Stick Jesus Cross
Stick Jesus Cross
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Do you venerate the cross?
If so, why do you venerate the torture device used to kill God in the flesh? Do you have little torture devices strung around your neck? Big ol' torture devices on top of your church? Do you make images of Jesus Christ and stick him back on the cross? Do you enjoy seeing depictions of His pain?
He was whipped also you know, do you venerate whips?
How about thorns? They were pressed into His head, do you venerate thorns? How about nails? The hammers used to drive them?
I expect if someone shot your brother, you would make big statues of the rifle used to slay him. And little gold rifles to hang about your stiff neck.
Another reason not to venerate or honor the cross is because
Jesus Christ did not die on a cross. The Greek word generally translated “cross” is stau‧ros′. It basically means “an upright pale or stake.” The Companion Bible points out: “[Stau‧ros′] never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle . . . There is nothing in the Greek of the [New Testament] even to imply two pieces of timber.”
The apostle Paul says: “Christ by purchase released us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse instead of us, because it is written: ‘Accursed is every man hanged upon a stake [“a tree,” King James Version].’” (Galatians 3:13) Here Paul quotes Deuteronomy 21:22, 23, which clearly refers to a stake, not a cross. Since such a means of execution made the person “a curse,” it would not be proper for Christians to decorate their homes with images of Christ impaled.
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.”
In ancient Israel, unfaithful Jews wept over the death of the false god Tammuz. Jehovah spoke of what they were doing as being a ‘detestable thing.’ (Ezek. 8:13, 14) According to history, Tammuz was a Babylonian god, and the cross was used as his symbol.
So by cherishing the cross, a person is honoring a symbol of worship that is opposed to the true God.
Too bad most people don't listen to reason, and you gave them plenty reason to think differently about the cross. Interesting question.
