THE RIVER THAT WENT OUT OF EDEN

Revised: July 15, 2014; August 10, 2014

The mysteries hovering around the garden of Eden are quite tantalizing to our minds. We wonder where it was and what it looked like. We are told a number of things about it in the Bible. We do know that their was a river that flowed through it, for Genesis 2:10 states, "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it was divided and became four heads" (Gen. 1:10).¹ Please read my article "Where is the Garden of Eden?" in which I give evidence that the Garden of Eden was located in Northern Iran. Genesis 2 tells us the names of the four rivers associated with these four heads, two of which we know were the Tigris and the Euphrates. There is a website out there that uses this passage from Genesis to try to show that the Bible is not inspired since there are no rivers that split and become four heads two of which are the Tigris and Euphrates. But the author of this website makes the same mistake that many others have made. When the Bible says that "a river went out of Eden to water the garden" it does not mean that this was the direction of the river's flow.

WHERE WAS THE GARDEN OF EDEN?

Revised June 14, 2014; July 14; 2014; August 10, 2014

In my book New Evidence for Two Human Origins: Discoveries That Reconcile the Bible and Science¹ I followed the view of those who place the Garden of Eden in the lower part of Mesopotamia (present day Iraq). I took the view defended by some people that the Garden of Eden was located at Eridu which was situated near the mouth of the Euphrates River. Since I wrote my book, I have recently read David M. Rohl's book Legend: The Genesis Of Civilisation². Also I have observed more thoroughly the Bible's description of the river that went through Eden and became four heads.
The Bible says, "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it was divided and became four heads" (Gen. 1:10).³ This verse indicates that the Garden of Eden was located near the heads of these two known rivers, not at their mouths where they go into the Persian Gulf. Having discovered Rohl's arguments, I have changed my mind as to the location of the Garden of Eden. I do not agree with all of Rohl's statements and conclusions, of course, since he does not believe in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures as I do. Rohl has convinced me that Eden was in northern Iran