Paper 76 Overview: The Second Garden

Following the default in the first garden, Adam and Eve led their followers eastward to establish a new settlement between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This migration was necessitated by the presence of hostile tribes in other directions and the advancing Nodites from the north. Though lacking the paradisiacal qualities of their original home, this second garden became an important center of Adamic culture and influence on evolutionary civilization.

The second garden witnessed significant events including the birth of Cain and Abel, the first murder, and the establishment of Adamic administrative and religious systems. Despite their diminished status as mortals, Adam and Eve continued their mission of uplifting humanity through education, civil administration, and religious instruction. After their deaths, they were resurrected on the mansion worlds and eventually advanced to become members of the twenty-four counselors governing Urantia, demonstrating that redemption and continued service were possible despite their earlier failure.

Adam chose to leave the first garden peacefully rather than defend it against the approaching Nodites, leading his followers eastward toward the regions between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. They couldn't travel west due to lacking suitable boats, northward because of advancing Nodites, or southward where hostile tribes populated the hills. Many who initially remained behind in Eden eventually joined the Adamites in their new valley home.

Cain and Sansa were born before the Adamic caravan reached its destination in Mesopotamia. Laotta, the mother of Sansa, died during childbirth, but Eve survived and adopted Sansa, raising her alongside Cain. As an adult, Sansa married Sargan, who led the northern blue races, and made significant contributions to advancing the blue race during that period.

The Adamic caravan required almost a full year to reach the Euphrates River, where they camped on the western plains for nearly six weeks waiting for the flood waters to recede. When they finally crossed the river, they discovered that the inhabitants of what would become the second garden had fled to the eastern mountains upon hearing about Adam's approach.

This location had been one of the three original sites considered by Van and Amadon's committee for the Garden of Eden. The area benefited from natural defenses created by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which came close together north of the garden, allowing for the construction of a fifty-six mile defensive wall to protect the southern border. Unlike the first garden which had been partially prepared for them by others, the second garden required tremendous physical labor from the Adamites, who now had to wrest a living from unprepared soil and face the natural challenges of mortal existence.

Abel, the first child born to Adam and Eve in the second garden, arrived less than two years after Cain's birth. When they reached adolescence, Abel chose to become a herder while Cain pursued agriculture. Their different vocations became a source of conflict, particularly regarding religious offerings, as animal sacrifices from herders were increasingly favored over the fruits of the field brought by farmers.

The tension between the brothers intensified due to several factors. Abel taunted Cain about his mixed parentage, as Cain was not of pure violet blood because his father was Adam but his mother was Nodite. Adam had originally discouraged animal sacrifices in the first Eden, giving Cain legitimate reasons for his protests, but the Nodite priests who organized worship in the second garden reverted to pre-Adamic practices. When the brothers were eighteen and twenty years old, Abel's taunts so enraged Cain that he killed his younger brother in a fit of anger.

As time passed in the second garden, Adam and Eve deeply missed their former home's beauty and tranquility, as well as their children who had been taken to Edentia. Despite their reduced status as ordinary mortals, they demonstrated remarkable grace and fortitude in adapting to their circumstances. Adam wisely devoted considerable time to training his children and followers in civil administration, educational methods, and religious devotions, which prevented chaos after his death.

The Adamic leadership was organized with hereditary civil rulers descending from the sons of the first garden. Adamson, Adam's first son, established a secondary center for the violet race north of the second garden. Eveson, Adam's second son, became a skillful administrator and leader. Seth, the eldest surviving son born in the second garden, founded the priesthood which was a three-fold undertaking embracing religion, health, and education. The Adamites maintained cultural advantages over surrounding peoples because they had brought seeds, plants, animals, and knowledge from the first garden.

Adam and Eve founded the violet race, the ninth human race to appear on Urantia. Their offspring were characterized by blue eyes, fair complexions, and light hair in shades of yellow, red, and brown. Unlike Eve, who did not experience pain in childbirth, the mixed races produced by unions between evolutionary humans, Nodites, and Adamites later suffered the severe pangs of childbirth.

The original Adamic pair were energized by dual nutrition—food and light—supplemented by special superphysical energies. Their offspring, however, inherited only the human type of blood circulation and were designed to be mortal, though long-lived. Adam and Eve possessed superior physical and spiritual vision that allowed them to see midwayers, angels, Melchizedeks, and even the fallen Prince Caligastia. These special senses diminished with each successive generation. Before his death, Adam arranged to benefit humanity by leaving behind as much of his life plasm as possible, selecting 1,682 superior women who were impregnated and gave birth to 1,570 children of enhanced genetics.

After establishing the second garden, Adam and Eve learned that their repentance was accepted and that although they would face death like other mortals of the realm, they would be eligible for resurrection among the sleeping survivors of Urantia. Unlike their time on Jerusem and in the first garden, they received Thought Adjusters after their reduction to mortal status, which greatly encouraged them despite their failure as Material Sons.

Adam was aware of the dispensational resurrection that occurred when he arrived on the planet and believed he and Eve would likely be repersonalized with the next order of sonship. They received a mysterious message from Michael that provided comfort but also puzzled them. Adam lived for 530 years before dying of old age, while Eve passed nineteen years earlier from heart failure. They were buried in the center of the temple of divine service, establishing the tradition of burying notable individuals under places of worship.

Adam and Eve entered their mortal rest with strong faith in the Melchizedek promises that they would awaken on the mansion worlds. Their period of unconsciousness was brief, as on the third day following Adam's death, special orders directed a resurrection of the distinguished survivors of the Adamic default. Adam and Eve were reassembled on the resurrection halls of the mansion worlds along with 1,316 of their associates from the first garden experience.

They progressed rapidly through the worlds of ascension until they attained citizenship on Jerusem, returning to their planet of origin but now as ascending citizens rather than Material Sons. They were immediately assigned to Urantia service on the system capital and later became members of the twenty-four counselors who constitute the advisory body for Urantia. Despite their initial failures, they ultimately made significant contributions to human civilization and biologic advancement, demonstrating that even after serious mistakes, redemption and meaningful service are possible.