| Cross andChi-Rho |
The words "cross" and "crucify" are mistranslations, a "later rendering," ofthe Greek words stauros and stauroo. According to Vine's Expository Dictionaryof New Testament Words, STAUROS denotes, primarily, an upright pole or stake. The shape ofthe two-beamed cross had its origin in ancient Chaldea and was used as the symbol of the godTammuz. In the third century A.D., pagans were received into the apostate ecclesiasticalsystem and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols.
According to The Companion Bible, crosses were used as symbols of theBabylonian Sun-god. The evidence is complete; the Lord was put to death upon an upright stake,not on two pieces of timber placed at an angle.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, in the Egyptian churches thecross was a pagan symbol of life borrowed by the Christians and interpreted in the paganmanner.
According to Greek dictionaries and lexicons, the primary meaning ofstauros is an upright pale, pole, or stake. The secondary meaning of "cross" is admittedto be a "later" rendering. In spite of the evidence, almost all common versions of theScriptures persist with the Latin Vulgate's crux (meaning cross) as the rendering ofthe Greek stauros.
The most accepted reason for the "cross" being brought into Messianic worshipis Constantine's famous vision of "the cross superimposed on the sun" in A.D. 312. What hesaw is nowhere to be found in Scripture. Even after his so-called "conversion," his coinsshowed an even-armed cross as a symbol for the Sun-god. Many scholars have doubted the"conversion" of Constantine because of the wicked deeds that he did afterwards.
After Constantine had the "vision of the cross," he promoted another varietyof the cross, the Chi-Rho or Labarum. This has been explained as representing the firstletters of the name Christos (CH and R, or, in Greek, X and P). Theidentical symbols were found as inscriptions on rock, dating from ca. 2500 B.C., beinginterpreted as "a combination of the two Sun-symbols." Another proof of its pagan origin isthat the identical symbol was found on a coin of Ptolemeus III from 247-222 B.C.
According to An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, thelabarum was also an emblem of the Chaldean sky-god. Emperor Constantine adopted the labarumas the imperial ensign. According to Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols, thesymbol was in use long before Christianity. Chi probably stood for Great Fire or Sun.Rho probably stood for Pater or Patah (Father). The word labarum yields"everlasting Father Sun."
| Matthew27: 32 |
| CJB | execution-stake | SISR | stake | SSBE | torture stake |
| NWT | torture stake |
The following versions have the symbol of the cross, either small or large,in a prominent place, usually on the cover or on the front or back of the title page: An American Translation (Beck);Contemporary English Version;Douay-Rheims New Testament;English Version for the Deaf;The Jerusalem Bible;John Wesley New Testament;Kleist-Lilly New Testament;Knox Translation;Living Bible;Moffatt New Translation;New American Bible;New Century Version;New Jerusalem Bible;New Revised Standard Version;Noli New Testament;Reese Chronological Bible;Revised Standard Version;Riverside New Testament;The Scholars Version. In Christianity, the cross is the symbol of the death of Yahshua for thesins of the world. It is in this context that a symbol of the cross is used. All the Catholicversions use the symbol with the imprimatur. The Moffatt NewTranslation has the cross superimposed on a blue ball. Whether or not intended, that ballis the symbol of the sun. The cross, with the sun behind it, was the vision seen byConstantine at the time of is alleged conversion to Christianity. The editors may haveunintentionally used the pagan symbol of the cross to represent a symbol that is importantto Christians. Following the title page in An AmericanTranslation (Beck) is an explanation of a symbol on the cover. "This is the word for"cross" in papyrus 75, our oldest manuscript of Luke. ... . If you spell out this Greek word,it is stauron. But the letters au are omitted and their omission is indicatedby the line above the word. Then the r, which in Greek has the form of a p,is superimposed on the t so that we have a head suggesting a body on a cross." Thepurpose may be well-intentioned and the source of the symbol not understood. Again, there mayhave been an innocent error. In the Keyword Concordance at the back of theConcordant Literal New Testament is the following definitionof the word cross: "an upright stake or pale, without any crosspiece, now, popularly,cross." Several examples of where the word is used is given. In the beginning of the New EvangelicalTranslation is a page describing the chi-rho symbol. "The symbol above is called achi-rho; it reminds Christians of their Savior, Jesus Christ. This emblem is composedof two Greek letters (chi = "ch" and rho = "r"), which are superimposed oneach other, and form an abbreviation of the Name "CHRIST." The chi-rho emblemalso stands in the columns of the New Evangelical Translation (NET) New Testament text,indicating passages which directly quote those Old Testament promises which were fulfilledin relation to or through the work of the CHRIST!" Again , there is awell-intentioned purpose with the source of the symbol apparently being not known.
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