The Greek word translated as “cross” is stauros. It means the upright or stake portion of an instrument of execution used in several cultures down through history. Sometimes executioners used a crosspiece at the top of or in different places on the stake. At other times no crosspiece was used.
It’s impossible to know exactly what type the Romans used when crucifying Jesus, but they did attach a sign over His head (Matthew 27:37), which could have been on a stake or a crosspiece. Though crucifixion on a cross was common at the time, the Bible allows that Jesus may have been put to death on an upright pole (rendered “tree” in 1 Peter 2:24 from the Greek word stauros, which primarily means an upright stake).
Because Christ’s death is of such monumental significance, some Christians have mistakenly thought the cross should be a part of Christian worship. The Apostle Paul referred to the cross in a symbolic way (1 Corinthians 1:17 and 23). He also used the cup of wine from the Passover as a symbol (1 Corinthians 10:21), and John the Baptist referred to Christ as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:36). But this doesn’t mean we should begin to use cups or figures of lambs as religious ornaments or objects of worship. The second commandment strictly prohibits the use of objects in worship (Exodus 20:4-5), as explained in the previous article.
The symbol of the cross actually predates Christianity: “Centuries before the Christian era, the cross was honored as a religious symbol by the people of Babylon. It is seen on their oldest monuments. Historians say that it was a symbol associated with Tammuz” (Ralph Woodrow, Babylonian Mystery Religion, p. 51). From Babylon, the cross spread to other nations and was associated with paganism long before Jesus’ crucifixion in A.D. 31. Woodrow further explains, “It was not until Christianity began to be paganized that the cross came to be thought of as a Christian symbol. It was in 431 A.D. that crosses in churches and chambers were introduced, while the use of crosses on steeples did not come until about 586 A.D.” (p. 50).
The Roman Emperor, Constantine, recognized the value of religion in uniting his empire, and it was one of his primary motivations in accepting and sanctioning the Christian religion. “It was not till the time of Constantine that the cross was publicly used as the symbol of the Christian religion” (ibid).
By this time Christianity had drifted far from the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. As our study guide, Is God a Trinity? explains, “A very different religion, now compromised with many concepts and practices rooted in ancient paganism (such mixing of religious beliefs being known as syncretism, common in the Roman Empire at the time), took hold and transformed the faith founded by Jesus Christ.”
In a section titled “Cross, Crucify,” Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words records: “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 adopted to stand for the ‘cross’ of Christ.”
The historical record shows that, just as Jesus and the New Testament writers foretold, various heretical ideas and teachers rose up from within the early Church and infiltrated it from without. Christ Himself warned His followers: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name…and will deceive many” (Matthew 24:4-5).
If you would like to learn more about the history of the cross and how this pagan symbol entered Christianity, read chapters 6 and 7 of Ralph Woodrow’s book, ‘Babylon Mystery Religion’. These two chapters are respectively titled “Is the Cross a Christian Symbol?” and “Constantine and the Cross.”
