genesis 3 is not teaching us about
zoology any more than genesis 1 is
teaching us about astronomy where we
have the sun created after we have days
i mean how does that work
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but let's just put that aside for now
and i want to ask this question just for
the average person watching this video
and even the evangelical scholar if they
do the first question is do you believe
that john was correct the apostle john
writing in the book of revelation
do you believe that john was correct or
mistaken in revelation 12 9.
this is the verse where john we might as
well just click out to it
so that you can see it revelation 12 9
this is where john mentions the great
dragon was thrown down that ancient
serpent who is called the devil and
satan so the serpent the devil and satan
are connected
okay in this verse
it's the only time in the bible where
these these terms are actually connected
in the same verse and this is the last
book of the new testament
but the question remains do you think
john was correct or not
if you think john was correct in this
identification that hey the serpent back
there was really the devil you know the
one who becomes known as satan and by
the way look at the way john words this
that ancient serpent who is called
okay who is called the devil and satan
it doesn't mean you know
john's not saying because john knows his
old testament
this does not need to be read as though
john is looking at genesis 3 and seeing
the word satan in there he's not it's
not there
but that rebel comes to be known as the
devil which is just you know the the
slanderer the liar
and
satan the accuser okay this individual
rebel becomes known by these terms it's
all john is saying and he's connecting
the dots so
if you think john is correct then you
must conclude
that the serpent in the garden was more
than an animal
it's not just a snake
if you say he's mistaken then you have a
serious problem with biblical coherence
and really biblical
inspiration you know
at that point and for evangelicals again
i don't know how you're going to take
that position
second question i would ask you know of
viewers and again
you know anybody else if we were in a
different forum you know scholars who
are saying well you can't really
you know this this this view isn't isn't
you know what most scholars think i
don't really care
okay i'm asking a serious question i
just asked one do you think john was
correct or not if you say he was correct
then the serpent in the garden is more
than a snake
question two do you believe that genesis
3
was intended to provide us with lost
zoological knowledge
is genesis 3 a zoology lesson
now
i've mentioned this before but if you if
you put the question that way
is genesis 3 really designed to teach us
about you know catch the wording here
about the evolution
of the snake before it had legs and
could talk and now the snake as we know
it now again i think that's ridiculous
but you'll see it in evangelical
literature and i think again that's why
a lot of scholars react you know against
it because it's kind of cartoonish
genesis 3 is not teaching us about
zoology any more than genesis 1 is
teaching us about astronomy where we
have the sun created after we have days
i mean how does that work
uh again you you know from the class on
metaphor
and just the class where we we
illustrated metaphor with israelite
cosmology
the the purpose of these chapters is to
teach
the reader
who god is against all the other gods
why we're here who put us here what our
purpose is what our destiny is the whole
concept of imaging it's designed to
teach us yes that that there is a god
and he created what we know here
but god doesn't bother to use
people who could give us a sophisticated
21st century presentation of science
if he did that god made a horrific
mistake because he had people writing in
the second millennium bc and the first
millennium bc and the first century a.d
they are not capable
of giving us a scientific presentation
that would satisfy our for a 21st
century audience and that's a good thing
because 500 years from now we'll be
laughing at points of the science that
we think is just settled now because
it'll change
that's not what scripture is about god
deliberately this was his own decision
he did not tether
the truths he wanted to communicate to
something i.e science that he knew would
change
and would never stay the same
again we talked about this extensively
in the metaphor episode i have lectures
online again i directed you too but if
you're gonna if you're gonna take that
position
then it's absurd to think that genesis 3
turns around and teaches us zoology
so
again
how could you draw that conclusion
i don't think it's teaching us zoology i
do think john was correct that we have a
divine being here either in the guise of
a serpent
or we we we should look at the the term
hanukkah
which is the serpent in different ways i
think i think personally and you know
this from reading unseen realm
that what's going on with that
terminology is we have a double or even
a triple on tan with an akash because
depending on whether you consider it a
noun or a participle
it can mean the snake of the serpent it
can mean the one who practices
divination like deception or it can mean
the shining one and all three of those
things are going to be sort of stock
ways of presenting supernatural evil
later on in the hebrew bible
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you