willie martin

The Cross

In the Greek New Testament two words are used for "the
cross," on which the Lord was put to death.

1). The word stauros; which denotes an upright pale or
stake, to which the criminals were nailed for execution.

2). The word xulon, which generally denotes a piece of a
dead log of wood, or timber, for fuel or for any other
purpose. It is not like dendron, which is used of a living,
or green tree, as in Matthew 21:8; Revelation 7:1, 3; 8:7;
9:4.

As this latter word xulon is used for the former stauros,
it shows us that the meaning of each is exactly the same.

The verb stauroô means to drive stakes. (There are two
compounds of it used: sustauroô=to put any one thus to death
with another (Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32; John 19:32; Romans
6:6; Galatians 2:20); and anastouroô=to raise up and fix
upon the stake again. (Hebrews 6:6) Another word used is
equally significant; prospêgnumi=to fix or fasten anything.
(Acts 2:23)

Our English word "cross" is the translation of the Latin
crux; but the Greek stauros no more means a crux than the
word "stick" means a "crutch."

Homer uses the word xstauros of an ordinary pole of stake,
or a single piece of timber. (Lliad xxiv. 453; Odyssey xiv.
11) And this is the meaning and usage of the word throughout
the Greek classics. (E.g., Thucydides iv.90. Xenophon,
Anabasis v. 2.21)

It never means two pieces of timber placed across one
another at any angle, but always of one piece alone. Hence
the use of the word xulon (No. 2, above) in connection with
the manner of our Lord's death, and rendered "tree" in Acts
5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24. This is
preserved in our old English name rood, or rod. See the
Encyclopedia Britannica 11th (Camb.) Ed., vol. 7, p. 505d.

There is nothing in the Greek of the New Testament even to
imply two pieces of timber.

The letter chi, X, the initial of the word Christ ( ),
was originally used for His Name; or . This was superseded
by the symbols (a star with a p on top of it, I can't
produce it here) and (a cross with a p on top of it and I
can't produce it here) and even the first of these had four
equal arms.

These crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian
sun-god (a circle with a horizontal line and a ventricle
line inside it), and are first seen on a coin of Julius
Caesar, 100-44 B.C., and then on a coin struck by Caesar's
heir (Augustus), 20 B.C. (Other coins with this symbols were
struck by Augustua, also by Hadrian and other Roman
emperors. See Early Christian Numismatics, by C.W. King,
M.A.)

On the coins of Constantine the most frequent symbol is
(the star with the P on top of it); but the same symbol is
used without the surrounding circle, and with the four equal
arms vertical and horizontal; and this was the symbol
specially venerated as the "Solar Wheel." It should be
stated that Constantine was a sun-god worshiper, and would
not enter the "Church" till some quarter of a century after
the legend of his having seen such a cross in the heavens.
(Eusebius, Vit. Const. I.37)

The evidence is the same as to the pre-Christian (phallic)
symbol in Asia, Africa, and Egypt, whether we consult
Nineveh by Sir A.H. Layard (ii. 213), or Manners and Customs
of the ancient Egyptians, by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, iii.
pp. 24, 26, 43, 44, 46, 52, 82, 136.

Dr. Schliemann gives the same evidence in his Ilios (1880),
recording his discoveries on the site of prehistoric Troy.
See pp. 337, 350, 353, 521, 523.

Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter gives the same evidence form
Cyprus; and these are "the oldest extant Phoenician
inscriptions;" see his Kypros, the Bible, and Homer:
Oriental civilization, Art, and Religion in Ancient Times,
Plates xix, xxv, xxvi, ***, ***i, ***ii, xl, lviii, lxix.

The catacombs in Rome bear the same testimony: "Christ" is
never represented there as "hanging on a cross," and the
cross itself is only portrayed in a veiled and hesitating
manner. In the Egyptian churches the cross was pagan symbol
of life, borrowed by the Christians, and interpreted in the
pagan manner. See the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th (Camb.)
Ed., vol. 14, p. 274.

In his Letters from Rome Dean Burgon said: "I question
whether a cross occurs on any Christian monument of the
first four centuries."

In Mr. Jameson's famous History of our Lord as Exemplified
in Works of Art, she says (vol. ii, p. 315): "It must be
owned that ancient objects of art, as far as hitherto known,
afford no corroboration of the use of the cross in the
simple transverse form familiar to us, at any period
preceding, or even closely succeeding, the time of

"The Invention of the Cross" by Helena the mother of
Constantine ( in 326), though it means her finding of the
cross, may or may not be true; but the "invention" of it in
pre-Christian times, and the "invention" of its use in later
times, are truths of which we need to be reminded in the
present day. The evidence is thus complete that the Lord was
put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of
timber placed at any angle. (Companion Bible, Appendix 162,
p. 186)

news.50099

And does this make His suffering and death any less significant? By no
means! Let's not quibble about what kind of cross or stake our Lord and
Savior was crucified upon. Instead, let us focus on the fact that He paid
the ultimate price for our sins and through this vicarious act we are save
by justification.

Why anyone would want to question or argue what kind of cross was used is
beyond me. Maybe as good Lutherans we should ask, "What does this mean?"
Creating doubt or questioning the 'type' of cross our Savior was crucified
upon is the Devil's playground.

The Cross

In the Greek New Testament two words are used for "the
cross," on which the Lord was put to death.

1). The word stauros; which denotes an upright pale or
stake, to which the criminals were nailed for execution.

2). The word xulon, which generally denotes a piece of a
dead log of wood, or timber, for fuel or for any other
purpose. It is not like dendron, which is used of a living,
or green tree, as in Matthew 21:8; Revelation 7:1, 3; 8:7;
9:4.

As this latter word xulon is used for the former stauros,
it shows us that the meaning of each is exactly the same.

The verb stauroô means to drive stakes. (There are two
compounds of it used: sustauroô=to put any one thus to death
with another (Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32; John 19:32; Romans
6:6; Galatians 2:20); and anastouroô=to raise up and fix
upon the stake again. (Hebrews 6:6) Another word used is
equally significant; prospêgnumi=to fix or fasten anything.
(Acts 2:23)

Our English word "cross" is the translation of the Latin
crux; but the Greek stauros no more means a crux than the
word "stick" means a "crutch."

Homer uses the word xstauros of an ordinary pole of stake,
or a single piece of timber. (Lliad xxiv. 453; Odyssey xiv.
11) And this is the meaning and usage of the word throughout
the Greek classics. (E.g., Thucydides iv.90. Xenophon,
Anabasis v. 2.21)

It never means two pieces of timber placed across one
another at any angle, but always of one piece alone. Hence
the use of the word xulon (No. 2, above) in connection with
the manner of our Lord's death, and rendered "tree" in Acts
5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24. This is
preserved in our old English name rood, or rod. See the
Encyclopedia Britannica 11th (Camb.) Ed., vol. 7, p. 505d.

There is nothing in the Greek of the New Testament even to
imply two pieces of timber.

The letter chi, X, the initial of the word Christ ( ),
was originally used for His Name; or . This was superseded
by the symbols (a star with a p on top of it, I can't
produce it here) and (a cross with a p on top of it and I
can't produce it here) and even the first of these had four
equal arms.

These crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian
sun-god (a circle with a horizontal line and a ventricle
line inside it), and are first seen on a coin of Julius
Caesar, 100-44 B.C., and then on a coin struck by Caesar's
heir (Augustus), 20 B.C. (Other coins with this symbols were
struck by Augustua, also by Hadrian and other Roman
emperors. See Early Christian Numismatics, by C.W. King,
M.A.)

On the coins of Constantine the most frequent symbol is
(the star with the P on top of it); but the same symbol is
used without the surrounding circle, and with the four equal
arms vertical and horizontal; and this was the symbol
specially venerated as the "Solar Wheel." It should be
stated that Constantine was a sun-god worshiper, and would
not enter the "Church" till some quarter of a century after
the legend of his having seen such a cross in the heavens.
(Eusebius, Vit. Const. I.37)

The evidence is the same as to the pre-Christian (phallic)
symbol in Asia, Africa, and Egypt, whether we consult
Nineveh by Sir A.H. Layard (ii. 213), or Manners and Customs
of the ancient Egyptians, by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, iii.
pp. 24, 26, 43, 44, 46, 52, 82, 136.

Dr. Schliemann gives the same evidence in his Ilios (1880),
recording his discoveries on the site of prehistoric Troy.
See pp. 337, 350, 353, 521, 523.

Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter gives the same evidence form
Cyprus; and these are "the oldest extant Phoenician
inscriptions;" see his Kypros, the Bible, and Homer:
Oriental civilization, Art, and Religion in Ancient Times,
Plates xix, xxv, xxvi, ***, ***i, ***ii, xl, lviii, lxix.

The catacombs in Rome bear the same testimony: "Christ" is
never represented there as "hanging on a cross," and the
cross itself is only portrayed in a veiled and hesitating
manner. In the Egyptian churches the cross was pagan symbol
of life, borrowed by the Christians, and interpreted in the
pagan manner. See the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th (Camb.)
Ed., vol. 14, p. 274.

In his Letters from Rome Dean Burgon said: "I question
whether a cross occurs on any Christian monument of the
first four centuries."

In Mr. Jameson's famous History of our Lord as Exemplified
in Works of Art, she says (vol. ii, p. 315): "It must be
owned that ancient objects of art, as far as hitherto known,
afford no corroboration of the use of the cross in the
simple transverse form familiar to us, at any period
preceding, or even closely succeeding, the time of
Chrysostom;" and Chrysostom wrote half a century after
Constantine!

"The Invention of the Cross" by Helena the mother of
Constantine ( in 326), though it means her finding of the
cross, may or may not be true; but the "invention" of it in
pre-Christian times, and the "invention" of its use in later
times, are truths of which we need to be reminded in the
present day. The evidence is thus complete that the Lord was
put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of
timber placed at any angle. (Companion Bible, Appendix 162,
p. 186)

willie martin

Why would anyone one to accept a lie is beyond me. Are
Lutherans suppsed to believe lies about Christ I think not

john steinberg

Other things that might belong to the devil's playground. Showing off one's
brilliant ability to interpret the scripture and make a lot of ego-hay in
the process.
It is so easy to forget that the devil has a brilliant mind. Luther knew
about that.
John

willie martin

The Cross

In the Greek New Testament two words are used for "the
cross," on which the Lord was put to death.

1). The word stauros; which denotes an upright pale or
stake, to which the criminals were nailed for execution.

2). The word xulon, which generally denotes a piece of a
dead log of wood, or timber, for fuel or for any other
purpose. It is not like dendron, which is used of a living,
or green tree, as in Matthew 21:8; Revelation 7:1, 3; 8:7;
9:4.

As this latter word xulon is used for the former stauros,
it shows us that the meaning of each is exactly the same.

The verb stauroô means to drive stakes. (There are two
compounds of it used: sustauroô=to put any one thus to death
with another (Matthew 27:44; Mark 15:32; John 19:32; Romans
6:6; Galatians 2:20); and anastouroô=to raise up and fix
upon the stake again. (Hebrews 6:6) Another word used is
equally significant; prospêgnumi=to fix or fasten anything.
(Acts 2:23)

Our English word "cross" is the translation of the Latin
crux; but the Greek stauros no more means a crux than the
word "stick" means a "crutch."

Homer uses the word xstauros of an ordinary pole of stake,
or a single piece of timber. (Lliad xxiv. 453; Odyssey xiv.
11) And this is the meaning and usage of the word throughout
the Greek classics. (E.g., Thucydides iv.90. Xenophon,
Anabasis v. 2.21)

It never means two pieces of timber placed across one
another at any angle, but always of one piece alone. Hence
the use of the word xulon (No. 2, above) in connection with
the manner of our Lord's death, and rendered "tree" in Acts
5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24. This is
preserved in our old English name rood, or rod. See the
Encyclopedia Britannica 11th (Camb.) Ed., vol. 7, p. 505d.

There is nothing in the Greek of the New Testament even to
imply two pieces of timber.

The letter chi, X, the initial of the word Christ ( ),
was originally used for His Name; or . This was superseded
by the symbols (a star with a p on top of it, I can't
produce it here) and (a cross with a p on top of it and I
can't produce it here) and even the first of these had four
equal arms.

These crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian
sun-god (a circle with a horizontal line and a ventricle
line inside it), and are first seen on a coin of Julius
Caesar, 100-44 B.C., and then on a coin struck by Caesar's
heir (Augustus), 20 B.C. (Other coins with this symbols were
struck by Augustua, also by Hadrian and other Roman
emperors. See Early Christian Numismatics, by C.W. King,
M.A.)

On the coins of Constantine the most frequent symbol is
(the star with the P on top of it); but the same symbol is
used without the surrounding circle, and with the four equal
arms vertical and horizontal; and this was the symbol
specially venerated as the "Solar Wheel." It should be
stated that Constantine was a sun-god worshiper, and would
not enter the "Church" till some quarter of a century after
the legend of his having seen such a cross in the heavens.
(Eusebius, Vit. Const. I.37)

The evidence is the same as to the pre-Christian (phallic)
symbol in Asia, Africa, and Egypt, whether we consult
Nineveh by Sir A.H. Layard (ii. 213), or Manners and Customs
of the ancient Egyptians, by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, iii.
pp. 24, 26, 43, 44, 46, 52, 82, 136.

Dr. Schliemann gives the same evidence in his Ilios (1880),
recording his discoveries on the site of prehistoric Troy.
See pp. 337, 350, 353, 521, 523.

Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter gives the same evidence form
Cyprus; and these are "the oldest extant Phoenician
inscriptions;" see his Kypros, the Bible, and Homer:
Oriental civilization, Art, and Religion in Ancient Times,
Plates xix, xxv, xxvi, ***, ***i, ***ii, xl, lviii, lxix.

The catacombs in Rome bear the same testimony: "Christ" is
never represented there as "hanging on a cross," and the
cross itself is only portrayed in a veiled and hesitating
manner. In the Egyptian churches the cross was pagan symbol
of life, borrowed by the Christians, and interpreted in the
pagan manner. See the Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th (Camb.)
Ed., vol. 14, p. 274.

In his Letters from Rome Dean Burgon said: "I question
whether a cross occurs on any Christian monument of the
first four centuries."

In Mr. Jameson's famous History of our Lord as Exemplified
in Works of Art, she says (vol. ii, p. 315): "It must be
owned that ancient objects of art, as far as hitherto known,
afford no corroboration of the use of the cross in the
simple transverse form familiar to us, at any period
preceding, or even closely succeeding, the time of

"The Invention of the Cross" by Helena the mother of
Constantine ( in 326), though it means her finding of the
cross, may or may not be true; but the "invention" of it in
pre-Christian times, and the "invention" of its use in later
times, are truths of which we need to be reminded in the
present day. The evidence is thus complete that the Lord was
put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of
timber placed at any angle. (Companion Bible, Appendix 162,
p. 186)