Christian answering questions too!

[drfuzzy]

Incoming reply:

"The serpent didn't look like a snake until after god cursed it."

Generally, the "serpent" is taken by most Christians as a slur against Satan, in describing him by his nature instead of his physical appearance, not as a literal snake. Of course, the snake is a common theme in pre-Judaic religions of the region, so it's hardly surprising to us to find it in the Genesis tale, since so much else in Genesis appears to have been borrowed from the Sumerian myths.

Borrowed from earlier myths, sure.  And I have been told since I was a child that Satan possessed the snake in the garden and made it talk.
But if you go with that, then 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."  -- Well, god isn't talking to Satan, apparently.  And we know that snakes don't actually "eat" dust.   It IS apparently true that once upon a time, snakes had legs . . . but I'm pretty sure they didn't talk.  


Of course, I always shake my head at this point and remind myself that it's all a myth, created by men who needed some explanation of how we got here.  And they needed a beginning by a god that kept women as things for the use of man.  It was a useful tale.  Ignorant, but useful.