Leon's Message Board

The god Asclepius, the healing god, was widely worshiped in biblical times, especially in Grecian and Roman periods. The Asclepian at Pergamum in Asia Minor was world famous. We’ve previously posted, click here and here on that one.

It may surprise you to know that there was a healing center devoted to this god in Jerusalem, just 100+ yards north of the Herodian temple adjacent to the pool of Bethesda.

Temple to the healing god Asclepius at Pool of Bethesda. Photo by Leon Mauldin.

This temple dates back to Roman times, but after the ministry of Jesus.

We’ve posted on Bethesda here and here.

Asclepius is also associated with the Egyptian god Serapis (see here and here), Serapis having become one of the most popular deities in the Roman Empire. The yellow placard in photo the above photo in Jerusalem names both identifies this site as “Temple de Serapis” as well as “Asclepian Temple.”

Serapis, Egyptian god of healing, assimilated by Romans. Photo by Leon Mauldin. Metro Museum NY.

Paul would write the Corinthians, “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him” (1 Cor. 8:5-6).

Click images for larger view.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2014 at 1:43 PM and is filed under Bible History and Geography, Bible Study, Egypt, Israel, Jerusalem, photography, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.