Why is the Serpent punished for telling the truth

[Corvus]

Re: Why is the Serpent punished for telling the truth

If you see the Serpent as a metaphor, why not see the death part as a metaphor? When reading Genesis I assumed it was a metaphor since they obviously didn't die. What did die was their life in the garden, their innocence and safety. When they gained knowledge of good and evil from the tree they were no longer pure and so their innocence died. Knowledge of good and evil gives the potential for evil and thought over the concepts of good and evil. Where God is the universal good (supposedly) knowledge of good and evil allowed Adam and Eve to question the nature of God.

It's my opinion that the serpent did not lie. The serpent said to eat of the fruit was to become like god with the knowledge of right and wrong. However to do so is to invite suffering by knowing evil for what it is, which is symbolized by the suffering Adam and Eve endure after being ousted from Eden. To take a view which paints God is a more positive light, perhaps God wanted to avoid suffering in his creations because his own suffering stemmed from his knowledge.

It's also my opinion evil exists only when you understand something to be evil. For the human race evil could not exist until they knew of evil because they had no way to measure good or bad

[MaskedOne]

Re: Why is the Serpent punished for telling the truth

If he was profoundly concerned that they never eat of the Tree then he'd just have stuck a guardian on it. Since he did precisely that not all that long after, we know he's capable of it.

having the knowledge of good and evil would be good wouldn't it, seeing how they'd have a better chance of telling what is right and what is wrong?

For knowledge of good and evil to be useful,
1) Good and Evil need to exist.
2) The knowledge in question needs to be remotely accurate.
Are you positing that Good and Evil exist and that what Adam and Eve thought to be evil after eating of the Tree was evil?

It also shows Yahweh is not omniscient, otherwise he wouldn't ask Adam if he ate the tree and also it shows he's not omnipresent seeing how he would have been there and know Adam and Eve at from the tree.

You've never had occasion to ask a question you know the answer to? Really?
It's occasionally nice to know whether someone is going to own up to their actions or try and lie to your face.

I'm ignoring the question of omnipotence since it's irrelevant to the story of Genesis.

[Alienist]

Re: Why is the Serpent punished for telling the truth

But it doesn't deny the fact that Yahweh clearly lied saying they'd die if they ate it and the only reason he said that was to hope Adam and Even wouldn't eat it. Any knowledge isn't bad and having the knowledge of good and evil would be good wouldn't it, seeing how they'd have a better chance of telling what is right and what is wrong? It also shows Yahweh is not omniscient, otherwise he wouldn't ask Adam if he ate the tree and also it shows he's not omnipresent seeing how he would have been there and know Adam and Eve at from the tree. He of course is also not omnipotent as he asks for things to be built, desires worshippers, has people assemble armies and so forth.

[MaskedOne]

Re: Why is the Serpent punished for telling the truth

Just because I've seen this line of thought often enough to get bored of it:

The knowledge provided by the Tree manifested in shame at being nude before the LoH. The LoH had not to date expressed so much as a hint that nudity was displeasing but eating from the Tree told Adam and Eve that it was wrong. If we're going to re-interpret Genesis then it's just as easy to say they were told not to eat from the tree because it offered deception and the appearance of knowledge instead of actual Truth. Under those conditions, condemning the being that led them down such a false path is arguably (depends on who and what the Serpent was) appropriate.

Heck let's go further than that, the majority of people that I've seen on this board tend to look at Evil as a societal construct instead of an objective reality. If Good and Evil are not objective realities then eating the fruit imposed a specific (and at the time, unnecessary) societal construct on Adam and Eve without providing a mature understanding of that construct and this is a good thing?

Adam and Eve were already capable of reason, the Serpent used reason to convince them to eat of the Tree.
Adam and Ever already had Free Will or they would not have been capable of defying a divine command to begin with.
The Tree gave a morality that was not necessary for their environment and involved a sense of shame about their bodies that is destructive now according to recent posts by people on this board.

Where's the profit here again?

Without mentioning the actual reaction of the LoH, this matter is at best a gray area regarding the Serpent's advice. At worst, he talked Eve into eating figurative poison.

[Ophidia]

Re: Why is the Serpent punished for telling the truth

It also depends on the version of the Bible you read as to the nature of the serpent... the knowledge gained/innocence lost... and God.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Why is the Serpent punished for telling the truth

Isn't it obvious?

Whose book is it in?

[Alienist]

Some have depicted the Serpent as Satan and others as the Sumerian god Enki. I haven't a clue on what the Serpent is or why it's the only animal that talks, which makes me think the whole Serpent thing is a metaphor, but Yaweh specifically said that if Adam and Even ate the fruit they would die and the Serpent said "That's bogus. You won't die, you'll become like God." They did the fruit and neither of them died. Adam and Eve ate the fruit and they had the knowledge of good and evil. Yahweh figured this out and placed a flaming sword around the Tree of Life and banished Adam and Eve and said that humans have become like god and guarded the Tree of Life from preventing them from living forever. So why is Yaweh praised for lying, saying they'd die if they ate the fruit which wasn't true, and banishing two humans for becoming like god (Guess God isn't omnipotent, otherwise he wouldn't be so worried about them becoming like God) while the Serpent is demonized for telling the truth and liberating humanity by giving them the knowledge of good and evil though?