Why garden and not whole world?

[brewer]

It's the only rationalization that makes them feel good.

Assuming that this is the cause would be the easiest answer, and would allow you to maintain a negative view of Christians without doing any further research. In that, it resembles the way bigots think.

The felix culpa also ties the Old Testament story into equally ancient traditions of katabasis literature. This is an important trope in myths in the Mesopotamian, Greek, and Roman worlds. In many cases, it symbolizes the need to leave one's place of origin and undergo hardship in order to mature fully. 

I don't know when it becomes common to see the Christian story in this light. Dante doesn't see things that way, though others may have before him. Milton certainly believes in it, and that made it an essential trope for poets after him, especially the Romantics.

Thanks for more rationalizations. I can do it also.............. it was preordained by god.

[The Grand Nudger]

The trouble, at least with respect to christian theology and any comparison to katabasis....is that in christian theology human beings -don't- fully mature, or mature at all through this hardship...are in fact incapable of such a thing.

[ignoramus]

I thought it was because gardens generally have much more "fertile" soil which made it much more conducive for story telling

[Aoi Magi]

It's simple, it makes more sense to put ones test samples in a petri dish rather than let it be spilt all over the lab!

[Drich]

Again my way... when God does both. in the garden he give man a soul which makes him responsible for his action concerning the will of God. in Adam's case do not eat the fruit of good and evil. even if he did not knoright from wrong he knew it would kill him/end his way of life.

Now if man from 6 six forward had this responsiblity then the whole world would have to risk temptation. once eaten the fruit made man responsible for his sin, which means we would need a savior alot sooner than christ.. think about the brutality of evolution and holding monkey ancestors to laws that mean nothing to them. no rather God gave this responsiblety to a single fully developed man and even he failed, but within a time that a savior could be born and his message be carried across the world.