17. Chapter 17: His Use of Symbols

Chapter 17 His Use Of Symbols The use of the symbol is very closely related, to the me of the concrete. The symbol is itself something concrete set apart as a design or emblem to typify the abstract. Acts once performed as well as emblems repeatedly used may be symbolic. It is a very interesting subject, as we shall find.

Illustrations of symbols may be found in many departments of life besides religion. Write down a list of all the symbols that occur to you.

Mathematics and chemistry have long had their symbols for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and the common elements and substances, like oxygen, hydrogen, hydrochloric acid, etc. Is all language symbolic? How about abbreviations? the alphabet? the A. B. and other degrees? the letter on the college sweater? Is paper money symbolic? Of what? How about the figures on coins? Is the cipher printing of telegraphy symbolic? How about secret codes?

How are gems sometimes used as symbols? For example, emerald, moonstone, and opal for immortality, good lack, and bad luck.

There is a French school of poetry of symbolism, in which poetry is made to symbolize music in conveying emotions rather than ideas, of which Paul Verlaine is a leading exponent.

Astronomical and weather symbols abound.

There is even an insanity of symbolism in which the person treats events not as real, but as symbolizing some mystic meaning. And of course we have symbolism in religion. Formal creeds are the best illustrations. Confessions, too, are symbols. The study of creeds and confessions is itself a special branch of theology known as “symbolics.” Among familiar religious symbols are the cross, the dove, the ox, the lion, the eagle, for the second and third persons of the Trinity, Luke, Mark, and John. The swastika appears in many different forms, the meaning of which is doubtful. Many symbols of the sun are used in both religious and patriotic meanings, as on the Union Jack and the Japanese flags.

Why use symbols? They are a great economy, they appeal to the imagination, they suggest more than can be clearly stated, they are bonds of unity. Think of the signs of the deal mute, of the Red Cross, of the Y M C A triangle, of the masonic badges, of fraternity pins, of church steeples, of the phallus and the lingam in some pagan worship, of insignia on banners and coins, and the like.

It is evident that symbols play a large role in religion and in life. There are some who hold that the gospel events themselves are primarily symbols of the common experiences in the life of humanity. Did you ever meet these views? For example, some regard the main events in the life of Jesus as symbolic of agriculture, saying that the first visit to Jerusalem typifies bringing the first fruits into the Temple, the baptism is the irrigation of the soil by rain, the temptation shows how grain cannot grow in some soil, the devil is unfruitfulness, the burial is the death of vegetation in winter, and the resurrection is the new life of springtime.

How does this impress you? Is there a sense in which the main events in the life of Christ typify what should occur in the life of every Christian? Did Jesus make use of symbols? Make a list of the possible symbols used by Jesus, and a parallel list of their meanings.

Compare it with the following list.

Here are only six. Ought all these to appear in the list? Have any of these been regarded by some bodies of Christians as realities, not symbols? For example, foot-washing and the Eucharist? Can you think of any proper additions to the list? For example, can the cleansing of the Temple be regarded as a symbol of rejection of the sacrificial system?

It is not always easy to distinguish between a symbol and a concrete illustration. The symbol, however, is more or less set apart to render the specific service of recalling its associate. Thus the palm branch is a symbol of victory, and the anchor of hope. The concrete is any sensible thing. So all symbols are concrete, but not all concrete things are symbols. Thus, the ink bottle before me is concrete, yet not symbolic. However, an ink pot with a pen is an Egyptian hieroglyph signifying a scribe.

Some of the common symbols for Jesus himself are the Good Shepherd, the lamb, the lion, the fish, the Chrismon, and I.H.S. The reasons for symbolizing Jesus as the Good Shepherd and the lamb are obvious. The Apocalypse describes Jesus as the lion of the tribe of Judah. The fish is an early Christian symbol of Jesus. The Greek word for fish is ichthus the letters of which are the initials of five Greek words meaning Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. The symbol was possibly chosen to throw the persecutors of Christianity off the track. The Chrismon is a monogram of the Greek Chr., meaning Christos. I.H.S. is, of course, Jesus hominum salvator.

Notice that the remarkable thing about the symbols used by Jesus is that they are acts. Could the baptism of Jesus be regarded as symbolic?

Study Jeremiah 13:1-14 and note the symbol of the girdle.

Why are such symbolic acts no longer performed? Do you see any way to use symbolic acts today?