Why don't Mormons use the Cross as a symbol of their Christian faith?

Question

Just curious...

Answer 1

In reading through the responses, I see that there are some who like to answer these questions in a hateful manner, without having a knowledge of what the answer really is...(ex: many people answered the question as if they knew for themselves why Mormons do not use crosses to symbolize their Christian faith, and yet, they were not even close, their purpose is clear, just wanting to disparage Mormons)...I am LDS...I know why I don't use a cross...for the same reason I would not carry a symbol of a gun around my neck, had my Savior been shot with a gun...(why do you need a symbol anyway? Shouldn't the way you live your life speak for itself to others, as to who you are and what you believe? Christ said, "By their fruits, ye will know them") I am also a convert to the church...I was Catholic for 19 yrs, and I understand what Catholicism teaches...outside of those two religions, I would not be qualified to answer any question that had to do with any other religion...I would never disparage, say...Baptists for instance, for what they do or believe, even if I disagreed with it...if a question was posed here about what Baptists believe, then I would let a Baptist answer it, and stay out of it...why do you guys want to use this forum to try to degrade Mormonism, when someone was asking a simple question out of curiosity? Why not just let someone who was Mormon and knew the answer to give that answer? Do you not believe in live and let live? I hear such hate in your responses...why? It can't be personal, because we don't know you, and yet you hate us enough to post these hateful things about our religion? Would you do the same to someone who was Jewish? Or some other religion? Why or why not? We are people just like you, with feelings, just like you...we are all brothers and sisters on this earth, so why do you spew such hate at us? You do it without any hesitation, do you even know why you hate us so much...do you? Ask youself that question, and answer it honestly within your own heart...you don't need to answer it here, just come to grips with the "WHY" in your own heart...because as my father always told me, "You should always understand WHY you do the things you do...if not, then you should not do them"...

I think this brings to light the description of the persecution that Joseph Smith endured at age 14, for simply explaining that he had seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ...in his own words: "...I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me, and though I was hated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true, and while they were persecuting me, reviling me and speaking all manner of evil against me falsely for so saying, I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision, I knew it, and I knew that God knew it and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it, at least I knew that by doing so I would offend God, and come under condemnation."

Answer 2

A nice question and other LDS have answered it well. I believe that the LDS follow the Bible better than anyone else. It is an important part of their scriptural canon. Your reference to Revelations has been quoted many times by those thinking that the Book of Mormon is an "addition" to the bible. Many do not understand that Revelations was not written chronological as the last book of the bible. Furthermore there is a scripture in Deuteronomy 4:2 that says the same thing: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." Taken the same was as you do Revelations 22:18-19, it would imply that everything AFTER Deuteronomy in the Bible is false because it was "added" unto the Bible. As you are aware that the Bible is a collection of numerous "books," I believe that the correct interpretation of Revelations 22:18-19 is that no one should add anything to the BOOK of REVELATIONS, and that scripture applies just to that book. It is makes sense when compared to the Deut scripture. One more comment. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that no one can reutne to God but by Christ. Through his grace, the atonement is made available to mankind. It is only becasue of Christ that we are saved. The cross symbolizes Chrsit's death. Christ hismelf reperesents his live and resurrection. Mormons worship the resurrected Christ, and do not use the symbol of his death to be something we worship. We focus on Christ himself in our worship, and do not focus on the cross. We bleive in the living Christ. I am a Mormon and have been for all of my life..

Answer 3

The Companion Bible, under the heading “The Cross and Crucifixion,” notes: “Our English word ‘cross’ is the translation of the Latin crux; but the Greek stauros no more means a crux than the word ‘stick’ means a ‘crutch.’ Homer uses the word stauros of an ordinary pole or stake, or a single piece of timber. And this is the meaning and usage of the word throughout the Greek classics. It never means two pieces of timber placed across one another. . . . There is nothing in the Greek of the N[ew] T[estament] even to imply two pieces of timber.”

Another Greek word, xy′lon, is used in the Bible to refer to the instrument upon which Jesus died. This word helps to show that stau·ros′ was an upright stake without a crossbeam. As The Companion Bible states: “The word [xy′lon] . . . generally denotes a piece of a dead log of wood, or timber, for fuel or for any other purpose. . . . As this latter word [xy′lon] is used for the former stauros, it shows us that the meaning of each is exactly the same. . . . Hence the use of the word [xy′lon] . . . in connection with the manner of our Lord’s death, and rendered ‘tree’ in Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24 [King James Version].”

True Christians avoid the cross because it is a pagan symbol that predates Christianity by thousands of years.

Answer 4

This is from an address by our current prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley who gives an answer to this question:

Following the renovation of the Mesa Arizona Temple some years ago, clergy of other religions were invited to tour it on the first day of the open house period. Hundreds responded. In speaking to them, I said we would be pleased to answer any queries they might have. Among these was one from a Protestant minister.

Said he: “I’ve been all through this building, this temple which carries on its face the name of Jesus Christ, but nowhere have I seen any representation of the cross, the symbol of Christianity. I have noted your buildings elsewhere and likewise find an absence of the cross. Why is this when you say you believe in Jesus Christ?”

I responded: “I do not wish to give offense to any of my Christian colleagues who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels, who wear it on their vestments, and imprint it on their books and other literature. But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the Living Christ.”

He then asked: “If you do not use the cross, what is the symbol of your religion?”

I replied that the lives of our people must become the most meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship.

Answer 5

Hey there...LDS (Mormons) accept Jesus Christ as the Savior and Lord, and the Redeemer. We, unlike most other Christian denominations though, choose not to wear crosses, because we choose to focus more on the resurrected Christ. We like to believe that Christ lives today, and that he is in all of our lives. It doesn't mean that we aren't grateful for his sacrifice, though. We just have a different (more pleasant, imo) way of recognizing his sacrifice. But we know that his sacrifice has given us the opportunity for Eternal Life and we are always grateful for that.

Edit - I think Love Yahoo really explained it well, too.

Answer 6

We don't use it because it only represents one part of the overall Atonement (and to those who get nitpicky over whether Christ was crucified on a cross, stick, x, or whatever, I ask this: Does it really matter what the shape of what He was crucified was?). Yes, in order to pay for our sins, someone (specifically Christ) had to die for us, but the Atonement wasn't complete until Christ conquered death by rising on the third day. We'd rather focus on the entire thing, rather than one aspect of it.

Answer 7

It looks like you have a lot of answers from many nonMormons who speculate on what we believe, but really don't know. As far as I know we don't use crosses so much like other Christians do is because we DO emphasize the life of Jesus Christ more than his death.

gw

Answer 8

I've asked a Mormon friend this question and her response was something like this: a cross symbolizes Jesus' death and Mormons choose to focus on his life and teachings, rather than his death. But, it didn't make sense to me, because in my opinion Jesus' death is part of what makes him who he is.

Answer 9

The LDS Church places emphasis on the resurrection and life of Christ rather than on how He died. We understand and revere the agony and torment Jesus endured at Gethsemane and on Golgotha, and teach it as the scriptures indicate, but the main focus is on that He lives and is our Creator and Savior.

Focusing on the cross is like keeping a photo of your loved one in their casket. The cross symbolizes the cruelty of man and the torment and agony that Christ suffered for us. To see a crucifix is painful to me.

Answer 10

We believe that focusing on the cross takes away Christs great gift to us... ressurection.

Our message to the world is that Jesus Christ lives! he died, yes, but he is risen and leads his church today.

While we appreciate and are humbled and more grateful than words can express for his sacrifice of his life for all of us, we feel we should focus on his ressurection. we feel that using the cross as the symbol of our faith, only represents half of the Atonement of Christ.

Christ Lives!