That the Biblical serpent was a "bad influence" is questionable. God created the Tree of Knowledge, God created the Serpent, God put both in the Garden - and y

That the Biblical serpent was a "bad influence" is questionable. God created the Tree of Knowledge, God created the Serpent, God put both in the Garden - and yet God pretends to be surprised that the Serpent did exactly as programmed. The reality is that we were always meant to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, such that we may have an internal sense of right from wrong rather than being limited to "God said this is good/bad". At worst, the Serpent accelerated that inevitability before we were ready to accept the responsibilities such knowledge would entail (that readiness coming later, with Jesus providing the framework by which we can ready ourselves).