The Christian Cross is of Pagan origin?

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You wouldn’t conclude that because a circle is a symbol used in “magic” that we should never use or look at a circle, or that because a thread was used by the fates, we should ban textiles.

A cross isn’t exactly an uncommon shape. Prior to Jesus, the cross was, in Rome, a symbol of horrific execution. Imagine an electric chair. The reason we Catholics and Christians use the cross as symbol of our faith is because Jesus changed its meaning from one of horrific death to salvation and eternal life. Furthermore, the crucifix is in no way related to anything other than Christianity because I guarantee you no pagan faith ever wore necklaces with crucified Jesus on them.

Our tendency as Catholics to use and wear the crucifix more frequently than simply a cross is because we always remind ourselves that Jesus’s suffering and Passion is the reason we are saved. We use it as a visible reminder of His love for us, to the point that he was willing to die in one of the most horrific and inhumane executions humanity had ever conceived. I feel as though the crucifix leads some people to think Catholics have a preoccupation with Jesus’s death, but in my opinion, the crucifix, as a constant reminder of the pain Jesus suffered for our sake, communicates God’s love far more effectively than the cross alone.
 
Kurisu35712 said:
You wouldn’t conclude that because a circle is a symbol used in “magic” that we should never use or look at a circle, or that because a thread was used by the fates, we should ban textiles.
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This.

Or, for example, that we ought not use calendars, which bear the names of pagan gods in their months and days of the week.

Also, a good opportunity for me to repost one of my favorite Dan Brown’s *The Da Vinci Code *snarks[SUP]TM[/SUP] – One part of the book goes:
Langdon was always surprised how few Christians who gazed upon “the crucifix” realized their symbol’s violent history was reflected in its very name: “cross” and “crucifix” came from the Latin verb cruciare-to torture.
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To which I reply:
  • Any Christian who is unaware of the “scandal of the cross” hasn’t been paying much attention. And
    *]I assure you, the Latin word for “one thing transversing another thing; cross”, *crux,crucis *etymologically precedes the verb cruciare, “to torture” (particularly by hanging someone in one of those *crux,crucis *positions).

    :rotfl:
    tee
 
souldiver said:
I thought even a lot of Protestants believe that Jesus is crucified on a cross and is a real Christian symbol because of that. But I have been seeing that some says the Christian cross is of Pagan origin. Is this true? How can a Catholic or cross using Protestant defend from this?

jesuschristlovesyou5.webnode.tw/products/%E7%95%B0%E6%95%99%E7%9A%84%E5%8D%81%E5%AD%97%E6%A8%99%E8%A8%98/
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First, correlation doesn’t imply causality. So, just because they look the same doesn’t mean one comes from the other.

Second, Jesus was a real man who walked, ate and slept like everyone else. He really was executed by Roman crucifixion, and the tradition has always been that he was suspended on two intersecting beams of wood, which forms a cross. That is the origin of the Christian symbol.

Third, even if there was a connection between the various Christian cross symbols and various Pagan cross symbols, it wouldn’t be that of causation (origin), but of a different kind. The connection would be this: a symbolic representation of Christ’s victory over the powers of Hell (which are traditionally seen by Christians as being heavily involved in Pagan religion), as well as Christ’s dominion over all (He is the victorious conquerer).

You often see gargoyles and demons depicted in Christian artwork too, but this does not mean we worship them. The symbolic meaning of these depictions is as above; Jesus has conquered. This is affirmed by the Jesus, Himself, in the Scriptures: “The gates of Hell will not prevail against Her (the Church).” The “gates” refers to the gates of a city, implying a defensive posture. Thus, the Church, who is the Body of Christ, goes out into the world and conquers the dominion of the evil one by the charity of Christ.

But again, Christian symbols are normally rooted in Scripture. For example, in the link you gave, there is an icon of Christ with a sunburst symbol behind His head. This symbol, commonly referred to as a halo, is found throughout ancient non-Christian art (present in Hindu and Buddhist art, for example).

But it’s symbolic meaning in Christian art is that of holiness or sanctity. In the OT, whenever an angel of the Lord appeared, they were surrounded by a bright light, or their clothes were whiter than snow, etc. Also, in the NT, Jesus is transfigured, and His body emits a bright light, and His clothes appear as white as snow. The halo is a symbol of this phenomenon, and as an actual event that occurs in history, doesn’t necessarily have to be limited to the Judeo-Christian experience (which is why we might see it in non-Christian art also).

Moreover, the “wheel” cross symbol doesn’t necessarily derive from the Pagan sun cross used to track the seasons. This symbol can be taken directly from the book of Ezekiel, wherein he has visions of similar-style wheels, which are actually representations of angels.

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ezekiel_Nuremberg%2C_1702.jpg

The Scriptures are chalk full of all kinds of symbols and typologies, which are themselves the origins of Christian art. If they bear resemblance to Pagan art, it is NOT because Christians who use them are actually Pagans in disguise.
 
The electricity company put up poles in all our streets that are cross shaped.
Does this represent the Christian cross or the pagan cross?
or does it dismiss both?

The scourging post was also pre-Christian,
does this mean that it isn’t a part of Christian history. NO!

The article states that “THE CROSS IS NOT A CHRISTIAN SYMBOL -
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE BABYLONIAN ROCK,
IT’S A PAGAN SUN SYMBOL OF WORSHIP.”

Ancient Aborigines had Cross shaped boomerangs
as toys for their children 10 thousand years before those Pagan crosses,
does that mean the pagan meaning of their crosses is no longer valid. NO!

The Christian Cross or the crucifix, is a Christian symbol.
It is where Christ died. what it was used for prior to or since
that event has no bearing on the truth of what the
Crucifix is to all Christians.

The article is a pathetic attempt to discredit the truth.
stop giving such rubbish an audience.
 
Of course the Christian cross stems from paganism. He was crucified by Romans, who used the cross to kill people, and the cross, obviously was part of their pagan culture.

The fact that other people were killed by hanging or nailing to trees and posts is not really shocking, those things are part of human history and pagan culture.

the practice of hanging prisoners, folks executed for crimes or their heads as a warning to others isn’t a novelty.
 
Dang, and I ate some hot crossed buns this Easter and enjoyed them too!

Guess I’ll have to cross them off my list since this web site has instructed us that they are of pagan origin and the little cross represents the Sun Cross. Dang. And they are tasty too.

Wait a minute. What was the problem again with the cross having pagan origins? :confused:
 
Whenever someone brings up something about Paganism and Christianity you know your in for a bumpy ride 😃
 
adawgj, if its ok to ask, why are you in dialogue with Buddhism?
 
Sure it’s pagan…it is also a symbol of a system of public execution used by pagans.

Does that make it any less the symbol of the terrible sufferings that He endured for us?

Every crucifix is a confrontation with the love of God and the terrible price that He paid for our sins

Stop talking to deceptive crazy people…🤷
 
If you adopt a child that had been beaten previously does that make you a child beater?

Was God supposed to come up with a Christian form of murder for Jesus to die on?
 
Yes its origin is among “pagans” - why? Cause it was a Roman way of torture and execution.

Later in time the cross became a Christian symbol because the Romans put Christ to death on a cross. And he three days later rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples and later Saul. It became a sign of his redemptive death and resurrection.

As a symbol it was not something the Church used at first (though small signs of the cross with ones fingers was used in life - such as crossing ones forehead as a profession of faith etc).

Other symbols where used in art before the Cross such as the chi rho (the first letters of Christ in Greek). PX and the fist etc (not just an outline like a cartoon one sees today used -but more of a real looking fish - for it stood for “Jesus Christ Son of God Savior” in the initials).
 
LOL!

What next? “the fish isn’t Christian either…there were fish long before there were Christians, therefore the fish isn’t a symbol of Christianity”. :rolleyes:

@ OP: besides–as mentioned by several posters above–the cross being used by Pagan Romans as execution–it was therefore used as a means of ‘terror’, or deterrent. As in “Don’t do X, lest we nail you to a cross”. In fact, it was incredibly shameful to be executed by crucifixion.

What the Christians did, was take that symbol, and champion it, as a sign of faith and courage.

As in: “…***we don’t care if you hang us…it’s meaningless, because our Lord and Savior was hung on a cross…and resurrected from the ensuing death…bring it on!”
In fact, it went from being a thing to be feared and ashamed of–to an incredible source of pride: as in St. Peter not feeling WORTHY enough to die as his (our) Lord did, and asking to be hung upside down.

As for whether it was ‘Y’ shaped, or T, or t…meaningless. It is the symbolism that was and remains the thing, and the cross was and remains a symbol of Christ’s triumph over death.

Paganism, and whatever the Pagans used the cross for, be damned.
 
thinkandmull said:
adawgj, if its ok to ask, why are you in dialogue with Buddhism?
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I’m trying to understand and learn more about how Buddhists think and view the world. The best way is to have some actual experience with it. My main goal is to try to find the similarities between Buddha and Jesus and see where their paths can be met so I can have a mutual understanding of Buddhism which might help me evangelize in a heavily Buddhist populated area.

I’m no St. Francis Xavier so that’s why I’m in a dialogue (I’m Catholic for life)
 
souldiver said:
I thought even a lot of Protestants believe that Jesus is crucified on a cross and is a real Christian symbol because of that. But I have been seeing that some says the Christian cross is of Pagan origin. Is this true? How can a Catholic or cross using Protestant defend from this?
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That isn’t a Protestant site, I think it’s Jehovah’s witness which is not Protestant, they don’t even acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God.
 
Before Jesus was killed the cross was a symbol that represented one of the cruelest ways of physical punishment known to the old world. The cross before Jesus represented pretty much what a Guillotine or electric chair may represent to us: death at its most painfuland cruel. The claim that is of pagan origin comes because it was popularized by the Roman but if we go to that everything is of pagan origin: math is of pagan origin because it was developed by Greeks and other pagan cultures…does that mean we shouldn’t learn math? The claim is a little silly
 
adawgj said:
I’m trying to understand and learn more about how Buddhists think and view the world. The best way is to have some actual experience with it. My main goal is to try to find the similarities between Buddha and Jesus and see where their paths can be met so I can have a mutual understanding of Buddhism which might help me evangelize in a heavily Buddhist populated area.

I’m no St. Francis Xavier so that’s why I’m in a dialogue (I’m Catholic for life)
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From the Buddhist point of view, it would probably be better to approach Jesus as a Bodhisattva. You will need to tailor your concept of a Bodhisattva to whether you are among Theravada or Mahayana Buddhists, the approaches are different.

You may also find some of Thomas Merton’s writings useful.

rossum
 
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