Under Constantine, of what did the sign of Christ become a symbol?
How was this different from the original symbolism of the Cross in the life of Jesus and the very earliest Christians?
2007-02-10 08:47:38 · 4 answers · asked by Anthony 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The cross Constantine used was an X attached to a P, which are the Greek letters Chi and Rho, in Christos.
2007-02-10 08:52:32 · answer #1 · answered by aroundworldsports 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The cross was in use as a symbol of Christianity long before the time of Constantine. It, along with other symbols like the fish, lamb, unicorn, and phoenix can be found in Christian art and rituals as far back as the late 1st century (the earliest such items). Because Christianity was a "banned" religion, for which you could be executed for practicing it, most of the early symbols were NOT obvious in their connection to Christ, like the cross would be.
The symbol of the cross was well enough connected with the Christians faith that, according to historians, before Constantine went into the battle that would make him the Emperor of Rome, he had a vision of the cross in the sky, and hear a voice say "Conquer in this sign". Constantine was immediately able to recognize the cross as the sign of Christianity.
Because of the importance of the sign to Constantine, he helped to make it "the" symbol of the Christian faith. Plus once the ban on the Christian faith was removed, there was no need to continue using "concealed" images for the Christian faith.
2007-02-10 17:01:37 · answer #2 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The symbol that you are refering to had to do with Constantine and a dream. He was told that if he painted it on the shields, etc of his warriors he would be victorious over his enemies.
It has a Latin meaning, sorry can't remember the original Latin off the top of my head that basically had to do with Jesus being the Son of God. It wasn't meant to replace the cross as the symbol of Christianity. In fact most Christians didn't use the cross as their symbol until later times. The earliest Christians used a fish.
2007-02-10 16:53:05 · answer #3 · answered by noncrazed 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was a flag, white with a blue square in the corner. And a red cross centered in the blue.
J
2007-02-10 16:53:24 · answer #4 · answered by the shiz 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋