Quote from The Diaries of Adam and Eve

[Ana_v]

A couple years ago I read a comic short story written by Mark Twain called the Diaries of Adam and Eve. It was a fictional but humorous retelling of the Garden and the Fall, since the details in Scripture are so scarce.

The ending struck me, and I’ve never forgotten this line. What was an otherwise lighthearted story, ended in what I thought was a profound way:

“Wheresover she was, there was Eden.”

What do you think? Subtle theology behind this quote? And even if that’s not what Mark Twain intended, can this quote be interpreted in a Catholic light?
I’ve taken enough theology courses I. College (moral theology, sacraments, theology of JPII, Pentateuch, etc) to intuit that there’s a lot of rich meaning that could be extrapolated from this one line. But I would like to know your thoughts.

 

[SeriousQuestion]

Mark Twain was kind of anti-Christian, so it might be satire.

 

[spockrates]

A couple years ago I read a comic short story written by Mark Twain called the Diaries of Adam and Eve. It was a fictional but humorous retelling of the Garden and the Fall, since the details in Scripture are so scarce.

The ending struck me, and I’ve never forgotten this line. What was an otherwise lighthearted story, ended in what I thought was a profound way:

“Wheresover she was, there was Eden.”

What do you think? Subtle theology behind this quote? And even if that’s not what Mark Twain intended, can this quote be interpreted in a Catholic light?
I’ve taken enough theology courses I. College (moral theology, sacraments, theology of JPII, Pentateuch, etc) to intuit that there’s a lot of rich meaning that could be extrapolated from this one line. But I would like to know your thoughts.

In a sense, wherever each one of us is, there is a desire for Eden, or a paradise absent of sin and suffering, so that here on earth is like heaven. Even The Rolling Stones sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” If Eve was a historical person, then for her it would have been more than merely a desire. It would have been a memory - a reality lost, if you will. So, it would have been with her so much more than it is with you or I.