Are snakes evil?

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Magnum

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Is there any way the bible says that snakes are evil?Is keeping snakes as pets evil?
 

HammerStone

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Snakes have become a misnomer for some events in the Bible where our English word for "serpent" doesn't quite fit the bill. You'll not find any verses that say snakes themselves are evil, because they aren't. They are God's creation just as many other more lovable animals are. I'd have to point out that while the image of a snake does often involve evil, God used them in the famous episode of Exodus. Now, I assume you're asking this question because you want a pet snake. Well, that's your choice - I'd have to pass - but I hope I've covered the Biblical part of things for you.
 

Magnum

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Thanks for the quick reply.I already have a pet snake, and im planning on getting more. Do the snakes do anyhing good in the bible?I just dont want to be keeping anything that may upset god. (i may be being silly).
 

HammerStone

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Well it's good of you to ask because that shows where your thoughts are. God probably uses a snake in the episode with Pharaoh. Aaron's staff (rod) that he casts down becomes a serpent. (Though I would like to point out that the Hebrew suggests it could also be a crocodile, but that's another discussion for another day.) That's the closest to doing some "good" that a snake will do in the Bible. The reason they are associated with evil is because they are snakes and probably one of the scariest looking animals known to man when you speak as a collective whole. That doesn't make them inherently evil by any means. For example, you have the lion as a symbol of Judah and then, conversly, the devil is likened to a "roaring lion."
 

Magnum

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Thank you. You have been very helpful. You must have a bible inside your head...
 

ROS777

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Now, I assume you're asking this question because you want a pet snake. Well, that's your choice - I'd have to pass - but I hope I've covered the Biblical part of things for you.
SwampFox,I've always wondered what the motivation is behind keeping a snake for a"pet". Usually the snake chosen is a poisionous or otherwise dangerous variety such as a python. Is it to feel powerful over family, neighbors, enemies. Unless some one is acting like a kenite, or one live in a dangerous ' hood, I see no reason to need that much feeling of power over others. People that own a python or some other dangerous snake, do act irresponsible when the snake becomes too expensive or too much to take care of. They just let it go; either flushing it down the toilet or dumping it out in the yard or woods.Then it does become dangerous for everyone else and it is very evil.Too many people have dumped pythons and other dangerous snakes in Florida after they've grown bored with them and now they're a threat to everyone that comes in contact with them including our wild life.Yeah, it's evil to dump a snake out into the enviroment that can hurt others.I also believe that this is a gang type activity; keeping a dangerous snake.Why should a Christian be a part of a gang?How would you feel if the neighbor next door had a snake?
 

Magnum

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Im not going to go into details about snakes.. well not too much.If you wish to own a venomous snake you need a licence. 90% of pythons could not severly harm a human. Only some can grow in exess of 20 feet, some stay at around 4 feet.Corn snakes are native in northern america and florida.People can own harmless snakes such as the corn snake, or a royal python and breed them for a living.
 

ROS777

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Im not going to go into details about snakes.. well not too much.If you wish to own a venomous snake you need a licence. 90% of pythons could not severly harm a human. Only some can grow in exess of 20 feet, some stay at around 4 feet.Corn snakes are native in northern america and florida.People can own harmless snakes such as the corn snake, or a royal python and breed them for a living.
Corn snakes are harmless, yeah. Pythons are dangerous to people, pets and wild life.And why would anyone want a dangerous snake for a pet???And breeding snakes for a living: that conjures up a nice picture.Hey, sorry to tread on your toes. I'm not a big fan of snakes, although the harmless ones are helpful for getting rid of rodents.
 

Magnum

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Only a few pythons are dangerous. I understand if people dont like snakes, there are some really evil looking ones. Search images of reticulated pythons. They grow 20+ feet and can be dangerous.In contrast search ball pythons.Its all personal opinion to be honest and we are all entitled to one.
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HammerStone

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I'm actually glad this was brought back up. I was doing some study in Isaiah the other night and I came across the following verse. It talks about when Christ returns and we all live under his rule where natural enemies will lie down together: Isaiah 11:8And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. A snake is just an animal and there's nothing that makes them evil.
 

[email protected]

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Ros777, Have you formed your opinions reading comic books? Are these gangs that you refer to Pentacostalists? Am I mistaken or does the bible say that you will recognise believers because they will handle serpents? I think that you know your own heart and use it as a measuring stick with which to judge others.
 

Christina

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Ros777, Have you formed your opinions reading comic books? Are these gangs that you refer to Pentacostalists? Am I mistaken or does the bible say that you will recognise believers because they will handle serpents? I think that you know your own heart and use it as a measuring stick with which to judge others.
Mark 16:18 "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover."Spiritually speaking, Satan is the serpent, as Revelation 12:9 tells us so. Satan and his evil spirits are afraid of you. If you take this literal, and go to the woods and pick up a live rattle snake, I guarantee you that that old rattler does not know that he is to be afraid of you, and he will strike you. He does not know whether you have faith or not, and he could care less what you believe or not. The other thing that should enter in here is that I hope that a snake is not what is used as a measure of my faith, for Satan thinks as a snake and he is a liar.Those that participate in the handling of snakes as a form of testing ones faith, are tempting God, and using God's Word for their own demise. Yet many do in various parts of the world. Christ is not telling anyone to drink poison, for this is a figure of speech referring to malicious gossip. It is taking a part truth, and changing it to destroy someone or some thing. It is taking a truth and twisting and turning it into a lie. Jesus is saying that there will be those that will allow Satan to twist their minds to try to destroy you, but you don't have to allow that to happen.The poison and filth that people will use against you will not harm you when you are in the will of God. We are to live our lives so that our character will be such that it just doesn't matter what people say about us, for our character will stand the test. A true Christians character will stand all the tests of all the liars and gossip spreaders can spread about you. That is what taking the poison means here. Lies and gossip runs off of you like water off a ducks back.
 

JWallace777

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Ros777, where are you getting your information about snakes from? Most snake keepers absolutely DO NOT keep venomous snakes. They are illegal to own in a lot of places without a permit or license that requires a lot of hands on experience with a professional venomous snake keeper, such as in a zoo. And very few people even consider ever owning a venomous snake. Also, most python and boa species are completely harmless to humans and any animals larger than a rat. On top of that, there are only a couple large, non-native snakes that can survive in the Florida Everglades. While it is horrible to just dump a snake into the wild, It's not as common as it's portrayed to be, and it's not as dentrimental to the environment as say, Asian carp species, which can survive in most of the fresh water bodies in the U.S., and destroy the area's natural ecosystem, or the silver carp which infest rivers and jump out at any thing that moves. These have broken people's spines and limbs, and knocked people off their boats. Basically, it comes down to the fact that a very miniscule percentage of snake species can be dangerous to people or pets, while an overwhelming majority of snake owners wouldn't even want to own these. I have also never heard anyone use the term gang activity when it came to owning snakes. I am a Christian, and I have 18 pythons in my house. The largest one is about 4 feet long, and I've never been bitten by any of them, even though I handle them on a daily basis. I have been bitten by a 9 foot python, and I've been bitten by an 18 inch kitten, and I can tell you that I'd rather get bitten by a huge python than a cat, dog, or even a mouse. When you realize that a large snake has the same size mouth as a cat, only with much smaller teeth, you start to understand that they really aren't dangerous at all. Instead of slamming snakes and people who own snakes as evil, I suggest doing a google search for ball python morphs and corn snake morphs. You'll quickly discover that most snakes, especially 99% of the ones making up the pet trade are some of God's most beautiful and amazing creatures.
 

Peacebewithyou

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A previous poster suggested that it's irresponsible & perhaps un-Christian to own a snake because they could get out & become a danger to neighbors. I would be MUCH more fearful if my neighbor owned a pit bull rather than a snake. As a runner, I often have to contend with angry unleased dogs. I've never once had someone's pet snake come after me.
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tim_from_pa

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Only a few pythons are dangerous. I understand if people dont like snakes, there are some really evil looking ones. Search images of reticulated pythons. They grow 20+ feet and can be dangerous.In contrast search ball pythons.Its all personal opinion to be honest and we are all entitled to one.
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Hi Magnum:We used to keep some snakes when I was a boy (about 35-40 years ago). We had common snakes in this area such as milk snakes, little ring necks and whatnot. Later on we had a yellow rat snake which we eventually donated to the Philadelphia zoo. Snakes are basically impulse creatures (not too smart) that remind me of lizards without their legs. However, they do keep the mice down, and we'd feed ours once a week. We once had a cabin in the Pocono mountains and always respected snakes---- we'd bring the none poisonous ones around to place on our land to keep the mice down. If we ever found a poisonous snake on our land, we would not kill it, but scoot it into a pillow case and tie a knot on the top of it. They are helpless in that environment and cannot wiggle out. Then we'd transport them about a half mile away and let them off into the woods.Realistically, a cat will do much better keeping mice down (as I now have 6 of them), but looking at a snake from purely a reptilian point of view, they have their functions in nature, are basically shy, and their backbones are very delicate if mishandled---- and for those of you that know little about snakes, they are not slimy at all. They feel rather good to the touch, like soft silk.
 

JWallace777

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Corn snakes are harmless, yeah. Pythons are dangerous to people, pets and wild life.Most pythons are not dangerous to humans or animals. A few species of pythons CAN be a threat, but nowhere near the threat of stray dogs and cats, birds of prey, native crocodile species, etc.And why would anyone want a dangerous snake for a pet???Most are not dangerous, but as far as people who do own potentially dangerous snakes, there are several good reasons. Herpetologists own them to study them, breeders own them to breed, and others own them simply because they are amazing creatures that demand respect and appreciation.And breeding snakes for a living: that conjures up a nice picture.I know of several people, including fellow Christians who make a great living by breeding pythons. Although I don't make a living from it, I also breed pythons as one of my more enjoyable hobbies. It does conjure up a nice picture for me, as I get to see people living their dream and spending their days working with animals that they love. On top of doing what they love day to day, some of them are making 6 to 7 figures, while taking some of the most naturally beautifully colored and patterned animals, and combining genes, within the same specie, to make new patterns and color variations that have never been seen before. Some of these amazing animals sell for over $30,000 each. That's a pretty nice picture.Hey, sorry to tread on your toes. I'm not a big fan of snakes, although the harmless ones are helpful for getting rid of rodents.I think you would have a completely different point of view if you were to do a little reading about snakes, or even talk to or meet with a ball python, or even a Burmese or reticulated python breeder. While every venomous animal and insect should be avoided, venomous snakes are timid and would much rather retreat than attack a person, and they all have their place on God's Earth. Pythons and boas however are only a fraction of the threat to humans, animals or the environment that domesticated dogs are. I too would be way more concerned about my neighbor having a Rottweiler than a 20' python.
If you'd like to have a conversation or see first hand, I can probably find a breeder in your area who would love to teach one more person how gentle and graceful snakes really are. LOGS.
 

Wildmorph Pythons

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I've always wondered what the motivation is behind keeping a snake for a"pet".
Typically the person has had a long time fascination with reptiles in general. Many herpetoculturist like myself will keep more than one species of reptile like geckos, snakes, small monitors ect.
Usually the snake chosen is a poisonous or otherwise dangerous variety such as a python.
Not so much in the pet trade. There is a lot of legislation in most states regarding the keeping of "hots" or venomous species as well as the giants. Because of this many of the people that maintain these animals are people with years of experience and lot of knowledge about the animals. There are a few irresponsible keepers that do cast a bad light on those that are legit. But normally the snake chosen is a colubrid like a king snake or corn snake or milk snake. Some of the most popular Pythons are Ball/Royal pythons, Carpet, and the arboreal tree pythons. Large bodied boas are next on the list but again these are typically not a first time snake are are kept by people with the understanding and reptile knowledge to properly keep the animal. There are some smaller boidae species like the Rosy, Rubber, and Sand boa that will never get any bigger than most colubrids. With all the different species and different colors and patterns that most species in the pet trade offer it can be much like picking out a living work of art.
Is it to feel powerful over family, neighbors, enemies. Unless some one is acting like a kenite, or one live in a dangerous ' hood, I see no reason to need that much feeling of power over others.
There is no feeling of power. Rather there is a feeling of awe at being able to share time with and experience one of Gods most amazing creatures. I can not say there are not a rare few that see large snakes as a power trip but of the thousands of keepers out there you'd be hard to find more than a few.
People that own a python or some other dangerous snake, do act irresponsible when the snake becomes too expensive or too much to take care of. They just let it go; either flushing it down the toilet or dumping it out in the yard or woods.
Very true there are a few people that do act inappropriately and this is a sad reality to our hobby. Which is why the reptile community is working so hard to educate new keepers and the general public about what is required to keep these animals to help better fit the right type of pet to the person. The even sadder truth is that every popular animal in the pet trade has an issue with this. Stray dogs and cats out number released reptiles by millions to one every year
Then it does become dangerous for everyone else and it is very evil.
Evil is not the right word to use you were right in that if by chance you happen to find yourself wading in the everglades and happen to find yourself facing a 15'+ hungry reticulated python or Burmese python it is dangerous...but not evil. And this is not a threat to the the people next door or even in more that one or two counties in Florida.
Too many people have dumped pythons and other dangerous snakes in Florida after they've grown bored with them and now they're a threat to everyone that comes in contact with them including our wild life.
Yes they do and this is irresponsible and fool hearted and 100% shunned by all reptile keepers that truly value our animals and love this hobby. Yes they are impacting our environment which is why we in the reptile community are working with local law makers to find a happy median that allows us to continue with the hobby we so enjoy. While weeding out those people that would use the availability of the pet trade to become repeat offenders.
Yeah, it's evil to dump a snake out into the environment that can hurt others.
Again evil is a way to extreme... irresponsible? Yes 100%, harmful to the environment? Yes it can be, in some rare instances could it pose a threat to people sure. But evil no....
I also believe that this is a gang type activity; keeping a dangerous snake.Why should a Christian be a part of a gang?
I can not speak as to whether it is a gang activity or not. I would hope that it wasn't.
How would you feel if the neighbor next door had a snake?
If the owner is responsible in the snakes care. I would feel wonderful that they are providing for an animal that they decided to take responsibility for its health and well being. If they were poorly educated as to the animals needs or irresponsible with its care I would feel as bad as if it were a dog or cat or any other pet being neglected. There is a great fear of reptiles but snakes in general. Most of this fear is driven by people with less than little real world experience with these animals and compounded by hollywood's reality that they can turn a profit on promoting and animal as dangerous. I don't think this post will sway your fear or dislike for snakes. I know that fear is a real thing regardless of where it is based. I do however ask that people be allowed to make their decision as to whether they like snakes based on a real world experience not for what they are told by Hollywood and others with less understanding of the animals than someone who could offer proper understanding about them
 

HammerStone

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I'm amazed at how many have signed up for our forums just for this topic. Keep in mind that this is a Christian forum, I think the merits or dangers of having a pet snake have been pretty well illustrated at this point.Please try and keep the discussion as it relates to Christianity from here on out. Thanks!
 

Jonous

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That's the closest to doing some "good" that a snake will do in the Bible."
There's also this event but this refers to a symbolic snake "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." Num21:8that symbolized Jesus"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" John 3:14Also God had ordered not to eat snakes"And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten." Lev 11:41