Eden: Pleasure and Delight at the Core of the Bible

The Bible, when read with Neville Goddard’s understanding, becomes something astonishingly alive. It is no longer a book of laws and prohibitions, nor a record of historical events, but a manual for awakening to the power of assumption—your imagination, and rediscovering the joy of living from fulfilment. Through this lens, we find that pleasure is not the enemy of God, but His very signature. The whole of Scripture, from Eden to Revelation reveals a single truth: assumption is the divine act, and pleasure is its fruit.

Eden: The First Picture of Assumptive Delight

The Bible begins with a garden called Eden. The Hebrew word עֵדֶן means “delight” or “pleasure.” That’s the foundation. Humanity wasn’t placed into a wilderness to toil and strive—it was placed in a setting of beauty, abundance, and joy. Genesis says God “planted a garden eastward in Eden,” and placed man there to enjoy it.

This image isn’t about an ancient lost paradise. As Neville taught, Eden is within. It is the original state of consciousness: the moment we assume the feeling of a fulfilled desire, we are once again in Eden. When you imagine and feel that something is already yours, you are operating from the same principle by which the garden was planted.

Jesus and the Return to Inner Joy

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus doesn’t teach self-denial for its own sake. He says, “Ask and it will be given to you… that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). This is the formula: Ask, Believe, Receive. It isn’t about suffering for virtue’s sake, but about entering a state of inner knowing where the desired thing is already yours. The reason joy is “full” in this state is because joy itself is a sign that the assumption has been accepted.

Neville was clear that faith is not begging or waiting. It is assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled—and feeling the delight of it.

Cain and Abel: Duty Versus Delight

One of the most revealing early stories is that of Cain and Abel. Both make offerings, but only Abel’s is accepted. Why? Abel offers “the fat” from his flock—the best, the most delightful portion. Cain offers “the fruit of the ground”—the result of his own toil. But his offering brings him no joy, and when it isn’t accepted, he becomes angry and downcast. God says to him, “If you do well, will you not be honoured?” But Cain doesn’t understand. He thinks effort is enough. What God desires is not labour, but delight. This isn’t about sacrifice—it’s about the spirit in which something is given. Do you offer from joy, or from obligation?

Neville interpreted sin as “missing the mark”—failing to assume the end joyfully. The story of Cain and Abel is not about two brothers, but two states of consciousness: one rooted in assumption, the other in effort.

The Psalms and Prophets: A River of Pleasures

The Bible is saturated with imagery of pleasure as a divine state. Psalm 36 speaks of drinking from “the river of your pleasures.” Isaiah promises that the desolate soul will be made “like Eden,” filled with joy and music.

This isn’t poetic fluff. These are psychological truths. When you align yourself with what you desire through imagination, the experience is one of internal joy. The river of God’s pleasure flows through your own acceptance.

The Song of Songs: A Sensual Scripture?

Many have been puzzled by the intense sensuality of the Song of Solomon. Gardens, perfumes, kisses—it seems more like romantic poetry than spiritual teaching. But Neville saw the sensual as symbolic. The Song celebrates the union of the soul and its assumption. The pleasure isn’t carnal; it’s creative. It is the garden restored—not by effort, but by love and delight.

"I AM my beloved's, and my beloved is mine." — Song of Solomon 6:3

Revelation: Paradise Restored

In the final pages of the Bible, we return to Paradise. “To him that overcomes I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). The Garden, the Tree, the joy—they’re all there again. This isn’t a reward in the afterlife. It’s a description of the state of consciousness when the assumption is fixed and joy is full.

Jesus tells the thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Not someday. Not after penance. Today—because he believed, and in that belief, was transported.

The Joy of Assumption: A Sacred Act

If Eden is pleasure, and Jesus teaches joy through belief, then it becomes clear: divine pleasure is not indulgent. It is the natural consequence of imagining rightly. The Bible is not asking us to avoid pleasure, but to find it in the right place—in consciousness.

To assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled is to return to Eden. And when you feel joy in that assumption, it is not a trick of the mind. It is a sign that you are aligned with God.