How could I possibly believe the Bible when it speaks of a talking serpent ? I'll attempt to explain why I take the account literally.

" Now the serpent was more crafty than every other animal of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Did God really say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

And the woman said to the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.

And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die! But God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:1-5)

Originally posted by @sonship
How could I possibly believe the Bible when it speaks of a talking serpent ? I'll attempt to explain why I take the account literally.

[b]" Now the serpent was more crafty than every other animal of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said to the woman, Did God really say, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

And the w ...[text shortened]... l be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:1-5)

[/b]

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
I'll resist the obvious rebuttal of the talking snake as 'just plain silly' and make the more interesting contrast with Numbers 22:

"Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish ...[text shortened]... aam's donkey speaking truth, as opposed to the talking snake speaking words intended to deceive.

Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-duke
I'll resist the obvious rebuttal of the talking snake as 'just plain silly' and make the more interesting contrast with Numbers 22:

"Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a fool of me. I wish ...[text shortened]... aam's donkey speaking truth, as opposed to the talking snake speaking words intended to deceive.

I'll resist the obvious rebuttal of the talking snake as 'just plain silly' and make the more interesting contrast with Numbers 22:

So we have a talking serpent. How could this be??

Everyone knows that an animal is not suppose to speak in human language.

But perhaps this is a point that God wants us to notice:

Something is occurring which should NOT be occurring.
But even more serious - Somethings is being said which should NOT be being said.

The astounding irregularity of what a TALKING SNAKE is accompanied with something even more out of place -
The questioning of God's word,
the questioning of God's motive,
the suggesting of taking another way besides God's way.

God has a job to do. He has a job of communicating with human beings that something CONTRARY to what should be proper, normal, the plan as it would be from God's heart, has occurred.

God has this communication to convey to human being of many, many cultures down through many, many changing societies of varied levels of technical ability and knowledge. And He has to communicate the same thing to ALL of them.

He allowed things to happen is such a way that they carry the same effect on human minds regardless of the passing epochs of human history.

We all know that a beast is not suppose to talk.
But WHAT is being said is as out of place as HOW it is being said. That injected thought that God has something bad in His heart towards His creature human beings - that is equally astounding. That God would not tell the truth? That is more astounding.

"And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die!"

Before I continue I'd like to let people know that as a kid I loved snakes. Whenever I went to the zoo I would spend the most time at the reptile house. I loved snakes.

I hunted snakes and caught them for pets (if they were suitable). I also purchased a king snake through the mail. You could do that many years ago. They'd send you a snake of your choice in a box with holes in it so that it could breath.

I loved that king snake. But he was an escape artist and no cage I built could keep him. He finally got away, to my heartbreak.

Hey! The Bible says God raised Jesus from the dead. If that's true, then the rest is easy.

God created the universe from nothing, including the space it occupies. Making a talking snake and a donkey is no big deal.

Originally posted by @sonship
In both cases the humans seem not to be surprised that the creature is speaking. The woman seems to take it as run of the mill and Balaam seemed not shocked either.
Any thought on that?

Originally posted by @secondson
Hey! The Bible says God raised Jesus from the dead. If that's true, then the rest is easy.

God created the universe from nothing, including the space it occupies. Making a talking snake and a donkey is no big deal.

Originally posted by @sonship
Before I continue I'd like to let people know that as a kid I loved snakes. Whenever I went to the zoo I would spend the most time at the reptile house. I loved snakes.

I hunted snakes and caught them for pets (if they were suitable). I also purchased a king snake through the mail. You could do that many years ago. They'd send you a snake of your choice ...[text shortened]... was an escape artist and no cage I built could keep him. He finally got away, to my heartbreak.

Originally posted by @sonship
So we have a talking serpent. How could this be??

Everyone knows that an animal is not suppose to speak in human language.

But perhaps this is a point that God wants us to notice:

Something is occurring which should NOT be occurring.
But even more serious - Somethings is being said which should NOT be being said.

The astounding irregularity o ...[text shortened]... ow can God the ground of being, One of whom a greater cannot be imagined, not be a God of truth?

Originally posted by @divegeester
The snake cannot form words as we know them, so how could it have been literally “talking”?

Originally posted by @sonship
I think it was miraculous - a supernatural event.

Originally posted by @divegeester
Ok, you loved snakes as a kid.

Got it.

Originally posted by @divegeester
Like the bush talking? As in not actually talking but more god making talking sounds through it?