Where was the Garden of Eden?

moen333 · #1 Jan 13, '08, 8:24 pm

My son bought me the book, "Weird Wisconsin", for Christmas this year and I ran across an interesting bit with the title, "Garden of Eden in Wisconsin?"

According to the author, residents in the Greater La Crosse area refer to their environs as God's Country. The name originated in 1886, when the Reverend D.O. Van Slyke published his theory that the Garden of Eden was located in Trempealeau County. His tract was titled "Found at Last: The Veritable Garden of Eden, or a Place that Answers the Bible Description of that Notable Spot Better Than Anything Yet Discovered". Van Slyke also claims that when the great flood began, Noah was living in present-day Wisconsin, and the flood carried his ark eastward until it landed on Mount Ararat.

This probably just seems plain strange to most people, but I checked and there is a bronze statue dedicated to Reverend Van Slyke in Galesburg, so he must have had some credibility in the community.

For me this bit of news was amazing since I published a book last fall in which I promoted the theory, based on satellite imagery, that there was more than one location for Noah's ark. Here are two YouTube videos that show some of the locations I found.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCY1oOLGFjM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZM-ll1eAU0

The thing that was amazing to me is that one of the locations I found in satellite images is exactly the same spot that Reverend Slyke declared as the Garden of Eden and the place Noah built his ark.

That brings me back to the point of this posting: Where was the Garden of Eden? Does anyone know of any other potential sites for Eden?

LDNCatholic · #2 Jan 14, '08, 6:52 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_...cted_locations

Hope this helps. I think most people believe it is somewhere in modern day Iraq. I am unsure, and not too concerned, although it is very interesting.

God Bless

Peter

**brotherhrolf** · #3 Jan 14, '08, 7:45 am

The Garden of Eden is also supposed to be in the Florida panhandle close to Tallahassee. My bet is somewhere in the Fertile Crescent - i.e. the Tigris and Euphrates area in what is now Iraq.

Teakafrog · #4 Jan 14, '08, 8:28 am

Yeah, the Mormons said it was in Missouri.

Sure, it's pretty here in the Ozarks, but.....
The bible says it was between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which would put it in modern day Iraq. Under the sand.

**LRThunder** · #5 Jan 14, '08, 2:50 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by brotherhrolf

The Garden of Eden is also supposed to be in the Florida panhandle close to Tallahassee. My bet is somewhere in the Fertile Crescent - i.e. the Tigris and Euphrates area in what is now Iraq.

Well, the FAMU Rattlers are located in Tallahassee. That's where the serpent was from?

**brotherhrolf** · #6 Jan 15, '08, 3:59 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by LRThunder

Well, the FAMU Rattlers are located in Tallahassee. That's where the serpent was from?

No it was back before I-10 came through and you had to take Hwy 90. There was a river around Chattahoochee and a roadside sign that said the Garden of Eden was there.

moen333 · #7 Feb 8, '08, 9:35 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by brotherhrolf

No it was back before I-10 came through and you had to take Hwy 90. There was a river around Chattahoochee and a roadside sign that said the Garden of Eden was there.

Well, I didn't find anything at first, but I kept searching and ran across this in regards to Chattahoochee:

http://www.travelintelligence.com/tr...n-Florida.html

"I’d heard about a Baptist minister, Elvy E. Callaway, who claimed that mankind had been created on the banks of the Florida’s Apalachicola River. Callaway studied the matter for 75 years and, as proof, quoted from Genesis that ‘a river went out of Eden to water the Garden and parted and became four heads.’ He maintained that the Apalachicola was the only four-headed river system in the world. He also noted that the rare gopher wood tree, the Torreya taxifolia, grew only in two places: the Panhandle...and Eden.

And according to the local who guided the writer of this article to the Eden location:

"Just up the road a few miles. Turn left off Highway 270. It’s real near to the spot where the ark was built.”
“I’m no oceanographer,” he said in his honeyed drawl, “but they say if you check the tides and currents of the oceans that was probable at that time, you’ll find that they’d carry a vessel without a rudder straight from Bristol to Mount Ararat.”

So, thanks for the lead Brotherrolf. After seeing the Ark reference, I searched around the area and found another arc-shaped area of land near Clarking, Florida. I'll prepare another video and add it to my youtube site soon.
http://youtube.com/moen333

pete 29 · #8 Feb 8, '08, 10:08 pm

I had an idea once, that the river referred to in the Bible that came from the land of Cush may have been a reference to the Hindu Kush mountains in SW Asia. This along with the Tigris and Euphrates may put the Garden of Eden at the bottom of the Arabian Sea. The only thing I know for sure is that it ain't in Illinois.

Deacon Ed B · #9 Feb 20, '08, 4:23 pm

Try this for a light answer - "In Eden"
Deacon Ed B

Mr_R_Zealot · #10 Jan 15, '08, 5:20 am

If you want to find the Garden of Eden, your best bet is to look for the Cherubim with the Omnidirectional flaming sword.

**puzzleannie** · #11 Jan 15, '08, 5:29 am

I don't get the whole argument, by the time of the flood mankind had been driven out of the Garden of Eden and dispersed around at least the known world of their time, so who says Noah was in the vicinity when the flood came?

bluerose · #12 Jan 15, '08, 5:41 am

Years ago, I read a book (one of those Reader's Digest books that they used to put out, "Mysteries of the Ancient World" or something like that) that put forth the theory that the Garden of Eden was where the present-day Sahara Desert is.

"Weird Wisconsin", eh? Have you read "Weird Texas"? My hometown of El Paso makes several appearances (and I knew most of the stories they had since I was a kid.)

Genesis315 · #13 Jan 15, '08, 5:47 am

My interpretation is that the Garden of Eden was symbolic of original innocence and grace. Notice, after Adam sins, he and Eve are cast out. Then, they never re-enter and neither can any of their children.

I understand this as a reference to the effects of original sin and concupiscence on all the children of Adam. "Eden" was lost for them all--however Christ has reopened the gates and we can enter with Him if we die and rise with Him

Anyway, those are just my personal thoughts.

stanmaxkolbe · #14 Jan 15, '08, 8:24 am

Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

2866 "By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of God created man, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Garden of Eden, which day is the first day of the week appropriately called the Lord's Day or Sunday. By tradition the Church has always taught that the Garden of Eden is located in Central Texas.36

36 Stanmaxkolbe; Encyclical on Garden of Eden cira 2008.

bluerose · #15 Jan 15, '08, 9:09 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by stanmaxkolbe

Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

2866 "By a tradition handed down from the apostles which took its origin from the very day of God created man, the Church celebrates the mystery of the Garden of Eden, which day is the first day of the week appropriately called the Lord's Day or Sunday. By tradition the Church has always taught that the Garden of Eden is located in Central Texas.36

36 Stanmaxkolbe; Encyclical on Garden of Eden cira 2008.

And the official flower is the bluebonnet, right?

I'm a Texas gal myself... El Paso, to be exact (Fort Bliss), which is probably where the angel with the flaming sword stands... although I'm glad he lets us go to Santa Teresa, NM for some of the best BBQ in the world (The State Line)!