Abstract

Adam, the father of all men initiated a fall from innocence; the story of postlapsarian humanity discloses an omnipresent attempt to return to the Garden, the state of innocence. This journey back to consciously achieved innocence is revealed in the story of Israel's quest for the Promised Land, a land covenanted to this people by YHWH. To live in a holy land (sacred space), Israel must put off all attachments to mortal aims, she must sacrifice the profane, horizontal world and enter the sacralized, vertical sphere to become hale, healthy, holy, and whole: wholeness accompanies this return to the center.

The Old Testament is the story of a people who fail to come to the promised wholeness. Although Israel never realized this potential holiness, her movement from Egypt through the Wilderness to Canaan is typology for everyman's journey to a new consciousness: God separated Israel from the profane world opening the door to cleansed perception, greater unity and conscious innocence. In keeping his covenant they would find the sacred and return to the center, thus recreating the primordial pattern: moving from chaos to order--the eternal return.

Degree

College and Department

Religious Education; Ancient Scripture

Rights

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