Was there a Garden?

                                                                                                                         Vol. VII, No. 6, August 1994

This selection is excerpted from "The Challenge of Modern Science," a recorded address by Dr. Eric Rust to a pastors' conference at the University of Richmond in 1959. Dr. Rust is now professor emeritus of Christian Philosophy at Southern Seminary.

"The Garden. Well, was there a Garden? Now if I listen to what the scientist tells me, I can't say yea or nay. I mean, this is, there may have been a Garden. But, after all, as my young hopeful said the other day – well, about two years ago – when I told her about Noah, ‘Well, that means that the story of the Garden is parable, too, Daddy.' I said, `Yes.' She said, `Well, that explains where Cain got his wife from.' Now, really, I mean if there was only one Adam created and Eve was made out of his rib, well, heaven help us, ever counted your ribs to find out? I mean this seriously, I mean ... You see, take it literally and you land yourself, you make yourself a laughing stock for intelligent people."

[Editorial Comment: There are several noteworthy aspects of this item. First, the address took place in 1959, demonstrating the rank liberalism of some SBC seminary professors even 35 years ago. Second, consider the implied superiority of the "scientist" and "intelligent people" over those who accept the Bible. Third, the quote demonstrates how closely knit the biblical accounts actually are, for as Dr. Rust himself attested, if one considers the account of the Noahic flood as "parable" (a religiously polite way of saying "fictitious but intended to convey a spiritual lesson") and the mind even of a child extends that skepticism to creation, to the garden, to Cain's wife, and to what else? Fourth, it is striking that Dr. Rust offers no evidence, not even a line of respectable reasoning for his conclusions. All he does offer is ridicule and the good or poor opinions of "scientists" and "intelligent people."]