Tilling the garden again (Genesis 1-3 rediscovered)

Abstract

There are two sections to this study. Firstly, a detailed exegesis of 10 selected verses from the creation stories of Genesis 1-3. I shall use them to re-assess the creation event and the relationship between creator and created. I shall argue that that is not simply the result of creation, but the order and form that is creation. I will argue that we need to seriously re-assess the very understanding upon which we have based so much of our decision-making when it has come to dealing with the created order. I look at dominion, God's commandments in the garden, and the true nature of the banishment; was it a fall set in notions of evil, or was it simply a failure simply to live up to the potential of the relationships that made up the garden?

The second section moves on with this exegetical model, taking its re-assessments and setting them in the light of Jesus. How is Jesus' proffered salvation linked to his role in creation? What difference does his life make? I look in detail at the Eucharist, arguing that it is a cosmic event that restates the relationships of creation, setting out again the unfulfilled potential harmony of the cosmos. This I, then, develop into a new world-view that sets out the idea of ultimate harmony and shows how that harmony is as much part of our lives now as it is the framework for the final eschaton. This has political ramifications for the Christian community, which I outline in my conclusion.