The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1905-01-21
THE LOST PARADISE
THEORIES AS TO THE LOCATION OF
THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN.
The Consensus Of Learned Opinion
Supports the Belief That Adam and
Great DabylOnian Plain.
Almost every spot of the globe has
1t is the site of vanished Eden. Most
persons seem agreed on the fact that
paradise has disappeared from our
midst. The question is, Where was it
situated? 10 those who deny the Bib
llcal story Of mans genesis the ques-
tion takes another form, and they per-
pick themselves as to the spot in which
man first appeared on this earth.
Some evadc the difficulty by saying
that man appeared in many different
,Spots-that he did not spring from
one original.
If we accept the doctrine Of the OAR
w1nians we are forced to confess that
the place where man first evolved must
have been anything but a garden of
Eden. 1t must have been a haunt of
mere animalism, and it's food would
certainly not have been fruit. Rough
" speaking, therefore, there are two
schools-those who believe that man
came from 4 divine original, but fell
away from his first estate, to which
with infinite labor he may return, and
those who believe that he evolved from
the beast and is still evolving to the
greatness that he may ultimately at
tain. Setting aside these somewhat
.iiscordant theories, we may we'll ask,
Where was Eden?
The soundest scientists are agreed
that mankind came from a single orr
gin-whcther Il distinct creation 0" an
evolution is beside the MARYLAND the
original man must have had a local
habitatlon. The geographical manuals
and maps of the middle ages leave a
good deal to be desired in the matter of
accurate detail, but they have at least
the merit of holiness, and if we go to
them for an answer to u question we
may get something like a definite re-
ply. According to IN old map of the
thirteenth century, paradise is a cir
cular island lying neal India. 1t is
surrounded by n wall in which is a
gateway opening to the west. The
gate is closed and the wall quite in
surmountable. Our later aliases do
not locate this happy island.
Other early maps would have us be-
iieve that Eden lay in central China.
We can 20 With these ancient geog-
7apbers so far rs to place the probable
site OF mans birthplace in Asia, but
The consensus of learned opinion does
not incline either to India or China.
Eminent authority supports the idea
that Eden lay somewhere on the great
plain. watered by the Tigris
and the Euphrates-the Perath and
iIiddekcl of Genesis. Other authorities
give their vote for Armenia, possibly
by the tradition which says
that the Ark rested on Mount Ararat,
but this tradition would only point to
Armenia as the probable first home of
pOstdiluvian man.
Professor DelitZsch and Professor
Sayce favor Babylon: Heidegger favors
Media, Arabia and the up
ger Nile have all their supporters. Qua
srefages, treating the subject solely
from a scientific standpoint, concludes
that linguistic and other human types
point to central Asia, but does not de-
eide on any precise locality.
With the author Of Genesis, as DR..
kalisch has remarked, eden is geo.
described in Il manner
which leaves no doubt that distinct To-
.ality was before the mind of the au-
Even to those who think that
his author was building on uncertain
traditions il must yet be of interest to
what this locality a Babylon
the most fertile land known to the
world: its poorest fields repaid
tiftyfold. its better a hun
1redfold. Its luXuriance of fruit and
was so great as to be actually
embarrassing. There is no question at
all that this district was the seat OF
Asia's earliest civilization and there
fore why not say of the worlds?
The idea Of nan created perfect and
living in a garden Of fruitful loneliness
mas always had IL fascination for poor
humanity. recognizing its. present i'm
Derlections and the frequent distress
ns dismalncss Of it's present surround
,ngs. Even those who knew nothing of
The Bible story pictured such a spot for
themselves. Every early mythology
las its fortunate isles, its Atlantis, its
EIesperidcs, its Arcadia and its Golden
Age.
Some persons even conjccturcd that
paradise had not been OH the earth at
all. but was an island floating in the
lir. something like the island visited
oy CULVER. They did not wish to
think that the sacred spot could be
by the waters of the del
lge, and by this device they raised it
above any such calamity. On this is
and dwelt the sacred phenix; the
veil of life flowed there, the elixir of
immortality; leaves fell from the
.rees; the sun shone always on a per-
summer. Men declined to be-
|ieve that Eden had been destroyed