This last "story" you mention is the "storyline" I was referring to. The moving around of Paradise is necessary to make the rest of the "story" consistent. Thus, in my mind, it has become a Christian myth. Not necessary proven untrue, but with little weight of scripture without the special, added, "storyline".
I agree. If "the tree of life" is a physical thing--a real tree with real leaves--it hardly seems like it would survive in a place under the earth. If it is a metaphorical thing, it hardly seems like it belongs in a place of the dead.
On same wavelength here, so splitting the quote for focus below:
You've discerned my point. Christ's promise to the thief of being with Him was not a promise of being with Him while dead, was it? And if He was still dead for a couple more days, why was His promise to the thief of much consolation, being promised for "today".
Christ didn't promise that the thief (or himself) would be anywhere that Passover day. He enacted a divine
proclamation that
went into effect that day with the fulfillment at the later date of the resurrection. It's not an unusual form of speech, and you'll see the same used by God in the garden of Eden to Adam, of Saul when arranging for David to become his son-in-law, and of Solomon when threatening execution to Shimei.
1 Samuel 18:21-26 KJV
(21) And Saul said, I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him. Wherefore Saul said to David,
Thou shalt this day be my son in law in the one of the twain.
(22) And Saul commanded his servants, saying, Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee: now therefore be the king's son in law.
(23) And Saul's servants spake those words in the ears of David. And David said, Seemeth it to you a light thing to be a king's son in law, seeing that I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?
(24) And the servants of Saul told him, saying, On this manner spake David.
(25) And Saul said, Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
(26) And when his servants told David these words, it pleased David well to be the king's son in law:
and the days were not expired.
We can speculate whether David killed (and harvested fleshly trophies) from 200 Philistines (the king asked for 100 but David brought double) by himself in a 200-to-1 showdown, whether he backstabbed 200 enemies one at a time, or whether he took the time to assemble enough help to take out 200 of them, but considering the time taken to fight, then to cut out their private parts, and the time to travel back and forth (even assuming they didn't eat or use the bathroom)
it certainly took more than 24 hours if you include bathing before the wedding ceremony.
1. Thou shalt this day - the proclamation is made on the authority of the king that day
2. be my son in law in one of the twain - the result of that proclamationIt's like when you receive a check with a date stamp on it, the promise is made on that day, but it does not necessarily reflect when the promise is redeemed or the act is fulfilled. Saul wasn't contradicting himself, and neither was God in the garden or Solomon to Shimei. That's the way one speaks when enacting a royal decree.
And God's decree (as Christ) is a notch above royal.