Is the Snake in the Genesis Story Satan or Desire/Free Wil?

[Elfdart]

It's silly to think the serpent was satan in disguise. It was merely a snake. Which could talk. And had legs appearantly.

Which is something I love... I DARE you to find me a painting done by some Christian Artist that shows the garden of Eden scene with a snake that HAS Legs. I have never seen a snake with legs, even though, according to the exact words of the bible, it Has them.

That doesn't really mean anything. After all, they do have skinks in the Middle East. Keep in mind, the Bible also considers whales to be fish.

[Liberty]

I used to be a fundie, and I came up with a very strange interpretation of this story.

Point 1: There was a talking snake in the Garden of Eden.
Point 2: Eve didn't appear to be surprised with this at all.
Conclusion: Animals could talk before the fall.

I kid you not, that's what I came up with at age seventeen or so, and I believed it. This gives some insight into the hubris of fundamentalists...

Fixed your spelling error, lover.

[Darth Hoth]

You know, that is exactly the same explanation the Jews themselves came up with. In the pseudepigrapha (or basically, various Jewish/Christian authors' Biblical fanfiction Inspired Scriptures working to fix the things they didn't like clear up misunderstandings in the Bible itself) there are several accounts of how and why the rest of the animals ceased speaking. (See, for example, Jubilees.)

[sirocco]

You know, that is exactly the same explanation the Jews themselves came up with. In the pseudepigrapha (or basically, various Jewish/Christian authors' Biblical fanfiction Inspired Scriptures working to fix the things they didn't like clear up misunderstandings in the Bible itself) there are several accounts of how and why the rest of the animals ceased speaking. (See, for example, Jubilees.)

Did they ceased to speak or did we cease to understand their speaking (like with the Tower of Babel) ?

[Darth Wong]

You know, that is exactly the same explanation the Jews themselves came up with. In the pseudepigrapha (or basically, various Jewish/Christian authors' Biblical fanfiction Inspired Scriptures working to fix the things they didn't like clear up misunderstandings in the Bible itself) there are several accounts of how and why the rest of the animals ceased speaking. (See, for example, Jubilees.)

Did they ceased to speak or did we cease to understand their speaking (like with the Tower of Babel) ?

Are you a believer? Because you make it sound as if it was actually possible that animals spoke at one time, despite their completely inadequate brains.

[FSTargetDrone]

Leaving aside the lack of intellectual capacity for speech in most non-human animals, they can't even imitate the sounds of human speech (with the exception of some birds and some dogs on YouTube, but that's another story). There is no way, outside of a fantasy setting, that any snake could possibly use speech. I hope that sirocco can appreciate that a snake doesn't even have the right physical structures for producing speech, and never did.

[Darth Wong]

Leaving aside the lack of intellectual capacity for speech in most non-human animals, they can't even imitate the sounds of human speech (with the exception of some birds and some dogs on YouTube, but that's another story). There is no way, outside of a fantasy setting, that any snake could possibly use speech. I hope that sirocco can appreciate that a snake doesn't even have the right physical structures for producing speech, and never did.

That reminds me: I've met people who seriously believed that all animals, including lions and tigers and sharks, were vegetarian before "the fall from grace" as described in the Book of Genesis. When asked to explain what the fuck those rows of razor-sharp teeth were for, one guy said they were for tearing at plants

[Junghalli]

That reminds me: I've met people who seriously believed that all animals, including lions and tigers and sharks, were vegetarian before "the fall from grace" as described in the Book of Genesis. When asked to explain what the fuck those rows of razor-sharp teeth were for, one guy said they were for tearing at plants

Just as a hypothetical exercise in fantasy-world building, I think it would make more sense for them to have been somehow both mentally and physically twisted in the Fall.

[Darth Hoth]

Did they ceased to speak or did we cease to understand their speaking (like with the Tower of Babel) ?

According to Jubilees 3, they simply fell silent; their "mouths were closed". Previously they had all been conversing in a single tongue (implicitly Hebrew).

That reminds me: I've met people who seriously believed that all animals, including lions and tigers and sharks, were vegetarian before "the fall from grace" as described in the Book of Genesis. When asked to explain what the fuck those rows of razor-sharp teeth were for, one guy said they were for tearing at plants

In the Book of Isaiah the prophet claims that in the paradise that is to come, all animals will be vegetarian. It probably comes from there.

[Korgeta]

That reminds me: I've met people who seriously believed that all animals, including lions and tigers and sharks, were vegetarian before "the fall from grace" as described in the Book of Genesis. When asked to explain what the fuck those rows of razor-sharp teeth were for, one guy said they were for tearing at plants

In the Book of Isaiah the prophet claims that in the paradise that is to come, all animals will be vegetarian. It probably comes from there.

In a sense, the guy was right in his own way, if he was a Jehovah wittness then he isn't contradicting his own belief or view.

Satan/Snake represented mainpulation then freewill, what adam and eve did by eating the fruit was not by their own acccord but by the snake. When you look at it there isn't much free will from abiding god or by the snake. Saying that the Lucifer comic series by Mike Carey depict Lucifer/Lightbringer/Satan explores heavily on free will and as someone trying to exercise or enforceit, if in a decitful way, bit like a snake.

[Alyrium Denryle]

Leaving aside the lack of intellectual capacity for speech in most non-human animals, they can't even imitate the sounds of human speech (with the exception of some birds and some dogs on YouTube, but that's another story). There is no way, outside of a fantasy setting, that any snake could possibly use speech. I hope that sirocco can appreciate that a snake doesn't even have the right physical structures for producing speech, and never did.

That reminds me: I've met people who seriously believed that all animals, including lions and tigers and sharks, were vegetarian before "the fall from grace" as described in the Book of Genesis. When asked to explain what the fuck those rows of razor-sharp teeth were for, one guy said they were for tearing at plants

The better question is how they ate plants from a physiological standpoint. Herbivory is actually kinda hard. Non-ruminant herbivores have to use caecum in their large intestines to harbor bacteria which break down cellulose and produce fatty acids that get absorbed through the walls of the intestine. This is not a very efficient process because the protein that is produced by the bacteria cannot be digested because it exists in the bacteria which never hit the stomach. Herbivors have loooong intestinal tracts for this exact reason. They need all the surface area they can get for hindgut fermentation. Carnivors have short large intestines.

A lion or any modern predator would be unable to get the nutrients they need to survive from plants. At best they can graze a bit and get some dietary fiber for cleaning the pipes.