{"id":153425,"date":"2022-08-12T09:30:37","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T13:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-was-the-snake-before-eden\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T14:59:55","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T18:59:55","slug":"ask-a-priest-what-was-the-snake-before-eden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-was-the-snake-before-eden\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: What Was the Snake Before Eden?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I have a question about the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis. Could humans communicate with all animals in the garden, or is the snake a metaphor? Why is there this one talking animal in the whole of the Bible? Also, I know it talks about God\u2019s having cursed the snake so that it had to slither and eat dirt. So, what was the snake before it was a snake? \u2013 Anna<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A: For the record, there is a talking donkey in the passage beginning at Numbers 22:21.<\/p>\n

The Genesis story need not be read in a literalist way. It is trying to convey deep lessons about what went wrong at the start of human history that accounts for evil in the world.<\/p>\n

Talking animals were a standard device in ancient stories (think Aesop’s Fables<\/em>). Even in our day there are cartoons which use talking animals to convey political and moral lessons.<\/p>\n

The same thing is happening in Genesis: The writer is relying somewhat on a literary device to transmit an important message.<\/p>\n

We need not try to figure out every specific detail. The writer doesn\u2019t mean to imply that snakes had legs before the Fall. Rather, this story in Genesis is, in part, a way for the ancients to explain why (widely feared) snakes are relegated to slithering while most other creatures get to walk or fly.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE<\/a>,\u00a0and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153425\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153425"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}