Was Jesus nailed to a cross or a tree?

Question

The gospels says cross bt then you read further an Paul says tree! So which is it ?

Answer 1

Jesus was nailed to a cross made out of a tree.

Answer 2

'Tree' in the bible often means an upright pole; it's found in the Old Testament too. Crucifixion was commonly used on rebels and bandits, and Jesus, although convicted under Jewish law for blasphemy, was charged before Pilate with insurrection and crucified for that crime; that's what the gospel accounts say. It's possible Jesus was crucified on a stake or a tree. The Romans would use anything: a convenient tree, a roof-beam, a city gate, the wall of a house. In describing the executions of rebellious Jews after the fall of Jerusalem, Flavius Josephus says the Romans nailed the victims to stakes. But this would still be referred to as 'hung on a tree' in rhetorical speech. Probably the 'fish' and 'chi-rho' symbols were more common, but the cross was used as a Christian symbol in the early second century, and possibly earlier. Minucius Felix mentions it in his 'Octavius', and Tertullian describes the 'sign of the cross' still used by Catholics in 'De Corona'. Catacombs in Rome were sometimes marked with 'anchor crosses' rather than fish. I don't know when the cross began to take precedence, but I suspect it happened when Christian preaching began to emphasize death over resurrection ... as the Second Coming didn't happen and the fall of civilization did. The Egyptian ankh, the Celtic cross and the Persian/Indian cross symbols, all older than the Christian one, were symbols of life and balance, not suffering death.

Answer 3

He would have been nailed to a "wooden stake" which was the common practice at that time. There is NO mention in the bible of Jesus nailed to a "crucifix". Actually, there is NO real evidence Jesus ever existed anyway outside the bible. ALL so called writing proofs (Josephus etc.) have been proven pious frauds or were not even written during the time of Jesus. The idea of the "cross" or "t" more likely came from Pagan beliefs which used a "t" which was the symbol of the Pagan god, and the cross was a symbol of Paganism long before Christianity.

Answer 4

As someone else stated, the shape of the instrument of the murder of Jesus is not what is important, but the fact of the event is.

Most people do not realize that the Greek word which in most Bibles rendered as "cross" is stauros, which literally should be translated as stake, post, or pale (as in "impale").

However, many who profess Christianity have an almost worshipful attitude toward the cross, even if they do not actually worship it. Can this not be considered a form of idolatry?

It is recorded in Numbers 21:9 how, when many of the Israelites were bitten by poisonous snakes, Moses made a copper snake on a pole, and when people looked at it they were healed.

That was a "type" of our exercising faith in the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. Interestingly, however, later that copper snake had to be destroyed because people had begun to worship it. (2-Kings 18:4)

People are treating the "cross" the same way in our time.

Answer 5

A cross. The term "tree" is used occasionally , but that's because the cross was made from a tree.

That was the normal mode of execution carried out by the Romans in those days.

Answer 6

A cross made from a tree

Answer 7

Just like " Chicken of the sea" means Tuna, Jesus on a Wooden cross is the same as him on a "Tree" because wood comes from trees.

Answer 8

Stauros - torture stake. They were usually trees cut down in order to put the person on them and then raised back up, slammed into a deep hole and watched to make sure it didn't fall over. I would say it was a tree, hands together above the head, nails thru the wrist, in order to pull themselves up to catch their breath. Most crucifixions died due to suffocation... not the wounds inflicted on them from the nails. They also lasted a few days... not just half a day.

Answer 9

It was all wood, which comes from a tree, just made in the shape of a cross. Tree, Cross, wood, doesn't matter. What took place there and how it's relates to our lives are what's important.

Answer 10

A cross made from a tree.