Is the Cross Really Christian?
A ROMAN emperor was preparing for battle and felt the need of help from the gods. As the story goes, he saw a bright light in the sky in the form of a cross and with it the words: “By this conquer.” Adopting the sign as the standard for his army, he went on to win a series of crucial victories that led to his becoming sole ruler of the Roman Empire in 324 C.E.
The hero of this famous story was Constantine the Great. From that time on, the Roman Church became the official religion of the empire and grew rapidly in prestige, popularity and power. At the same time, the cross became the official symbol of the church—it gradually adorned religious buildings, was erected on hilltops and mountains, at crossroads and in public squares. It was hung on the walls of homes and around the necks of millions of people.
Variety and Origin
Actually there are many different types of crosses, a few of which are shown here. The one most used by churches today is the Latin cross, since it is believed to be the shape of the executional instrument on which Jesus Christ died an agonizing death. Although a literal cross is often used in many religious rites and ceremonies, at other times what is done is simply to make the sign of the cross by moving one’s finger or hand so as to outline a cross.
However, the use of the cross as a religious symbol goes back much further than the time of Christ and is thus of non-Christian origin. An example is its use in India in ancient times. There, in the Cave of Elephanta, a cross can be seen over the head of a figure engaged in massacring infants. In another ancient Indian painting the god Krishna is represented with six arms, three of which are holding a cross.
When the Spanish conquistadores took over parts of the Americas, they were surprised to find religious crosses in many places. Writes author Baring-Gould in his book Curious Myths of the Middle Ages: “In the state of Oaxaca [Mexico], the Spaniards found that wooden crosses were erected as sacred symbols . . . In South America, the same sign was considered symbolical and sacred. It was revered in Paraguay. In Peru the Incas honoured a cross made out of a single piece of jasper . . . Among the Muyscas at Cumana the cross . . . was believed to be endued with power to drive away evil spirits; consequently new-born children were placed under the sign.”
Likewise, in other parts of the world, the cross has been revered from ancient times and credited with mystic powers. Observes the Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature: “The sign of the cross is found as a holy symbol among several ancient nations, who may accordingly be named . . . devotees of the cross. . . . The symbol of the cross appears to have been most various in its significations. Sometimes it is the Phallus [used in sex worship], sometimes the planet Venus.”
But what about the early Christian congregation? Did they use it also?
Did First-Century Christians Use the Cross?
Showing that the cross was not a symbol used in early Christianity, the book Records of Christianity states: “Even the Cross was not directly employed in church decoration . . . The earliest symbol of Christ was a fish (second century); on the earliest carved tombs he is represented as the Good Shepherd (third century).” Also, J. Hall in his Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art writes: “After the recognition of Christianity by Constantine the Great, and more so from the 5th cent., the cross began to be represented on sarcophagi [stone coffins], lamps, caskets and other objects.” (Italics ours.) Adds Sir E. A. Wallis Budge in Amulets and Talismans: “The cross did not become the supreme emblem and symbol of Christianity until the IVth century.” No, there is no record of the use of the cross by first-century Christians.
Interestingly, the cross that Constantine is reputed to have seen in the sky and then used as his military banner was not the Latin cross but the sign [Artwork—Greek characters] that some relate to sun worship (Constantine himself was a sun worshiper) and others to the Chi-Rho monogram—the first two letters of “Christ” in Greek. Since then the cross has been frequently used to add an aura of righteousness to unchristian military activities such as the Crusades, when many vile atrocities were committed by “soldiers of the Cross.”
What Does the Bible Show?
‘But,’ you say, ‘my Bible actually states that Jesus died on a cross.’ And, in reality, many Bible translations do use the word “cross.” But what word did the original Bible writers use? There are two Greek words used for the executional instrument on which Christ died—staurós and xýlon. The authoritative Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible gives as the primary meaning for staurós “a stake or post,” and for xýlon “timber,” “tree” or “wood.” The New Bible Dictionary says: “The Gk. word for ‘cross’ (staurós, verb stauróo) means primarily an upright stake or beam, and secondarily a stake used as an instrument for punishment and execution.”
The Latin word used for the instrument on which Christ died was crux which, according to Livy, a famous Roman historian of the first century C.E., means a mere stake. The Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature says that the crux simplex was a “mere stake ‘of one single piece without transom [crossbar].’” (See diagram.)
In confirmation of this, appendix No. 162 of The Companion Bible states concerning staurós that it “denotes an upright pale or stake, to which the criminals were nailed for execution. . . . It never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle, but always of one piece alone.” (Italics theirs.) The appendix concludes: “The evidence is thus complete, that the Lord was put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of timber placed at any angle.”
With its roots in ancient pagandom, and the evidence that Christ was not impaled on the traditional cross, nor did the early Christians use such a symbol, one is led to this conclusion: The cross is not really Christian.
What Will You Do?
It takes courage to break away from an entrenched religious tradition originating in the mists of pagan antiquity. A good example of such a break is in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, which renders staurós as “torture stake” and the verb stauróo as “impale,” not “crucify.” This frees from all taint of paganism the precious sacrifice that our Lord and Savior made.
How will this knowledge affect you in relation to venerating and displaying or wearing a cross, or making the sign of the cross? The apostle Paul urged Christians to “flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14) The apostle John added: “Guard yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21) So one seeking to worship God would want to be very careful to avoid putting worshipful or superstitious trust in idols of “silver and gold, the work of the hands of earthling man.”—Psalm 115:4, 8, 11.
A fine example was set by those in ancient Ephesus who, heeding the preaching by the apostle Paul and finding that the items they used were not in harmony with true Christianity, brought them together “and burned them up before everybody.” (Acts 19:18, 19) After all, why cherish and adore the instrument that was supposedly used to murder the Lord Jesus Christ?
[Pictures on page 15]
(For fully formatted text, see publication.)
Papal cross
Latin cross
Crux simplex, or stake
Greek cross
Saint Andrew’s cross
Celtic cross
Ankh, or Egyptian cross
Maltese cross
Tau
[Picture on page 16]
The crux simplex as illustrated by the Roman Catholic scholar Justus Lipsius in his book De Cruce Libri Tres