Is it true that Christian art depicted a lamb on the cross for 800 years before Christ was shown on the cross?

Question

I read this somewhere and wondered if theres any truth to it.

I thought Christianity was named after Christ, unless the author of the article was talking about the church that eventually started it all, since I think his assumption was that the whole Christ thing is fake anyway....

Any takers...?

Answer 1

Yes it is true - almost. At the time of Jesus' death and resurrection, crucifixion was something that every person was familiar with and everyone knew the absolute horror of that kind of death - it was not something that people wanted to be reminded of and the early Christians knew that the most important element of the teachings and life of Jesus was the resurrection. The early Christians were persecuted and to secretly acknowledge their faith they preferred to use the symbol of a fish. The cross was not a symbol of Christianity for 200 to 300 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus and even then it was left as just a plain cross. Later, depictions of a lamb on the cross was to highlight the innocence of Jesus and the symbolism of Him as the sacrificial lamb. The body of Jesus was not depicted as is often seen today for about 400 to 500 years AD.

Answer 2

Lamb With Cross

Answer 3

crucifixion wasn't even invented until about 400 bc, by the persians. the romans adapted it later on. that's one of the cool little tidbits that causes some people to call isaiah the greatest prophet of all- he accurately prophesied the crucifixion of the Christ about 300 years before the practice was around.

and you're right- christianity was named after the Christ. the greek word for ''Christ'' is ''Christus,'' which is the translation for the hebrew word ''Moschiah,'' or ''Messiah'' in english. Jesus is His name- Christ is His title.

or if you're asking if Christ was depicted as a Lamb (which He is, in a metaphoric sense) hanging on the cross after He was crucified, but before we started sculpting/painting pictures of the crucifixion, i sincerely doubt it. the catholic church would surely have something like that in a museum somewhere and would display those kinds of things. it wouldn't be considered heresy to show things like that, and that church is HUGE on maintaining tradition and christian history.

Answer 4

I agree with cutsie-dread.

Today it is common to see representations of Jesus dying on a cross - or a stake, as Watchtower publications depict it - but for hundreds of years after Jesus, no such "art" existed. Even though the "stauros" - Jesus' death instrument - had been used to symbolize Jesus' death from the days of the apostle Paul, it was a spoken symbolism, not a visual one. The image of a lamb was much less offensive than the image of a man on a torture instrument.

Answer 5

Yes. For lack of a better word, we will be judged for our works. This isn't to say we were Saved by, or because of our works, but more that we were "Faithful Servants" to our LORD after He Saved us. This Judgment Seat of Christ is called The Bema, and is only for Christians, the other Judgment Seat is The Great White Throne, and is the Final Judgment for all the unrighteous. ~OM~ SFCU

Answer 6

There was no "Christian" art before Jesus Christ was born. But yes, there were many prophesies about the fullfillment of the scriptures through Jesus Christ many many years prior to his birth.

However, archeologists have found grafiti (with drawings) about Jesus and His death on the cross throughout caves near the area he was crucified.

Answer 7

No. Revelation 13:8 says that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. God knew when he created the world that sin would enter and so in his mind he foresaw the sacrifice that he would make as a man, for the sin of man.

Answer 8

HIstorically the fish predated most of the other known symbols.

Techniqually X-ianity ought to named after it's founder, Paul. After all it was Paul who decided to spread the word outside the Jewish community.

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Answer 9

Either you were reading nonsense or you missunderstood.
That being said, Christ on the cross was prophisised 800 years before.
Read Psalms 22 for example:
16 Dogs have surrounded me;
a band of evil men has encircled me,
they have pierced [c] my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing.

Answer 10

There was no Christian art before Christ.

The term Christian wasn't coined until after Christ's death.