Do Creationists Believe in Talking Snakes?

[Dale]

In Genesis 3, a serpent, or snake, talks with Eve. In Genesis 3:14-15, God says that the serpent will lose its legs. God doesn’t say that the serpent will no longer be able to talk or no longer have the intelligence to talk. We know there are no talking snakes today. Snakes do not have the vocal cords for speech, or any brain that could carry on a conversation.

All of this fits with the creation story in Genesis 2-3 being a parable for our instruction. It is not history. It doesn’t take place in the real world. The talking snake is a literary device.

For creationists, God did not take the serpent’s voice away, or say that it would lose intelligence to become a dumb animal. If there were talking snakes only six thousand years ago, when many creationists believe the world was created, there should be talking snakes today. How do creationists explain this?

Many creationists have been taught that Eve was tempted by Satan. They have been taught to substitute “Satan” for “snake” or serpent. Yet Genesis says nothing about Satan being in the Garden of Eden. This could be one reason creationists don’t ask when snakes lost their voices, they think of the snake as a manifestation of Satan. Yet Genesis says no such thing. God talks about the serpent as a real animal when it says it will “crawl on its belly,” or lose its legs.

If God didn’t take away the snake’s voice or its intelligence at the Expulsion from Eden, why don’t snakes talk today? It’s something for creationists to think about.



The King James Version does mention devils more often than most modern translation. Even so, the first mention of Satan in the KJV is in I Chronicles.


And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
I Chronicles 21:1 KJV

The first mention of devil or devils in the KJV is in Leviticus.

And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after
whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them
throughout their generations. Leviticus 17:7 KJV

There is no mention of Devil or Satan in Eden, or in any other part of Genesis.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

I guess Numbers 22 is also just a myth to you then?

"When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown." - Numbers 22:27-31

You either believe God's word or you don't. Cherry-picking from the Bible is very questionable.

 

[Sketcher]

I'm happily on the fence about how Genesis 1-3 is to be interpreted, but a literal interpretation doesn't require believing in any more talking snakes than just one of them.

 

[Mark Quayle]

In Genesis 3, a serpent, or snake, talks with Eve. In Genesis 3:14-15, God says that the serpent will lose its legs. God doesn’t say that the serpent will no longer be able to talk or no longer have the intelligence to talk. We know there are no talking snakes today. Snakes do not have the vocal cords for speech, or any brain that could carry on a conversation.

All of this fits with the creation story in Genesis 2-3 being a parable for our instruction. It is not history. It doesn’t take place in the real world. The talking snake is a literary device.

For creationists, God did not take the serpent’s voice away, or say that it would lose intelligence to become a dumb animal. If there were talking snakes only six thousand years ago, when many creationists believe the world was created, there should be talking snakes today. How do creationists explain this?

Many creationists have been taught that Eve was tempted by Satan. They have been taught to substitute “Satan” for “snake” or serpent. Yet Genesis says nothing about Satan being in the Garden of Eden. This could be one reason creationists don’t ask when snakes lost their voices, they think of the snake as a manifestation of Satan. Yet Genesis says no such thing. God talks about the serpent as a real animal when it says it will “crawl on its belly,” or lose its legs.

If God didn’t take away the snake’s voice or its intelligence at the Expulsion from Eden, why don’t snakes talk today? It’s something for creationists to think about.



The King James Version does mention devils more often than most modern translation. Even so, the first mention of Satan in the KJV is in I Chronicles.


And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
I Chronicles 21:1 KJV

The first mention of devil or devils in the KJV is in Leviticus.

And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after
whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them
throughout their generations. Leviticus 17:7 KJV

There is no mention of Devil or Satan in Eden, or in any other part of Genesis.

Your opening thesis sounds a lot like Atheists who mock the Bible by bringing up plural talking snakes and talking donkeys. I only remember one of each in the Bible. The donkey was given a voice for a purpose; my guess is that the serpent was not something we are familiar with nowadays. Quite possibly even a physical manifestation of the Devil himself.

What is interesting to me is the notion that if God indeed is real and created everything, how is any of this not literally possible for him to do --he who is the very 'inventor' of reality.

 

[Dale]

I guess Numbers 22 is also just a myth to you then?

"When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff. Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?”
Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”
The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
“No,” he said.
Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown." - Numbers 22:27-31

You either believe God's word or you don't. Cherry-picking from the Bible is very questionable.

Have you ever heard a sermon preached on Numbers 22? I don't remember hearing one.

 

[Mark Quayle]

Have you ever heard a sermon preached on Numbers 22? I don't remember hearing one.

Certainly have. Very good, too. More than once.

 

[Dale]

Your opening thesis sounds a lot like Atheists who mock the Bible by bringing up plural talking snakes and talking donkeys. I only remember one of each in the Bible. The donkey was given a voice for a purpose; my guess is that the serpent was not something we are familiar with nowadays. Quite possibly even a physical manifestation of the Devil himself.

What is interesting to me is the notion that if God indeed is real and created, how is any of this not literally possible for him to do --he who is the very 'inventor' of reality.

Mark Quayle: “Quite possibly even a physical manifestation of the Devil himself.”

Then why does God punish snakes by causing them to lose their legs? God goes on to say that people will crush the heads of snakes for all time to come.

As I pointed out in the OP, there is no mention of the Devil in Genesis, so you are adding to the Bible when you say that the snake is a manifestation of the Devil.


Mark Quayle: “What is interesting to me is the notion that if God indeed is real and created, how is any of this not literally possible for him to do --he who is the very 'inventor' of reality.”

This is one of the problems I have with creationists. Creationists think it is perfectly reasonable that the day before written history began, the world was operating on laws completely unlike anything that has ever been seen since then. Creationists don’t expect the world to make sense. That can’t be right.

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello Dale, that the serpent in the Garden of God was Satan is confirmed for us several times in the NT (as was his speaking, both to our first parents in the Garden, and then to rest of us, even today). In fact, what he did to our progenitors in the Garden worked so well that he still uses the same pattern of deception against all of us, their progeny, today (doubt>deny>disobey).

Here are some of the NT verses/passages that I was referring to above (from the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles Paul and John).

John 8
44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 11
3 I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Revelation 12
9 The great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
​

--David

 

[Mark Quayle]

Mark Quayle: “Quite possibly even a physical manifestation of the Devil himself.”

Then why does God punish snakes by causing them to lose their legs? God goes on to say that people will crush the heads of snakes for all time to come.

As I pointed out in the OP, there is no mention of the Devil in Genesis, so you are adding to the Bible when you say that the snake is a manifestation of the Devil.

It doesn't say he punished snakes --it says he cursed the one serpent. It doesn't say who the serpent was, but it does call the Devil "the dragon" and "that old serpent" elsewhere in Scripture. Therefore, it could well be that the serpent that tempted Eve was indeed a manifestation of the Devil. Also notice, I did not say it was a manifestation of the Devil. I said it could "possibly" be. You are adding to my words, making something of them I did not say.

Mark Quayle: “What is interesting to me is the notion that if God indeed is real and created, how is any of this not literally possible for him to do --he who is the very 'inventor' of reality.”

This is one of the problems I have with creationists. Creationists think it is perfectly reasonable that the day before written history began, the world was operating on laws completely unlike anything that has ever been seen since then. Creationists don’t expect the world to make sense. That can’t be right.

I don't recall saying anything about the day before, nor making any assumption that would lead anyone to think I meant that anything operated "on different laws" the day before. All I said was that those who say it can't possibly be true that a donkey and a snake talked are making a category error. They fail to recognize that if God does exist he can make both of those things happen. Therefore, the mention of both those in Scripture does not negate Scripture, nor the existence of God.

 

[Gottservant]

I heard a talking cat, once.

 

[Tolworth John]

Yes there are many unbelievable events found throughout the bible ranging from the talking snake, through burning bushes, floating axe heads, sun going backwards, the dead being raised to the unimaginable God becoming man and dieing to pay the penalty for sin.

Please say how one determine which events are true and which are parables , ( mad up stories )?

 

[Gottservant]

Yes there are many unbelievable events found throughout the bible ranging from the talking snake, through burning bushes, floating axe heads, sun going backwards, the dead being raised to the unimaginable God becoming man and dieing to pay the penalty for sin.

Please say how one determine which events are true and which are parables , ( mad up stories )?

God will never abuse suspension of disbelief, to make a point the Holy Spirit cannot echo.

If the Holy Spirit can echo everything God does, there is no reason to fear sin.

The more mysterious belief in God becomes, the readier you are to embrace the miracles that are still to come.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

Have you ever heard a sermon preached on Numbers 22? I don't remember hearing one.

You want to determine which parts of the Bible are true and which are not by how many sermons are preached about it? Ridiculous.
How about actually believing the God who created snakes and donkeys, and you? If God can make you talk, why not snakes as well. God could make a snake fly through the air if He wanted.

 

[NomNomPizza]

In Genesis 3, a serpent, or snake, talks with Eve. In Genesis 3:14-15, God says that the serpent will lose its legs. God doesn’t say that the serpent will no longer be able to talk or no longer have the intelligence to talk. We know there are no talking snakes today. Snakes do not have the vocal cords for speech, or any brain that could carry on a conversation.

All of this fits with the creation story in Genesis 2-3 being a parable for our instruction. It is not history. It doesn’t take place in the real world. The talking snake is a literary device.

For creationists, God did not take the serpent’s voice away, or say that it would lose intelligence to become a dumb animal. If there were talking snakes only six thousand years ago, when many creationists believe the world was created, there should be talking snakes today. How do creationists explain this?

Many creationists have been taught that Eve was tempted by Satan. They have been taught to substitute “Satan” for “snake” or serpent. Yet Genesis says nothing about Satan being in the Garden of Eden. This could be one reason creationists don’t ask when snakes lost their voices, they think of the snake as a manifestation of Satan. Yet Genesis says no such thing. God talks about the serpent as a real animal when it says it will “crawl on its belly,” or lose its legs.

If God didn’t take away the snake’s voice or its intelligence at the Expulsion from Eden, why don’t snakes talk today? It’s something for creationists to think about.



The King James Version does mention devils more often than most modern translation. Even so, the first mention of Satan in the KJV is in I Chronicles.


And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.
I Chronicles 21:1 KJV

The first mention of devil or devils in the KJV is in Leviticus.

And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after
whom they have gone a whoring. This shall be a statute for ever unto them
throughout their generations. Leviticus 17:7 KJV

There is no mention of Devil or Satan in Eden, or in any other part of Genesis.

ye because it's not snake its shinning one in Eden so basically lucifer prior to losing his covering.

 

[Dale]

Hello Dale, that the serpent in the Garden of God was Satan is confirmed for us several times in the NT (as was his speaking, both to our first parents in the Garden, and then to rest of us, even today). In fact, what he did to our progenitors in the Garden worked so well that he still uses the same pattern of deception against all of us, their progeny, today (doubt>deny>disobey).

Here are some of the NT verses/passages that I was referring to above (from the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles Paul and John).

John 8
44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 11
3 I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Revelation 12
9 The great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
​

--David

St. Worm,

Hello, since I don’t think I’ve met you on CF before.

I notice that you don’t try to answer the question posed in the OP. If the garden of Eden was a physical place, and there were talking snakes, and God didn’t take away the ability of snakes to speak why aren’t there talking snakes today. Obviously we have no talking snakes.

I don’t believe that the verses you cite tell us anything about the Garden of Eden in Genesis. First you quote John 8, where Jesus is arguing with the Pharisees. The passage says nothing about the Garden of Eden. Then you quote II Corinthians 11, which says “the serpent deceived Eve.” It doesn’t say that the serpent is Satan, that is an assumption which has been inserted. It seems to contradict the clear statement in Genesis 3, that the serpent is an animal.

Revelation 12 does identify Satan with dragon and serpent but still says nothing about the Garden of Eden.

 

[Dale]

Your opening thesis sounds a lot like Atheists who mock the Bible by bringing up plural talking snakes and talking donkeys. I only remember one of each in the Bible. The donkey was given a voice for a purpose; my guess is that the serpent was not something we are familiar with nowadays. Quite possibly even a physical manifestation of the Devil himself.

What is interesting to me is the notion that if God indeed is real and created, how is any of this not literally possible for him to do --he who is the very 'inventor' of reality.

Mark Quayle: “Your opening thesis sounds a lot like Atheists who mock the Bible by bringing up plural talking snakes and talking donkeys.”



I’m not the one who brought up talking donkeys. You did.

I once disagreed with someone about tithing and he told me that I sound like an atheist. I don’t know if that is a tactic to induce conformity or what but it’s not sensible.

 

[Dale]

Your opening thesis sounds a lot like Atheists who mock the Bible by bringing up plural talking snakes and talking donkeys. I only remember one of each in the Bible. The donkey was given a voice for a purpose; my guess is that the serpent was not something we are familiar with nowadays. Quite possibly even a physical manifestation of the Devil himself.

What is interesting to me is the notion that if God indeed is real and created, how is any of this not literally possible for him to do --he who is the very 'inventor' of reality.

Hello Dale, that the serpent in the Garden of God was Satan is confirmed for us several times in the NT (as was his speaking, both to our first parents in the Garden, and then to rest of us, even today). In fact, what he did to our progenitors in the Garden worked so well that he still uses the same pattern of deception against all of us, their progeny, today (doubt>deny>disobey).

Here are some of the NT verses/passages that I was referring to above (from the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles Paul and John).

John 8
44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

2 Corinthians 11
3 I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Revelation 12
9 The great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
​

--David

ye because it's not snake its shinning one in Eden so basically lucifer prior to losing his covering.

Zondervan Bible Commentary, Old Testament, 1994 For Genesis 3:1.


“The author discloses an important clue about the snake: he was more ‘crafty’ than any of the creatures. This word is not primarily a negative term but suggests wisdom and adroitness.”

“Thus even the serpent is represented as a paragon of wisdom, an archetypal wise man. However, the serpent and his wisdom lead ultimately to the curse (v. 14). It should not be overlooked that the serpent is said to be one of the ‘wild animals’ that God made. It was not a supernatural being.”


The Zondervan Commentary tells us that the serpent was an animal, a wild animal, and not a demon.

 

[Friedrich Rubinstein]

Mark Quayle: “Your opening thesis sounds a lot like Atheists who mock the Bible by bringing up plural talking snakes and talking donkeys.”



I’m not the one who brought up talking donkeys. You did.

I once disagreed with someone about tithing and he told me that I sound like an atheist. I don’t know if that is a tactic to induce conformity or what but it’s not sensible.

It was actually me who brought up the talking donkey.
The thing about believers is that they say "I believe". You say "I don't believe", so it shouldn't surprise you that you sound more like an unbeliever.

The fact that there was a talking snake in the Garden of Eden is no issue for creationists at all. The Bible is full of accounts of miracles. We also don't expect talking donkeys today just because one donkey talked in Biblical times, eh?

 

[Mark Quayle]

I’m not the one who brought up talking donkeys. You did.

You brought up talking snakes, (plural). I never said you brought up donkeys. I said you used the plural, the way atheists do to mock, pluralizing both one-time events. I didn't even say you were mocking but that you sounded like them.

I once disagreed with someone about tithing and he told me that I sound like an atheist. I don’t know if that is a tactic to induce conformity or what but it’s not sensible.

Then my apologies. I do hate bullying, and hate it when I see it in myself. It is lazy, and worse. It is the biggest reason why I hate political correctness, and I have seen a form of it used by Christians used to keep other Christians, particularly children and new believers, in line.

Again, I am sorry.

 

[NomNomPizza]

Zondervan Bible Commentary, Old Testament, 1994 For Genesis 3:1.


“The author discloses an important clue about the snake: he was more ‘crafty’ than any of the creatures. This word is not primarily a negative term but suggests wisdom and adroitness.”

“Thus even the serpent is represented as a paragon of wisdom, an archetypal wise man. However, the serpent and his wisdom lead ultimately to the curse (v. 14). It should not be overlooked that the serpent is said to be one of the ‘wild animals’ that God made. It was not a supernatural being.”


The Zondervan Commentary tells us that the serpent was an animal, a wild animal, and not a demon.

I don't put any value in any of commentaries idk why u quote them as some sort of authority when there is thousands of them disagreeing with each other most of time.

It's mistranslations it's shinning one not snake from hebrew.
Ezekiel 28:13-19

Besides the mistranslation probably happend because cherubim have 4 heads with animal faces so any of the combination of :snake , ox , eagle , man or lion