Are you Christian? Need your advice

Stargazer_lily

Okay... DH and I are considering the name Eden for our little girl. As we suspected, a lot of people in our generation love the name, and people in our parents' generation are undecided/unsure because it's "different".

My husband was raised non-denominational Christian, and I wasn't raised with religion. However, I'm currently learning about Christianity and going to church with DH because we want to raise our children in a Christian home.

MIL was absolutely horrified with the name Eden - "that's the place where humankind first SINNED!" She acted like our name choice was almost sacriligious. We were thinking the name more evoked the other meaning of Eden - a perfect paradise.

I know the name is ultimately mine and DH's decision, but from a Christian, what do you think?

kaysi82

i love it.
i don't think people should have a problem with it.

mrsseguin

Well, tell your MIL it's better than Satan!...name your child what you want.  When I think of Eden, I think of a beautiful place. I think it is a beautiful name for a girl!

kristen230

I am Christian and come from a Christian family and actually if this baby is a girl we are naming her Eden. We have only told my family the name because my DH family wouldn't like it and we already know that. We are using it if people like it or not. It only matters what you and your husband think. I wouldn't listen to your mother in law at all. It is a great name.?

littlepony

I think Eden is fine.  Like you said, it was a perfect paradise originally.  However, I can see naming your son Lucifer being offensive.  In any case though, God is bigger than that and whatever you pick, if you heart is in the right place you can't go wrong. 

LMS05

I am a Christian and I think it's fine. I think your MIL is overreacting.?

Stargazer_lily

LOL at Lucifer! Thanks ladies!

Temp950106187509203

Ditto everyone else.  Your MIL is hugely overreacting.  If you think about the story of the Fall, Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden and an angel with a flaming sword was stationed at the entrance to keep (now) sinful man out--the Garden was purged of and protected from evil in this way.  Furthermore, when you come down to it, Eden is just a Hebrew word meaning delight.  Sounds like a lovely sentiment for the name of your child.

Also, things like this make me think of a bit from the Catholic Easter vigil liturgy (I'm guessing this might not help your MIL at all, since she sounds pretty fundamentalist (not saying it as an insult, just a description), but perhaps it will comfort you about your choice). -- The part I'm thinking of says, "Oh happy fault, oh necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!"  That is to say, without the sin of Adam and Eve, Jesus would not have come to redeem mankind.  That redemption puts us (at least according to certain schools of theology) in a BETTER position than we would have been if sin had not entered the world.  Adam and Eve were companions or friends of God (He walked with them in the Garden), but through Christ we become His children, and a parent/child relationship is (I think we'll all agree) a deeper and more important one than that of friends.  [I'm sorry for getting rambley and theological here.  I thought this might help the OP think about why naming her kid Eden is in no way sacrilegious.  I hope no one gets offended by what I've said.]

Lola'sDogMom

I think of paradise when I think of Eden. This name is on our short list for a girl. As a Christian I think it's fine. Like pp said, it's not Satan.

Sweden+Canada

I too think of paradise when I think of Eden. I think your MIL is off on this one.

Then I don't like the name Eden for other reasons (it's nms at all) but not because of sin or whatever. So would your MIL not approve of the names Adam and Eve either - after all they were the sinners.

Matt&Windy

I like it too!  I think of a beautiful place...not sinning!

notkateanymore

fredalina:

So would your MIL have a problem with the name Eve?? Or Adam?? Because clearly they were the first sinners.

i think Eden is just fine.? NMS exactly, but not "sacriligious" in any way!

Ditto?

houndbaby

I think of it more of a place of  paradise than the origin of sin. I like the name.

mrs_tacos

I'm a christian, and my dad's a pastor. I've never heard this objection before- ever. If she's going to have that argument, then all place names are out because people sin there every day:)

starsmaycollide

I don't think your MIL's opinion should matter really, but I don't like the name Eden at all, and to me, I do sort of think of negatively- the same way I do with Delilah and Cain. I'm not say it's not silly to an extent that I feel that way, maybe it is....but that's just me.

?

powerbar

Some say the origin of sin is Adam.

But Eden is lovely for a name and it is always referenced as the Garden of Eden which is a beautiful.  Besides, even if you take the negative connotation (which she did), it does not matter.  Hence the new testiment and Christianity with the strive to rise above sin so turn the argument around on your MIL...

DMDavidson

fredalina:

So would your MIL have a problem with the name Eve?  Or Adam?  Because clearly they were the first sinners.

i think Eden is just fine.  NMS exactly, but not "sacriligious" in any way!

Agreed. And like a PP said - it's not like you're wanting to name the kid Satan! lol

squeakerabudhbabi

I'm a Christian, but most Christians probably wouldn't agree with me on my religious philosophy.  I just don't think that most Christians truly know anything about their history or why they believe what they believe.  Most Christians seem to get caught up in dogma - which is mostly complete crap.  Being a Christian means you follow Christ (who was the ultimate in compassion, mercy, and selflessness).  It has nothing to do with anything else.

I say all of that, because not liking the name Eden based on the fact that you're a Christian just seems like more of this dogmatic bull-crap!  (Sorry, but that's what I think!)  I mean, seriously?!  The garden of Eden was a beautiful place that those in the Judeo-Christian (and even some Muslims) tradition believe to be God's perfect plan for humanity.  It should evoke thoughts of beauty, paradise, and be a reminder that while man may have chosen "sin", God always planned for mankind to enjoy peace, harmony, and the abundance of all things good!

sunnyday016

squeakerabudhbabi:

 The garden of Eden was a beautiful place that those in the Judeo-Christian (and even some Muslims) tradition believe to be God's perfect plan for humanity.  It should evoke thoughts of beauty, paradise, and be a reminder that while man may have chosen "sin", God always planned for mankind to enjoy peace, harmony, and the abundance of all things good!

Exactly. Eden is where Adam and Eve enjoyed a perfect relationship with God (for awhile anyway). God made the world to be perfect and beautiful, and Eden is exactly that. I'm not really seeing anything wrong with the name! 

UrbanHippieMama

I love it!  If we didn't know a couple Eden's it would have been on our list for sure!

Clevelander

I like it! I think of it as God's original purpose for us.

lisa5201

I absolutely love, love, love the name,and would use it in a heartbeat....

That being said, once I proposed it to DH he said it sounded like; "Eatin' and God forbid she's chubby"

Sorry, don't want to ruin it for you, but that kinda put a damper on it for me?

clarabellmav

I went to a catholic school my entire life and the first thing I think of when hearing the name is Paradise. I think most people would

getnmarried910

I think it is very pretty.  I know a family who is using all E names.  One of their girls is Eden.  They are a Christian family, and I didn't think of "sin" when I heard it at all.  I just thought about how pretty it is.  Actually, I'm looking at my facebook and a friend from college who is also a Christian (we went to a Christian university) named her daughter that.  One is 5 I think and one is around a year old.  From a Christian stand point, I think it's fine.  I think it is very pretty.  Not as out there as my BFF's name-Thessalonika (yes, that is what her parents named her so we just call her Thess).  Not sure why they chose to use a K instead of a C like it is in the Bible though.

EmmaRain

I'm a Christian, and faith is a big part of my life. I think it's great that you're open to raising your kids in a Christian home. Here's my view of it...

Eden was a perfect place. When Adam and Eve chose to sin, they were cast out of the garden of Eden. Eden comes from a Hebrew word that means "place of pleasure, paradise." The name Edna is a derivative of it as well.

There are many names of people and places in the bible that might cause a negative reaction (Sodom, Gomorrah, Delilah, Jezebel, Lucifer, etc.), but Eden should definitely not be one them. The place that they chose to sin is completely irrelevant. I would think most Christians would have no problem at all with the name Eden. I know several Christian girls named Eve and several guys named Adam. If the names of the people who first chose to sin are not considered to be off limits to Christians, then why should the place of paradise that God created for them be off limits?

Good luck! Just choose a name you love and you can't go wrong.