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| Bible Teachings - Origins of The Cross  Though there is some dispute among scholars as to how Jesus actually was executed, it is believed by some that Jesus died on an upright pole or stake rather than a cross. The Roman method of execution at that time was by impaling the criminal on a stake. The original Greek words used in the Bible for cross, are stavros, and xlyon. Stavros means "upright pale or stake," and xlyon means, tree. Therefore in accurate translations of the Bible, where the King James Version, and others, read that Jesus was crucified, some more accurate translations read that Jesus was "impaled". Similarly, where some translations read that Jesus died on a cross, others read more accurately, according to the original Greek renderings, that Jesus died upon a "stake" or "tree". The cross had been a pagan religious symbol for centuries before Christ and it was Constantine, a pagan ruler, who is the one who first began to attach the symbol of the cross to Christianity. Gradually, like many customs, the cross became a fixed part of Christianity and also a symbol, by many, of idolatry.
Right: Woodcut of crux simplex from Justus Lipsius' De Cruce Libri Tres. (1629)
Below are the Greek words for cross, as defined by W.E. Vine, in the Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words.
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| Cross, crucify - Stauros Definitions and history from Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. Stauros(Greek) denotes, primarily, an upright pale or stake. On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both he noun and the verb stauroo, to fasten to a stake or pale, are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed cross. The shape of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of the name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd century A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system (the Catholic type priest) pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T. in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ. As for the Chi, or X, which Constantine declared he had seen in a vision leading him to champion the Christian faith, the letter was the initial of the word “Christ” and had nothing to do with “the Cross” (for xylon, a timber beam, a tree, as used for stauros, see under TREE). The method of execution (death on a single upright beam or tree) was borrowed by the Greeks and Romans from the Phoenicians. … The judicial custom by which the condemned person carried his stake to the place of execution, was applied by the Lord to those sufferings by which His faithful followers were to express their fellowship with Him, e.g. Matt 10:38. | | Tree- Xylon - Greek word for cross TREE-xylon-wood, a piece of wood, anything Gentile nations is used with the rendering “tree,”. In Luke 23:31, where “the green tree” (xylon-if they do these things when the tree(xylon) is moist, what will they do when it is withered?) …of the cross, the tree being the stauros, the upright pale of stake to which Romans nailed those who were thus to be executed, Acts 5:30, Acts 10:39 Acts 13:29, Galatians 3:13, 1 Peter 2:24. the tree of life-Revelation 2:7, Revelations 22:2 (twice), 14, 19. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stauros - Matt 27:32, 1 Cor 1:17,18, Matt 20:19, Matt 27:44, Mark 15:32, John 19:32, Rom 6:6, Gla 2:20 many other references.
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Vine, W.E. Vine, M.A., (1940). Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. McLean, Virginia: MacDonald Publishing Company. p. 258,1176
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Did Jesus Die on a Cross or Stake? Is the Cross a Pagan Symbol? off-site link ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why True Christians Do Not use the Cross in Worship - Official Site of Jehovah's Witnesses --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“He died upon a tree, to set all mankind free, that life eternal might be won.” Christian song.
Page last updated: October 20, 2009 | |
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