[`God]

Is it simply because Jesus died on the cross? therefore if he had died on a chair, the chair would have become holy?

Or is there something else?

EDIT: bit ironic looking at my username lol

[schenker]

2 out of 10 trolling effort.

[Perseveranze]

I don't think that's the reason, because then they'd be worshiping graves (since Jesus(pbuh) was put in one).

Though I agree with this guy's answer (the idolatry part);

TRUE Christians do not wear crosses or even go along with the ridiculous notion that Christ was put to death on one. They know that he died on an upright stake, and that the use of cross as a symbol of devotion is considered idolatry before God.

The ones wearing a cross refuse to accept the fact that by so-doing they are actually committing a serious sin against God.......that of idolatry. They'll give one excuse after another "oh it's just a reminder to me of what Jesus did for me", but it's all garbage. There is NO evidence that the first century Christians adorned themselves, their homes, or their congregation meeting places with the false religious symbol of a cross.

Not only that, but by wearing a cross, a person is promoting the false religious belief that Jesus was killed on one, when Biblical evidence strongly suggests that he was killed on merely an upright stake, or pole.....nothing with a separate beam to make the device in the shape of the modern cross.

True Christians recognize that the use of images or idols or things of that nature have NO place in true worship of God, nor are they necessary in order for someone to remember Christ or his sacrifice.

In point of fact, the use of a cross in false religious worship can be traced back many centuries to phallic worship in ancient Babylon.

(on yahoo)

[AmyJ]

(Original post by Perseveranze)
I don't think that's the reason, because then they'd be worshiping graves (since Jesus(pbuh) was put in one).

Though I agree with this guy's answer (the idolatry part);

Jesus was not crucified on an upright stake - only the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that, and they are a tiny man-made sect whose beliefs are not even loosely based on Biblical scripture (hence why they made up their own).

Wearing a cross is only idolatry if you become so attached to it that you start "worshipping" the cross. I'm pretty sure 99% of Christians are intelligent enough not to do that...so what's the problem? It's a symbol of identity more than anything else. The figure of a fish was a Christian symbol before the Cross ever was, and it's significance was the same - it marked out the believers.

[AmyJ]

(Original post by Yahoo)
Not only that, but by wearing a cross, a person is promoting the false religious belief that Jesus was killed on one, when Biblical evidence strongly suggests that he was killed on merely an upright stake, or pole.....nothing with a separate beam to make the device in the shape of the modern cross.

Except the fact that the beam is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels- specifically that Jesus was too weak/wounded to carry it alone and was helped by Simon of Cyrene. Only John's Gospel says that Jesus carried his own cross.

Matthew 27:32-34:
As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene, named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross. They came to a place called Golgotha (“the place of the skull”). There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

Mark 15:21-23:
A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (“the place of the skull”). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.

Luke 23:26 :

As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

John 19:26 :

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).

[navarre]

It was only officially adopted as the symbol a few centuries after Jesus' death. The first symbol was the fish I believe, which was very popular amongst early Christians (in reference to Jesus' promise to make them fishers of men.)

You also have to remember that in Christian theology, Jesus' death and resurrection and pretty important. Jesus' death is seen as symbolic, and that is why it is celebrated by the cross.

[Frankie_say_relax]

Christians probably copied it off some other religion/cultural practise. They do that a lot.

[Pitt1988]

It's just a spin on the Egyptian Ankh. That's where Christianity took a lot of its beliefs from, Jesus is more or less the same myth as Osiris.

[episkopos]

(Original post by `God)
Is it simply because Jesus died on the cross? therefore if he had died on a chair, the chair would have become holy?

Or is there something else?

EDIT: bit ironic looking at my username lol

Come to think of it, I have never thought about the other alternatives to the death of Christ. But I do believe the cross has become so valuable because of the crucifixion. It is a symbol characteristic to His death as the stars and strips are characteristic to the country - USA.

[Christianlady]

(Original post by `God)
Is it simply because Jesus died on the cross? therefore if he had died on a chair, the chair would have become holy?

Or is there something else?

EDIT: bit ironic looking at my username lol

Hello,

Jesus dying on the cross does indeed have an impact as to why the cross is an important symbol to Christians. However, the cross in itself is not holy.

For many Christians who wear a cross or have a cross in their homes, it is a symbol to remember the horrific pain and injustice Jesus endured.

So, it is not the cross that is holy (nor would a chair be, if Jesus had died in a chair), but rather it is the amazing love that motivated self-sacrifice that is holy.

Jesus told his disciples, "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (John 15:13).

This is what makes the cross special to Christians... the love behind what Jesus did on it... laying down his life for his friends. The cross is not holy, but the love that motivated Jesus to die on it is holy.

Peace and God bless you

[jmj]

(Original post by `God)
Is it simply because Jesus died on the cross? therefore if he had died on a chair, the chair would have become holy?

Or is there something else?

EDIT: bit ironic looking at my username lol

Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for sin (rebellion against God). Christians believe that God created this world and everything in it and is the king and rightful ruler of the world. However humanity rebels against God and turns away from Him as king (Romans 3:10-12). The punishment for this rebellion against God is death and hell (Romans 6:23). However, God in his great mercy sent Jesus to take the punishment on our behalf (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus then rose again to show that the cross worked and the punishment we would face is paid by Jesus. We then can be saved if we trust in what Jesus has done for us and repent (turn back from our rebellion against God and turn towards God instead).

So to sum up, Jesus died on the cross to save all those who trust in Him by taking the punishment we deserve through His death on the cross.

[TheHistoryStudent]

(Original post by Perseveranze)
I don't think that's the reason, because then they'd be worshiping graves (since Jesus(pbuh) was put in one).

Though I agree with this guy's answer (the idolatry part);

Idolatry is the worship of images or idols, not the use of them in worship... so what's wrong with wearing crosses?

[Carter78]

Of course if Jesus had lived and been executed within the last Century then it's quite possible that Christians would be wearing small electric chairs around their necks instead

[Martyn*]

The cross only became an important Christian motif later when the Church began converting more and more pagans. The cross was symbolic of a curse in the first century, so it is unlikely that early Christians devoted any significance to it that would later characterise Constantine and his alleged conversion. I would say that the cross as a defining symbol (much in the way the pagans revered the Ankh) of a Christian group or faction emerged late, perhaps the first appearing in Egypt with the Kopts...obviously the people of Koptos were familiar with the cruciform motif, as this was the cross, or crux ansata, of Orion (i.e., Osiris, the Phoenix).

Paul's teaching of the crucified Christ might be part of his plan to convert the Pagans, since we are led to believe that he had given up on the Jews.

[Aula]

(Original post by `God)
Is it simply because Jesus died on the cross? therefore if he had died on a chair, the chair would have become holy?

Or is there something else?

EDIT: bit ironic looking at my username lol

As a simple answer, the cross represents the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Through his death on the cross, Jesus is the bridge to heaven.

[honestly]

(Original post by AmyJ)
Jesus was not crucified on an upright stake - only the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that, and they are a tiny man-made sect whose beliefs are not even loosely based on Biblical scripture (hence why they made up their own).

Wearing a cross is only idolatry if you become so attached to it that you start "worshipping" the cross. I'm pretty sure 99% of Christians are intelligent enough not to do that...so what's the problem? It's a symbol of identity more than anything else. The figure of a fish was a Christian symbol before the Cross ever was, and it's significance was the same - it marked out the believers.

Man made sect; really? Well lets not even go down that road. As a classicist and student of comparative religion I must declare the Jehovah's Witnesses are more so based upon scripture as opposed to the criminal family organized in the Vatican, or the church which believes the family values of Henry VIII was gods way of returning to true Christianity.

Not so long ago a teenager was murdered in Liverpool. He was killed by a Pick Axe. His mother grieved, along with the moral people in Liverpool and the UK. Now imagine if at the funeral she gave everybody a gold chain, attached to it was a small Pick Axe ans she asked her son to remembered using this pendant.

Would you grieve your mother, father, son or daughter using, for example, the weapon or the means in which they died?

The church care more about succumbing to modern attitudes than sticking to biblical law (however right or wrong that may be)...


honestly

[PopaPork]

It is a reminder of the sacrifice he made for us.

It is also part of our identity.

Peace

[pokemons]

(Original post by Pitt1988)
It's just a spin on the Egyptian Ankh. That's where Christianity took a lot of its beliefs from, Jesus is more or less the same myth as Osiris.

He has to die on the cross because his life also Mirrors the life of The Sun in the sky, which sits at its lowest point at the Southern Crux (Late December) before being reborn and moving first to whom, The Water Man (Aquarius). He is The Amen (Amen-Ra Egyptian Sun God). Very clever story.

[AmyJ]

(Original post by honestly)
Man made sect; really? Well lets not even go down that road. As a classicist and student of comparative religion I must declare the Jehovah's Witnesses are more so based upon scripture as opposed to the criminal family organized in the Vatican, or the church which believes the family values of Henry VIII was gods way of returning to true Christianity.

Not so long ago a teenager was murdered in Liverpool. He was killed by a Pick Axe. His mother grieved, along with the moral people in Liverpool and the UK. Now imagine if at the funeral she gave everybody a gold chain, attached to it was a small Pick Axe ans she asked her son to remembered using this pendant.

Would you grieve your mother, father, son or daughter using, for example, the weapon or the means in which they died?

The church care more about succumbing to modern attitudes than sticking to biblical law (however right or wrong that may be)...


honestly

Yes, man-made - as in, dreamt up by Charles Russell and then expanded upon by Joseph Rutherford. A movement which manages to glean from scripture nonsensical rubbish like this, and has to keep changing the date of "Armageddon" because it's clearly not happening:

"From 1932 it was taught that the "little flock" of 144,000 would not be the only people to survive Armageddon. Rutherford explained that in addition to the 144,000 "anointed" who would be resurrected—or transferred at death—to live in heaven to rule over earth with Christ, a separate class of members, the "great multitude", would live in a paradise restored on earth; from 1935, new converts to the movement were considered part of that class. By the mid-1930s, the timing of the beginning of Christ's presence, his enthronement as king, and the start of the "last days" were each moved to 1914."

Basically, they were just making it up as they went along.

You clearly don't understand the symbolism behind Jesus' death on the Cross. No-one wears a cross to taunt Jesus or his suffering, they wear it to remember his sacrifice and what it meant for our relationship with God. He wasn't a random person dealt a cruel hand by Fate - he was destined to die on the Cross, and the completion of that task was a triumph, as he knew when he said "It is finished".

[Aula]

(Original post by honestly)
Not so long ago a teenager was murdered in Liverpool. He was killed by a Pick Axe. His mother grieved, along with the moral people in Liverpool and the UK. Now imagine if at the funeral she gave everybody a gold chain, attached to it was a small Pick Axe ans she asked her son to remembered using this pendant.

Would you grieve your mother, father, son or daughter using, for example, the weapon or the means in which they died?

Actually it's more the case of remembering someone for the means with which they sacrificed themselves. So if that teenager had died to protect someone else, then remembering him by the pickaxe might not be so silly. You'd be remembering the sacrifice he made, not just grieving for him.