I received this question on Facebook and wanted to share my thoughts and answer with you.


Marin
hello, i’m an atheist and I find your views fascinating.I have just one question.Do you seriously believe that that snake in the Garden of Eden could actually talk? Because if you do that is seriously disturbing!
Thanks for writing. If you don’t mind, let me ask you a few questions that don’t make a lot of sense to me from an atheist viewpoint.
  1. Do you seriously believe that life came from non-life with no one creating it?
  2. Do you seriously believe that the universe came from nothing?
  3. Do you seriously believe that your thoughts are nothing but chemical processes in the brain and there is no right and wrong?
  4. Do you seriously believe that there is no supernatural and the natural world is all there is?

Now, to answer your question regarding a talking snake, yes, I do believe that a snake actually talked. I can understand how this sounds bizarre from the perspective that the natural world is all that exists. However, when you open up to the supernatural, it’s very easy to see how this could’ve happened. God is supernatural and therefore not bound by the natural laws by which you and I are bound.

Here is an excerpt that my friend from GotQuestions.org wrote that helps explain what is happening in Genesis chapter 3.
Interestingly, the serpent/snake speaking to Adam and Eve is not the only instance in the Bible where an animal speaks. The prophet Balaam was rebuked by his donkey (see Numbers 22:21-35). We have to remember that while animals are not capable of speaking, there are powerful beings out there (God, the angels, Satan, the demons) who are capable of the impossible, including enabling animals to speak. Most scholars hold that it was Satan in the Garden of Eden who was speaking through the snake, not the snake itself speaking on its own. Thus, in the Genesis 3 account it is not suggesting that snakes were of an intellect that would have enabled them to speak coherently.

Consider this, the all-powerful God of the Bible could easily create the world in six days without lifting a finger. He created and interacted with the physical world without having to subject Himself to the laws of this world. Satan, who was once the highest angel, is a part of the supernatural world and can also interact with the natural world. To believe that Satan used a snake to communicate with Eve is not out of the realm of logical thinking when we consider the supernatural.

Marin, I pray that this helps and I look forward to hearing your answers to my questions.
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