Question by gary d: the cross is an ancient pagan phallic symbol admits catholics whats your thoughts?
There is no evidence that for the first 300 years after Christ’s death, those claiming to be Christians used the cross in worship. In the fourth century, however, pagan Emperor Constantine became a convert to apostate Christianity and promoted the cross as its symbol. Whatever Constantine’s motives, the cross had nothing to do with Jesus Christ. The cross is, in fact, pagan in origin. The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits: “The cross is found in both pre-Christian and non-Christian cultures.” Various other authorities have linked the cross with nature worship and pagan sex rites
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Answer by Mat
every religion is built off of one or another, despite any claims. Of course the cross can be found in more than one religion.
It’s found in many.
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the cross was a Roman electric chair.
This I do know. Hence the reason crosses never offend me. 😉
the cross is a sing for the god tamus and it was admited by the roman catholic church
That is a bold faced LIE the cross is a christian symbol of death and destruction. Pagans have not and will NOT adopt the cross as thier own, perhaps they are mistaking the cross for the Egyptian ankh.
If you believe that the bible is true I guess the connection between Christ and the Cross is that HE WAS CRUCIFIED ON ONE.
well you hurt your case…. it states pre Christian AND non Christian…. it’s been with both. it is how Christ was killed to bring lif to His people – all people. it was a method used back then -before Christianity existed so – of course it would have non Christian meaning too. gracious – they were killing people tat way before Christ was born so…. that would be the non-Christian….. i don’t understand the full scope of your question and what you are trying to imply. it is only the Christians that see the Cross in the manner befitting a Christian — the means in which our Lord and Saviour died to save us.
No surprise there. Most Christian holidays and/or traditions are based off of something Pagan.
And yet our religion is wrong…
Tertullian (that proto-fundamentalist) was already criticizing Christians for making the sign of the Cross (as Catholics and Orthodox still do) in the *second century.*
Grow a brain, man! The Cross is the symbol of Christianity because Jesus was *crucified.* Was it a “pagan sex rite” when the Romans executed people that way?
Guess what — the Swastika is common in cultures worldwide. So is everyone who uses it a Nazi? A cross is a common and natural symbol that would be thought of by anyone. Its specifically Christian meaning, however, has undeniable historical roots.
The correct translation of the bible says that Jesus died on a “tree”, I always wondered how the word “cross” got into so many bibles.
My thoughts are that the empty cross that Christians have in their churches is a testimony to fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose on the third day. It doesn’t matter what a pagan uses the symbol for or what it means to them.
It’s like the swastika sign that was a symbol of Nazi Germany. It has been used before that to represent other things. A symbol is a symbol of whatever the people using it say that it reminds them of. As a Christian I don’t think of a phallic image when I see a cross at a church. I think about how Jesus lives forever and gave himself for me. Jesus certainly didn’t think of a cross the way that pagans do.
Mark 8:34 And he called to him the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (35) For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. (36) For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (37) For what can a man give in return for his life? (38) For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
It could be both…a cross is two intersecting lines…they’re featured in plaid designs as well, does that mean plaid designs are pagan or Christian? Or geometry itself for that matter?
Alot of things came from the Pagans. Christmas trees, Easter eggs alot of the “Christian” holidays have to do with some type of Pagan thing.
Sure. Of course Jesus was referring to a pagan phallic symbol when he said the following –
Mathew 10:38 And anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Mathew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Mark 8:34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 14:27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Excellent point, Commodore. The shape is so basic I’m sure it was used by many cultures.
I guess you are an enemy of the cross of Christ!
“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ.” — Philippians 3:18
I think you’re a stupid twit.
I think it’s interesting to see how everyone is reacting with so much anger. If you read it over, I think you’ll notice that the asker isn’t really bashing christians. He’s just putting forth some new information and asking “what are your thoughts?”
Catholcism/Christianity was an outlawed belief system until the Edict of Milan. Catholics practiced their faith literally underground, in the catacombs, among other not-so-public places. The cross is just one of MANY Christian symbols that remained largely unknown to those outside of the Church.
That is, until Constantine ended the persecutions. After that, the Church was allowed to function in public, and it’s symbols became widely recognizable.
You claim the cross had nothing to do with Jesus, and the only thing you can do to justify this lie is to minimize Constantine’s use of the cross upon his army’s shields. The reason he was compelled to use the cross was because Jesus was crucified on it.
No person, wishing to be taken seriously, is going to claim Jesus was NEVER crucified.
The cross was pagan in origin; used as an instrument of capital punishement by the Roman Empire. However, the cross became a sanctified symbol of eternal deliverance via Jesus’ crucifixion upon a cross.
Regardless of what the cross meant ot pagan societies, it now means something totally different. Thanks be to the power of God!