Did God create the serpent in the Garden of Eden?
score:14
Unequivocally YES.
One does not need to delve into the garden account or unravel whether it was a talking snake or a manifestation of Satan or any of that in order to say for certain that God created it. Everything outside the person of God himself was created by him. This includes every physical object and creature in the universe, the universe itself, angels, and any other spiritual beings that exist. If it exists and is not God, God created it.
if ( THING && THING !== GOD ) { Assert(THING.creator == GOD) }
Colossians 1:16 (ESV)
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
So did God make the snake? Yes he did.
Why would he create something that would contend with himself?
Remember that Satan himself is nothing but a fallen angel, originally created by God but as an angel of light. It is in this sense that Martin Luther is quoted as having said:
Satan is God's satan.
I think this is a good reminder not to give credit for any power or authority he does not have. Nothing he is or does is done outside the sphere of God's sovereignty and in due time God will reign him in and show his works for the lies that they are.
Why God would create some being and give it free will (man) or the power/choice to rebel against him (angels) is an intricate topic. Perhaps he knew the best way to demonstrate his authority and power was to have some stage on which it could be demonstrated. Perhaps because having creatures that serve you as robots that have no other option does not satisfy an intrinsic need to be honored.
See also: Does God need our praise and glory?
Upvote:0
As the creator of all things, God must have created the snake unless the story of the Garden of Eden was an allegory or a myth, in which case the snake was an intellectual creation of man. In support of the second view, I would cite Leon R. Kass, who says in The Beginning of Wisdom, page 58, that we can learn most from the story of the Garden of Eden by regarding it as a mythical yet realistic portrait of permanent truths about our humanity, rather than as a historical yet idealised portrait of a blissful existence we once enjoyed but lost.
It seems the story of temptation can only be explained in one of three ways: a talking snake, Satan disguised as a snake, or the whole story was a creation of man. Snakes are physically and intellectually incapable of speech, yet the biblical serpent was certainly not Satan. The serpent might have been able to deceive Eve, but could Satan deceive God, who punished all future snakes for this sin?
Genesis 3:14: "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."
Upvote:5
As with a lot of things in the early chapters, Genesis isn't very clear on the details. It doesn't even specifically say that Satan had anything to do with it, but that's generally accepted as true, that Satan was working through the serpent in some way. But we do see that:
- The serpent tempted Eve, and she partook of the fruit.
- Eve didn't see anything particularly strange about a serpent talking to her.
- God cursed the serpent for its participation in the event.
Remember that Satan was Lucifer, a great and powerful angel who was cast out of heaven for rebellion, and has been trying to get God back for it ever since by screwing up His plan. It stands to reason that if Satan was able to tempt people, he would also be able to tempt animals that can communicate with people. He picked the serpent for being "the most subtle." Why? it doesn't say. Maybe he simply wanted to get every advantage he could to make sure that his first attempt to derail God's plan worked. In any event, he picked the most subtle of the animals and convinced it to tempt the humans into eating the forbidden fruit, and it worked.
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