From: KJohn36574@aol.com
Date: Fri Dec 24 1999 - 13:24:24 EST
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@aol.com
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