Freethought & Rationalism Archive

ju'iblex · 03-01-2002, 12:20 AM

Forgive me if i'm wrong, but ive been looking up Christian symbolism sites recently and i came across something which i found interesting.

The symbolism of the serpent is obviously the representation of Satan. or according in full to <a href="http://home.att.net/~wegast/symbols/symbols.htm" target="_blank">this particular website</a>

Quote:

A serpent coiled around a fruiting tree is a symbol taken from the Genesis account of the Fall. Though not named in Genesis, the serpent is understood to be Satan. The tree is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, one of two trees from which Adam and Eve were not to eat (the other was the Tree of Life). The fruit, usually represented by an apple, is the tree's "forbidden fruit."

Gen. 2:8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground &emdash;trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (NIV)

Gen. 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (NIV)

Gen. 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" (NIV)

and then, in another section we have the symbolism of the bronze serpent on the pole.

Quote:

The serpent of bronze is an important Old Testament picture of Christ. Jesus himself recognized the typology when he said, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." (John 3:14,15 NIV)

Num. 21:4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, (n) to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!" 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. (NIV)

Not only do we find the omnibenevolent god punishing his promised divine people for whinging. (Yeah, he really loves them

).

But its saying the serpent represents Jesus. But the serpent also represents Satan. so logically Jesus is Satan and vice versa. Not to mention that God sent a representation of Satan as a healing device.

Thoughts anyone?

[ March 01, 2002: Message edited by: juiblex ]</p>

Pitshade · 03-01-2002, 04:26 AM

This is an interesting site I stumbled on a while back. It has a lot about the conflict between the Old and New Testaments.

<a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~understand/BIB/lessons.htm" target="_blank">things we didn't find out in sunday school</a>

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03-01-2002, 04:26 AM	#2
Pitshade Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Sugar Grove,NC Posts: 4,316	This is an interesting site I stumbled on a while back. It has a lot about the conflict between the Old and New Testaments. <a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~understand/BIB/lessons.htm" target="_blank">things we didn't find out in sunday school</a>

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