cross, the principal symbol of the Christian religion, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the redeeming benefits of his Passion and death. The cross is thus a sign both of Christ himself and of the faith of Christians.
It is the most important symbol of our faith, because it represents the message that is at the heart of the gospel, without which there would be no Christianity at all. The gospel in a nutshell is that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins. The cross is central in that message.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that when Catholics are baptized “the sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the grace of the Redemption Christ won for us by his cross” (CCC 1235).
But for Christians, the cross had deep meaning. They understood Christ's death on the cross to be “completed” by God's raising him from the dead three days later. This Resurrection was a sign of Christ's “victory” over sin and death.
The history of the cross as a Christian symbol
The custom of making the cross with fingers dates back to the 3rd century. However, the veneration of the cross as a symbol, still common today, is only documented from the 4th century, the reign of Emperor Constantine the Great.
The usage of the Cross and the Crucifix came from the Roman Emperor, Constantine, who was a pagan and claimed to have converted to Christianity. Thus began the introduction of The Trinity and The Cross into Christianity.
Holy Cross or Saint Cross may refer to: the instrument of the crucifixion of Jesus. Christian cross, a frequently used religious symbol of Christianity. True Cross, supposed remnants of the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
The cross covers the penalty of my sin, so that a perfect God can enter my life and make me a new creation without my own physical death.
They have also been used to conceal the identity of believers. Three important symbols are the cross, fish, and the Greek letters alpha and omega.
They believed a depiction of any human form is idolatrous. Crucifixes, therefore, disappeared from Protestant sanctuaries.
The power of the cross of Christ reconciles humanity with our heavenly Father. In Jesus we find forgiveness of sin. He was raised from death to give us a new life in Him. In the risen Lord Jesus, we are a new creation.
It represents the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the central figure of the religion. Christ's death by crucifixion and subsequent resurrection are considered the principal and defining events in Christianity, and as a symbol representing them, the cross is accorded great importance.
The Crucifix is probably the most important symbol of Christianity. It represents a cross with the image of Christ on it and reminds everyone of the mystery of the resurrection of Christ. It reminds us of God's sacrifice of Jesus, his only Son that leads humanity to salvation.
Fourth, the Cross is our only hope because it is our living relic of Christ's constant love for you and me. St Augustine encourages us with these words: As they were looking on, so we too gaze on his wounds as he hangs. We see his blood as he dies.
The apostle's eschatological doctrine of the cross contains a theology of salvation; subsequently, the preaching of the cross releases the power of God for healing in the church. Therefore, the cross of Christ reveals God's eternal plan for all people, and that power undergirds his sovereign purposes.
Ave Crux, Spes Unica – Hail the Cross, Only Hope.
This is the motto given by Blessed Basil Moreau to the Congregation of Holy Cross.
cross, the principal symbol of the Christian religion, recalling the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the redeeming benefits of his Passion and death. The cross is thus a sign both of Christ himself and of the faith of Christians.
The cross has been widely recognized as a symbol of Christianity from an early period. Before then, it was a pagan religious symbol throughout Europe and western Asia. The effigy of a man hanging on a cross was set up in the fields to protect the crops.
The Crucifix, a cross with corpus, a symbol used in the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and Anglicanism, in contrast with some other Protestant denominations, Church of the East, and Armenian Apostolic Church, which use only a bare cross.
The cross teaches us a course about love. In John 15:13 Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus taught us about love by freely dying on the cross for our sins.
For Christians, the cross represents the defining moment in history when creator God is reconciled to mankind. Jesus Christ, God in flesh, laid down His life as the sacrificial lamb, taking the punishment we deserve upon Himself, atoning for our sins, and setting us free from the enslavement of sin and ultimate death.
Jesus said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
The cross is a symbol of death and hope all at the same time. Jesus died and rose from the dead. Likewise, our old nature must die so that we can live as a brand-new creation in Christ.
Probably originating with the Assyrians and Babylonians, it was used systematically by the Persians in the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great brought it from there to the eastern Mediterranean countries in the 4th century BC, and the Phoenicians introduced it to Rome in the 3rd century BC.
Whereas most Christians believe the gibbet on which Jesus was executed was the traditional two-beamed cross, the Jehovah's Witnesses hold the view that a single upright stake was used. The Greek and Latin words used in the earliest Christian writings are ambiguous.