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How long were Adam and Eve in the Garden?

neves

neves

Active Member
Probably No time at all...since the Gardens does not have concept of time like here on Earth... But relative to Earth time... probably a really, really, really long time...
 
Mike182

Mike182

Flaming Queer
neves said:
Probably No time at all...since the Gardens does not have concept of time like here on Earth... But relative to Earth time... probably a really, really, really long time...
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does the bible offer any support for time being different inside the Garden of Eden?
 
SoyLeche

SoyLeche

meh...
Mike182 said:
i'm interested :)
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Well, it's in the book of Abraham, which I don't think anyone really understands. Feel free to read the whole book to get some context (it's only 5 chapters long). :)

Specifically chapter 5 verse 13 http://scriptures.lds.org/en/abr/5

This article by Hugh Nibley may be interesting as well: http://farms.byu.edu/display.php?table=transcripts&id=73&mp=T (If you want to read the whole thing, go ahead - the relevant part starts about half way down the page).
 
SoyLeche

SoyLeche

meh...
From Nibley's article:

The book of Abraham is more specific. After the great cycles of creation come the smaller cycles, starting with a very dry planet followed by a very wet phase. (Abraham 5:5–6.) Man is formed of the elements of the earth like any other creature, and he lives in a very lush period, a garden, which is however reduced to an oasis in an encroaching desert. (Abraham. 5:7–10.) To this limited terrain he is perfectly adapted. It is a paradise. How long does he live there? No one knows, for this was still "after the Lord's time," not ours. (Abraham 5:13.) It was only when he was forced out of this timeless, changeless paradise that he began to count the hours and days, moving into a hard semi-arid world of thorns, thistles, and briars, where he had to toil and sweat in the heat just to stay alive and lost his old intimacy with the animals. (Genesis 3:17–19.)

The questions most commonly asked are: When did it happen? How long did it take? Our texts make it very clear that we are not to measure the time and periods involved by our chronometers and calendars. Until Adam underwent that fatal change of habitat, body chemistry, diet, and psyche that went with the Fall, nothing is to be measured in our years, "for the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning." (Abraham 5:13.) Until then, time is measured from their point of view, not ours. As far as we are concerned it can be any time, and there would be no point to insisting on this again and again if all we had to do to convert their time to our time was multiply our years by 365,000. Theirs was a different time. The only numbers we are given designated the phases of periods of creation: "and this was the second time" (Abraham 4:8), "and it was the third time" (4:13), and so on. The periods are numbered but never measured. The Gods called them "days," but the text is at great pains to make clear that it was day and night from their point of view, when our time had not yet been appointed. "And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And . . . from the evening until morning they called night; . . . and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night. (Abraham 4:5.) Doctrine and Covenants 130:4–5 explains that "the reckoning of God's time, angel's time, prophet's time, and man's time [is] according to the planet on which they reside." That implies different time schemes at least. In moving from one system to another one also changes one's timing. "There are no angels who minister to this earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it. (D&C 130:5.)

"It was from morning until evening that they called day; and it was the fifth time." (Abraham 4:23.) How long is such a time? In the "fourth time," we read, "the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed." (Abraham 4:19, 18.) That important word "until" tells us two things: (1) that they took all the time that was necessary, no matter how long it might have been, measuring the period in terms not of a terminal date but in terms of the requirements of the task; (2) "until" means up till a certain time, but not thereafter. When things were running smoothly, they were left on their own, which implies a shift from one time-scale to another. When, for example, "the Gods prepared the earth to bring forth" (Abraham 4:24), after they had prepared the waters to do the same long before, how long do you think that took? Again, the record is deliberately vague.

The relative times are clearly shown when "the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven." From our position that is just what they are—lights, nothing more. "And caused them to divide the day from the night . . ." Such a division had already taken place at the beginning, but this was a new time-system for this earth. ". . . And organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years." (Abraham 4:14.) A sign is a symbol, a mark, an arbitrary indicator, a means of measuring. It is only a sign relative to a particular observer. These lights were not originally created as markers of time, but they could be used as such, they could be "organized for" such. The moon was not created for my convenience; but just the same, from where I stand it can be made to serve a number of special purposes. Aside from measuring time, those heavenly bodies do "give light upon the earth . . . , the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; with the lesser light they set the stars also." (Abraham 4:15–16.)
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Seraphiel

Seraphiel

Member
As I remember it. It began to rain after a few days. And because Eve and Adam hadn't made any clothes yet. They had to look for shelter in a cave. The rest is history.
 
A

angellous_evangellous

Guest
neves said:
*winds up to land a karate style kick on angellous_evangellous aimed at his head, but wants to know why the request was made*… why do you want this…? :confused:
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It's better than a kick in the pants.

After reading a thread like this, a kick in the head is quite refreshing.:thud:
 
djackson

djackson

Member
They do, both a magazine and a study book.

I'm new to this forum and this thread. I want to ask of those still reading this thread, it depends on how you subscribe to the story of Adam and Eve.

The standard bibical/King James version as literal. The time was indeterminate as Adam was supposed to have named all the animals before Eve was created.

The additional biblical lost/forbidden books where Adam and Eve existed in an in-between plane of heaven and earth where the garden was, before being thrown out.

The hebraic version where Adam had two wives before Eve, the only named one being Lilith who rebelled and became a consort to Satan, mother of the Nephilim.

Or Adam and Eve as allegorical myth.

I'm not in any way prepared to answer these, just wanted to mix it up a bit for those out there that may be unaware of the different takes on the creation story. Read up! Myself, I prefer the philosophy ignorance is bliss... but can you be condemned for it?
 
Bishka

Bishka

Veteran Member
*Paul* said:
Just out of interest do LDS people have synchronised bible studies around the world, like a magazine you all read?
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Absolutley. :)

Each year the study for the year is different and no matter what country you will be in you will get the same lessons. This year we are study the New Testament. So someone in England can get the same lesson that is being taught to me this Sunday. We also have the Friend (children's magazine), New Era (Young Adults), Ensign (Adults).

Although this question would be better suited in the Ask a Mormon Thread. :)

Edit: If a mod see this, could you move it to that thread. Thanks!
 
xexon

xexon

Destroyer of Worlds
Adam and Eve is an ancient story that pre-dates the Bible.

It is a highly symbolic account of when we "fell" to earth as divine beings.

The rest is fiction.



x
 
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