THE CROSSIN HISTORY, ART &

THEOLOGY

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• The ancient world greatly feared slave rebellions & designed, as a deterrent, various means of death by torture, one of which was crucifixion. The word “cross” comes from the Latin crux, which in turn comes from the verb crucio, meaning “to torture.”

• The most common of crucifixion was impaling the person upon an upright stake. For more important criminals the double bar was used so that the death process would be slower (by asphyxiation) and that an inscription could be put above the head; usually had a small shelf/seat to keep the weight of the body from tearing the hands away from the nail.

CROSS IN HISTORY

                              

Archaeological discovery in 1968 of a 1st c. crucifixion with a nail still embedded in the heel

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• For the first three centuries Christians shunned depicting the crucifixion. We find no cross art because of its shame. In baptism, however, the sign of the cross was made on the person’s forehead. “You are marked as Christ’s own forever.”

• Christians used the fish symbol to symbolize Christianity (i-ch-th-u-s).

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• In the 4th c. the Emperor Constantine ended the use of the cross for torture in honor of Christ. His symbol was the Chi Rho (“by this sign you shall conquer”), which he received in a vision.

CHI RHO

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• The first Christian church buildings were long, rectangular buildings that resembled the Roman law courts (basilicas).

• To this was added short stubby arms called transcepts. In the Middle Ages they became much bigger.

• The transcepts made the building cruciform.

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• The Emperor Constantine sent his mother Helena to establish Christian shrines in Palestine

• She claimed to have found the “true cross” & on every Good Friday in Jerusalem a simple wooden cross was placed on a mound between the Church of the Holy Sepulcure and the Church of the Resurrection thought to be the top of Mt. Calvary to be adored by pilgrims.

LATIN CROSS

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• In Byzantine (Eastern) Christianity a distinctive cross developed developed with

two cross bars & a slanted bottom one, often with the ends “budded”

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• An early use of the cross was among the Celtic people (Ireland & Scotland esp.), where Christians mixed the cross with pagan symbols, such as the sun, together with Celtic weaving patterns. Sometimes they had biblical stories

CELTIC CROSS

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• In the Middle Ages there was great suffering, & death came easily. The suffering of Jesus on the cross became the central motif. The crucifix became the most common form of the cross.

                                                                              

                                  

Donatello, Santa Croce, Florence

1412

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• At the Reformation Lutheran churches retained the crucifix, but the Reformed churches abandoned the use of physical objects like crosses. Today both traditions favor the empty Latin cross, emphasizing the Resurrection.

THE CROSS: IN HISTORY

• In recent times a new cross style has emerged, the Christus Rex, Christ the King, emphasizing the triumphant, ascended, reigning Christ, often in eucharistic vestments.

Christus Rex

THE CROSS: IN ART

Greek Cross (equal arms) [Switzerland flag & Red Cross]

St. Andrew’s Cross (Scotland)

THE CROSS: IN ART

Ankh (Egyptian) Canterbury (English)

THE CROSS: IN ART

Tau St. Peter’s

THE CROSS: IN ART

Maltese Jerusalem

THE CROSS: IN ART

Cross Pattée (Iron Cross)Cross Fleury

THE CROSS: IN ART

Mariners’ CrossGlobus Cruciger

THE CROSS: IN ART

United Methodist Episcopal

THE CROSS: IN ART

         

                      

Roman Catholic

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGY: A. CLASSIC THEORY

• The early church view of the cross was that it was part of God’s strategy to defeat the Devil. By taking God’s Son unjustly into Hell the gates of Hell were broken down. Satan was unable to restrain the God’s Son, the God-Man. This theory is also called Christus Victor.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGY: A. CLASSIC THEORY

• For all who are united through Christ in baptism the bonds of Hell have forever been shattered.

• Early Christians regarded Baptism as a rite of exorcism; holy water fonts still serve that function.

• When Luther felt most threatened by Satan, he would shout: “Baptismus sum” (I am baptized).

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGY: A. CLASSIC THEORY

• In our baptismal questions we renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces that rebel against God, all the evil powers of this world, which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God, and all sinful desires that draw us from the love of God.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGY: A. CLASSIC THEORY

• In our Baptismal Covenant we promise to persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever we fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord; and to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGY: A. CLASSIC THEORY

• It has become popular again in our time through Liberation Theology & the battle for social justice.

• Salvation is the defeat of the forces of social, as well as cosmic & personal evil.

• It avoids the accusation that religion is a matter of private piety or simply one of individual salvation.

• Its strength is that it focuses on the cosmic and communal dimensions of evil.

• It’s weakness is that it does not deal with the need for personal transformation, if one is realistically to engage in the struggle against evil in this world

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGY A. CLASSIC THEORY

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYB. OBJECTIVE THEORY

• In the Middle Ages the Objective Theory of the Atonement became dominant. [Cf. St. Anselm, 1033-1109] It fit with the ideas of feudalism. Sin dishonors God; that honor must be satisfied; sinners cannot do that, only a sinless person can; the merits of Jesus’ unwarranted death on the cross pay our debt to God and free us from eternal damnation.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYB. OBJECTIVE THEORY

• The medieval Catholic Church emphasized that the merits of Christ are made available to us through the sacraments, originally Baptism, then Confession and Eucharist. The addition of good works earning indulgences (remission of punishment in purgatory) ignited the Reformation.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYB. OBJECTIVE THEORY

• The Protestant Reformers reacted to that approach by stressing the sufficiency of faith in Jesus’ atoning death on the cross to obtain forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life.

• Some Protestants speak of Christ’s substitutionary atonement in which he takes our place as the object of God’s wrath. The sacraments merely remind us of this.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYB. OBJECTIVE THEORY

• This theme is best seen in the BCP in the eucharistic prayer in Rite I: “thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; and did…command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice until his coming again.”

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYB. OBJECTIVE THEORY

• The strength of this approach is that it emphasizes that our salvation is by God’s grace and not by our worthiness, by faith & not by works.

• Its weakness is that it paints a picture of a wrathful God whose plan of salvation includes the torture of His son; it also undervalues the role of our human response in faith and gratitude.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYC. SUBJECTIVE THEORY

• Jesus’ obedience to his mission to proclaim God’s unmerited love even to the point of death by crucifixion touches our heart & gives us a selfless example to follow through bearing our own crosses.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYC. SUBJECTIVE THEORY

• Historically, the theory was first stated by Abelard (1079-1142), who used psychological insights into how God acts upon our intentions via our reaction to Jesus’ heroic sacrifice on our behalf. His views = exemplarist/subjective theory.

• Church authorities suppressed this approach in favor of St. Anselm’s satisfaction/objective theory.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYC. SUBJECTIVE THEORY

• Beginning in the 19th c. the Subjective Theory of the Atonement was revived and became very popular among more liberal Protestants, who were uncomfortable with the Objective Theory. Still popular among liberal Christians, who prefer the positive vision of a God of love versus a just, punishing God.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYC. SUBJECTIVE THEORY

• The strength of this approach is its recognition of the power of human emotion in moving head and heart, as well as the value of emphasizing God’s love vs. God’s wrath.

• Its weakness is that it does not take seriously enough the persisting power of human sinfulness/self love.

THE CROSS: IN THEOLOGYFINAL THOUGHT

• The three approaches are complementary:– The subjective approach appeals to our

hearts, which predispose our minds.– The objective approach clarifies for us that

it is by the grace of God we are free from our sins & able to fight for justice & peace, which clears the way for action.

– The classic view reminds us that sin is not simply personal, but is also societal and cosmic, and moves us to action.