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Difference between revisions of "Garden of Eden in Missouri?"
m (New page: {{question}} {{draft}} ==Question== Is it true that Mormons believe that the original Garden of Eden was located in Missouri? What can you tell me about this? ==Answer== As the official...) |
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| − | As the official website for the LDS church points out, "The doctrinal tenets of any religion are best understood within a broad context and thoughtful analysis is required to understand them. . .Some doctrines are more important than others and might be considered core doctrines. . . A common mistake is taking an obscure teaching that is peripheral to the Church’s purpose and placing it at the very center. For example, the precise location of the Garden of Eden is far less important than doctrine about Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice." | + | As the official website for the LDS church points out, "The doctrinal tenets of any religion are best understood within a broad context and thoughtful analysis is required to understand them. . .Some doctrines are more important than others and might be considered core doctrines. . . A common mistake is taking an obscure teaching that is peripheral to the Church’s purpose and placing it at the very center. For example, the precise location of the Garden of Eden is far less important than doctrine about Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice."{{ref|lds1}} |
Other religions have teachings that the Garden of Eden was in their part of the world. For example there is a Jewish tradition that the Garden of Eden was in Jerusalem. There is a spring of water there known as the Gihon, one of the unidentified rivers of Paradise. Ezekiel 28:13 says “You were in Eden, the garden of God,” and then parallels that in the next verse with “you were on the holy mountain of God,” generally understood as the temple mount. There is important symbolism here. If a Jewish tradition can assign the location of the Garden to its traditional headquarters - Jerusalem - is it unthinkable to have a Mormon tradition assigning the location of the Garden to Jackson County, Missouri, which for a time was its church headquarters and which according to prophecy will be again some time in the future? | Other religions have teachings that the Garden of Eden was in their part of the world. For example there is a Jewish tradition that the Garden of Eden was in Jerusalem. There is a spring of water there known as the Gihon, one of the unidentified rivers of Paradise. Ezekiel 28:13 says “You were in Eden, the garden of God,” and then parallels that in the next verse with “you were on the holy mountain of God,” generally understood as the temple mount. There is important symbolism here. If a Jewish tradition can assign the location of the Garden to its traditional headquarters - Jerusalem - is it unthinkable to have a Mormon tradition assigning the location of the Garden to Jackson County, Missouri, which for a time was its church headquarters and which according to prophecy will be again some time in the future? | ||
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==Endnotes== | ==Endnotes== | ||
| − | # | + | # {{note|lds1}} {{ldspress|article=Approaching Mormon Doctrine|date=4 May 2007|url=http://www.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=970af549db852110VgnVCM100000176f620aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f5f411154963d010VgnVCM1000004e94610aRCRD}} |
==Further reading== | ==Further reading== | ||
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{{nw}} | {{nw}} | ||
===Printed material=== | ===Printed material=== | ||
| − | + | * Alessandro Scafi, ''Mapping Paradise. A History of Heaven on Earth'' (University of Chicago Press 2006). | |
Revision as of 17:42, 18 November 2007
This page is based on an answer to a question submitted to the FAIR web site, or a frequently asked question.
This article is a draft. FairMormon editors are currently editing it. We welcome your suggestions on improving the content.
Contents
Question
Is it true that Mormons believe that the original Garden of Eden was located in Missouri? What can you tell me about this?
Answer
As the official website for the LDS church points out, "The doctrinal tenets of any religion are best understood within a broad context and thoughtful analysis is required to understand them. . .Some doctrines are more important than others and might be considered core doctrines. . . A common mistake is taking an obscure teaching that is peripheral to the Church’s purpose and placing it at the very center. For example, the precise location of the Garden of Eden is far less important than doctrine about Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice."[1]
Other religions have teachings that the Garden of Eden was in their part of the world. For example there is a Jewish tradition that the Garden of Eden was in Jerusalem. There is a spring of water there known as the Gihon, one of the unidentified rivers of Paradise. Ezekiel 28:13 says “You were in Eden, the garden of God,” and then parallels that in the next verse with “you were on the holy mountain of God,” generally understood as the temple mount. There is important symbolism here. If a Jewish tradition can assign the location of the Garden to its traditional headquarters - Jerusalem - is it unthinkable to have a Mormon tradition assigning the location of the Garden to Jackson County, Missouri, which for a time was its church headquarters and which according to prophecy will be again some time in the future?
Conclusion
Endnotes
- [note] "Approaching Mormon Doctrine," from Newsroom: The Official Resource for News Media, Opinion Leaders, and the Public (4 May 2007) at lds.org. off site
Further reading
FAIR wiki articles
FAIR web site
External links
Printed material
- Alessandro Scafi, Mapping Paradise. A History of Heaven on Earth (University of Chicago Press 2006).