While Genesis 2:15 plainly reveals mankind’s original calling to labor faithfully and guard God’s creation, various religious movements reinterpret this command in ways that depart from the clear, historical, and theological context of Scripture. Such reinterpretations often reduce Eden to a mere metaphor or distort the biblical truth of humanity’s stewardship under God’s sovereign authority.
Christian Science, for instance, teaches that to “dress and keep” the garden means to maintain spiritual understanding and guard one’s thoughts from error and false belief (Eddy, 2023). This view rejects the literal reality of Eden and the historical Fall, undermining the biblical doctrine of sin and the need for redemption through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Romans 5:12–19; 1 Corinthians 15:21–22). By redefining sin as mere ignorance, it denies the substitutionary death and bodily resurrection that stand at the heart of the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 15:3–4).
Swedenborgianism similarly interprets Eden as representing the human mind: “to dress it” means to cultivate true spiritual insight, while “to keep it” means to resist false thoughts and evil desires (Swedenborg, 2023). Though Scripture indeed calls believers to guard their hearts and minds (Proverbs 4:23; Philippians 4:7), the Genesis account is not merely symbolic. It records real events that explain the entrance of sin and death into the world (Genesis 3:6–7; Romans 5:12). Allegorizing Eden strips the text of its historical grounding and distorts the biblical narrative of creation, fall, and redemption.
The Word-Faith Movement and the broader New Thought Movement also spiritualize Genesis 2:15, teaching that believers are to “tend and keep” their life circumstances by exercising positive thoughts and words to manifest health, prosperity, and success. In this interpretation, the “garden” is one’s mind or outward situation, and spiritual power is harnessed through affirmations and declarations (Harrison, 2005). Such teachings place undue focus on human effort and self-exaltation rather than humble dependence upon God’s sovereign will (James 4:13–15). Scripture affirms that while faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6), it is not a tool to manipulate Him or to guarantee a trouble-free life (John 16:33; 1 Peter 4:12–13).
The Unification Church, founded by Sun Myung Moon, asserts that Adam’s charge to dress and keep the garden meant he was to remain faithful, obey God, and establish a pure family lineage. According to Moon’s teachings, Adam failed by falling into temptation, and humanity’s mission is to restore Eden through moral families loyal to Moon’s revelations (The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, 2002). This interpretation replaces the biblical gospel — salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8–9) — with a works-based system centered on human lineage and ritual purity, contrary to the sufficiency of Christ’s finished work (John 19:30).
These unscriptural interpretations ultimately distort the plain sense of Genesis and shift focus away from humanity’s true problem — sin — and its only solution: the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, the second Adam, who perfectly fulfilled what the first Adam failed to keep (Romans 5:18–19; 1 Corinthians 15:45–47). The biblical call to “dress and keep” the garden reveals God’s good design for work and stewardship, pointing forward to the restoration of all things in Christ when redeemed humanity will once again dwell with God in a renewed creation, free from toil, sin, and death (Revelation 22:3–5).
Therefore, believers must guard against teachings that spiritualize away the historical truth of Scripture or turn God’s clear commands into mere self-help principles. Instead, we are called to hold fast to the Word of God, labor faithfully as stewards of His creation, and trust in Christ alone for the restoration of all that was lost in Eden.