Education
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 2: The Eden School
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The system of education instituted in Eden was to
be a model for man throughout all aftertime.
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The system of education instituted at the beginning of the
world was to be a model for man throughout all aftertime. As an illustration of
its principles a model school was established in Eden, the home of our first
parents. The Garden of Eden was the schoolroom, nature was the lesson book, the
Creator Himself was the instructor, and the parents of the human family were
the students. {Ed 20.1}
Created to be "the image and glory of God" (1
Corinthians 11:7), Adam and Eve had received endowments not unworthy of their
high destiny. Graceful and symmetrical in form, regular and beautiful in
feature, their countenances glowing with the tint of health and the light of
joy and hope, they bore in outward resemblance the likeness of their Maker. Nor
was this likeness manifest in the physical nature only. Every faculty of mind
and soul reflected the Creator's glory. Endowed with high mental and spiritual
gifts, Adam and Eve were made but "little lower than the angels"
(Hebrews 2:7), that they might not only discern the wonders of the visible
universe, but comprehend moral responsibilities and obligations. {Ed 20.2}
"The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and
there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground made the Lord
God to grow every [21] tree that is pleasant to the
sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden." Genesis 2:8,9. Here, amidst the beautiful scenes of nature
untouched by sin, our first parents were to receive their education. {Ed 20.3}
In His interest for His children, our heavenly Father personally
directed their education. Often they were visited by His messengers, the holy
angels, and from them received counsel and instruction. Often as they walked in
the garden in the cool of the day they heard the voice of God, and face to face
held communion with the Eternal. His thoughts toward them were "thoughts
of peace, and not of evil." Jeremiah 29:11. His every purpose was their
highest good. {Ed 21.1}
To Adam and Eve was committed the care of the garden,
"to dress it and to keep it." Genesis 2:15. Though rich in all that
the Owner of the universe could supply, they were not to be idle. Useful
occupation was appointed them as a blessing, to strengthen the body, to expand
the mind, and to develop the character. {Ed 21.2}
The book of nature, which spread its living lessons before
them, afforded an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. On every leaf
of the forest and stone of the mountains, in every shining star, in earth and
sea and sky, God's name was written. With both the animate and the inanimate
creation—with leaf and flower and tree, and with every living
creature, from the leviathan of the waters to the mote in the sunbeam—the
dwellers in Eden held converse, gathering from each the secrets of its life.
God's glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly
revolutions, "the balancings of the clouds" (Job 37:16), the
mysteries of light and sound, of day and night—all were objects of
study by the pupils of earth's first school. [22] {Ed 21.3}
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The laws and operations of nature, and the great principles
of truth that govern the spiritual universe, were opened to their minds by the
infinite Author of all. In "the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God" (2 Corinthians 4:6), their mental and spiritual powers developed, and
they realized the highest pleasures of their holy existence. {Ed 22.1}
As it came from the Creator's hand, not only the Garden of
Eden but the whole earth was exceedingly beautiful. No taint of sin, or shadow
of death, marred the fair creation. God's glory "covered the heavens, and
the earth was full of His praise." "The morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy." Habakkuk 3:3; Job 38:7. Thus was
the earth a fit emblem of Him who is "abundant in goodness and truth"
(Exodus 34:6); a fit study for those who were made in His image. The Garden of
Eden was a representation of what God desired the whole earth to become, and it
was His purpose that, as the human family increased in numbers, they should
establish other homes and schools like the one He had given. Thus in course of
time the whole earth might be occupied with homes and schools where the words
and the works of God should be studied, and where the students should thus be
fitted more and more fully to reflect, throughout endless ages, the light of
the knowledge of His glory. {Ed
22.2}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"The Knowledge of Good and Evil"
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