Mark 5 - In Depth Bible Commentaries

718(...continued)to a woman an instrument to produce abortion. With purity and with holiness I will pass my lifeand practice my art. I will not cut a person who is suffering with a stone, but will leave this tobe done by practitioners of this work. Into whatever houses I may enter, I will go into them forthe benefit of the sick and will abstain from every voluntary art of mischief and corruption; andfurther myself from the seduction of females or males, bond or free. Whatever, in connectionwith my professional practice, or not in connection with it, I may see or hear in the lives of menwhich ought not to be spoken abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that all such should bekept secret.'"Alcmaion of Croton (c. 500 B.C.) and Hippocrates of Cos (c. 420 B.C.) were not onlypioneers and discoverers; they also founded famous schools..." (P. 196) But, Oepke warns,"We must not form exaggerated ideas as to the general spread of scientific medicine.Alongside it there flourished in every age superstition and religion. The boundaries are fluid.Religion was recognized as an independent force by medicine, nor did it wholly scorn to makealliance with the latter. From around the 1st century A.D. the scientific enlightenment waschecked by a new growth of religion, and also of superstition." (P. 196)Among both the Greeks and the Romans, Asklepios or Aesculapius was looked uponas the god of healing (along with other gods). The sanctuary of Aesculapius at Epidaurus,located on the eastern shore of the Greek Peloponnesus, was one of the most famous healingcenters of the ancient world, and much can be learned from the archaeological discoveriesmade there. It was an ancient "Lourdes." Other centers of healing were to be found inAthens, Pergamos, and Jerusalem (just to the north of the Temple Mount), but especially atCos, on an island off the coast of southwestern Turkey.For a beautiful Jewish description of the worth of a physician, see Sirach (orEcclesiasticus), chapter 38:1-15:“Honor the doctor for his services, for the Lord created him. His skill comes from theMost High, and he is rewarded by kings. The doctor's knowledge gives him high standing andwins him the admiration of the great. The Lord has created medicines from the earth, and asensible person will not disparage them. Was it not a tree that sweetened water and sodisclosed its properties? The Lord has imparted knowledge to human beings, that by their useof his marvels he may win praise; by using them the doctor relieves pain and from them thepharmacist makes up his mixture. There is no end to the works of the Lord, who spreadshealth over the whole world.“My son, if you have an illness, do not neglect it, but pray to the Lord, and he will healyou. Renounce your faults, amend your ways, and cleanse your heart from all missing of themark. Bring a savory offering and bring flour for a token and pour oil on the sacrifice; be asgenerous as you can. Then call in the doctor, for the Lord created him; do not let him leaveyou, for you need him. There may come a time when your recovery is in their hands; thenthey too will pray to the Lord to give them success in relieving pain and finding a cure to savetheir patient's life. When a person has sinned against his maker, let him put himself in thedoctor's hands."442(continued...)