The Tree of Knowledge, The Fall of Man, and Who Was the Serpent in the Garden? Part 2
A deep dive into the creation story
The Tree of Knowledge, The Fall of Man, and Who Was the Serpent in the Garden? Part 2
A deep dive into the creation story
(This is a continuation from a previous article, please read part 1 if you haven’t.)
We’re also taught as Christians to believe that the serpent is the devil in this scenario, but interestingly there isn’t anything in the Bible to back up that claim, other than this entity going against god’s wishes. The only other reference to the devil being a serpent is in Revelations, so not even in the Jewish Bible at all, and there is one very loosely interpreted verse in Ezekiel about the King of Tyre, who Christians try to attribute to being the devil.
Christians also try to use this verse as part of the origin story of the devil’s fall, and the devil being in the garden. This is a perfect example of confirmation bias, however, and a story that Christians invented and then looked for “proof” of in the Bible.
The funny thing is the story of the serpent being the devil, and even the devil’s fall from heaven has been repeated so many times that most Christians seem to believe it’s actually in their holy book.
But both of the verses they use to create the devil’s fall from heaven story are derived from very loosely translated and allegorical verses, that are very likely not referring to this character at all…but I digress. I will however likely have to make a part two to my article about the devil.
The serpent character in Genesis, that gives the fruit to man, basically is bestowing a higher knowledge on a lesser being. Prior to eating the fruit the man and woman knew nothing of good or evil, right from wrong, and according to what Yahweh (god in Genesis) says when he cast man out, mankind had possibly gained more since they feared eating of the other tree would allow man to “become like us.”
Now let’s pose a question outside of religion, could this scenario be some allegory to whatever occurred during human evolution that caused our leap in mental capacity past other primates?
One theory that some scientists have even put forth was that the Tree of Knowledge may be symbolic of early man eating psilocybin mushrooms and that somehow this expanded our brains. Which, given some new research into psilocybin’s effects on the brain’s wiring, and essentially being able to help rewire it, could possibly be a valid theory.