10 minutes with … James Charlesworth

(RNS) Snakes have had a bad reputation as old as time itself. It started with the Garden of Eden, when a crafty serpent lured Eve, and then Adam, into eating fruit from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Serpents slither in and out of passages throughout the Bible, often misconstrued as […]

(RNS6-JUNE06) Daniel Smith-Christopher is a professor of theology at Loyola Marymount 
University in Los Angeles and author of ?Jonah, Jesus and Other Good Coyotes: Speaking 
Peace to Power in the Bible.?  For use with RNS-10-MINUTES, transmitted June 6, 2007. 
Religion News Service photo courtesy of Loyola Marymount University.

(RNS6-JUNE06) Daniel Smith-Christopher is a professor of theology at Loyola Marymount
University in Los Angeles and author of ?Jonah, Jesus and Other Good Coyotes: Speaking
Peace to Power in the Bible.? For use with RNS-10-MINUTES, transmitted June 6, 2007.
Religion News Service photo courtesy of Loyola Marymount University.

(RNS) Snakes have had a bad reputation as old as time itself. It started with the Garden of Eden, when a crafty serpent lured Eve, and then Adam, into eating fruit from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Serpents slither in and out of passages throughout the Bible, often misconstrued as evil symbols, when many times they represent healing and life, says Princeton Theological Seminary professor James H. Charlesworth.


After reading a perplexing passage in the Gospel of John that likens Jesus to a serpent, Charlesworth spent 10 years studying the symbolism of snakes in ancient civilizations and different world cultures.

The result is Charlesworth’s new book, “The Good & Evil Serpent: How a Universal Symbol Became Christianized,” that tries to give a new perspective on a creature that most people have associated with evil.

Answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Why is it important to research the symbolic meaning of serpents in the Bible?

A: Most scholars and people who read the Bible imagine that the serpent is evil, indeed the devil. But that’s easily disproved by a study of archaeology and literary texts from antiquity. Yes, the serpent is sometimes a symbol of evil, but what predominates is the good image of health, wisdom and healing. We should not forget that Jesus said “be wise as a serpent.”

Q: What are some of the symbolic meanings of serpents that you found in your research?

A: The serpent can be a symbol of bad sex, of evil, of the devil, of God’s antagonist. That’s where most biblical scholars have stopped. But far more prevalent, as most archaeologists know, are the various positive meanings represented by the serpent. It’s also the symbol of good sex and life, the symbol of healing, new life, wisdom, truth, immortality and the quintessential guardian of what is valuable, including guardian of the king.


Q: So, which is it? Are serpents symbols of good or evil?

A: The purpose of my book is to help people realize the serpent is not only a negative symbol but primarily a positive one. Look at all of our medical prescriptions: we see two serpents facing each other, signifying the serpent brings healing.

Q: What does your research reveal about the meaning of the serpent in the story of Adam and Eve?

A: In Genesis 3, people often ask, “Why did the serpent deceive Eve?” Recognizing that the serpent is almost always good, we then can look at the text in a new light. The animal that appears, in the original Hebrew, is the “Nachash.” The author states clearly that the “nahash” is the most ingenious animal of the field that God has created. He is therefore not a serpent. He is a beast of the field.

By studying ancient drawings, ancient art and text, we learn that the mythological serpent had legs. Later in the story, he must begin to crawl. What does this mean? The rabbis made it very clear that God ordered his agents to cut off the arms and legs of the “nahash.” That’s when it became a snake.

Q: You got hung up on a passage in John. Tell me about that.

A: John 3:14 refers to the “Son of Man” being lifted up, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. In terms of Semitic poetry, the “Son of Man” is parallel to the serpent in the preceding line. So we’re challenged to think how Jesus could be portrayed as a serpent.

Q: So what should we make of that?

A: In terms of symbolism, the source of life in many cults is the serpent. When one recognizes that the serpent is life and rejuvenation because it gets new skin, we can understand the meaning of John 3:14.


The passage takes on crystal-clear new meaning when we perceive that Jesus, like the serpent, has come to bring new life, wisdom, and for those who can believe in it in the first century, resurrection.

When Jesus is raised up on the cross, he is more than a symbol of one being crucified; he is a symbol of the only one who can give us full life, eternal life. Therefore, as the serpent gets new skin and a new life, the crucifixion represents resurrection from the laws and the old skin. This is quite a shock to scholars. No one has ever thought of this.

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