I Would Like to Know Your Favorite Bible Verse

@helenS
Isn’t that a quote from the snake?

@Pfuzylogic Yes. My interpretation is that the snake stands for Greek philosophy.

@helenS
I understand it to be Satan in the “person” of a snake deceiving Eve.

@helenS Which didn't exist at that time...sorry.

@Abrienda @PfuzylogicThe story may be [u]based[/u] on an ancient legend, but it was brought into [u]final form[/u] by [i]priests[/i] at a time when [i]traditional judaism[/i] was opposed by "modern" Greek philosophy (=enlightenment).

It's a parable, and it's a warning.

"Do not listen to enlightened philosophy or else you will be banished from paradise."

@helenS
I think you have expanded a bit on that.
Are you a believer in the Word?

No I am sorry that is absolutely wrong. You need to study Judaic history better.

@Abrienda Early Greek philosophy (pre-Socratic) appeared around 600 BC.

@Pfuzylogic Just a bit...

@Abrienda
She is totally out of context.

@Pfuzylogic "Are you a believer in the Word?
— The Word contains many things. The paradise story, in my opinion, is part of the fight between traditional religious groups and "modern" (at the time) philosophy.
Philosophers [i]discuss[/i] what's good and what's evil. Plato says that, before we can tell good from evil, [u]we[/u] have to define the meaning of "good". Please note [u]we[/u] must decide, [u]not God[/u]. That's what the story refers to. That's what "Satan" stands for. Satan = independent thinking.

@helenS
You have added a lot to the Bible that does not belong. It is very safe to take the story literally.

@Pfuzylogic Thank you for expressing your opinion. To me the Word is [u]literature[/u], similar to the Iliad, for example. And, as literature, it is part of the thoughts and opinions and spiritual fights of the time when it was written.

@helenS
It was not written as merely literature but is life saving that need to reconcile with a Holy God. The need was so great that his Son was sacrificed to provide Testimony.

@helenS You are of course welcomed to your own opinion but I am afraid not your own facts. What you offer is simply not based on any scholarship secular or religious.

By the way are you positing the snake as the (or a) hero in the piece and what he offers as desirable?

@Abrienda The story Genesis 3 (as I see it) was written by priests, and is part of their fight against enlightenment (represented by early Greek philosophy, or non-religious philosophy in general). Their point is that independent thinking is inherently "evil", so it must come from Satan (= the snake). So - yes, the snake in the story is the anti-hero, from the point of view of the authors, and the snake, representing independent thinking, is my hero here indeed.

@helenS
It is rather simple.
When God gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai it was a literal historic document.

@helenS What a shiver that verse sends through the body...