Even Better Than Eden by Nancy Guthrie
Week 10: Chapter 9 — The City
Read Chapter 9 of Even Better than Eden. Primary passages: Genesis 4:17; Hebrews 11:10, 13–16; 12:22; 13:14; Revelation 21:1–27.
Previewing Week 10 of Even Better Than Eden
Read 3 of 8 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 12-week guide when you’re ready.
The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city — and Guthrie argues this is not a jarring shift but a glorious culmination of everything God has been building toward throughout history.
Discussion Questions
8 questions1.The first city in the Bible is built by Cain after he murders his brother — a city that seems to be a monument to human autonomy and self-sufficiency (Genesis 4:17). How does that dark origin shape the way you think about cities and human civilization? How does Guthrie's argument complicate or redeem that instinct?
2.Hebrews 11 describes the patriarchs — Abraham, Isaac, Jacob — as 'strangers and exiles' who were looking forward to a city 'whose designer and builder is God' (v. 10). What does it mean for us to have that same pilgrim posture? Where do you feel the tension most acutely between 'this world is not my home' and 'love your neighbor in this world'?
3.Hebrews 12:22 says believers have 'come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.' This is a present-tense statement. In what sense have we already arrived at the city? How does this 'already' dimension of the new Jerusalem affect how you think about the church?
a.How does gathering for worship on Sunday function as a kind of visit to the city?
b.What would it look like to live every day with that awareness?