Why was there a bad serpent in paradise to begin with?

[Maezck]

If this world/earth was originally a paradise/heaven up until Adam and Even first sinned… Why was there a bad serpent in paradise to begin with? If the bad fallen angel of the devil/Lucifer was already banned before God made man, why was Lucifer where the people were in the beginning story?

 

[Prodigal1984]

I don’t know.
Probably as a test.
Milton’s Paradise Lost goes all into that but of course it isn’t something to learn theology from. Just read it recently and when I saw this post had to mention it.

With that said I often wonder, was the serpent Satan himself, or was the serpent just like possessed with a demon?

 

[Maezck]

@Prodigal1984 Thank you for this reply, interesting as I just happened to read this post after yours! https://forums.catholic-questions.org/t/jesus-sends-demons-into-pigs/552831/7

 

[CRV]

I think to test Adams and Eves faithfulness as God gave them both free will, which means they had the choice to rebel against God (as we all do). Also because it was Gods’ Will that satan/the tempter was in the garden. And satan opposes God in everything. As he fell, why not tempt God’s creatures to also fall?

Because we have the freedom to choose there is always the temptation to choose to do wrong. Which both Adam and Eve did. If they didn’t have free will then they were not human created in the likeness and image of God, but were like machines instead and machines do not have free will.

 

[Darryl_B]

Maybe Metaphor.

 

[De_Maria]

That’s one of those questions that has always puzzled me, as well. Similarly, why was Satan hanging out with the angels, in the book of Job?

Job 1: The Interview Between the Lord and the Satan. 6 One day, when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, the satan also came among them.

 

[Gorgias]

If this world/earth was originally a paradise/heaven up until Adam and Even first sinned… Why was there a bad serpent in paradise to begin with?

The Catechism teaches us that the story in Genesis 3 is expressed in figurative language. So, it’s not so much that there was a bad talking snake… it’s that our first human parents were tempted and fell to the sin of pride.

 

[CRV]

why was Satan hanging out with the angels, in the book of Job?

The Book of Job by Fr William Most:- “B ut the satan
is also there - the Hebrew word is just a general term for the
opponent. In Numbers 22.22 (cf.22.32) an angel who blocks the
way for Balaam is called angel and also is called the
satan,the one who opposes.”

Thomas Aquinas: Commentary on Job Chapter One The Second Lesson begins at 6. The second, third and fourth paragraphs answer your question well.

 

[John_Martin]

the Hebrew word is just a general term for the
opponent

“Your ADVERSARY (your SATAN הַשָּׂטָ֖ן), the Devil, goes prowling around like a roaring lion”.
And here in Numbers, Balaam is the one doing evil, so his ADVERSARY (his SATAN) is the Angel of the LORD.
The adversary (satan) of a good man is the Devil;
The adversary (satan) of an evil man is the Angel of the LORD.

But, I only see “Serpent” in Genesis 3, not Adversary (not the word SATAN הַשָּׂטָ֖ן)

 

[CRV]

@John_Martin

B ut the satan
is also there - the Hebrew word is just a general term for the
opponent. In Numbers 22.22 (cf.22.32) an angel who blocks the
way for Balaam is called angel and also is called the
satan,the one who opposes.”

Sorry, but I have no idea why Fr William Most used that term. The paragraph before Fr Most tries to establish the location and mentions Lam 4. 21. Cf. Jer 25. 20 and Gen 10. 23. The paragraph wherein Father Most uses that term, has the following sentence cites Numbers 22. 22 (cf. 22. 32) regarding the angel who blocks Balaams way. His comment to which you refer comes in between, and I understand Father Most to be just giving an explanation to the term satan, not that he is stating the term is within those passages.

All the following is from wikipedia and I hope you will read the whole section on the Hebrew Bible.
From Wikipedia under Historical Development ->Hebrew Bible → Book of Job “the original Hebrew term sâtan (Hebrew: שָּׂטָן‎) is a generic noun meaning “accuser” or “adversary”,[7][8] which is used throughout the Hebrew Bible to refer to ordinary human adversaries,[9][8] as well as a specific supernatural entity.[9][8] The word is derived from a verb meaning primarily “to obstruct, oppose”.[10]”

“Ha-Satan with the definite article occurs 13 times in the Masoretic Text, in two books of the Hebrew Bible: Job ch. 1–2 (10×)[11]” (click on the 11 to go to an explanation)

" The word “satan” does not occur in the Book of Genesis,"

" The first occurrence of the word “satan” in the Hebrew Bible in reference to a supernatural figure comes from Numbers 22:22,[16] which describes the Angel of Yahweh confronting Balaam on his donkey:[6]"

 

[Mike_from_NJ]

Even if you take the retreat position that the just the snake from the garden was figurative or that the whole of the story was figurative, it still doesn’t make sense figuratively.