Cross Gk. stauros background

KJohn36574 at aol.com KJohn36574 at aol.com
Fri Dec 24 13:24:24 EST 1999



Concerning the identity of the "cross"  [stauros] Vines writes:

"...Both the noun [stauros] and the verb stauroo, "to fasten to a stake or 
pale," are originally to be distinguish form 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 his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, 
including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. 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 
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 adoopted to 
stand for the 'cross' of Christ" p. 138.

I would like to correct Vine on two points here:
 
First, The "crux commissa" (St. Anthony's cross) was shaped like a T thought 
by some to be derived from the symbol of the god Tammuz. However, the t cross 
or the "crux immissa" was the  traditional two beamed cross that Christ was 
supposed to have been crucified on.

Second, The traditional t cross could not have be accepted into Church 
tradition as late as the 3rd century because Irenaeus in Haer. 2. 24. 4 wrote 
of it soon after 185 A.D
"The New Bible Dictionary" (1st ed.) p. 279.

Ken Johnson
Elk Grove, CA
KJohn36574 at aol.com



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