Nat: Should I wear a necklace with a cross on it?

Question

It was a gift and I was wearing it to show that I was a Christian.
but it was a pagan symbol according to google. It was worshipped a long time before Christ and he was hung on a stake Roman's never hung anyone on a cross.
Why would you worship something used to kill someone you love?
Why do the Churches do it since that isn't true?

I mean it isn't anything but a pagan symbol

I'm not getting it for everyone here. There is more than one person using this avatar.
Nat is my nick name

Answer 1

You are right, it is well known that the cross is pagan in origin, there are many religions claiming to worship god but clearly doing things which are wrong, not just using the cross. Consider the following info:

Even if we ignore the evidence and assume that Jesus was killed on a cross, should it be venerated? No, for Jesus was executed as a criminal, like the men impaled alongside him, and his manner of death misrepresented him in the worst way. First-century Christians would not have viewed the instrument of his execution as sacred. Venerating it would have meant glorifying the wrong deed committed on it, the murder of Jesus.

If your dearest friend were executed on false charges, would you make an image of the instrument of execution (say a hangman’s noose or an electric chair or the rifle of a firing squad) and then kiss that replica, burn candles before it, or wear it around your neck as a sacred ornament? That would be unthinkable. So, too, with the adoration of the cross. The fact that the cross is of pagan origin only makes the matter worse.

The veneration of the cross is not Christian. It does not show love for God or Christ but mocks what they stand for. It violates God’s commandments against idolatry. It reveres a pagan symbol masquerading as Christian. (Exodus 20:4, 5; Psalm 115:4-8; 1 Corinthians 10:14) To consider a pagan symbol as sacred violates God’s command: “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? . . . ‘Quit touching the unclean thing.’”—2 Corinthians 6:14, 17.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

There are several websites that claim that Jesus didn't die on a cross. They might be right, but there is also a chance that they're wrong. Most of the information I've seen on these websites only present half-truths. Most people already have their minds made up and don't really care about what is actually the truth, but here is some of the information I've found.

This is a partial quote from the Imperial Bible Dictionary. You can probably find it on the Internet and read it in its entirety:

"The Greek word for cross, stauros, properly signified a stake, an upright pole....But from the time it began to be used as an instrument of punishment, a transverse piece of wood was commonly added ; not however always even then...For it would seem there were more kinds of death than one by the cross....about the period of the gospel age, crucifixion was usually accomplished by suspending the criminal on a cross piece of wood."

I've also see W E Vine quoted often to support the idea that Jesus didn't die on a cross because W E Vine says that the T with the crosspiece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ. But if you actually read W E Vine's Expository, you find that he believed that Jesus died on a cross, although he felt that the particular form (the small t) had been adopted because of its prior use by pagans.

So like someone already said, you shouldn't believe everything you read on the Internet because you don't always get the complete story.

Answer 3

Of course no one should worship something that was used to kill someone you love. No one should worship anything other than God. But wearing a cross around your neck is not worship, at least according to about 99% of the world's population.

If you think that Romans didn't hang people on crosses, then you are not very well read on the subject of crucifixion. Just because they also hung people on trees and stakes doesn't change the fact that sometimes stakes had a cross piece also.

Frax says that first century Christians would not have viewed the instrument of his execution as sacred and that venerating it would have meant glorifying the wrong deed committed on it, the murder of Jesus. Well, Frax, you couldn't be any more wrong according to this comment made by the apostle Paul in the first century:

Galatians 6:14, KJV: "But God forbid that I should GLORY, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ".

Or if you prefer the New World Translation, it says: "Never may it occur that I should boast, except in the torture stake of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So according to YOU, Paul was guilty of GLORIFYING the MURDER of Jesus. Looks like Paul didn't exactly see it the same way as you do. Too bad he isn't here so that you could set him straight, since you're such an authority on how first century Christians like Paul would view the instrument of Jesus' death.

Answer 4

I wear a crucifix, a miraculous medal, and some medals of saints around my neck. Although, I wear them under my shirt. I've gotten a priest to bless them all.

Jesus wasn't hung on a stake, he was hung on a cross. Don't believe everything you read...or the history channel for that matter.

If you want to show that your a christian, do it by your actions and your words. The way that you treat people. How you live your life. Don't show them by a symbol. It's ok to wear it, as a reminder. I think it's important to have a crucifix in the home or near you. To remind you of what Jesus suffered, and that ultimately, to live a christian life is to experience suffering at one point or another.

Also, many things that are now christian used to be pagan. God has a ways of taken what was pagan and making it Christian. When people convert they took their culture with them. Just because pagans didn't know about Christ doesn't make them bad. Some were good, some were bad. They were, essentially, looking for God. When the gospel began being spread throughout the world, many pagans were converted. Some were not.

Answer 5

But, then, isn't everything a Pagan symbol. Every time I hear anything about a religion, it seems as though the Pagans claim it was a symbol to them ages before?
But then, if it was used in an event that changes everything, doesn't it now become something symbolic to people? I mean, 9-11 was just a date, but now it is symbolic of a change in America.
I's not the symbol, but what it represents. Whether Jesus died on a cross, a tree, a plane, in a box with a fox, does not change that he died. What is important is not to make the symbol more important than the reason for the symbol

Answer 6

If I were Christian, I would not wear it because it is a symbol of death. I would adopt the fishy instead, which is a bit happier.

I think you could wear it because it was a gift, and it shows that someone cares for you.

As for it being a Pagan symbol, we have the pentacle, which was oddly enough adopted by Christians to symbolize the 5 wounds of Christ.

Answer 7

Wear it if you want to. It can be simply a pretty piece of jewelry.

When I was toying with the idea of becoming a "born again pagan" I picked up a pentacle/pentagram or two.

I passed on that idea, but I still have the jewelry. I don't wear it as much, but there's one that I really love. I haven't rejected pentacles; I think they're a great symbol, but I can also look on the necklace as simply a very pretty star hanging on a chain.

Answer 8

It really does not matter if the cross used to be a pagan symbol. It is now widely recognized as a Christian symbol.

The cross is used as a Christian symbol because it was believed that Jesus died on a cross. it also reminds us of Jesus command to take up our own personal cross and to follow him.

Better than a cross, go and buy a crucifix - a cross with the figure of Jesus on it.

Answer 9

Christians wear an empty cross on their neck to remind them that Jesus rose on the 3rd day. Crosses that still have Jesus being crucified on them are used to remind them of the suffering that Jesus endured for their sins. Nowadays, it is not used as a pagan symbol, and most people who wear crosses around their neck are considered to be Christians.

Jesus carried the horizontal part of the cross up to the tree on the mount of Golgatha (mountain that looks like a skull), and once Jesus was nailed to the horizontal part, the horizontal part was nailed to the tree along with Jesus' feet.

P.S. Don't believe everything you Google.

Answer 10

Christs diciples were instructed not to venerate craven images.
or bow down to gods made of gold or wooden Idols.God demands
exclusive devotion...the cross was used in pagen ceremonies
before the"christians"adapted it into there rites.Christ was not hung on a cross,it was a stake.I dont know where some people get there
info.but one answerer stated that Christ carried the horizontal part
of the cross and then it was nailed to a tree! WOW!!!