“The serpent in the Garden of Eden is understood as Satan, the most beautiful of God’s
created angels, who rebelled out of pride and fell from grace for all eternity. His sin was
rooted in disobedience and the desire to usurp God’s authority, as well as envy towards
the grace and beauty God had reserved for the Woman, through whom his Word would
become flesh. This led him to tempt Adam and Eve, God’s first created humans, into
rejecting His command. By deceiving them, the serpent introduced sin and death into
the world, rupturing humanity’s original harmony with God. The serpent’s identity is
clarified in Revelation 12, where he is described as the “great red dragon,” explicitly
called “that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan.” Thus, the same being
who tempted humanity at the beginning of salvation history is the adversary throughout,
waging war against God’s people. The dragon’s red color symbolizes bloodshed and
destruction, reflecting his ongoing mission to oppose Christ and His Church. Catholic
teaching emphasizes that while Satan is powerful, he is a creature, not equal to God. In
the Revelation passage, he makes war on the “woman” (The Blessed Virgin Mary,
Queen of Heaven) and the rest of her offspring, who are identified as those who do the
will of God. Thus, the serpent and the dragon represent the reality of persistent, but
ultimately doomed, rebellion against God’s kingdom, which will be victorious in the end.
The Serpent’s sin is the catalyst for the fall of humanity and is connected to the seven
deadly sins, which Catholic teaching identifies as root vices leading to other sins:
1. Envy: Satan, who along with all angels was shown God’s plan to create man,
envied the intimate relationship humanity would share with God and sought to
ruin it. He envied most of all the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose beauty and grace he
was shown
2. as part of God’s future plan for the redemption of creation by making her worthy
to be the mother of the 2 nd person of the Most Holy Trinity. He could not accept
that another created being would be greater and more beautiful than he.
3. Pride: Satan’s desire to be the greatest of God’s creatures led to an
uncontrollable, blinding pride (soberbia) leading him to proclaim for all eternity “I
will not serve.” This moment is often seen as the root of all sin in the universe as
it was the first moment that God’s ultimate sovereignty and authority were
rejected.
4. Wrath: The serpent’s rebellion and hatred toward God’s plan underlie his actions,
and he turns his ire towards humanity in causing the fall of Adam and Eve.”
Illustration by: Colton Rompala