Would someone help by way of clarification with this question>?

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Carlan said:
I have heard Protestants prefer to focus on Christ’s Resurrection rather the Crucifixion.and will display an image of Christ Risen.
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For a while I went to an Episcopal church. It had what my Catholic college room mate called an “Episcopal crucifix”. It was Jesus on a cross, but instead of a loincloth he was wearing Mass Vestments and on his head a crown.

Is this what you meant Carlan?
 
andrewstx said:
For a while I went to an Episcopal church. It had what my Catholic college room mate called an “Episcopal crucifix”. It was Jesus on a cross, but instead of a loincloth he was wearing Mass Vestments and on his head a crown.

Is this what you meant Carlan?
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The other night I attended our town’s Church tour and saw the same thing at the Episcopal Church. When I was an Episcopalian back in the 50’s and 60’s, the only cross we used was one marked ‘ths’ in the center.
 
ltwin said:
An idol is anything that displaces God’s rightful position in the heart. This could include images, even of Christ on the cross especially if such an object is treated in a superstitious manner.

I’m not the sort of Protestant that says that every church or person that has a crucifix is committing idolatry. But, I do think that such images and the way they may be displayed or treated have the potential to blur the lines.
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Itwin,

So, I would suspect you & your church have no family photos, for fear that you or someone may feel it be Idol worship? Of course not!

When you look at a picture of a loved one wether it be your spouse, children, mom, dad, sibling, etc… Are you worship them? I believe you do not, am I correct in saying so? What you do, do is, think about them and what they mean to you.

Have you ever looked at a picture of a family member and say I love you, not reffering to the picture itself but to the actual person and think about all they have done for you, is that worshipping that picture? No! it is just remembering them.

One of our 5 senses God created us with is visual, we are visual people, “is not a picture worth a thousand words”. Visual, helps us to mediated even deeper than just a thought. The Body of Jesus on the Cross is a wooden statue but it takes us back to what He did for us “visually” we see the marks on His hands and feet, His pierced side, the crown of thorns He wore, his bruised and battered Body, we see His LOVE for us that He stretched out His hands and died for us.

Itwin, you may say I need not see Jesus on the cross to know what he has done for me, true, by what memories do you have of this thought of seeing Jesus Christ on the Cross, can not your own VISUAL imagination of Jesus Christ on the Cross, be Idol worship itself?

If you believe the Cross or Jesus Christ on the Cross, to be is Idol worship, then your own Visual imaginations of the cross or Jesus Christ on the Cross, is Idolatry, idol worship itself.
Let me put this another way: I’m sure when you remember / pray re: Jesus Christ on the cross, you have a picture of Him in your mind of what He went through for us, do you not, am I not correct in saying so? Well Could that not be Idol worship in itself? What is the difference in actually seeing at church Jesus on the Cross and seeing Jesus Christ on the Cross in your visual imagination, I tell you none. Amen

Even Jesus Christ loved His Cross he had to carry for us, now is Jesus Christ worshiping His Own Cross and make His Cross to be His Idol? Of Course Not!!!

Itwin, see for yourself how much deeper your meditation will be when you look upon Jesus Who terribly suffered On the Cross and died for you and me.

Ufam Tobie
 
andrewstx said:
For a while I went to an Episcopal church. It had what my Catholic college room mate called an “Episcopal crucifix”. It was Jesus on a cross, but instead of a loincloth he was wearing Mass Vestments and on his head a crown.

Is this what you meant Carlan?
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Depicting Christ triumphant and regal while on the cross has a long history in the northern parts of Europe.
 
cheezey said:
This one is rather new to me…
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I’m referring to all the Medieval crucifixes from places like Scandinavia where Christ wears a gold crown and is standing and without any visible suffering.
 
Aelred_Minor said:
I’m referring to all the Medieval crucifixes from places like Scandinavia where Christ wears a gold crown and is standing and without any visible suffering.
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I just noticed the King of Kings with a gold crown in an Anglican chapel.
In the main church is an elaborate but empty cross.
Above that is the Crucified Christ
This church has all represented.
 
I really don’t attach any importance to this issue. To my way of thinking, both the Catholic crucifix (emphasizing the crucifixion) and the Protestant cross (emphasizing the resurrection) are valid. Both church traditions are in agreement that all of it happened and was/is important, it’s just a minor difference of emphasis. And so, I am happy to display either or both.

(I am Episcopalian and Lutheran (TEC & ELCA), “emergent” Anglo-Catholic)
 
Izdaari said:
I really don’t attach any importance to this issue. To my way of thinking, both the Catholic crucifix (emphasizing the crucifixion) and the Protestant cross (emphasizing the resurrection) are valid. Both church traditions are in agreement that all of it happened and was/is important, it’s just a minor difference of emphasis. And so, I am happy to display either or both.

(I am Episcopalian and Lutheran (TEC & ELCA), “emergent” Anglo-Catholic)
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👍

Interesting Religion up there in the corner!
 
cheezey said:
👍

Interesting Religion up there in the corner!
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Episcopalutheran? 😛

Yeah, I made that word up. But as both denominations are in full communion, and our parish has both formal affiliations, and I consider myself more or less equally both, I think it’s reasonable. 😃
 
Our church has both Christ Crucified and Christ Risen depicted. Our altarpiece is an old, ornately carved wooden one with a large niche with a life-size figure of Christ with his wounded hands extended in a benediction. There is a large silver & brass crucifix on the altar itself. Our stained glass windows have both figures and symbols. In my experience, contemporary Lutheran churches are likely to have empty crosses - perhaps it’s the Reformed influence.
 
I have been in some Protestant Churches where a crucifix with the Risen Christ is displayed prominently and others that display just a plain shiny gold (brass?) cross.
 
I am a Protestant (I WILL one day convert to and embrace the Catholic faith).

I wear a Crucifix as a sign of my Christian faith and love for the Lord Jesus.

What I believe is this:

What Protestants say about Catholics is Protestant fallacies.

The Crucifix is a very powerful visual reminder of the sacrifice that Jesus made of his body, blood and life upon the cross.

The Crucifix IS NOT idolatrous and IS NOT worshipped not even on Good Friday when the faithful kiss the feet of the image of our crucified Lord and remembering all that he went through on the cross.

Many Protestants today forget something concerning religious images.

In the days when many people were illiterate or even understood Latin and went to church, religious images of the life of Jesus, Mary and the Saints along with other scenes from the Bible were the only way they could understand.

It is only when the Reformation started that people got themselves “brainwashed” into believing that such images are idolatrous and sadly that belief still exists today.

I have nothing against religious images.
 
IMHO, it has nothing to do with idolatry. The empty cross emphasizes the Resurrection!
 
There are other manifestations of the differences between us and our Protestant brethren. For example, I could never understand why a weather vane was perched atop a beautiful steeple, in place of a cross. The cross is a clear manifestation of Christian faith, but the weather vane, seen on some Protestant churches …well I’m not sure what it represents.

Also at the end of a Protestant prayer, just Christ, the second person, is acknowledged with the words…“in Jesus Name” but the trinity is not, as in the Catholic words…“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” So what did the trinity- believing Protestant reformers have against the saying of those words, and the making of the sign of the cross?

One might conclude that the unwritten rule for some of those reformers was, if the Catholics do it this way, we’re gonna do it a different way…a sort of contrarianism as it were.

But with respect to (in-church) crucifixes, in defense of Protestants I will say that the art behind some can be a real distraction. In one church I attend occasionally, the statue on the cross appears to be dressed in a semi-pleated mini skirt, rather than a simple cloth covering. Couldn’t the artists’ eccentricity be eliminated by providing a standard for all “in church” crucifixes?
 
Eldee said:
There are other manifestations of the differences between us and our Protestant brethren. For example, I could never understand why a weather vane was perched atop a beautiful steeple, in place of a cross. The cross is a clear manifestation of Christian faith, but the weather vane, seen on some Protestant churches …well I’m not sure what it represents.
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There’s been a cross on top of every Protestant steeple I’ve ever been under.
Eldee said:
at the end of a Protestant prayer, just Christ, the second person, is acknowledged with the words…“in Jesus Name” but the trinity is not, as in the Catholic words…“In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” So what did the trinity- believing Protestant reformers have against the saying of those words, and the making of the sign of the cross?
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That’s not a case of rejecting catholicism, at least not consciously, so much as it is a case of sticking to as close to the Bible as we, in our view, possibly can. The Bible says to Baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, so we do that. Christ says that whatever we ask for in His name, He will do, so we do that. The Bible doesn’t mention making the sign of the cross, so we don’t do that.

There may be a subtle subconscious anti-catholicism at play there, but we’re not aware of it on any conscious level.
Eldee said:
One might conclude that the unwritten rule for some of those reformers was, if the Catholics do it this way, we’re gonna do it a different way…a sort of contrarianism as it were.
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That’s certainly the case with some things: Modes of clerical dress, styles of clerical address, the implicit and nearly universal requirement that our clergy be married, the usage of the cross over the crucifix, and so on.
Eldee said:
But with respect to (in-church) crucifixes, in defense of Protestants I will say that the art behind some can be a real distraction. In one church I attend occasionally, the statue on the cross appears to be dressed in a semi-pleated mini skirt, rather than a simple cloth covering. Couldn’t the artists’ eccentricity be eliminated by providing a standard for all “in church” crucifixes?
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Well… one man’s distraction is another man’s inspiration, so I’m not even going to dip my toe into those dangerous waters other than to say that yes, my strong personal preference is for a simply appointed, traditional, Protestant church sanctuary.
 
As a former Pentecostal we did not have a cross of any description in our church…in fact the church was more like an auditorium rather than what could be perceived as a church in the more traditional sense…there is no honest reason why Protestants should feel offended by a crucifix…the excuse that Christ is risen and is not on the cross…or that it is idolatry is just that…an excuse to re-affirm their protesting against the Catholic church…they protest against Mary…the Eucharist…the Communion of saints…kneeling in church…the sign of the cross…etc…etc…not all Protestants get themselves worked up about these outward Catholic signs and traditions…many traditional Anglicans and Lutherans don’t appear to have this judgmental attitude …it is mainly the Evangelical / Pentecostal / fundamentalist churches…and some of those have probably only been around since last week…or yesterday…and probably more by the end of today… 😃
 
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