LAUSR

The story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden is a seminal text within the Christian tradition and is considered to hold innermost truths about human nature. From a psychological perspective, Osman argues that since the narrative of Adam and Eve is the first telling of human experience within the Bible and since similar myths exist in other cultures, this story is likely to point to “significant truths about psychic functioning.” Ellens suggests that whether we take this story at a literal, symbolic, mythical, or metaphorical level, it provides us with a framework for thinking about the human condition. Inherent in this story is a series of themes that are central to psychological theories of development such as loss, separation, dependency, intersubjectivity, vulnerability, shame, and desire. This article focuses on two competing theological interpretations of the garden of Eden emanating from the work of the church fathers Augustine and Irenaeus and explores how the work of psychoanalysts Erich Fromm and Melanie Klein maps onto these two traditions. The author argues that the work of Klein and Fromm can serve to illuminate these different theological traditions, assist us to reflect upon questions of psychological maturity and moral development, and provide a basis for dialogue between theology and psychology in which both the full goodness and the inherent destructiveness of humanity is fully recognised.