Hippocrates: Fall and Future Hope

3 Commentsby   |  09.07.13  |  Student Posts

Hippocrates has much to teach us about the fall of man.  However, he also makes suggestions that lead me to believe he believed in the restoration of people and a different kind of hope.  Usually, we associate the fall of man with things such as sickness, death, childbearing pains, etc.  Likewise, Hippocrates recognizes disease.  We know that Hippocrates was skilled at diagnosing, giving a prognosis, and suggesting treatment for disease.  One thing that’s different about Hippocratics though, is that they did not believe in any supernatural causes for disease.  Instead, they believe all illnesses were a result of natural causes.  For example, the Hippocratics believed in the four humors of the body, (black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm), and if the humors were somehow out of balance, illness resulted.  Although the fall of man in the Bible includes an encounter between man and an evil spiritual force, the serpent, Hippocratics don’t recognize the latter force.  In fact, Hippocrates says, “It is my opinion that those who first called this disease ‘sacred’ were the sort of people we now call witchdoctors, faith-healers, quacks, and charlatans…By invoking a divine element they were able to screen their own failure to give suitable treatment…” (37).   I think it is noteworthy that  in both the case of Adam and Eve and in the case of Hippocratics, Satan can be viewed as deceiving man.  In Genesis, the serpent deceives Adam and Eve into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree.  In the case of Hippocrates, we could say that he is deceived into thinking man can solve all of his own problems.

On the other hand, Hippocratics also “strongly believed that the body has the ability to heal itself and that it is the physician’s job to facilitate the healing” (37).  In the same way Christians believe we have a Great Physician through God, Hippocratics believed in the power of healing.  They didn’t leave people to die because of disease, they believed in helping people with the knowledge they had of the body.  Hippocratics recommended various “cures” to diseased people.  I believe this part of the Hippocratic knowledge speaks of Redemption and New Creation.  Both Redemption and New Creation in the Bible require a hope, a trust, in something bigger than ourselves, and a God that meets us where we are at and accepts us.  Similarly, Hippocratics accepted their patients with the goal of being an understanding doctor and treating patients that were hopeful and trusted them.  The Hippocratics even discussed grace in a way, giving treatment to the less fortunate by not charging a fee to those who weren’t financially able.  I think Jesus would agree with that way of thinking.  Lifting others up, paying attention to the poor, to the needy, to those who needed healing.  Hippocrates lifetime was dated before Christ, but I’m curious how his views may have changed had he witnessed a lifetime in or after Jesus’ time on Earth.
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3 Comments

  1. Irene Anderson
    6:51 pm, 09.09.13

    I loved how you reconciled physical and spiritual healing. I think both are essential. I also think that if we are spiritually/mentally imbalanced though that we get things like depression or schizophrenia or a personality disorder. Obviously we have medicine for that, but it doesn’t always work. One could even say sin is a symptom of spiritual imbalance. However, like you said we have doctors who treat the physical and another who treats the spiritual. I never really thought of God as a physician in his own right, but He definitely is.

  2. Zach Stromberg
    8:07 pm, 09.09.13

    Great comparison of Hippocrates’ way of thinking to the idea of redemption, new creation, and even the teachings of Jesus. It’s interesting that when we experience some sort of pain or discomfort we tend to dwell in the idea of restoration. Even throughout history, all the way to the present, there is that sense of hope you mentioned, whether it was in natural healing, medicine, or the power of Jesus’ sacrifice. Because of the state of the fallen world, we are blessed to be able to hope in restoration because there is a form of redemption that can push us past our fallen selves.

  3. Nicole Nelson
    10:06 pm, 09.09.13

    Jacey,

    I LOVE how you talk about us having a Great Physician in God. It is so true! So often we as humans forget about God’s healing powers, we are so ready to recognize all the other amazing works that He does in our life, and yet we forget to recognize the most basic of all! I also really enjoyed all the different connections that you make between many of the Hippocratic views and many of Jesus’/God’s views. Especially when Hippocrates talks about treating the poor for free. It would definitely be really interesting to see how Hippocrates basic ideologies would match up with some Christian theology, I think Jesus and Hippocrates would probably have gotten along really well if they lived during the same time! Lastly, I loved the connection that you made between Satan deceiving Adam and Eve and then Hippocrates is deceived into believing man can solve his own problems. I never thought of it that way, it was a very interesting thought, and a great post in general!

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