The symbol of the cross...?

Question

My friend has this idea that the symbol of the cross is a pegan symbol. What is the history behind the cross as a symbol? Is this true and if so why is that?

Answer 1

Here is a link to about.com. They seem to have the most accurate definitions on religious symbolism.

http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/blsymbols.htm

Answer 2

The earliest referrence to the cross used as a symbol of Christianity was the Emporer Constantine... about 300 years after Christ. Before that, the only known symbol for Christians was a fish.

Answer 3

Don't let them confuse you !!!

Let's for a moment consider how the Roman crucifixion procedure was carried out when used for capital punishment. The term "crucifixion" is based on the Latin word crux, which means cross. In English versions of the Bible, we read that Jesus was crucified on a cross (stauros in Greek).

Stauros refers to a wooden pole or timber with or without a crosspiece. Acts 5:30 and 10:39 and 1 Peter 2:24 tell us that Jesus was put to death on a tree (xulon in Greek). The reason this word was used in a few places is because the authors were making a point to the Jews. Traditionally, the Jews viewed an individual who was hung on a tree as one who was under God’s curse (Galatians 3:13, quoting Deuteronomy 21:23). But the authors of Acts and Peter, when they used xulon did not mean Jesus was crucified on a living tree. He was crucified on some kind of apparatus fashioned from the timber of a tree.

The worst aspect of crucifixion, from a Jewish perspective, is that it indicated the person was accursed by God. Most Jews could not accept the fact that someone who had been publicly hung up to die could be the Messiah, God's Anointed One. Paul preached a Lord who did die such a cursed death—and his gospel was "a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles" (1 Corinthians 1:23). The shape of the cross did not offend people, but its function did.

Though information is limited, historical and archaeological evidence shows that the Romans generally used a crossbar, not a vertical post alone, when crucifying individuals. This crossbar either sat on top of the vertical post or traversed it somewhere along its upper quadrant. The beam that Jesus was made to carry (John 19:17), and that Simon from Cyrene carried for him after Jesus collapsed in exhaustion (Luke 23:26), was most likely the crosspiece that was later affixed to an upright pole that was already in place.

There is no indication in the Gospels that Jesus’ crucifixion was in any way different from the normal Roman crucifixion. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology states: "It seems that the Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus describe a standard Roman procedure for crucifixion" (page 287). We may conclude with a reasonable degree of assurance that the implement used in the standard Roman crucifixion formed some sort of cross-like shape.

However, the shape of the instrument on which Christ was crucified is not what is important. Rather, what is crucial is the fact of the crucifixion in which the Son of God gave his life to pay for the sins of all humanity. The fact that cross-like emblems and designs were present in non-Christian religious practices does not eliminate its importance to Christians, or prohibit its proper use. What would be wrong, of course, would be to look superstitiously to the cross as an icon, or to worship its image.

When the expression "the cross" is used in the Bible, it is used as a literary metaphor, like the gallows or the guillotine has been in later times. The cross symbolizes what Jesus accomplished, and the Christian life itself. Jesus says that each Christian must take up a cross and follow him (Matthew 10:38; 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 14:27). This figure of speech originated from the practice of forcing condemned criminals to carry the wood or crossbeam on which they were to be crucified.

Answer 4

The equilateral cross has been a Pagan symbol of archangels long before the time of Christ. Another Pagan use of the cross is to identify the four seasons. There is also a magickal language called "Crosses" that consists solely of crosses--and this has been around since long before the time of Christ.

Answer 5

It is Pagan. Like in inverted cross chair of Pope John. RCC says, Peter was cruxified up side down. Peter’s death based only upon
Eusebius’ evidence. The Bible nowhere records the upside down crucifixion of an apostle. The records the upside down crucifixion can be found in Apocryphal, Acts of Peter.

Constantine gave the Cross as a sign for christianity. Note: Constantine is not a christian.

Answer 6

The cross is an ancient method of capitol punishment. It is a slow agonizing death. It is only a symbol of Christianity because Jesus died on it.

Answer 7

the christian cross was derived from an early roman torture device.

an equal cross where all of the tines are equal, like this + is of early celtic design. and later had a circle placed in the middle of it.

all of Christianity was copied from earlier religions. most of it from european Pagans. their rituals and worship services and the holidays that they celebrate use the same model and many of the same parctices.

Answer 8

The Cross is a symbol and a reminder of what Christ did for those who put their faith in him. It is not a pagan symbol

Answer 9

It could be from a pagan symbol.
But does it really matter?
The only thing that is important is what the cross means to you personally.

Answer 10

i think it is a symbol to remind us that Jesus died on the cross for us