. This is because Adam and Eve was allegedly casted out of the garden due to sinning. These two
statements supports each other in a way and can be accepted logically. In closing, I think this is a simple and
logical way to explain one of the most controversial discussion according to the bible.