You've given your answer. You don't consider The Garden of Eden to be a separate period of time.
Personally, I think there was a clear beginning and ending mentioned in the Bible itself.
I really don't see how we can continue discussing the Bible together.
You seem to be using a method of analysis and interpretation other than the evidence presented by the text.
It's been interesting discussing with you.
Correct, given my interpretation of the question.
Personally, I think there was a clear beginning and ending mentioned in the Bible itself.
There is a clear beginning and ending to many things in the Bible. There was a beginning and ending to the life of Abraham. There was a beginning and ending to the exile of Israel in Egypt. There was a beginning and ending to the wanderings in Sinai. There was a beginning and ending to the time of the Judges. There was a beginning and ending to Babylonian exile. There was a beginning and ending to the time of the minor prophets.
Perhaps I’m missing something by your use of the phrase "separate period of time". Are you speaking of something like an era or age? Like the Middle Ages? Or the Victorian Era?
There is a sense in which the Victorian Era is different from our own, but that does not make it a "separate period of time".
The point you are trying to make is very cloudy, perhaps because you lack biblical support.
I really don't see how we can continue discussing the Bible together.
We were discussing the theories of dispensationalism, which on this subject have little to do with the Bible. E.g., can you show me from the Bible where seven dispensations are delinieated using Bible principles as opposed to the theories of Darby and Scofield?
You seem to be using a method of analysis and interpretation other than the evidence presented by the text.
Hardly.
It's been interesting discussing with you.
What discussion? We never really got there because you were just looking for me to fall into a trap.
But here’s a proposal. Let’s take up the proposition: Dispensationalists use the word "dispensation" in the same way the Bible uses the term.