Cross Worship is Pagan and Not For True Christians

Cross Worship is Pagan and Not For True Christians

INTRODUCTION:

The Encyclopedia Britannica calle the cross, "the principal symbol of the Christian religion; but genuine (true) Christians do NOT use the cross in worship. Why? First, Jesus (Yeshua) did not die on a cross. Second, the cross is actually a pagan symbol that was NOT used by Christians during the first three centuries of Christianity. This symbol was first brought forth to become a part of Christendom by a pagan Roman Emperor, Constantine, a worshipper of the Unconquered Sun. He did this to further his own political goal of straightening his empire by obtaining religious unity between pagans and Christians by having the Christians go apostate and accept a symbol that would make it easier for pagans to accept so called Christianity. Let's look at the facts.

CONSTANTINE AND HIS CLAIMED VISION OF THE CROSS:

The pagan Roman Emperor, Constantine, a worshipper of the Unconquered Sun, was in a weak position at the beginning of his reign due to his empire being divided religiously between Christians and pagan worshippers of the Unconquered Sun. He knew he had to take action to try and unite his empire religiously if he wanted to strengthen it. The Roman Emperor Constantine needed to make his subjects feel secure if he were to maintain control of the empire; he wanted to rule a unified empire, be it pagan and/or Christian. But first he would have to find a way to end the dispute over the divinity of Jesus-was he a man or God? So he ordered his Christian bishops to meet at Nicaea in 325 A.D. to settle the matter once and for all. To do this, "he made himself the head of the church, and thus the problems of the church became his responsibilities. As a whole the Western Empire with its Roman influence, with some exceptions, had accepted Tertullian and his new theory of the Trinity in the early part of the previous century, but in the East the church adhered more closely to the older formula of baptism in the name of Jesus, or Jesus the Christ. Especially was this true with the Armenians, who specified that baptism "into the death of Christ" was that which alone was essential [reference - ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366)].

And, By the third and fourth centuries, many Christian bishops were weary of Pagan persecution. The temptation was to compromise. Besides, the Pagan Emperor Constantine needed Christians to salvage his shaky empire. Moreover, he saw Christianity as a tool he could use to firm up his shaky empire. To this opportunity for political intrigue, and happy blend of politics and people was the chief triumvirate of Roman gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Jupiter was the principal deity of Roman mythology and Juno was the next highest divinity. Minerva, the "offspring of the brain of Jupiter" was regarded as the "personification of divine thought, the plan of the material universe of which Jupiter was the creator and Juno the representative" Many Pagan ideas, in fact, were incorporated into Christianity. "Christianity did not destroy paganism; it adopted it" [reference - McClintock & Strong's Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, Vol. 6].

To start to put his plan into motion to unite his empire religiously, he claimed to have seen a Vision of the Cross in a premonition that he had before the battle against Maxentius. According to this premonition, he would have been victorious if he had substituted the imperial eagles on the soldiers' standards with the cross, thus officially recognizing the Christian religion. The view of Rome (on the right in the background) with the reconstruction of its ancient monuments is worth noting.[reference - Encylopedia Britannica].

After his successful battle against Maxentius, he started to put his plan into operation to apostate the Christians to unite his empire religiously. Now let's see how Constantine got the Trinity. As previously mentioned, The Roman Empire at this time was being torn apart by religious differences between pagans, mostly Sun God worshippers, and Christianity. Constantine the Emperor was a worshipper of the Unconquered Sun, but he was a very pragmatic individual and saw the need to bring religious unity to his empire. To this end he wanted a symbol for Christians and false doctrines that the pagans could also accept. In this, the pagan Emperor, Constantine, saw a possibility for unifying his empire if he could only lead the majority of the Christians to accept the pagan symbol of the cross as a Christian symbol and some pagan doctrines he could bring about religious unity. He knew however that he had to make them think it was their own idea. To this end, he, the Roman emperor Constantine, a pagan worshipper of the Unconquered Sun, summoned all bishops to Nicaea, about 300, but even though it was the emperor's direction, only a fraction actually attended.

This council went on for a very long time and the emperor worked behind the scene to get support for the cross as a symbol of Christianity and for the pagan doctrine of the trinity. This effort was not completely successful, but finally he got a majority and declared under imperial degree that this hence forth would be the central doctrinal pillar of the Christian church, which by this time was apostate. Even with this declaration by the emperor himself not all bishops signed the creed.

So is was the political product of an apostate church, an apostate church that allowed a pagan Roman Emporer, Constantine, to tell it which symbols and dogma to accept at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., and then have it rammed down their throats as blessed dogma by another Roman Emporer, Theodosius, at the Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. This in direct violation of God's (YHWH's) word found in the Bible " Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." (James 4:4 AV), " If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." (John 15:19 AV).
Their solution was to create a creed making it illegal for anyone to believe Jesus was not the same as God by inventing the notion of a Trinity. This intellectual tower remained in full force for well over a thousand years, until the Reformation. [references - Payne, Robert, "The Holy Fire: The Story of the Early Centuries of the Christian Churches in the Near East" (1957); BETHUNE-BAKER, J,F. "An Introduction to the Early History of Christian Doctrine". Methuen; 5th Ed., 1933 and ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 11th Edition, Vol. 3, (page 366); David, Francis and Blandrata, Georgio, "De falsa et vera unius Dei Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti cognitone" [Latin](The False and True Knowledge of the Unity of God the Father, Son, and Holy spirit), 1566 A.D.; Eklof, Todd F., "David's Francis Tower, Strength through Peace," (06-16-02); The New Encyclopedia Britannica: " Micropædia, Vol. X, p. 126. (1976); Parkes, James, "The Foundation of Judaism and Christianity," 1960; Durant, Will. "Caesar and Christ." New York: Simon. 1944. Vol. 3 of The Story of Civilization. 11 vols. 1935-75.]

JESUS (YESHUA) DID NOT DIE ON A CROSS:

In classical Greek the word (stau•ros') is rendered "stake." This denotes an upright stake, or pole, and there is no evidence that the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures used it to designate a stake with a crossbeam. The book The Non-Christian Cross, by John Denham Parsons, states: "There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. . . . it is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to translate the word stauros as 'cross' when rendering the Greek documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that action by putting 'cross' in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon which Jesus was executed had that particular shape." [source - The Non-Christian Cross by John Denham Parsons, London, 1896, pp. 23, 24.]

The Companion Bible points out 'Stau-ros' never meant two pieces of timber placed across one another at an angle...Ther is nothing in the Greek of the New Testament even to imply two pieces of timber. [reference - The Companion Bible].

Also, in some Bible texts, Bible writers used another word for the instrument of Jesus' death, and that was the Koine Greek word 'xy'lon'. This word was used at Acts 5:30, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree." (Authorized King James Bible; AV); and Acts 10:39, "And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:" (AV); and Galatians 3:13, "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" (AV); and 1 Peter 2:24, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." (AV). Thus the word simply means 'timber' or a stick, club, or tree.

The book [in German] "Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung" [The Cross and the Crucifiction] states, "Trees were not everywhere abailable at the places chosen for public execution; thererfore a simple beam was sunk into the ground. On this the outlaws, with hands raised upward and often also with their feet, were bound or nailed." [source - Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung [The Cross and the Crucifiction] by Hermann Fulda].

However, the most convincing proof of all comes from the Bible, the word of God (YHWH) where the apostle Paul wrote at Galatians 3:13, ""Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" (AV), which he quoted from Deuteronomy 21:22-23, "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." (AV). This scripture clearly refers to a stake or timber and not a cross. Also, since such a means of execution made the person 'a curse,' it would not be proper for true Christians to decorate their homes with images of Jesus (Yeshua) Christ impaled and/or make pictures of it.

FIGURATIVE USE;

A Bible dictionary states, ""Torture stake" sometimes stands for the sufferings, shame, or torture experienced because of being a follower of Jesus Christ. As Jesus said: "Whoever does not accept his torture stake and follow after me is not worthy of me." (Mt 10:38; 16:24; Mr 8:34; Lu 9:23; 14:27) The expression "torture stake" is also used in such a way as to represent Jesus' death upon the stake, which made possible redemption from sin and reconciliation with God.-1Co 1:17, 18.

Jesus' death on the torture stake was the basis for removing the Law, which had separated the Jews from the non-Jews. Therefore, by accepting the reconciliation made possible by Jesus' death, both Jews and non-Jews could become "one body to God through the torture stake." (Eph 2:11-16; Col 1:20; 2:13, 14) This proved to be a stumbling block for many Jews, since they insisted that circumcision and adherence to the Mosaic Law were essential for gaining God's approval. That is why the apostle Paul wrote: "Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? Then, indeed, the stumbling block of the torture stake has been abolished." (Ga 5:11) "All those who want to make a pleasing appearance in the flesh are the ones that try to compel you to get circumcised, only that they may not be persecuted for the torture stake of the Christ, Jesus. Never may it occur that I should boast, except in the torture stake of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been impaled to me and I to the world." (Ga 6:12, 14) For confessing Jesus' death on the torture stake as the sole basis for gaining salvation, Paul was persecuted by the Jews. As a consequence of this confession, to the apostle the world was as something impaled, condemned, or dead, whereas the world viewed him with hatred, as a criminal impaled on a stake.

Persons who embraced Christianity but who afterward turned to an immoral way of life proved themselves to be "enemies of the torture stake of the Christ." (Php 3:18, 19) Their actions demonstrated that they had no appreciation for the benefits resulting from Jesus' death on the torture stake. They "trampled upon the Son of God" and 'esteemed as of ordinary value the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified.'-Heb 10:29."[source - Insight on the Scripture, Vol. 2].

CONSTANTINE'S MOTIVES HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH JESUS (YESHUA):

Let's face it, there is absolutely no evidence that for the first 300 years of Christianity that those claiming to be Christian used the cross in worship. This only came about in the fourth century when the pagan Emperor Constantine needed to unite his empire religiously as previously shown. Now, we can differ as to his motives, but they had absolutely nothing to do with Jesus (Yeshua) Christ, but had everything to do with his pragmatic need to strengthen his empire through religious unity.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia admits, "The cross is found in both pre-Christian and non-Christian cultures." [source - New Catholic Encyclopedia]; while various other authorities have linked the cross with nature worship and pagan sex rites.

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Your Friend in Christ Iris89

Francis David said it long ago, "Neither the sword of popes...nor the image of death will halt the march of truth. "Francis David, 1579, written on the wall of his prison cell." Read the book, "What Does The Bible Really Teach" and the Bible today, and go to www.jw.org!