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From the Garden of Eden to the New Creation in Christ : a Theological Investigation Into the Significance and Function of the Ol The University of Notre Dame Australia ResearchOnline@ND Theses 2017 From the Garden of Eden to the new creation in Christ : A theological investigation into the significance and function of the Old estamentT imagery of Eden within the New Testament James Cregan The University of Notre Dame Australia Follow this and additional works at: https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses Part of the Religion Commons COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further copying or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. Publication Details Cregan, J. (2017). From the Garden of Eden to the new creation in Christ : A theological investigation into the significance and function of the Old Testament imagery of Eden within the New Testament (Doctor of Philosophy (College of Philosophy and Theology)). University of Notre Dame Australia. https://researchonline.nd.edu.au/theses/181 This dissertation/thesis is brought to you by ResearchOnline@ND. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses by an authorized administrator of ResearchOnline@ND. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FROM THE GARDEN OF EDEN TO THE NEW CREATION IN CHRIST: A THEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION INTO THE SIGNIFICANCE AND FUNCTION OF OLD TESTAMENT IMAGERY OF EDEN WITHIN THE NEW TESTAMENT. James M. Cregan A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, Australia. School of Philosophy and Theology, Fremantle. November 2017 “It is thus that the bridge of eternity does its spanning for us: from the starry heaven of the promise which arches over that moment of revelation whence sprang the river of our eternal life, into the limitless sands of the promise washed by the sea into which that river empties, the sea out of which will rise the Star of Redemption when once the earth froths over, like its flood tides, with the knowledge of the Lord. - Franz Rosenzweig, The Star of Redemption. “Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth, I believe. He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience; to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder upon it, to dwell upon it.” - Navarre Scott Momaday, “The Earth.” 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................... 5 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................... 6 SIGNED STATEMENT ................................................................................ 7 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 8 OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................... 9 WHY IS THERE RETICENCE TO APPROACH A THEOLOGY OF EDEN? .................... 13 ARRANGEMENT OF CHAPTERS ......................................................................... 24 RESEARCH QUESTION ...................................................................................... 28 METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 28 PART ONE: READING EDEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT .............. 39 CHAPTER ONE: EDEN AS SIGN, SYMBOL AND METAPHOR ...... 40 1.1 SIGN, SYMBOL AND METAPHOR ................................................................. 42 1.2 JACQUES DERRIDA AND THE SIGN .............................................................. 44 1.3 PAUL RICOEUR AND THE SYMBOL .............................................................. 48 1.4 EMMANUEL LEVINAS AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF EDEN ...................... 53 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 61 CHAPTER TWO: EDEN AND ISRAEL .................................................. 63 2.1 LOCATING EDEN IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL .................................................. 65 2.2 EDEN AND ISRAEL AS THE CENTRE OF THE WORLD .................................... 72 2.3 EDEN AND THE SACRED BOUNTY OF ISRAEL ............................................... 78 2.4 EDEN AND TORAH ...................................................................................... 82 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................. 90 CHAPTER THREE: EDEN, HESED, AND THE DESIRE FOR GOD............................................................................................................... 92 3.1 EDEN AND HESED ....................................................................................... 93 3.1.1 The Narrative Foundation of Hesed as Eden ................................... 97 3.2 EDEN AND THE DESIRE FOR GOD .............................................................. 102 3.3 EDEN, EROS, AND ETHOS ......................................................................... 106 3.4 EDEN, EROS, AND ESCHATOLOGY ............................................................. 110 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 116 CHAPTER FOUR: EDEN AND MATRIMONIAL SYMBOLISM ...................................................................................................................... 119 4.1 EDEN, MATRIMONIAL SYMBOLISM, AND GENESIS 2-4 ............................... 122 4.2 EDEN, MATRIMONIAL SYMBOLISM, AND THE SONG OF SOLOMON ............ 126 4.3 MATRIMONIAL IMAGERY IN PROPHETIC WRITING AND ITS EDENIC ASSOCIATIONS .............................................................................................. 133 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 145 3 CHAPTER FIVE: EDEN AND WILDERNESS – TOWARDS THE RESTORATION OF HOPE ............................................................ 147 5.1 CONTEXTUALISING EDEN: DESOLATION AND CHAOS IN GENESIS 1-3 ....... 148 5.2 EDN AND THE WILDERNESS MOTIF - AFFIRMATION AND NEGATION ......... 157 5.3 ISAIAH 60 - 62: THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL AS EDEN ........................... 161 5.3.1 Displacing Wilderness through Righteousness: Eden Revealed to the Nations in Israel ............................................................ 163 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 171 PART TWO: READING EDEN IN THE NEW TESTAMENT ........... 173 CHAPTER SIX: JESUS AND THE RETURN TO EDEN .................... 174 6.1 EDEN AND THE LAND OF ISRAEL IN THE WRITING OF PAUL ...................... 178 6.2 JESUS AS THE NEW ADAM IN THE THEOLOGY OF PAUL: SHIFTING EDENIC HORIZONS ......................................................................................... 186 6.3 THE HIEROS GAMOS AND THE NEW CREATION: EDEN RE-IMAGINED .......... 191 6.3.1 Paul, Eden, and the Church as the Bride of Christ ...................... 193 6.3.2 Eden and Mary as the Second Eve: Revelation 12:1-17 and the Unbinding of the Curse of the Ground ........................................... 198 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 205 CHAPTER SEVEN: JESUS, EDEN, AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD ............................................................................................................ 207 7.1 EDEN AND JESUS AS THE WISDOM OF GOD IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN ......... 207 7.2 JESUS AS THE WATER OF LIFE .................................................................. 214 7.3 EDEN AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN MATTHEW AND LUKE ..................... 220 7.4 EDEN AND THE SIGN OF JONAH IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL ........................... 232 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 238 CHAPTER EIGHT: EDEN AND THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST............................................................... 239 8.1 EDEN AND THE EMBODIED CHRIST .......................................................... 241 8.2 JESUS, EDEN AND GETHSEMANE .............................................................. 245 8.2.1 Eden, Gethsemane, and the Aqedah .............................................. 249 8.2.2 Jesus, Eden, and the ‘Agony’ in Gethsemane ............................... 256 8.3 EDEN AND THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF JESUS .......................................... 265 8.4 MARY MAGDALENE MEETS THE EDENIC LORD IN THE GARDEN OF THE RESURRECTION: JOHN 20:1-18 ...................................................................... 272 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................ 282 CONCLUSION........................................................................................... 285 SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS ............................................................................... 287 IMPLICATIONS OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................. 297 REFERENCES ........................................................................................... 304 4 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my friends and colleagues at the University of Notre Dame in Fremantle, Western Australia, for their support and encouragement during the course of this project, and in the preceding years. I would especially like to thank Rev. Dr. Tom Ryan, SM, for his gracious efforts in getting me established
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