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Re: Jesus carrying cross
On Tue, 26 Jul 1994, John Richards wrote:
> ...the phrase "take up your cross" was clearly in
> wide use as a cult shorthand for discipleship. The synoptic gospels even
> have Jesus *before* his crucifixion, saying that "if anyone wants to be
> my disciple, let him take up his cross (daily) and follow me". John
> could well be portraying Jesus manfully carrying his cross (literally)
> as a *spiritual* example - pour encourager les autres. In that case, it
> would have no bearing on the form of the Roman cross, except as the
> Church (of the early 2nd. century?) imagined it.
That is a very interesting possibility, and well worth consideration. Yet
crucifixion still existed at the time "John" was presumably written, and
there must have been an example upon which the "bearing one's cross"
was based.
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