I have nothing useful to add except to suggest that there seems to be strong evidence that the particular way that the Eden story was told was to combat the polytheistic origin stories of the Babylonians, with whom the Jews were in close contact.
However, any thread in which (a) I learn that JayJay hungers after Tom Brokaw’s glands and (b) Duck Duck Goose makes reference to “what they do with tiger penises” cannot be considered worthless!! 
just for general info- i’m a boy. although
colleen and colette are very nice names, I
like Colin much better. No offense taken, though.
yeah, Maerth is definitely a fruitcake. I think that it
was pretty obvious from the get go. Its a
good book to read, though. And fun to talk about.
onward.
colin
No offense intended–I was referring to myself.
Just noticed the above on re-reading; “I am an unsung genius; everybody else is in denial” is a delusion that crackpots and other assorted lunatics seem almost obliged to weave into their ensemble (it must be in the manual or something); for a real-life example of this, click here