Paradise: A Set Apart Place

The first garden (Eden) was perfection. In it was the possibility not only for the purest fulfillment of the human race but for all of creation. It was meant to be a paradise, which is, in fact, no different from saying it was meant to be a garden-both words mean the same thing.

Our word paradise comes from the Greek word paradeisos, “garden,” which comes from the Persian pairidaeza, an enclosed area, a wall around. Our English word garden finds its root in the Old French jardin and the Old High German gart, both of which mean “enclosure.” So a garden is a place that is set apart, a…