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Those of a questioning bent, disenchanted with the quandaries of materialistic science, frequently turn to religion. Its representatives have lauded themselves as having the question of evil in hand, as possessing the special abilities and knowledge, which alone address mankind’s epistemological conundrums. For 2,000 years, Christianity and the major religions have sought to account for the presence of evil. They have not succeeded in giving us any clear answer. In attempting to answer one question, they have fostered thousands of new ones. And some might argue that along with science, religion is one of the most adroit exponents of evil in the world today. And indeed, when we review the canon of Christianity, we have good reason to feel frustrated. One may well ask, what is going on in the Bible? Let us then take a brief look. We are told by the religions that man has two natures, good and evil. One is then com- pelled to ask why God would instill such propensities in his own creations who are made in his image? We read that God created man and woman. This implies that God is not man or woman “himself.” Yet, consistently, the post-diluvian religions all over the globe, constantly depicted and referred to God as male? They do this even when, in the case of Hebrew, the name for deity is of feminine gender. We are told that man was not originally evil. He became that way after the disobedi- ence of Eve in the Garden. Why would God create something born in his image and then deny him some aspect of knowledge and then even banish him from paradise after it had been received? We must also ask why God would condemn his creations for something that was not a conscious transgression? Why the tests imposed on those who must already be inno- cent in nature? Then we are told that the parents sinned, only after they fell under the influence of the evil one, Satan. So we ask, why would God allow his newly created beings to be in the proximity of this “evil one?” Who created the serpent? Nowhere in the Genesis account is there any mention, direct or indirect, of Satan’s involve- ment, and yet it has become common practice for the Church to portray the serpent as an emissary of Satan, or even as Satan himself. (Laurence Gardener) 67 What Goes on in the Bible? Atlantis, Alien Visitation, and Genetic Manipulation