Serpent Cross

[paradox]

Here is an image of the so called "serpent cross"
What association does this image produce in your mind?
How would you interpret it?

Christian interpretation:

Christian interpretation is that Christ, as the second Adam, has defeated Satan and saved man.
Christians therefore might view the Serpent Cross as a crucifixion of the serpent thereby showing victory over the Devil.

Alternative biblical interpretation:

The most popular explanation however, is from the story of the Israelites who, whilst crossing the desert, began complaining against God and the prophet Moses.
God vented His wrath by sending serpents and many people were bitten and died before Moses interceded by praying to God to forgive them.

God instructed Moses to raise a venomous snake on a staff and all the wounded Israelites who looked on it were immediately healed.
The Serpent Cross draws a parallel with Christ, who was raised upon a cross for people to look upon and be healed.

I took these quotes from Serpent Cross (seiyaku.com)

I find this symbolism interpretation very profound because serpent on staff is used around the globe in hospitals in addition to having biblical symbolism.

There are several other interpretations including non Christian in origin but I'm mostly interested in biblical context, this article also seems useful:
Does the Serpentine Symbol of Healing Have a Biblical Origin? | ArmstrongInstitute.org

If we combine 2 interpretations above to 1 we get something like this:

The bronze serpent was God’s means of salvation for the Israelites who were bitten by the serpents in the wilderness.
Jesus Christ crucified is God’s means of salvation for everyone who has been bitten by the deadly venom of sin in the wilderness of this fallen world

If you wish you can also read on serpent symbolism on wikipedia:
Serpent symbolism - Wikipedia

However I don't find this satisfying, I believe there is much deeper meaning...
In quest for deeper understanding I stumbled upon "Lewis Trilemma":
Lewis Trilemma - RationalWiki

He tells that one cannot accept Jesus only as a moral teacher but must rather make a decision:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of Hell

This leads to:

Due to the law of the excluded middle, Jesus was either correct or incorrect in his claim of divinity. He also either believed or did not believe he was divine. Therefore one of 1A, 1B, 1C, or 1D applies to Jesus:

1A. Believed He was God and was correct in His belief (Lord).
1B. Believed he was God and was incorrectWikipedia (lunatic).
1C. Did not believe He was God but actually was God (ignored as a possibility).
1D. Correctly believed he was not God because he wasn't God (liar).

Therefore philosophically Jesus is either son of God, lunatic or liar, which prevents you from saying that Jesus is just a moral teacher (but not God), because if he is then he is either a liar or lunatic and as such not really a moral teacher.

In regard to symbolism of the serpent cross, this means looking at the cross should either heal us from sin if you believe Jesus is son of God as quoted before or otherwise provoke some fear in us such as authority of the cross over evil or evil doers and as such heal us from doing evil.

What are your opinions?
Do you agree with my opinion or how would you interpret serpent cross?

 

[lostwanderingsoul]

Satan loves the cross. When you see all these crosses with Jesus hanging on them it makes you forget that Jesus is not dead but is alive in heaven. Satan wants you to remember Jesus as a dead body on a cross.

 

[The Hammer]

The "serpent" cross, reminds me that we are all filled with the power/Magick, to do both good and evil. Because the serpent is a symbol of power, and fertility.

Not good not bad. Grey.

The serpent that encircles the world. Jormungandr. Grasping its own tail, and awaiting it's release at Ragnarok.

 

[exchemist]

Here is an image of the so called "serpent cross"
What association does this image produce in your mind?
How would you interpret it?

Christian interpretation:


Alternative biblical interpretation:


I took these quotes from Serpent Cross (seiyaku.com)

I find this symbolism interpretation very profound because serpent on staff is used around the globe in hospitals in addition to having biblical symbolism.

There are several other interpretations including non Christian in origin but I'm mostly interested in biblical context, this article also seems useful:
Does the Serpentine Symbol of Healing Have a Biblical Origin? | ArmstrongInstitute.org

If we combine 2 interpretations above to 1 we get something like this:


If you wish you can also read on serpent symbolism on wikipedia:
Serpent symbolism - Wikipedia

However I don't find this satisfying, I believe there is much deeper meaning...
In quest for deeper understanding I stumbled upon "Lewis Trilemma":
Lewis Trilemma - RationalWiki

He tells that one cannot accept Jesus only as a moral teacher but must rather make a decision:


This leads to:




Therefore philosophically Jesus is either son of God, lunatic or liar, which prevents you from saying that Jesus is just a moral teacher because if he is then he is either a liar or lunatic and as such not really a moral teacher.

In regard to symbolism of the serpent cross, this means looking at the cross should either heal us from sin if you believe Jesus is son of God as quoted before or otherwise provoke some fear in us such as authority of the cross over evil or evil doers and as such heal us from doing evil.

What are your opinions?
Do you agree with my opinion or how would you interpret serpent cross?

My first reaction was a symbol of medicine (Asclepius), but I think that should more properly be a staff rather than a cross. (I was only aware of the medical association of the symbol because Osler House, the club of the medical students at Oxford, used to have a serpent on a staff painted on the oars of their boats, when they raced in the Summer Eights bumps.)

 

[paradox]

My first reaction was a symbol of medicine (Asclepius), but I think that should more properly be a staff rather than a cross. (I was only aware of the medical association of the symbol because Osler House, the club of the medical students at Oxford, used to have a serpent on a staff painted on the oars of their boats, when they raced in the Summer Eights bumps.)

It's difficult to find origin of serpent cross, where did it first time appear?, who made it? and for what reason?, unlike staff and serpent which dates back to Asclepius.
I would really like to know the origin of serpent and cross.

 

[exchemist]

It's difficult to find origin of serpent cross, where did it first time appear?, who made it? and for what reason?, unlike staff and serpent which dates back to Asclepius.
I would really like to know the origin of serpent and cross.

From a brief web search it looks as if it may have been dreamt up by various esoteric groups that liked the idea of the mingling of opposites represented by combining the symbol of Christ with that of Satan: black/white, yin/yang, good/evil etc. which is all a bit tedious. Maybe someone will come up with something more profound, though.......

 

[Brickjectivity]

Here is an image of the so called "serpent cross"
What association does this image produce in your mind?
How would you interpret it?

We're talking about many thousands of years of human symbolism, and the serpents have taken on different meanings. It depends upon whose serpent cross it is...

The serpent upon the cross is a reminder to someone that Jesus is like that brass serpent. It is also a suggestion that the concept of atonement for all people (not only Jews) has been in the making since or before the time of Moses. To wear this serpent cross would be like saying "It was always the plan that everyone in the world would be in fellowship with the Jewish faith." There are obstacles to justifying this just based upon the story of the brass serpent though. I'm not saying that it is a settled argument but only that it is the statement such a cross makes to me.

The story of the brass serpent and the Israelite gypsies escaping Egypt can be found in Numbers chapter 21. This story at the moment seems impenetrable to me. I would guess that the brass serpent actually is a euphemism for a popular figure who opposes Moses and is executed, because the story is so impenetrable. My guess is probably wrong, but the story is so difficult that you couldn't actually say that I am wrong for sure. You can make sense of it by giving it various meanings, but with my Christian background I am trying to understand why it is referred to with reference to Jesus on the cross. The story in Numbers says the people are being bitten by poisonous snakes, and its because they have disobeyed the Lord. They cry out, and the Lord tells Moses to make the snake and put it up onto a pole for the people to see. Looking at it heals the snake bite. The story at face value makes zero sense. Now then what can it have to do with Jesus?

 

[paradox]

The story in Numbers says the people are being bitten by poisonous snakes, and its because they have disobeyed the Lord. They cry out, and the Lord tells Moses to make the snake and put it up onto a pole for the people to see. Looking at it heals the snake bite. The story at face value makes zero sense. Now then what can it have to do with Jesus?

Exactly, I agree.
Very likely Christian apologists connected 2 stories because serpent cross a lone can lead to mislead understanding, but it's interesting how 2 stories fit together though.

Numbers chapter 21. This story at the moment seems impenetrable to me. I would guess that the brass serpent actually is a euphemism for a popular figure who opposes Moses and is executed, because the story is so impenetrable.

Another interpretation of mine is snakes bit the Jews (which is punishment) but then snake is used to heal.
Snake is used in both cases therefore punishment heals.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

I see it symbolizing a dying and resurrecting god, something we can understand as being a part of ourselves: shedding our skin to be reborn as the eternal process of creation and destruction.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Snakes slither through a number of mythologies. Were I particularly interested, The Serpent Symbol in the Ancient Near East might prove worth reading.

 

[syo]

How would you interpret it?

The symbol of god.

 

[paradox]

The symbol of god.

Yes, sounds like a heresy but Christian interpretation easily refutes it

Those esoterics or who ever invented this sadly didn't give interpretation.