Most people treat the biblical story of the Garden of Eden like a fairy tale. They're not sure if it really happened at all. Or when. Or where. Or why.
To most, it's something that's said to have happened way back in time, when the world was first created ... when God made Adam and Eve in some paradise on earth where everything was perfect until a talking snake lured them into eating a forbidden apple ... and that somehow wrecked everything in the world, and we're all guilty and going to hell because of it.
It's very murky and incredible to most people, even Christians.
The purpose of this Bible study is to dispel some of the fiction and mystery woven into the story and equip Christians for informed conversation about it with others, especially with scoffing doubters and unbelievers.
The setting for the Garden of Eden story is in ancient Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), the Cradle of Civilization, about 6,000 years ago.
This is not 'long-long-time-ago, far-far-away' mythology or depictions from cave drawings by Neanderthals. This is relatively recent history, written in the well-understood Hebrew language about an area of the world with a rich history we can see and study today.
We know the approximate place (Mesopotamia) from the Bible description in Genesis 1:8-14.
We know the approximate time (BC 4000 to BC 8000) from Bible genealogies. See the Bible study on people before Adam. As best we can tell from history and archaeology, there were about seven million people on earth at that time.
This is not 'long-long-time-ago, far-far-away' mythology or interpretations of cave drawings by Neanderthals. This is relatively recent history, in well-written Hebrew language regarding an area of the world with rich history we can study.