Why did the Book of Genesis pick on the serpent?

This is an interesting question for Bible scholars, but it also has significance in our perception of the concept of sin. Basically, Genesis is an allegory (a symbolic metaphorical discourse that convey a truth) about how God created the world and then man and how man rebelled and God destroyed the world in a flood, saving Noah and his family and mating-pairs of animals. According to biblical scholars, Genesis has several authors. This is obvious because God creates man and woman in the first chapter and then creates woman out of Adam’s rib in the second chapter.

The part that’s interesting is when God instructs Adam and Eve not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge in the middle of the Garden of Eden. The serpent, which most people think of as a snake, tells Eve that she can be smart like God if she eats of the fruit. She eats it and offers it to Adam, and like a dummy he goes along with it and also eats it. Then, he realizes that he screwed up and hides. God comes into the garden and calls out to him. Adam replies that he is hiding because he’s naked. God asks him: “Who told you that you were naked?” ( an entire book has been written on this one question). God immediately accused Adam of disobeying His orders not to eat of the fruit. He tells God that the woman made him do it. God goes to Eve and confronts her. She tells God that the serpent made her do it. God immediately goes to the serpent and condemns the serpent to everlasting crawling on its belly and eating dirt. This is odd because a snake evolved from a reptile species that had legs. Snakes actually have vestigial legs that are not used except to mount a female. Was this the fate of the serpent for tempting Eve to eat of the fruit? I don’t think so. The snake evolved into what we see today in order to more efficiently catch prey. Snakes are the most efficient killers on the planet. They can sneak up on unsuspecting prey because they’re close to the ground and stealthy. They also have infrared sensors that can detect prey at night and they have very effective nerve toxins to immobilize their prey. If this was a curse it turned out to be a blessing.

I believe that the serpent was chosen because most people hated them. They made a good scapegoat for God’s wrath. The main thing about this Genesis story is that Adam and Eve acted like normal humans and blamed others for their sin of disobedience instead of admitting their own guilt.

The other interesting point is that Adam recognized that he was naked, or ashamed, after he ate of the fruit of knowledge. Before Adam and Eve ate of the fruit they were perfectly fine with being naked. Now, they were ashamed. This would be equivalent to the point where humans recognized that they could do wrong and become culpable. In other words, this is the beginning of the idea of sin.

However, if you look at this narrative carefully, you see that what Adam and Eve did was the result of human nature. In other words, it’s what most people would do under the circumstances. The serpent offered Eve a chance to be like God and she fell for it. How many of us have fallen for a scam that was too good to be true? Greed and pride make us do things we often regret. This is human nature. In order not to sin, one has to go against human nature. Theologians say what Adam and Eve did is Original Sin and all humans that followed them had this sin upon birth. I don’t like this because why should I be punished for what two idiots did way back when?

Seriously, I think this is the author’s way of telling us that we humans are basically evil and need to reform our ways or be immersed in chaos. Okay, I get it, but don’t put a label on it and make us guilty of a sin we didn’t commit. We commit enough sins on our own.

Okay, that’s a rant. Sorry about that.

Thanks for reading.