Stanford Vox Clara | EDEN | Spring 2022-23

VOX CLARA

ABOUT VOX CLARA

OUR MISSION

Vox Clara is a journal of Christian thought at Stanford, dedicated to cultural inquiry in the light of faith and reason. We seek to provide a forum for Christians and non-Christians at Stanford to engage in dialogue related to Christianity, culture, and life’s biggest questions. We believe it is important to address issues of faith in the university community. As Jane Stanford’s words on the wall of Memorial Church attest:

“There is no narrowing so deadly as the narrowing of man’s horizon of spiritual things. No worse evil could befall him in his course on earth than to lose sight of Heaven. And it is not civilization that can prevent this; it is not civilization that can compensate for it. No widening of science, no possession of abstract truth, can indemnify for an enfeebled hold on the highest and central truths of humanity. ‘What shall a man give in exchange for his soul?’”

THE AUGUSTINE COLLECTIVE

Vox Clara is part of the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals on college campuses throughout the United States and the UK. There are over thirty journals to date, all committed to the premise that faith and reason belong together. For more information, see augustinecollective.org.

THE NICENE CREED

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

DISCLAIMER

The opinions expressed in the articles contained in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Vox Clara or its staff members.

STAFF

ABIGAIL SCHWEIZER

Editor-in-Chief

BECCA DE LOS SANTOS

Vice President

BRANDON APONTE

Financial Officer

ALVIN TAN

Chief Designer

MAKAYLA ABRIL BUTTERS

Outreach Coordinator, Secretary

TRISTAN WANG

Content Staff

JACK McKINNON

Content Staff

ELLI SCHULZ

Content Staff

VINCENT THAI

Content Staff Editor Designer

EDITOR’S NOTE

Dear Reader,

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the east in Eden, God planted a garden lush with plants of all kinds, good for eating and pleasing to the eye. Adam, whom God formed from the dust of the ground, and Eve, formed from Adam’s rib, prospered in Eden and lived in perfect innocence. God walked among men in Eden and for a moment in time, Eden was a place of perfect communion with God.

Eden came with one stipulation: the Lord commanded Adam and Eve to never eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did, they would certainly die. Adam and Eve, succumbing to the temptations of Satan, disobeyed God. They ate of its fruit, were banished from the garden, and were left to face a world now tainted by their sin. With man and God divided, Eden, once a symbol of God’s perfect creation, became a sorrowful reminder of man’s disobedience.

But we must remember that the tale of Eden bookends the Bible. While Genesis 3 recounts the Fall, Revelation 21:1–4 foretells Christ’s second coming and the creation of a new Eden, of the new heaven and of the new earth:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

God spoke through John with a clear voice to give us hope, and through these words Eden was transformed from a place of creation and fall to one of creation, fall, and restoration. Through poetry and prose, the writers of this issue of Vox Clara—“Clear Voice”—reflect on Eden’s implications: namely, it reminds us of what was lost but also exemplifies what perfect intimacy with God was like, allowing us as sinners saved by grace to eagerly look forward to the creation of the new heaven and the new earth. I trust you will find these essays and poems gracious guides in your search for truth.

In Christ, Abigail Schweizer Editor-in-Chief

Abigail son

EDEN

BELLA VINCENT

in garden blooming bursting life rebirthed sunlight streams as God walks the earth paradise praises from canopied highs revelations resounding to infinite skies in the midst of creation lone serpent awaits strikes not with sharp teeth though soft words resonate in women and men temptation complete forbidden full fruit tastes deep bittersweet eyes opened wide to heavenly division fallen mankind in a single decision expelled from eden cherubim placed dust to dust undone together disgraced guarded by one sword ablaze cast out, separate for all their days civilizations crumble generations pass living in sin

until long at last the son, our Messiah and love’s sacrifice in blood and suffering the ultimate price the day will come entirety ruled defeated serpent debt paid in full heaven on earth trumpets sound idyllic oasis where a King is crowned almighty glory eden again fall to our knees with blessed amen

Bella Vincent is a first-year master's student studying Epidemiology and Clinical Research with a concentration in Infectious Disease and Global Health. She is studying pediatric cardiology and congenital heart defects in the Reddy Lab, serving as a hospital consultant at Lucile Packard, and collaborates on maternal and neonatal research projects in Bihar, India. She also serves on the executive council of the Stanford Pickleball Club and on the Epidemiology & Population Health Department's Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Committee. She enjoys lifting heavy weights, modern art museums, thought experiments, and spontaneous adventures.

A PEACE OF EDEN

GEORGE LAUSTEN

Dr. Cline founded and operates Grassroots DPC & City Free Clinic. This clinic exists to serve vulnerable people with full spectrum healthcare. Target patients either cannot afford primary care or spend an unsustainable amount on healthcare. City Free Clinic is linked with a church and an addiction recovery program. There is also a parkand-sleep initiative that originated to provide a safe space for battered women. This institution is explicitly Christian, but the healthcare and therapy components are open to all, despite faith background.

The aim of this interview is to explore with Dr. Cline, a Christian doctor, what it means to bring Eden down on earth in order encourage any reader wrestling with their purpose in life.

GEORGE LAUSTEN: How did you become a Christian?

DR. CLINE: That’s an interesting question because I think the Christian testimony grows over time. It’s this long journey of sanctification, of being made whole. Within the question you asked is the connotation that I have somehow arrived at this finished product, and I am still in the process of growing. A more precise question is, “when did you commit your life to Christ?”

For me, I grew up very spiritual. Both of my parents were injured by the church, so they weren’t into formal religion. My grandma lived with us, and she was a believer. She would take me to church on Sundays and enrolled me in this Bible program called Awana. One Sunday, when I was about eight years old, I responded to an altar call and committed my life to Jesus. It felt like an obligation, but I also wanted it.

A little later I had some childhood trauma that left lasting damage, and my behavior wasn’t always in line with what I knew God wanted. I was trying to earn grace and failing a lot. When I went to college, I met a mentor who was a different kind of Christian. I used to think that Christians go to church on Sundays, and super Christians attend Wednesday services too. But this guy listened to Christian music, prayed with his wife during the week, and was dedicated to serving others. He prompted me to go to church with him, and I became a disciple. The rest of my story has basically been this process of sanctification which doesn’t end until we meet in glory.

LAUSTEN: Why did you decide to become a doctor?

CLINE: That happened pretty darn young. My parents instilled this work ethic in me to learn and achieve. They were really encouraging. When someone near me would get injured, I had an empathy for them and also a curiosity about what was going on under the skin and how to fix what might be broken.

When I started medical school, I didn’t know what I was getting into. But I think God has a way of revealing His purpose to us as we go.

LAUSTEN: What kind of medicine do you practice?

CLINE: My residency was in family medicine, and I did an Obstetrics and Gynecology fellowship. While in the military I was also a flight surgeon, and served in combat search and rescue. I was the physician for my flight crew. This meant I made sure my team was fit for flight and I advised the Pararescue Jumpers. I also flew

several missions in Afghanistan when a higher level of care was needed.

During my deployment to Iraq, three of us shared 24/7 intensive care management of US, Iraqi, and coalition casualties. The shifts were long and brutal—there were no breaks, but I learned that ICU care is not as scary as I thought it was going to be. It’s actually very protocoldriven and straightforward. Another position I held was as an international health specialist, partnering with other nations to help develop their military healthcare. The main goal being interoperability, where we work with our allies to support each other in medicine, ideally with the same equipment and the same protocols.

LAUSTEN: What is your approach to medicine? What is the biopsychosocial-spiritual framework?

CLINE: The biopsychosocial model is a very wellestablished approach, but I feel that something is missing—this piece of the spirit. That’s where this biopsychosocial-spiritual thing comes from. This is really just an effort to integrate mind, body, and spirit because each aspect interacts with each other. More and more, Western medicine is recognizing the role that the spirit has in medicine. For example, married men live longer and healthier, and prayer and meditation improve physical health and mental health. And I believe in miracles. Things we do in one aspect of our health impacts other aspects.

I am convinced that, from the beginning in Genesis, God created us to bear His name. This means we carry His authority with us as His representatives on earth. We are supposed to “go forth and multiply and subdue the earth.”[1] We are meant to extend Eden—a small square footage compared to the whole earth— and extend it to the rest of the world. This was God’s plan for us, and He still wants to partner with us in this transformation process of bringing heaven down on earth. It’s Kingdom Come stuff.

When it comes to medicine, I believe that we are partners with God. God has inspired and given purpose to a whole range of healthcare professionals, and He reveals things to us through science and the Spirit. True healing encompasses scientific discovery and

supernatural revelation. In my view, God is the healer, and I am one of His partners. This is bringing heaven and earth in the same time and space. It’s the new Eden Kingdom of God.

While practicing evidence-based medicine (science), I also believe in the supernatural—I mean angels and demons. Some mental health issues are organic or chemical imbalances or perhaps a metabolic cellular problem or drug abuse. Other mental issues are psychological: based on memories, neural pathways, cerebral processing, and specific brain areas involved in storing sights, sounds, events, emotions, and the associative cortex connects it all. And I think some mental health issues are simply demonic. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between a hallucination and a demonic force. This is why I think that every prescription requires a biopsychosocial-spiritual approach.

Let’s say you had strep throat. I’d give you penicillin. It works like 99% of the time. It’s a very bio-centric approach. Of course, strep throat might affect you socially, psychologically, or spiritually, so it is important to bear these dimensions in mind, but treatment with penicillin is mostly all you need. However, something like depression or anxiety is a lot different. SSRIs and SNRIs work about 50% of the time, which leads me to think that mental illness is not a purely biological process.[2] It’s much more complicated. Now, I would never say don’t take medicine, but I would also be sure to add that medicine is just one piece of the overall puzzle. Healing through diet, exercise & body movement, sleep, avoiding toxins, prayer, meditation, therapy, acupuncture, massage, biofeedback, experiencing nature, painting, singing,

I am convinced that, from the beginning in Genesis, God created us to bear His name.

and other healing arts help holistically heal. And every prescription needs to be individualized. Addressing the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects of health is, I think, the best way to heal.

LAUSTEN: You are starting something called “A Peace (or Piece) of Eden” at your free clinic. Can you tell me more about the idea behind this initiative?

CLINE: Of course! It’s the connection between nutrition and health. One thing we noticed at City Free Clinic is that people choose foods based on the options, preferences, and knowledge that they have.

We talk about Free Will a lot in the Christian community. But I don’t think we emphasize enough that we are only free to choose amongst choices that we are aware we have.

Take this scenario: if you gave me the choice between mint chocolate chip ice cream and spinach, I would probably choose ice cream nine times out of 10. I know ice cream is good and spinach is soggy. But then as I learn more about nutrition and meal preparation, I may become convicted that the side effects of ice cream are undesirable and when spinach is prepared properly it’s delicious. It’s about options, preferences, and knowledge. More options means more choice. Eliminating poor options is easier when I have more desirable healthy options. Contemplating my preferences, I may become convicted that I’d actually prefer feeling energetic and looking fit over the very temporary satisfaction of the taste of ice cream. And that’s especially after I learn how to prepare spinach to taste yummy and I learn how ice cream enslaves me to a dopamine rush and insulin crash which actually doesn’t satisfy me. So knowledge convicts me as well.

The reality is that if you don’t know the nutritional value of food, or if you haven’t set goals for your health, then you will just consume whatever is in front of you. This is the case at our Residential Intensive Outpatient program, where the food options are always the healthiest and food preparation isn’t always tasty.

In response to this food health problem, we've partnered with Sustainable Solano to design a space to grow fruits and vegetables.

The meaning behind “The Peace of Eden” is that this garden is a place for contemplation and prayer, to sit down amongst nature, enjoy the sun or the rain, and to just be a part of God’s creation. The meaning behind “The Piece of Eden” is that, as Christians, our body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives—a small piece of the original Eden where mankind and God lived together. We are all a piece of the greater whole. This garden is a piece of Eden and we are designed to extend Eden to the whole world. We are reclaiming territory for God’s vision of humanity—loving God and loving each other. We hope the community will glean from the garden and pause for a sabbath rest any day of the week.

We are developing another aspect of this garden initiative—a cooking class for residents of City Livin’. In partnership with Sustainable Solano, we aim to use the foods from the garden to make meals that are healthy and nutritious but most of all tasty. This farm-to-table concept uses the garden’s community space to provide food for the community that we can then share and enjoy in abundance.

LAUSTEN: Wheat is your motivation to heal as a Christian doctor? Nuts and bolts, day to day, when you're tired, what makes you do what you do?

CLINE: That’s a good question. Whenever you read the Bible, you're reading it from your own perspective. It’s important to try to get into the original perspective and context. I’m inspired by Matthew 4:23, which is also attested to in the other Gospels. Over and over the synoptic Gospels say that Jesus preached and healed, and people came to follow Him. When Jesus commissioned his disciples, he told them to preach the gospel and heal all kinds of sickness. Check out Luke 9 or Mark 6. It’s actually in a lot more places, including Acts. Anyway, my eyes opened up: Jesus did medical missions! So these passages convinced me that the way I am to fulfill the Great Commission is by preaching and healing.

I want to be living with purpose, and healing is one of the purposes that Jesus created me for. People like Mother Teresa really inspire me. She essentially spent her life on a hopeless cause: her medical mission was to bring comfort and dignity to people who were mostly dying. She didn’t have fancy treatments; she just wanted

to love people. More than that, she saw the face of Jesus in each person she treated. Her motivation was helping people who bear the image of God (which is everyone), and I share this motivation. Others like Dr. Albert Schweitzer similarly brought honor and dignity to fellow humans. He set up a mission in Africa and used medical care to spread the Good News.

As a Christian, I believe in the resurrection, and I believe in the Kingdom of God. The resurrection will come, but I am impatient. I want the Kingdom of God down on earth now, and I want to live into that. We will have jobs and vocations when heaven and earth meet, and I’m anxious to get started on my job now.

LAUSTEN: As a final question, what advice do you have for a young aspiring practitioner, and what can someone reading this article do to help out your clinic?

CLINE: My advice is to find your own calling. There are so many ways to serve. The healthcare profession is a tough profession, so definitely don’t get into it for income or prestige. You could put the same amount of effort elsewhere and have a lot more earthly reward. You need a passion for healing, a passion for people and for service. Passion gets you through the hard times and makes it worth it. As a Christian, there's thousands of callings, and everyone has their own individual calling. You don't have to be in medicine to do missions. You don’t have to be in the third world to make an impact. Overall, it’s important to realize that you’re a part of a bigger body, right? If God has put a passion in your heart, chase it. God gives us all different desires with the same end goal: living into what He made us for. It’s a beautiful thing to live in the community of God, living into your unique purpose while being a part of a bigger family business.

Anybody reading this can definitely partner with us. Our mission is to provide patients with Christ-centered medical care. It’s not Christian care because we don’t discriminate based on faith (or anything else actually). It’s the sick that need a healer. We want to care for the most vulnerable—the least of these, as we say. We want to encounter Jesus in the examination room.

We are donation-based using the Acts 2 model. We give what we have in time, talent, and treasure. We want to

offer others to live in that same Kingdom mentality. If you have something, you can give it for the good of your community.

One of our strategic goals is to train and equip healthcare workers to preach and heal. Following the Great Commission, we want to transform this Earth into Eden. We recruit volunteers who want to learn and grow this healing model, and we want them to go out and bring Eden down in other areas. Of course, money is always helpful. We want to continue to refurbish the clinic into a top-notch facility, a place where people feel at peace, and we need better Wi-Fi and technology. We need more people with experience in the mental health field, dental, orthodontics, massage therapy, acupuncture, or other allied health fields. Really, we just want to partner with people that are passionate about a Christ-centered healthcare model.

If you would like to learn more, get connected, volunteer, or donate, feel free to visit grassroots-health.org. If you want to become a member, go to www.grassrootsdpc. org. Members receive the same concierge care that our free clinic patients get and contribute monthly to the ministry. ❖

[1] Genesis 1:28 ESV, paraphrased.

[2] Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are two types of antidepressants. SSRIs increase serotonin levels in the brain, while SNRIs increase serotonin and norepinephrine levels. Through direct chemical intervention and cascading effects, these change brain chemistry and can help improve mood.

George Lausten is a Stanford alumnus and past editor at Vox Clara. He is currently applying to medical schools, volunteers at City Free Clinic, and is a professional grant writer. His overarching aim is to practice holistic healthcare from a Christian approach, much like Dr. Cline.

As a Christian, there's thousands of callings, and everyone has their own individual calling.

WORK, MARRIAGE & STEWARDSHIP IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN

SAMUEL CLARKE

Growing up hearing the same Bible stories over and over as a child, I have found that some of these same stories suddenly take on new meaning when I read them in my adulthood and can better empathize with the people in the stories and what they confront. An example of this occurred to me a year ago when my best friend Ryan asked me to officiate his wedding with his wife Emily. The following article is an adaptation of the speech I gave during their wedding ceremony.

To get into the text, let’s start with the creation of Man and the Garden:

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

I have seen many friends get married by now, which has been a blessing beyond measure as I have seen the growth process of marriage modeled from the very beginning by some of life’s greatest all-stars. I glean different lessons from each couple’s particular dynamics. As I considered what made the couple unique and how to share a message with some life application based on that, I realized that the two of them made me look at the story of the Garden of Eden, a story which I had never seen as relevant to my daily life, in a completely new light.

Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”[1]

Here, the Garden of Eden is described as a very beautiful and fruitful place as soon as God created it. Yet he still put Man in the Garden to “work it and take care of it,” ostensibly to make it even more beautiful and make it

uniquely his—a fulfilling task. So what did this work look like and what was its purpose? Consider that this occurred before the Fall, when Man ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and unleashed a few curses, one of which being that work would now be sometimes difficult, frustrating and exhausting. I would conjecture that before the Fall of Man into sin, work had all the upsides without all the downsides, and it was Man’s opportunity to be creative in developing.

This brings me back to my friend Ryan. I met Ryan early in our freshman year at Georgia Tech. I cannot think of anyone I met there who both grew so much from the experience there and contributed so much to the life of the institute. Ryan is the most productive and creative guy I know. He is always looking at what is, setting a bold vision for what could be, then making that vision happen. One of the first things he told me about when we met as naive freshmen was that he had wanted to be a fighter pilot since he was age six. While most people might grow up and write off getting the most competitive and coveted job in the most powerful military in the world as an unrealistic and impractical childhood dream, Ryan made it happen and is now a fighter pilot in the US Air Force.

Another habit that sets Ryan apart is that he is always trying to optimize any situation he comes in contact with and trying to make it better. When I visited him and Emily in their marital apartment in South Carolina, he showed me how he had hacked the refrigerator provided in his rented apartment and added a proximity sensor to the built-in water dispenser so that he could dispense water without touching it. Who could you imagine looking at a perfectly good refrigerator in a rented apartment and deciding to hack it to make it even better? I could think of countless examples like this of how Ryan has always been a model of turning whatever context he’s in into his personal Garden of Eden and painstakingly working on it to take it toward his greater vision for it, with all of the creativity and ingenuity he can muster.

When we had been at Georgia Tech, Ryan was just an Energizer Bunny of productivity. He was always busy turning Georgia Tech into his personal Garden of Eden. Just a few examples that come to mind are how he spent many midnight hours working on class

and hobby projects on a laser cutter, single-handedly wrote an autograder as TA for the biggest class in the institute that would go on to decide the professional fates of thousands of Georgia Tech engineers, and coded up chatbots to assist his fellow RAs in the housing department. Any reasonable person should have wondered: How could Ryan keep doing this all on his own? And who could be qualified enough to be his helper?

Well, one fateful day during our junior year, Ryan introduced us to Emily, who he had been dating for a few weeks without telling anyone. Our friend group was an intense bunch, so though she was understandably a little quiet initially, it quickly became clear that Ryan had found someone who was just as competitive as he was. We watched as they argued over our late night casual dinner about who had won the most rounds of rock paper scissors throughout their relationship. She had a vivacious sense of humor and was very passionate about her education and future career as a biomedical engineer.

If we look back at the text about the Garden of Eden, we see that the creation of Man and the Garden was far from the end of the story. Continuing in verse 18:

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to

Before the fall of man into sin, work had all the upsides without all the downsides, and it was Man’s opportunity to be creative in developing.

the man.

The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.[2]

We had thought maybe Ryan would be just fine on his own, but God looked at Ryan and decided that it was not good for him to be alone. He knew that even Ryan alone was not nearly what Ryan could be if he had a helper. And He had already prepared the perfect helper in Emily.

Pretty soon, Ryan started introducing Emily to the different Gardens of Eden he had been working on at Georgia Tech. I still remember seeing her working with him on the laser cutter in a lab in a basement. He would often joke that the laser cutter was his primary girlfriend, and Emily came second to it. But there Emily was, forcing herself to stay awake past midnight and occasionally stealing a couple winks of sleep on the broken swivel chair down there. In turn, she started introducing Ryan to the Gardens of Eden she had been working outside of her academic endeavors, getting him involved in her crafting hobby. Her idea of an adventure was not to be wined and dined, taken on some trip so she could post photos on Instagram—she wanted to be creative and make things just like Ryan did.

It was not just Ryan, but our entire friend group that soon began to benefit from her as a Helper. We were all working on our different Gardens of Eden, and there were times where her skills in crafting, cooking, etc., were invaluable to us in realizing our visions for different aspects of each of our gardens. Whether she was making things for us at her craft table or in the kitchen, Emily demonstrated time and again that all she needed was a vague vision from us, and without hesitating or needing any clarification, she took it from there, forming and executing that vision better than one could have imagined. She treated each request as an opportunity to bring her creativity, skill, and ingenuity to bear on whatever she made for us, so she could be

just as proud of her contributions to our gardens of Eden as we were appreciative of them.

While they were both exemplary stewards of all the opportunities they could get their hands on at Georgia Tech, now that they are married, God has entrusted each of them with stewarding gardens of much higher stakes. Ryan now works as a fighter pilot defending the free world by sitting in a 15 million dollar aluminum chair that flies through the air faster than the speed of sound, and Emily in operating rooms, mapping out people’s hearts to determine which small part to destroy during ablation procedures to restore their hearts’ proper signals and function. Yet while most of us would give up even trying to meet the immense responsibilities we have in our jobs, they both support each other in making each of their jobs their personal Gardens of Eden. For many months of their marriage, Ryan was spending what little free time he had on his nights and weekends single-handedly taking it upon himself to optimize the US Air Force’s scheduling software. During this period, Emily not only continued to work her demanding job to the point that everyone she had worked with has raved about her, but without questioning, she sacrificially picked up even more work around the house to allow Ryan to realize his vision for that software.

Yet while they both treat their respective demanding jobs as Gardens of Eden, they still haven’t forsook the gardens they had already been cultivating at Georgia Tech. Their two bedroom apartment in Columbia has a dedicated room for both of their favorite freetime endeavors they encouraged and helped each other pursue. Ryan has his desk with a computer and electronics prototyping equipment, and Emily has her desk craft equipment and supplies for her thriving Etsy business.

To get back to the Bible, after Man ate of the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, God banished him from the Garden of Eden forever. Unfortunately, we will never see the original Garden in all its beauty during our lifetimes. We live in continually aging and failing bodies in a fallen world that continues to fall apart more and more with each passing day. But the good news is that God sent His Son to Earth to make a way for our souls to depart from our fallen bodies in this fallen world, and

to cleanse our souls to be able to one day inhabit that beautiful Garden, freed from the curses forever.

In Revelation 2:7, God says, “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

In the meantime, before we see that original Garden of Eden, Ryan and Emily have shown me how God has blessed each of us by entrusting each of us to be stewards of our own unique, personal gardens of Eden in this life. It is our responsibility to work each of these gardens into something as beautiful as we can. We are each stewards of our own Gardens, whether it be our job, our marriage, a relationship, or even our physical property. For my part, I felt convicted to go home and organize and decorate my messy bedroom and laboratory space.

Because of the fall, there will be hardships, and sometimes working our gardens will be difficult, frustrating, and exhausting. I could have added many pages to this article if I had not left out the stories of the seemingly senseless and frustrating challenges Ryan and Emily have each gone through in working their gardens. Yet I have never seen either of them give up working to the best of their abilities, as neither is motivated by the approval of others but by simply pursuing the satisfaction and fulfillment of completing good work.

[1] Genesis 2:7–9, 15–17 NIV.

[2] Genesis 2:18, 21–24 NIV.

I am grateful to God that He put Ryan and Emily in my life to inspire me to see a Garden of Eden around me in whatever I do and wherever I go in life. I hope that as followers of Christ, the Second Adam, we all commit to working our gardens with all the diligence, ingenuity, and patience we can muster, just like my friends Ryan and Emily have always done and will continue to do. ❖ Samuel Clarke is a PhD student in the Computer Science Department. He is from Indianapolis, Indiana.

UNDER A SPECKLED SKY

LORELEI SANTA MARIA

Love like arson

Only lasts as long as your match stays lit

So, I’ll lay down my lighter

And sit on the curbside staring into these enduring forests And wait for a wildfire

Here I am, being everything you don’t want me to be And I couldn’t be happier Because, my legs are tired of running after the rabbit And living in your wonderland of endless pitfalls and disappointment

So, I may be fading from your life But I’m vibrant blue in mine

Alive with life and motion

I hope you can accept me for who I am And not who you hoped I would be.

I think I am just getting tired of People who pretend to care. The ones that hiss and ask how you are with knives behind their backs, Almost like they are waiting for your armor to fall so they can push their Hatred onto you, the cold steel rusting in your veins. I’m tired of opening up, just for someone to make me regret it. I only felt safe with the person I thought you were, I fell in love with the beautiful disguise you wore only when I was looking. I looked through the hole in our fence, and saw what was on the other side But I stayed there, on my knees for just a moment, A second too long

I thought you were purple But now all I see, as I reel from Your blow, is iridescence.

Oh, take me to a place Where falling leaves twisting in the wind Look like a cascade of butterflies. Where you never need a blanket as the sun wraps its warm rays around your body And sways you to sleep.

Take me where the loudest booms come not from dinnerware crashing or my heartbeat running through my eardrums

But from the cacophony of the wildest water droplets, yelling with joy as they hit the lake below and splash to the Surface with a frothy, white grin.

Take me where the grandfathers of the pebble stand and Let them touch my soft naked hands and tell me stories from when they were young.

Where the proudest dancer glides in electric yellow through a rainstorm And the memories of a good time are brown dots like tiny lipstick stains and a soft blush across your cheeks and nose. Hand and hand, let’s go there Outside.

POSTSCRIPT

We, as humans, can only see things to a certain extent, and so we will want to move recklessly toward our own agendas. The only way we find the path we are meant to take in life is by setting down our egos and allowing God to do the work only He can. As a perfectionist, it was hard to come to terms with letting go and letting God, especially when it came to things I knew I really, really wanted more than anything.

Someone in my life unfortunately will never be satisfied with who I am, even when I am. In my journey as a Christian, I came to the conclusion that a lot of the things I did were to please this person, and not just for the glory of God, as it should be. This is my declaration that I am going to run after God instead, and when I do, I will find that I’m “alive with life and motion” (Galatians 1:10, John 12:43, Proverbs 29:25, to name a few).

This poem is about betrayal from people I thought were my friends—the snakes that present themselves as good things only to rip into who you are. This connects to the idea of trusting something that seems good but wears a disguise, similar to the Devil in Genesis. The poem also talks about the timeliness of getting up and moving away from evil when you identify it before it knocks you out.

God has gifted us with a world of His making and a bounty of flora and fauna beyond what we can ever know. This poem aims to celebrate that beauty as it calls upon the paradise theme of the Garden of Eden before it became Paradise Lost. It takes a moment to acknowledge all of God’s art that He has built for us away from all of the chaos of the world in His Glory (Psalm 145:5, Psalm 96:11–12, Job 12:7–10).

Lorelei Santa Maria is a freshman excited about studying Human Biology! She loves sitting out in nature and enjoying God's creation with a warm mug of tea (with a special preference for Earl Grey) or hot chocolate while taking in the sunshine. She started her poetry journey by writing songs as a kid and performing those tunes to an army of stuffed animals that each waited patiently for individual hugs at the end of the show. As she has grown, Lorelei has continued to find all forms of writing to be great ways to explore the world around her and learn to appreciate all that the Lord does in her life.

THE PROMISED ERETZ

GLEN DAVIS

When I was in seminary, I once casually asked my Hebrew professor if it was true that the word eretz (ארץ) could be translated as “earth” or as “land” depending on the context.

“Sure, just like in English, ‘earth’ can mean the planet or can mean dirt. It’s usually pretty obvious which it is supposed to be—just look at the context in which it is used.”

That question had been building up in me for a few years, ever since as an undergrad I asked a minister about how to integrate science and faith. I told him I was especially distressed with trying to fit Genesis together with what I was learning in a physics class about determining the age of rocks using radiometric techniques. He suggested that I read a book called Genesis Unbound by John Sailhamer.

Sailhamer, an Old Testament scholar, claimed that much of the conflict between science and religion disappeared under careful study of the text, especially once you realized that eretz sometimes means the world and sometimes means a specific piece of land.[1]

You can see this for yourself even if you lack Hebrew fluency: many websites such as netbible.org make the untranslated text of Genesis available: call one up and compare the language in Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 15:7. In Genesis 1:1, we read that “God made the heavens and the eretz.” Clearly the whole cosmos is in view, and the whole world is part of it. But when God is speaking to Abram in Genesis 15:7, He foretells that “[his] descendants will be strangers in a foreign eretz.” That is clearly not a warning that his descendants will be kidnapped by little green men; instead, they will be exiled to another eretz somewhere on this earth. In this passage, eretz must be referring to a country—a foreign land.

Once I was persuaded that eretz can mean either the whole world or a specific area, I had to take Sailhamer’s claims more seriously.

Sailhamer’s central claim is that eretz means the whole world in Genesis 1:1, while throughout the rest of the Primeval History (a term scholars use to describe Genesis 1–11, which includes Eden, the Flood, and the

Tower of Babel), eretz is talking about the Promised Land (i.e., the Promised Eretz).

In other words, Sailhamer claims that when Genesis 1:2 tells us that “the eretz was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters,” it is describing a piece of land under the eastern shore of the Mediterranean which God raised up, and went on to lovingly craft for His people. Genesis 1:1 is about creation, and Genesis 1:2ff is about preparation.

Likewise, when God says in Genesis 6:13b–14a, “I am surely going to destroy both them and the eretz. So make yourself an ark,” Sailhamer’s claim is that God is announcing His judgment on a specific region. And in Genesis 11:1, when we read, “Now the whole eretz had one language and a common speech,” we should understand that to describe the conditions existing in a specific place, and not the state of the entire big blue ball which orbits the Sun.

That’s Sailhamer’s argument. How strong is it? What evidence supports his claims? There are three lines of evidence that point in this direction: 1) the aforementioned linguistic facts about eretz, 2) the fact that the Promised Eretz is a theme of the Pentateuch, and 3) the fact that other parts of the Bible view Eden as Israel.

THE PROMISED ERETZ IS A THEME OF THE PENTATEUCH

The Pentateuch is a name for the first five books of the Old Testament, also called the Books of Moses. Although

Sailhamer claimed that much of the conflict between science and religion disappeared under careful study of the text.

scholars debate the details of their composition, they have come down to us as a literary whole. And like all literary works, the Pentateuch has themes. And one of the key themes of the Pentateuch is the Promised Land.

This theme is mentioned to Abram in the first verse following the Primeval History—Genesis 12:1, “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the eretz I will show you.’”

The eretz recurs throughout the Pentateuch. At the end of Genesis Joseph, living in Egypt, says, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this eretz to the eretz he promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place”.[2]

In Exodus the story revolves around God leading His people out of slavery in Egypt on a journey back towards the Promised Land. The books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy give the rules the children of Israel must live under once they return to the Promised Land.

The closing chapter of Deuteronomy, the final book of the Pentateuch, shows Moses looking over the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 34:4 God speaks to Moses and says, “This is the eretz I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

The Promised Eretz is prominent from the call of Abram to the death of Moses, so wouldn’t it be odd if it didn’t make an appearance in the introduction? The Primeval History sets up the rest of the Pentateuch, and the text is revealed to be even more impressive when we see the deep links buried inside it.

OTHER PARTS OF THE BIBLE VIEW EDEN AS ISRAEL

The idea that the eretz called Eden is the Promised Eretz of Israel is shown in other ways as well.

For example, Genesis 2:10–14 describes the Garden as encompassing the Euphrates River and also the Gihon River in the land of Cush (adjacent to Egypt). When God later promises a land to Abraham in Genesis 15:18, He says, “To your descendants I give this eretz, from the Wad [river] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates.” The Promised Land occupies the same geography as the Garden of Eden.

Later the prophet Jeremiah has a vision of the desolation of Israel in Jeremiah 4:23:

“I looked at the eretz, and it was formless and empty; and at the heavens, and their light was gone.”

This passage is clearly an allusion to Genesis 1:2—the eretz, which is Israel, is formless and empty and dark. Under God’s judgment Israel has been returned to its primordial state.

Or consider how after God expelled Adam and Eve from Eden, He placed an angel with a sword to guard the Garden against their return (Genesis 3:24). When the Israelites finally enter the Promised Land they are met by an angel with a sword (Joshua 5:13–15).

SO WHAT?

Given these three lines of evidence, it is worth asking: what if Sailhamer’s argument is correct?

If you adopt Sailhamer’s view, then it means that you don’t need to choose between believing in the age of rocks and the Rock of Ages. Genesis 1:1 tells us God created the universe “in the beginning” and then

If Eden is the Promised Land, that makes the story of God’s People in the Pentateuch a journey of exile and return.

Genesis 1:2ff tells us how God prepared a place for His people. It further means that you don’t need to worry about fitting a global flood that destroyed all life except for what survived on a boat into your understanding. That’s not the story—the eretz that was flooded did not include North America or India.

But you don’t have to. If you take Sailhamer’s basic point but reject his understanding of the Primeval History you will simply have more tools in your interpretative toolbox. You’ll see the themes of the Bible unfolding more beautifully than you have before.

The thing I like best about Sailhamer’s argument is not that it simplifies the faith-science debate, but that it fuels my worship. If Eden is the Promised Land, that makes the story of God’s People in the Pentateuch a journey of exile and return, a motif which recurs throughout the Bible and makes sense to see here at the foundation.

More than that, it helps me appreciate the way the Bible comes full circle: it began with the Tree of Life in a garden and it ends with the Tree of Life in a city:

“On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse”

(Revelation 22:2–3).

The curse of Genesis 3 is undone. Our access to the Tree of Life is restored. We return to Eden and we recognize it as the New Jerusalem. The entire Bible comes full circle as paradise is restored, and God’s people dwell in God’s eretz with the Tree of Life. ❖

[1] There are many other strands to Sailhamer’s argument, but the one about eretz is the one that stood out to me when I first read it and became the focus of my subsequent curiosity. In this short article I’ll focus on that and invite you to either read his book or Matt Perman’s lengthy reflection on it at https://www.desiringgod. org/articles/science-the-bible-and-the-promised-land to see how Sailhamer puts it all together.

[2] Genesis 50:24–26, NIV.

Glen Davis has served as the advisor to Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship at Stanford University since 2002. He has a wife and two children, he loves anime and fantasy novels, and he is ordained with the Assemblies of God. He maintains a blog at theglendavis.com.

ASPIRATION

OR, THE BREATH IN THE WORDS

BETHANY LORDEN

When you breathed life into the man you formed From dust made of your words, he breathed back names And poetry. My words return to dust, mere frames Of truth. When you created Wisdom, she adorned That tree which Eve would plunder for a taste Of what you longed to give. Like her, I tear Asunder truth and knowledge; like him, I pare My work from free rejoicing down to waste. I hurry into blindness. Yet in my eyes You set eternity. This hope draws history, Abrases apathy, and—mystery Of dignity—reflects you through the lies. “My Child, I still create. My Word, your grime, And breaths of prayer will form new life in time.”

Bethany Lorden is a freshman from Colorado, likely studying English and minoring in Physics. She loves mountain adventures, sunshine, Wendell Berry, coffee chats, and playing guitar.

DANTE'S EARTHLY PARADISE

MARLENA HINKLE

The garden of Eden represents at once the birthplace of humanity and the place from which humanity has been banished. It symbolizes the creation and communion of all that is good, and the destruction and separation that comes with sin. As Genesis 2 describes:

The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.[1]

Adam and Eve were provided everything they needed in Earthly Paradise and lived in perfect communion with God and each other. Yet, it didn’t take long for Adam and Eve to reject God’s promise of love by eating of the forbidden fruit and allowing sin to enter the world. Our heavenly home of Eden quickly became a place of exile, bearing remembrance of humanity's original sin.

Many artists and poets have aimed at grappling with this paradoxical nature of Earthly Paradise. One of the most notable examples is the Divine Comedy in which Dante Alighieri encapsulates the enigmatic and mystical nature of Eden by exploring the restored perfection of God’s creation alongside the devastation of man’s Fall. The entrance into Earthly Paradise is the turning point in the Divine Comedy in which Dante transitions from earthly exile to the beatific vision of heaven. Dante’s experience in Earthly Paradise intensely demonstrates the transformative power of God’s love, which Dante experiences throughout his journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Ultimately, Earthly Paradise is the climax of the poem as Dante completes his moral educational journey and loses his dear guide Virgil, who has guided him through Hell and Purgatory. And, it is in this garden of Eden where Dante finally meets his beloved Beatrice, who becomes an allegory of Christ’s salvific grace.

The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri is divided into three sections, or canticles, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, that recount Dante the pilgrim’s journey through the depths of Hell, ascent up Mount Purgatory, and experience of the beatific vision of Paradise. The

allegorical significance of the poem is central to Christian life as it represents the soul’s journey toward God: first through the recognition of sin, followed by the perfection of love lived out in the penitent Christian life, and finally culminates with the soul’s ascent to God in Heaven. In the canticle of Purgatorio, Dante, along with the other repentant souls of Purgatory, must undergo a process of education, repentance, and purification as he climbs the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory.[2] Once arriving at the summit of Mount Purgatory, Dante enters the garden of Eden, or Earthly Paradise, where he encounters the glory of Christ’s redemption of humanity and continues his ascent to complete union with God in Paradise.

In Purgatorio, Dante the pilgrim’s entrance into the Earthly Paradise encapsulates his educational and spiritual journey prior to reaching the summit. As Dante enters the new and mysterious realm of Earthly Paradise, he is reminded of the trials of Inferno and gains a glimpse of the goodness that Paradise promises:

Now, though my steps were slow, I’d gone so far into the ancient forest that I could no longer see where I had made my entry; And there I came upon a stream that blocked the path of my advance; its little waves bent to the left the grass along its bank.[3]

Dante’s entrance into the ancient forest of Earthly Paradise is reminiscent of the “dark woods” in which he began his journey at the beginning of the Inferno. The very opening lines of Inferno begin with the pilgrim wandering lost through a mysterious forest so full of terror and so bitter that “death is hardly more severe”:

When I had journeyed half of our life’s way, I found myself within a shadowed forest, For I had lost the path that does not stray.[4]

It is in this initial forest where Dante first met his guide Virgil, and the two began their epic journey toward the beatific vision of Paradise. And, it is at the summit of Purgatory, after descending through the nine circles of Hell and climbing up the seven terraces of the mountain, where Dante again finds himself in a similar position—lost in a strange forest. Thus, the poet creates an astonishingly clear link between the two seemingly

very disparate forests. It is as if, though he journeyed so far, the pilgrim has returned to the same location from which he started his journey. Perhaps, as some scholars have suggested, these two forests (the dark woods of Inferno and the divine forest of Earthly Paradise) are in fact the same place but seen through different perspectives.

This connection between the two forests further explores the paradox of Eden before and after the Fall and invites readers to reflect on the educational and spiritual progress of the pilgrim’s journey thus far. While Dante is returning to a dark, dense, forest in Earthly Paradise, his will and intellect are perfected via the moral lessons of Inferno and the forgiveness of sins in Purgatorio. Thus, the pilgrim finds himself in a very different state than when he began his journey in the dark, savage woods. The pilgrim’s transformation and “graduation” from the educational and moral component of his journey are directly highlighted in Virgil’s last words to Dante just before they enter Earthly Paradise:

Look at the sun that shines upon your brow; Look at the grasses, flowers, and the shrubs Born here, spontaneously, of the earth. Among them, you can rest or walk until The coming of the glad and lovely eyes— Those eyes that, weeping, sent me to your side. Await no further word or sign from me: Your will is free, erect, and whole—to act Against that will would be to err: therefore I crown and miter you over yourself.[5]

The purgation and forgiveness of sins throughout the terraces of Mount Purgatory have rendered Dante’s will fully aligned with God; he is thus free to act according to it since it is completely “free, erect, and whole.” The pilgrim is finally ready to meet the lovely eyes of Beatrice, whom he will encounter in just a few cantos. When Dante enters Earthly Paradise, he brings with him the new perspective of a perfected will, which allows him to see the forest in a new light—full of life and wonder, restored to its true goodness. This restored state contrasts with humanity’s fallen nature and divided will that resulted from the Fall. While Dante’s will and desires are correctly aimed at God, the pains of

sin remain until he finally meets Beatrice, who becomes for him an allegory of Christ and His redemption.

Though the pilgrim does not know it at the moment, these were Virgil’s last words. Virgil’s role of guide has come to an end and Dante no longer needs his instruction. When, in canto XXX, Dante finally meets Beatrice, he turns to share the moment with Virgil only to find that his cherished guide and friend has disappeared:

But Virgil had deprived us of himself, Virgil, the gentlest father, Virgil, he to whom I gave my self for my salvation; and even all our ancient mother lost was not enough to keep my cheeks, though washed with dew, from darkening again with tears.[6]

With the arrival of his beloved Beatrice and the devastating disappearance of his “gentlest father” Virgil, Dante expounds upon the paradox of creation and loss that has become so central to Earthly Paradise. He even boldly asserts that the disappearance of Virgil was a greater sorrow than all that Eve, “our ancient mother,” lost when she was banished from Eden. Here the poet ties together the ancient and universal drama of the Fall to his own autobiographical drama—meeting the eyes of Beatrice and losing Virgil. The ancient Christian drama becomes at once allegorical and autobiographical and Dante invites the paradox of Christian redemption into his personal journey.

When Dante does finally meet Beatrice, the longawaited encounter is not at all what one might expect. Instead of a warm welcome, Beatrice rebukes Dante for crying over Virgil’s disappearance:

Dante, though Virgil’s leaving you, do not yet weep, do not weep yet; you’ll need your tears For what another sword must yet inflict.[7]

Beatrice, acting as an “admiral”, continues to chastise Dante for loving scornful things that made him stray from the narrow path. But, through his process of repentance and perfection of will, that continues to take place through the final cantos of Purgatorio in Earthly Paradise, Dante learns to order his loves properly: “The things that once lured my love, became most hateful

to me.”[8] Thus, the Divine Comedy is ultimately a love story—one that begins with the pursuit of earthly love that transforms and transcends into the pursuit of eternal Love Himself. Dante’s initial love for Beatrice becomes the allegory for Christ’s love. When in Earthly Paradise, Dante finally meets Beatrice’s gaze he sees not her eyes, but the reflection of the Griffin—a symbol of Christ. As Dante reveals in Earthly Paradise, the Christian journey to Love however, is not without loss and suffering. The remnants of original sin and living in a broken world mean that we must undergo painful moments as we allow God to transform us and bring our gaze to Him. Just as Dante so tragically must say goodbye to Virgil before ascending to Paradise, we must also recognize that we ought not love too deeply the things of this world, for one day we will have to say goodbye to them in order to attain the perfected goodness of complete communion with God. As an allegory for Christ, Beatrice’s character shows how the love of another, when ordered rightly and perfected through the difficult process of the purgation of misguided passions, contrition, and forgiveness, can lead to the transcendent and all-important love of God the Father.

In many ways, Dante’s arrival at the summit of Mount Purgatory can be marked as the climax and turning

point of his journey. His educational and corrective journey comes to a culmination and perfection when he is crowned and mitered by Virgil and has learned to perfect his loves. It is in the forests of Earthly Paradise where Dante finally meets his beloved Beatrice, and his new autobiographical journey begins. Though it was the place where man first rejected God’s love, Dante’s Earthly Paradise demonstrates that Eden represents as much a point of arrival and return as an embarkation on a new adventure toward God’s love. The Divine Comedy’s account of Earthly Paradise shows us that Christ’s redemption transforms Eden from a place of springtime forgotten and perfect love broken to a place of redemption and recovery of all that is good:

Remade as new trees are renewed as when they bring forth new boughs, I was pure and prepared to climb unto the stars.[9]

For Dante, the garden of Eden is not merely an end to his journey up Mount Purgatory; rather, it is the beginning of his new ascent to the beatific vision of Paradiso and its glorious stars. ❖

[1] Genesis 2:8–9 NASB.

[2] According to Dante, each of these terraces represents a particular sin, or deviation from perfect love, so that after climbing through each terrace, the souls are cleansed of that sin.

[3] Dante Alighieri. Purgatorio in The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, translated by Allen Mandelbaum. (New York: Bantam Dell, 1984), XXXVII.22–27.

[4] Alighieri, Inferno in The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, translated by Allen Mandelbaum. (New York: Bantam Dell, 1984), I.1–3.

[5] Alighieri, Purgatorio, XXVII.133–142.

[6] Alighieri, Purgatorio, XXX.49–54.

[7] Alighieri, Purgatorio, XXX.55–58.

[8] Alighieri, Purgatorio, XXX.87.

[9] Alighieri, Purgatorio, XXXIII.143–145.

Marlena Hinkle is a PhD student in the Environmental Engineering department. Her research focuses on environmental organic chemistry and water treatment. She is the president of the Graduate Catholic Student Association and loves learning more about the beauty of the Catholic faith through reading and reflection on theology and the lives of the saints. In her free time, she enjoys rock climbing, reading Italian literature, and going on long walks around Palo Alto.

The Divine Comedy is ultimately a love story— one that begins with the pursuit of earthly love that transforms and transcends into the pursuit of eternal Love Himself.

CREATION AND THE FALL IN HYMNODY AND PSALMODY

MARK BENJAMIN

The story of Creation, while essential to Christians’ understanding of God the Creator and the fallen state of the world, finds itself often overshadowed by the more theologically significant Incarnation of Christ. This arresting narrative emerges nevertheless in much hymnody and poetry written over the ages, and in what follows, we shall piece together the story of Creation as told through a selection of poetic verse.

There is no better place to begin than the actual text of the Creation story. The first chapter of Genesis takes us through the narrative in magisterial prose. Amid debate over the literalness of the verses, it is easy to miss the stately beauty of the lines that take us through the first week, concluding with

“And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (v.31)

A précis of the Creation of Man can be found in the opening of the ancient carol Now Let Good Christians All Begin[1]:

“The Lord at first did Adam make Out of the dust and clay, And in his nostrils breathed life, E'en as the Scriptures say. And then in Eden's Paradise He placed him to dwell, That he within it should remain To dress and keep it well.”

One of the most imaginative descriptions of “Eden’s Paradise” comes to us from Book IV of John Milton’s Paradise Lost[2], which tells of “a circling row of goodliest trees loaden with fairest fruit, blossoms and fruits at once of golden hue, with gay enameled colors mixt.”

The book of Psalms—a treasure trove of poetry—has no shortage of paeans that describe the glory of creation. Arguably the most well-known of these is Psalm 104, an ebullient hymn which paints a picture of a Creator who continually nurtures and tends to His creation— dressing and keeping it well. After taking us through God’s provision for the trees, hills, valleys, rivers, birds, mammals, sun, moon, and humans, the psalmist, as if overcome by emotion, interrupts his enumeration to proclaim:

“O Lord, how manifold are thy works: in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy riches” (v.24)

before gathering himself and going on to sing about the sea and its denizens.

Back in Eden, this blissful state of affairs does not last. In Book IX of Paradise Lost, we see the serpent lure Eve into tasting the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. After wrestling with her conscience, Eve yields:

“So saying, her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the Fruit, she pluck'd, she eat: Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat Sighing through all her Works gave signs of woe, That all was lost.”

Adam follows Eve into sin, and so it came to pass that we who were made in the image of God fell into “endless night”, as described by the seventeenth-century poet and cleric John Donne in one of his Holy Sonnets[3]:

“I am a little world made cunningly Of elements and an angelic sprite, But black sin hath betray'd to endless night My world's both parts, and oh both parts must die.”

From here, the post-Fall portion of the Bible commences, and the Garden of Eden makes no further appearance in the rest of the Bible . Remarkably, however, parallels with the Fall appear in the redemption of the world through Jesus Christ. Just as the Fall occurred in a garden, the beginning of Christ’s passion occurs in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ prays with his disciples before being betrayed by Judas Iscariot. St. Paul draws a contrast between Adam and Christ in his first letter to the Corinthians: “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (15.45), a comparison that Cardinal John Henry Newman also makes, in his poem “The Dream of Gerontius”[4]:

“O loving wisdom of our God! When all was sin and shame, a second Adam to the fight and to the rescue came.”

And finally, just as a tree was at the center of the Fall, another tree was at the center of our redemption. The 6th Century poet St. Venantius Fortunatus writes in one of the verses of his famous hymn “Pange lingua gloriosi”[5]:

“God in pity saw man fallen, shamed and sunk in misery, when he fell on death by tasting fruit of the forbidden tree: then another tree was chosen which the world from death should free.”

One might well contend that there is nothing more poetic than these similarities between the Fall and the Redemption of humanity. Thus shall it be that that paradise once lost, shall finally be regained. ❖

[1] Davies Gilbert (1823), Some Ancient Christmas Carols, London: John Nichols And Son, Second Edition, Carol #1, pp. 1–4.

[2] John Milton (2003), Paradise Lost, Edited by John Leonard, London: Penguin Books.

[3] John Donne (1938), The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, J.M. Dent & Sons, Ltd. for Hague & Gill, Ltd, London.

[4] John Henry Newman (1903), Verses on Various Occasions, Longmans, Green, and Company.

[5] H. T. Henry (1907), "Pange Lingua Gloriosi", Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. XI, Robert Appleton Company, New York; Ralph Vaughan Williams (1906), The English Hymnal With Tunes, Oxford University Press.

Mark Benjamin is a graduate student in the Center for Turbulence Research at Stanford, working in computational fluid mechanics. He is from Madras in South India, and loves that the Bay Area is just as sunshiny but nowhere as humid. He enjoys playing on the wonderful organs in Memorial Church.

BIBLICAL WORK

ELLI SCHULZ

The first verse of the Bible contains some of the most famous words ever written: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”[1] This verse is often described to demonstrate God’s ultimate power and authority over the world, but it also establishes a theme of work prominent throughout the Bible. In the verse, we witness God Himself setting the perfect example of work through the Creation. With infinite detail and wisdom, He spent six days creating everything needed to sustain life, and on the seventh, He rested.[2]

Genesis then moves on to tell the story of human work, which is to mimic God’s work. God gave us the opportunity to work like Him by planting a garden in Eden.[3] This garden was beautiful, ordered, and filled— it was created with perfection, but it was incomplete, and in need of maintenance by man. So God created Adam and Eve to populate and labor the land. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God intentionally left Eden unfinished so His people could care for it. Work, therefore, is one of the first and most crucial components of the Bible, as God is shown working in the opening verse and He bestows work upon man immediately after Creation. But like everything else after the Fall, work has fallen short of its intended glory.

WORSHIPING GOD THROUGH OUR WORK

In Eden, work was a blessing—a grateful response to the bountiful provision of what God had given them. Adam’s command was to keep the Garden in order, caring for the animals and vegetation and watching over

the trees. To many scholars, including Dr. Ashley Lyon, this work was a form of worship.[4] This is shown in the specific words used to describe Adam’s work. Genesis 2:15 says that God took “the human” (האדם; ha’adam) and “put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it (לעבדה ולשמרה; le’avdah u’leshamrah). In this translation, Adam was put in the Garden to work the soil and care for its produce. However, Lyon indicates translations of the Hebrew words “cultivate” (עבד; avad) and “keep” (שׁמר; shamar) which have similar roots to the Hebrew words meaning “worship and obey.” This suggests that God places Adam in the garden not only to help the land flourish, but also to maintain a worshipful and obedient relationship with Him.

This emphasis behind work is also upheld in the New Testament. Paul taught believers in Thessalonica about the importance of work as he urged them to “make it [their] ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to [their] own business and work with [their] own hands, just as [they have been commanded].” He says that working wins respect and grants independence from others.[5] Paul makes it clear that those who are not willing to work don’t even deserve basic life necessities, such as food. It is wrong for us to waste our days on unproductive things, expecting others to provide for our needs.

Even in Heaven, we will continue to work: “[There] shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him.”[6] God, the Creator, has designed us to work before, during, and after the Fall because work is a good thing. It is a way to worship and glorify Him by helping others, creating beauty, and growing in relationship.

THE FALL

After the Fall, sin entered the world, and with it, work was corrupted. Due to disobedience, God cursed Adam’s work, saying "cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you […] By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.”[7] Up to this point, the Garden was easy to maintain— seeds were planted without sweat and produced lovely crops. Following the curse, Adam suffered great pain in getting the ground to yield edible crops. Adam’s work shifted from something that previously brought great joy and meaning to something that brought exhaustion and frustration. The curse afflicted Adam for the rest of his life and has been passed onto us. We are also called to work in a way that glorifies God, but sin has corrupted our labor and turned it into a burden rather than a blessing.

OVERWORKING

One of the most prominent ways work has become corrupt in today’s society is through packing our schedules and overworking. People are working more hours and resting less—almost everyone’s response to “How are you?” includes the word “busy”. In The Ruthless

Elimination of Hurry, Pastor John Mark Comer said, “If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.”[8] Sin and busyness have the same effects on our lives, cutting off our connection to ourselves, others, and God. The world may praise busyness, but busy lives fall short of the calling God has for us. In Matthew 11:28–30, Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me […] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We are called to follow Jesus—to live in the moment, carry a light yoke, and produce glorifying work. Jesus is the most accomplished man in history, yet He walked through life slowly; He rested. Our constant burnout and stress are not making us more like Him, and they certainly aren’t glorifying.

King Solomon wrote about this in Ecclesiastes 5 as he warned us against idolizing wealth and material possessions. Living busy lives can be a sign that we are not prioritizing or trusting God. It leaves us “with great frustration, affliction and anger.”[9] Solomon lists off many ways of living that are bad, then encourages us with one that is good: “It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God” (emphasis added).[10] Enjoyment is a gift from God, born through the fruits of our labor. So if we’re going to be busy, we should be busy enjoying the life God has given us. After all, when we die, none of our earthly possessions or titles will matter.

BALANCE AND REST

Through His creation, God established a rhythm of work: six days of labor followed by a seventh day of complete rest. At the end of the six days, God’s creation of the world was finished, but He was not done working—as Jesus said, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”[11] God’s choice to rest on the seventh day was an intentionally set limitation on time. He saw all His creation as good, and He rested, knowing everything would be completed in His perfect timing. God later implemented this time limitation into the Old Law, commanding His people to rest in Exodus 20:8–11:

God, the Creator, has designed us to work, before, during, and after the Fall, because work, in and of itself, is a good thing.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The Sabbath is a blessing to mankind, as it allows us to recharge and realign our focus with what matters most. Theologian Walter Brueggemann wrote in his book Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of the Old Testament, “Sabbath provides a visible testimony that God is at the center of life—that human production and consumption take place in a world ordered, blessed, and restrained by the God of all creation.”[12] When we rest, we acknowledge that our life is not defined by our work or productivity; we relinquish part of our autonomy and embrace our dependence on God. We acknowledge that He is truly the center of life and remind ourselves that spending time with Him is more fruitful than anything.

WORKING WITHIN OUR LIMITATIONS

Having blessed humans by His own example of work and rest, God then equips Adam and Eve with specific instructions about the limits of their work. In the midst of the Garden of Eden, God planted two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.[13] The latter was off limits. God told Adam, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”[14] The tree was there because it could be eaten from, but God specifically instructed Adam not to, warning him that he would encounter spiritual death if he did.[15] This shows the importance of limitations—not everything that can be done should be done. Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend wrote in Boundaries, “Made in the image of God, we were created to take responsibility for certain tasks. Part of taking responsibility, or ownership, is knowing what is our job and what isn’t.”[16] If we want to work with God, we must follow the limits He sets for our work.

In today’s workplace, our God-given limits bless us by allowing rest, highlighting our strengths, and presenting unique opportunities to work with the limited resources we have. Architects find inspiration from the limits of time, money, space, and materials. Painters find creative expression by accepting the limits of the media and dimensions they work with. Writers tighten their work when they face page and word limits. There are limits to the earth’s capacity for resource extraction, pollution, and the use of plants and animals. The human body has great yet limited strength, endurance, and capacity to work. All good work respects God’s limits and reminds us of His unlimited nature.

Finding a balance of rest, work and limitations isn’t easy. In ballet, perfect balance doesn’t come naturally; it comes from practicing one’s posture and positioning. Once ballerinas find their balance, it is not permanent— they may lose it again as they attempt a new move and have to reposition themselves to gain it back. The same application goes for finding balance in our life, repositioning our lives to discover what works best for us. Somedays, we may be a little lopsided, other days, the balance comes easily. When we try out a new move, we may have to realign our positioning to find good balance. In life, balance is not a physical posture, but a posture of the heart. It is doing all the things God has called us to do to the best of our abilities. Ballerinas wouldn’t hold unequal weight in one hand while trying to balance; neither should we by adding things in our lives that would disrupt our balance and take us away from God’s plans. Our posture comes from knowing His calling and trusting His provision. God would not give us more work than we could handle. He wouldn’t call us to multiple tasks, knowing we’d have to fail at one for the others to succeed. If He calls us to do something, He will equip us with the capacity and strength to do it well.

WORKING IN RELATIONSHIP

We can also honor God through our workplace relationships. Relationships and community are essential to our lives and our work. All over the Bible, we see examples of God desiring a relationship with us. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him,” and Matthew

11:28, referenced earlier, begins with “Come to me.” God sent His Son, Christ Jesus, to walk the earth alongside man, and His spirit dwells in believers who accept Him. He is a relational God, and because we are made in His image, we are inherently relational. God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”[17] Man being alone was the first time God had ever pronounced something “not good,” so He created Eve as a “helper” and “partner,” and Adam was filled with joy. The word helper indicates that, like Adam, she was created to tend the garden. The word partner indicates working with someone in a relationship, as she worked alongside Adam. The concept of help is also raised in Psalm 54:4, this time referring to God Himself as the helper: “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me” and in Psalm 30:10, “Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me; Lord, be my help.” God does not desire us to carry our burdens of work alone. We must lean on each other, as Adam and Eve were called to do, and lean on Him, as instructed in the Psalms.

This caring workplace relationship is demonstrated by the apostle Paul and his church. His relationship with one local body of Christ was so tight that he expressed deep emotion for them as a father would his own children: “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of

The art of living as His image-bearers allows us to appreciate the limitations we have, and how they remind us of God’s unlimited nature.

our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.”[18] These were mutually beneficial relationships. Paul and his coworkers depended on one another to help them grow in Christ and preach the gospel. In working together, they were able to spread the gospel more effectively than they could alone. When we work with others, we honor God’s relational presence, learn from others, share our gifts, and help shoulder work’s burdens. Man alone is not whole, but in community with Christ and each other, we are made complete.

SUBMITTING WORK TO GOD

When submitting our work to God, we must first submit our desires to Him, asking for His perfect timing and guidance on what to do. This was a lesson David learned when he brought his desire to build a temple before the Lord. David’s plans were good, as he was looking to honor God, but God told him no—He had other plans. Like David, we sometimes desire to do something great, but that may not be what God has planned for us. If we attempt to work against God’s plan, we will not accomplish anything worthwhile: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.”[19] When we abide by Him, we bear fruit. This fruit provides for ourselves, our families, and those in need. In Mark 14:7, Jesus reminded His disciples that the poor would always be among them, and James 1:27 reminds us that true religion considers the needs of the poor, the widow, and the orphans. Our labor is not only an act of worship and glorification, but a service to others.

The joy of work that was lost in the Garden of Eden can be redeemed in Christ, just as our souls are redeemed. This happens when we submit our work to Him and view it through the lens of His greater kingdom purposes. Work was created by God in the beginning of time as a blessing to Adam. Work allowed him to worship God and steward His kingdom on Earth. We, like Adam, are called to work in a way that glorifies Him. Work is not easy, but it is a gift. When we honor God through our work, we grow in relationship with Him, find peace in the midst of chaos, love our neighbors greater, and testify of His goodness. ❖

[1] Genesis 1:1 NIV.

[2] Genesis 2:2 NIV.

[3] Genesis 2:8 NIV.

[4] Ashely E. Lyon, et al. “What Was Adam's Job in Eden?” Israel Bible Weekly, 8 Jan. 2023, https://weekly.israelbiblecenter.com/ what-did-adam-do-in-the-garden/.

[5] 2 Thessalonians 4:11–12 NIV.

[6] Revelation 22:3 NIV.

[7] Genesis 3:17–19 NIV.

[8] John Mark Comer. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook, 2020), p. 20.

[9] Ecclesiastes 5:17 NLT.

[10] Ecclesiastes 5:18–19 NLT.

[11] John 5:17 NIV.

[12] Walter Brueggemann, "Sabbath," Reverberations of Faith: A Theological Handbook of Old Testament Themes (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), 180.

[13] Genesis 2:9 NIV.

[14] Genesis 2:16–17 NIV.

[15] Henry Cloud and John Sims Townsend. Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017).

[16] Genesis 2:16–17 NIV.

[17] Genesis 2:18 NIV.

[18] 1 Thessalonians 3:9–10 NIV.

[19] John 15:5 NIV.

Elli Schulz is a sophomore from Bandon, Oregon, studying English and International Relations with an emphasis on social development and wellbeing. She is an active member of Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, serving as a life group leader and worship team member. In her free time, she enjoys ballroom dancing, playing instruments, taking long nature walks, meeting new people, and reading, writing, and learning.

CREDITS

AUTHORS

George Lausten

Glen Davis

Lorelei Santa Maria

ART & PHOTOGRAPHY

Mark Benjamin

Marlena Hinkle

Samuel Clarke

Front and back cover: art by Alvin Tan, image from Biodiversity Heritage Library.

P.6: art by Makayla Abril Butters, images from Unsplash.

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SPECIAL THANKS TO

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Bella Vincent

Bethany Lorden

Elli Shulz

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Atheist, Christian, agnostic, religious— wherever you are in the journey of seeking truth, this journal you’ve picked up or been handed is meant to be read by you. We from Vox Clara, Stanford’s Journal of Christian Thought, want to encourage you to think, ask, and have conversations about life’s big questions.

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