The Christian cross , seen as a representation of the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus, is the most famous symbol of Christianity. It is related to the cross (the cross that includes the three-dimensional representation of the body of Jesus) and the more common cross family symbol.
The basic forms of the cross are the Latin (?) Cross and the Greek (?) Cross, with many variations used in text, art, symbols, and in various confessional contexts.
Video Christian cross
History of use
Pre-Christian
The cross-shaped sign, represented in its simplest form by crossing two lines at right angles, precedes the introduction of Christianity, both in the East and the West. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization. It should have been used not only because of its decorative value, but also with religious significance. It may represent the equipment used in lighting a fire, and thus as a symbol of the sacred fire or as a symbol of the sun, indicating its daily rotation. It has also been interpreted as a mystical representation of lightning or from the tempest gods, or symbols of the Aryan god and primitive Aryan civilization.
Another related symbol is ansated cross (ankh or crux ansata ) used in ancient Egypt. It is often depicted in the hands of the goddess Sekhmet, and as a hieroglyphic sign of living or living. The Egyptian Christian (Coptic) adopted him as the symbol of the cross. In his book, The Worship of the Dead, Colonel J. Garnier writes: "The cross in the form of 'Crux Ansata'... was brought into the hands of Egyptian priests and papal kings as a symbol of their authority as priest of the Sun god and called the 'Sign of Life'. "
Other Egyptian symbols are Ndj (Cross-ndj (hieroglyph)) - Usage for hieroglyph: 1-- "to protect, guard, take revenge," and "patron, advocate, claimant" 2-- "respect for You" a form of greeting to the gods) 3-- "discuss problems with someone", "to speak", "to receive advice". Yet another Egyptian symbol is nfr - meaning: beauty or perfect.
In the Bronze Age, the representation of the cross as understood in Christian art emerged, and its form was popularized. More precise characterization coincides with the commonly associated changes in habits and beliefs. The cross then began to be used in various forms on many objects: fibula, cincture, broken pottery, and at the bottom of the drinking vessel. De Mortillet believes that the use of such marks is not merely an ornament, but a symbol of consecration, especially in the case of objects associated with funerals. At the proto-Etruscan Golasecca cemetery each tomb has a vase with a cross engraved on it. True crosses of more or less artistic designs have been found in Tiryns, in MycenÃÆ'Â|, in Crete, and on a fibula of Vulci.
According to W. E. Vine, the cross is used by the worshiper Tammuz, the ancient Near Eastern god of Babylon who has a cross-shaped taw (tau) as its symbol.
Instrument execution
John Pearson, Bishop Chester (c 1660) wrote in his commentary on the Apostles' Creed that the Greek word stauros originally signifies "Stake, Pale, or Palisador standing", but that " cross section or other prominence added in the perfect Cross, it retains the Original Name, "and he states:" The Crucifix in which our Savior suffers is not a simple thing, but a composite, the Drawings, according to The Custom of the , which by his Procurator he is condemned to die, in which not only is there a straight and erect piece of Wood mounted on Earth, but also a cross Beam that fasts on it towards it ".
In this he corresponds to the early Christian description of the cross of execution.
Early Christian
During the first two centuries of Christianity, the cross was rare in Christian iconography, because it depicts a method of painful and terrible public execution of public and Christians are reluctant to use it. A symbol similar to a cross, a staurogram, is used to abbreviate the Greek word for cross in very early New Testament texts such as P66, P45 and P75, almost like nomen sacrum (noun sacra). The broad adoption of the cross as a symbol of Christian iconography emerged from the 4th century.
However, the symbol of the cross has been attributed to Christians in the 2nd century, as shown in the anti-Christian arguments quoted in Octavius ​​of Minucius Felix, chapters IX and XXIX, which written at the end of the century or the beginning of the next, and by the fact that at the beginning of the 3rd century the cross has become so closely linked with Christ that Clement of Alexandria, who died between 211 and 216, can be fearlessly ambiguous using the phrase ?? ???????? ??? in Genesis 14:14 is interpreted as a shadow (a "type") of the cross (T, erect with the bar, standing for 300) and Jesus (??, the first two letters of his name ??????, standing for 18), and its contemporary Tertullian can designate the body of Christian believers as the crucis of religiosity, the "worshipers of the Cross". In his book De Corona , written in 204, Tertullian tells how it has become a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads of the cross. The cross, the cross where the image of Christ is present, is not known to have been used until the 6th century.
The earliest depictions of Jesus' execution in any medium seem to be a second-century or early-third-century relief on jasper gems intended to be used as amulets, now in the British Museum in London. It depicts a naked bearded man whose arms are tied at the wrist with a short strip to a T-shaped cross transom. A Greek inscription on the front contains a crucified prayer of Christ's worship. Instead, inscriptions written by different hands combine magical formulas with Christian terms. The 2007 exhibition catalog says: "The appearance of Crucifixion on gems like the earliest date indicates that the subject image (now lost) may have been widespread even in the late second or third century, probably in the Christian Context."
The Jewish Encyclopedia mengatakan:
The cross as a Christian symbol or a "seal" begins to be used at least since the second century (see "Apost, Const." 17) Epistle of Barnabas, xii-xii: "Justin," Apologia, "55-60; Cum Tryph. "85-97); and the sign of the cross on the forehead and chest is considered a talisman against the forces of the devil (Tertullian, "De Corona," iii; Cyprian, "Testimonies," xi. 21-22; Lactantius, "DivinÃÆ'Â| Institutions," iv. 27, another place). Thus, the Christian Fathers must defend themselves, as early as the second century, against the responsibility of the worshipers of the cross, as can be learned from Tertullian, "Apologia," xii, Xvii, and Minucius Felix, "Octavius," xxix. Christians used to swear by the power of the cross
Maps Christian cross
In contemporary Christianity
Catholics, Orthodox Catholics, Oriental Orthodoxy, members of the main branch of Christianity with other followers as Lutheranism and Anglicans, and others often make the Sign of the Cross on themselves. This was already a common Christian practice in the days of Tertullian.
The Feast of the Cross is an important Christian feast. One of the Twelve Great Feasts in Catholic Orthodoxy is the Crusade on September 14, commemorating the ordination of the basilica on the site where the original cross of Jesus was reported to be found in 326 by Helena of Constantinople, mother of Constantine the Great.. The Catholic Church celebrates a feast on the same day and under the same name ( In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis ), although in English it has been called the Victory of the Cross party.
Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Anglican bishops place the cross [] in front of their names when signing documents. The dagger symbol () placed after the name of the dead (often with the date of death) is sometimes considered a Christian cross.
Exceptions
Although Christians accept that the cross is the gallows where Jesus died, they have begun in the 2nd century to use it as a Christian symbol. During the first three centuries of the Christian era, the cross was a "very important symbol" when compared to the advantages given to it later, but in the second century it was still closely related to the Tertullian Christians who could designate the believer's Christian body as > crucis religiosi , that is "enthusiast of the Cross". and it has become a tradition for Christians to trace over and over on their foreheads the sign of the cross. Martin Luther at the time of the Reformation maintained the cross and cross in the Lutheran Church. Luther wrote: "The cross is our theology." He believes that a person knows God not through works but through suffering, the cross, and faith.
The Protestant Reformation spurred the rise of iconoclasm, the wave of rejection of the sacred image, which in some areas (such as England) included a polemic against the use of the cross in worship. For example, during the 16th century, a small number of theologians in the Anglican and Reformed traditions Nicholas Ridley, James Calfhill, and Theodore Beza, rejected the practice they described as cross worship. Considering it as a form of idolatry, there was a dispute in England in the 16th century for the use of the baptism of the cross and even the use of the cross by the public. There were more active reactions to religious objects considered to be 'papal relics', as it did for example in September 1641, when Sir Robert Harley, knocked down and destroyed the cross at Wigmore. Writers during the 19th century have shown the origin of idolaters including Henry Dana Ward, Mourant Brock, and John Denham Parsons. David Williams, writing the medieval images of monsters, says: "The physique phallus is also formed into a cross, which, before becoming a Christian, a symbol of salvation, is a symbol of infidelity." Study, Gods, Heroes & amp; Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain states: "Prior to the 4th century AD, the cross was not widely embraced as a sign of Christianity, symbolizing the gallows of a criminal."
Jehovah's Witnesses do not use the symbol of the cross in their worship, which they believe is idolatry. They believe that Jesus died on a single pole of torture instead of the cross of two beams, arguing that the Greek term stauros indicates an upright post. Although the early publications of the Watch Tower Society associated with the Bible Student movement teach that Christ was executed on the cross, it no longer appears in the Watch Tower Society publications after the name of Jehovah's Witnesses was adopted in 1931, and the use of the Cross officially abandoned in 1936.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that Jesus died on the cross, but their prophet Gordon B. Hinckley declared that "for us the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living. Christ." When asked what is the symbol of his religion, Hinckley replied, "The lives of our people must be the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship." The prophet Howard W. Hunter advocated Latter-day Saints "to look to the temple of God as a great symbol of your membership." Images of the LDS temple and the Angel of Moroni (found in sculptures in most temples) are usually used to symbolize the faith of the LDS.
Crosses of famous individuals
See also
References
External links
- The Christian cross of Jesus Christ, the symbol of Christianity, and the representation of it as the object of devotion
- MSN Encarta (Archived 2009-10-31), "Cross"
- Philip Schaff, The History of the Christian Church , Ch. 6, "The Christian Art: Ã, § 77. The Cross and the Cross"
- The Russian Orthodox Three-Cross Crossword Explanation
- Variations of the Cross - Images and Meanings
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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