on Satan and the serpent...

I had an epiphany! If we look at the adam and eve story, as a literary work, satan would not have been the snake. You cant infer from the text that the snake is evil, just that it represents temptation. And later, we learn that "satan or lucifer" is a fallen angel (cast out by god). If this is "true" then at the time of the adam and eve story satan didnt even exist. and if so, he would have had no reason to tempt adam and eve, because he would still be in the grace of god.