Information Related to "Questions and Answers - Jan/Mar 2001"
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Question: Why shouldn't we wear a cross as a sign of being a Christian?
Answer: Having a desire to let our light shine and to share our faith are positive goals! In order to answer this specific question, though, we must also consider the background of the cross, the New Testament record and Jesus' teaching about how to display our Christianity.
One of the first questions we might ask is, who decided that the cross was to be the sign of Christianity? This tradition of wearing a cross does not come from the Bible, or the practices of the New Testament Church. Though there are at least seven different types of crosses, we are not even certain that Jesus was crucified on a cross-like apparatus. 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).
A study of the history shows that the cross predates Christianity. According to author Ralph Woodrow, "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" (Babylonian Mystery Religion, p. 51). From Babylon, the cross spread to other nations and was associated with paganism long before Jesus' crucifixion in 31 A.D.
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).
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