Adam and Eve

So I think that there's more to the Adam and Eve and the snake than we think.

Of course the reptile part was emphasized, but I have some kind of a feeling that it was just some kind of legend from before that was included, like not eating ostrich.

Any ideas anyone?

Yeah. LIke Something Pagan adjusted to fit christianity

Everything in Christianity is adjusted from paganism, the people who decided to create that religion had no imagination.

Yes, I am highly, highly bitter...

Sarahs kinda right. Christianity has "borrowed" alot of things from pagan ritual. The modern image of the devil is derived from pictures of Pan, the greek god of the forest. Most christian festivals fall on the same days as pagan ones. this was done to make the convertion of the pagans easier.

Adam and Eve to me is very symbolic and metaphorical. The snake is the tester. I think that it applies to all times. There are always people there who seem to be "evil" as christianity labels them but are sent to test everyone. To see if they have learnt and show their faults if they havent.
My view

I didn't know that the devil was derived from Pan... But I can see the similarities, now that I look for them...

Hi there all. I love what you've done with this site and all the topics included! Good job.

I'm somwhat bitter too. I think most are--I actually used to be a fundamentalist except I don't think I was "fundamental" enough for fellow church goers. That said, there are a lot of misconceptions regarding the bible and Christianity even among Christians. Historically the image of satan was borrowed from the various gods like pan and faunas in order to represent that Christianity was right and pagans were "worshipping the devil". I think that it was the Roman missionaries who first did this but that might not be the case. Genesis being a Hebrew book and not really a Christian one, was supposedly written by Moses.

If that's the case, Moses having come from Egypt where he (as the books of the law put it) "learned everything from the Egyptians" was said to have worked in the Pharaoh's court (Ramsese the Great). If that's the case, he was probably a court magician and that's why he was able to do all those weird things that the court mages could do too. The Book of Genesis is very similar to the creation story in Egyptian lore especially when taking other Jewish books and interpretations found in Kabbalah. So a lot of Jewish and Christian belief may be centered around scripture that was borrowed from the Egyptions or, a better way for myself to look at it so I don't get too bitter, maybe the ring of truth was adapted for their own personal search. Or maybe the Tree and the Serpent was more akin to a shamanic past? This imagery is also found in Celtic mythology, Norse Mythology, and well...a lot of mythologies from shamanic cultures. Any thoughts?

most religions borrow or take ideas or symbols from others and if u look hard enough it is hard to tell where it starts.....

Ok, recently, thanks to my wonderful and awesome friend, Ezack (w00t!) I bought a really, really big book of world mythology. Most of it, as you could well imagine was dedicated to Greek and Roman mythology.

I noticed a LOT of similiarities between this mythology and Christianity.
This theory is not actually from my mind, it was suggested in the book. Anyhow, the myth of Pandoras box states that Zeus was mad at Prometheus for tricking him, and for giving humans the gift of fire. He decided to play a trick on Prometheus and all of humankind.
He ordered Hephasteus to make a beautiful woman, as a gift for Prometheus's brother, Epimetheus. She was named Pandora. Zeus also gave her a box that she was told to never open. Epimetheus saw how beautiful she was, and married her, despite his brothers warnings that a gift from Zeus would probably be a trick.
Pandora was not made to be evil, but she was curious and as the months went on, her curiosity got stronger and stronger until it eventually got the better of her. She opened the box and out came all sorrows that now afflict humankind. Pandora tried, and was unable to close the box. The only good thing, that she could keep hold of, was hope.

That was just a retelling from memory, so forgive me if I leave something out. The book went on to say that the telling of how all goodness was lost due to a womans silly mistake is a lot like the biblical story of Adam and Eve... Interesting... Lol... And why incriminate women anyway?

I also like this myth far more than the christian version, which puts everything into a physical form. Pandora is Adam/Eve, her curiosity is the snake, and the box is the forbidden fruit...

I just thought I'd point that out here...

The Noahs Arc tale bears far more direct resemblance to greek mythology. I will post that here if you want, but at the moment I can't be bothered.

I never thought about that myth in the context of Adam and Even before but there are alot of similarities there. Definitely share the Noah's ark parallel. It's interesting that every ancient culture had an account of that flood. The ancient Egyptians even had an account of the 10 plages (9 really--all but the 10th were there).

Some historians think that all religions both mono and poly are from the same root in a very old version of the Canaanite culture. That might explain why they're all very similar because they only changed as people moved and were isolated and they're beliefs naturally evolved. There are always the same archetypes because they weren't meant as literal stories, they hid deeper meanings about humankind's spirituality. That's why there were Mystery Schools and cults devoted to learning the inner meaning of the tales. If there really is wisdom in them then that could explain why more "historical" beliefs like some in Christianity and Buddhism still sound like pagan stories--it could be the inner archetypes manifested in the physical world. The whole as above so below thing.

Other interesting similarities are the sacrificial kind archetypes: Jesus, Odin, Lugh, Balder, Osirus....between Odin and Jesus alone a whole book could be written. Both hung on a "tree", were peirced in the side, descended into the realm of the dead and took something away from it. Jesus took the keys, Odin took the runes which are the keys to the forces at work in the universe. Both stayed dead for 3 days then rose again.

Yeah, I wonder if a lot of it was real to begin with, but people edited it to fit their beliefs... I mean, that would explain how religion, and most of the worlds legends came into being.
People share THEIR theories on these events, just like we do here, and because they have their own opinions, their theories are biased in favour of that. A lot of people with similar theories all agree on something, try to get others to agree as well and BAM! We have a religion created.
Other theories which don't have such group appeal are passed down through generations, spreading and creating legends...
Hmm... that would explain a lot

I think that's how it is, definitely. Look at history and a lot of our non-fic books. Everyone writes from their own interpretations and with their own motives. You can pick up several book on the same subject and if the writers are all parts of different social classes, religions, studies, etc. the books will all be factually different from one another. It kind of makes you wonder how much of our history is just made up. I read a lot of books aimed at neo-pagans and occultists and they all borrow from the same people that wrote at the end of the victorian age. They spout off the same "information" without checking to see if its even accurate at all. Especially on asian culture. You could put out a book mixed with fact and your own theories, and as long as it makes sense, suddenly you have a whole group of authors writing and citing your information as if it had been fact. I think that's how it happens in religions sometimes too.

Yeah... Thats what makes everything so damn complicated too lol

I mean, really, what is real?

Ack! That question spurts lots of weird ideas that I'm going to go grovel in now.