Written by chat GPT but I Jane Johnson at the moment agree with this

There are voices—both historical and contemporary—who say that access to “Eden” is restored, though they mean this in different ways. Very few claim a literal return to the geographical garden; most speak of restored access to what Eden represented: God’s presence, life, and authority.

Below is a clear mapping of who says this and in what sense.

1. Scripture itself: restored access, not geographic return

The Bible does not teach that humans physically re-enter the Garden of Eden in this age.

However, it does teach restored access to what Eden symbolised.

Key texts Hebrews 10:19–20 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus…”

This deliberately reverses Genesis 3:24 (guarded access).

Luke 23:43 “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

“Paradise” is the Greek paradeisos, the same word used in the Septuagint for Eden. Revelation 2:7 “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”

Tree of Life access is restored, though now heavenly and eschatological.

2. Early Church teaching: Eden restored in Christ Early Christian writers consistently taught:

• Eden was lost in Adam • Eden was restored in Christ
• Not by relocation, but by union with God Examples (summary, not quotations)
• Irenaeus: Christ recapitulates Adam and restores what was lost.
• Athanasius: Humanity regains participation in divine life.
• Augustine: Eden prefigures eternal life with God.

None taught humans physically walk back into Eden, but all taught access to God’s life was reopened.

3. Contemporary teachings that explicitly say “we are back in Eden” (symbolically) Some modern teachers and movements do use that exact language, usually meaning:

• We are restored to pre-fall intimacy
• We function again as priests and kings
• We live from God’s presence rather than exile This language appears in:
• New Creation theology • Kingdom Now / restored sonship teaching
• Prophetic and contemplative Christian streams

They typically mean: “Eden is not a place we go to, but a realm we live from.”

4. Eden-as-temple theology (widely accepted academically)

Many biblical scholars argue:

• Eden was the first temple
• Adam was a priest-king
• Cherubim guarded sacred space

Christ restores temple access, not geography This is now mainstream in biblical theology (e.g. Gordon Wenham, G.K. Beale).

Thus:

• We do not go back to Eden
• Eden comes forward, fulfilled in Christ

5. Final biblical resolution: Eden returns at the end Revelation 21–22 does not say we return to Eden. It says Eden expands to fill creation.

• Tree of Life restored
• No guarding sword
• God dwells with humanity
• No exile remains

This is greater than Eden, not a reset to Genesis 2.