Glenn wrote: > I have a good personal friend who was a medical > missionary in Africa. For many years he medically > treated people, started churches, hospitals, clinics, > etc., He told me the snake on the medical symbol > goes back to witchcraft, etc.. > DavidM ... do you know anything about the medical > symbol?
The medical symbol is called the caduceus. It was the magic wand of the Greek god Hermes (the Roman god Mercury). It was said that Hermes conducted the souls of the dead to the underworld, and he was the god of dreams and sleep. Hermes was the messenger of the gods, so heralds and ambassadors used the symbol as a badge of their inviobility. The Greco-Roman god of healing and medicine was Asclepius. He had a staff with a single snake around it. The temples built to Asclepius were like hospitals where the sick would come. People would sleep in the temples, thinking that the god would heal them in their sleep and dreams. There are many inscriptions that exist today, giving testimony to healings. The medical profession uses the caduceus of Hermes, which does not really have any relevance to the healing god Asclepius, although both involve snakes. Exactly how or why this has happened is not clear. There are many different explanations given by different sources, and it is impossible to know the truth of it all. For example, those who seek to disassociate the symbol from Greek mythology have said that early treatment of parasitic worms was to cut the patient in front of the worm, put a stick in there, and the worm would wind itself around the stick until it could be fully extracted. Of course, this does not correspond as closely to the symbol as the staff of Hermes, so one must question the motives for explanations like this one. It seems to me that they are just trying to distance themselves from the Greek mythology. One connection to witchcraft that I know of is that the Greek word for witchcraft is pharmakeia, from which we get our word "pharmacy." The use of drugs and medicines has always had a tie to witchcraft, but, of course, modern medicine has obvious differences from the practice of witchcraft. The meaning of a serpent is complex and found in many cultures. Moses did lift a serpent up on a pole, as Blaine said, but how that is interpreted can take many different forms. On the surface, we might say that Moses crucified the snake on the pole, and hence was showing its destruction. New Testament comments about it show that it was a type of Christ. Then again, the New Testament explains how Jesus became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God. So the serpent that Moses lifted up is still connected with the idea of evil, if we consider all of this together. Blaine might want to make some connection to say that Jesus is a serpent, but I think the better understanding here is that Jesus became that serpent, he became sin, when on the cross, but now he is not a serpent. I wonder if a Mormon like Blaine might prefer a serpent symbol for Christ over the symbol of a cross? Maybe he will tell us. In my opinion, the serpent generally represents evil and Satan; however, there are spiritual forces in this world that seek to make the serpent appear good and powerful. I think the caduceus is an example of that. While these forces might also seek to make the serpent "good" by associating it with the staff that Moses lifted up in the wilderness, I think spiritual people will see through that and understand that Jesus became sin for us on the cross, but now he is no longer sin or that serpent. He was lifted up once on the cross for all mankind, for our healing, but now he is resurrected, never to taste sin and death again. Peace be with you. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
