| Cross and Chi-Rho |
The words "cross" and "crucify" are mistranslations, a "later rendering," of the Greek words stauros and stauroo. According to Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, STAUROS denotes, primarily, an upright pole or stake. The shape of the two-beamed cross had its origin in ancient Chaldea and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz. In the third century A.D., pagans were received into the apostate ecclesiastical system and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols.
According to The Companion Bible, crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian Sun-god. The evidence is complete; the Lord was put to death upon an upright stake, not on two pieces of timber placed at an angle.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, in the Egyptian churches the cross was a pagan symbol of life borrowed by the Christians and interpreted in the pagan manner.
According to Greek dictionaries and lexicons, the primary meaning of stauros is an upright pale, pole, or stake. The secondary meaning of "cross" is admitted to be a "later" rendering. In spite of the evidence, almost all common versions of the Scriptures persist with the Latin Vulgate's crux (meaning cross) as the rendering of the Greek stauros.
The most accepted reason for the "cross" being brought into Messianic worship is Constantine's famous vision of "the cross superimposed on the sun" in A.D. 312. What he saw is nowhere to be found in Scripture. Even after his so-called "conversion," his coins showed an even-armed cross as a symbol for the Sun-god. Many scholars have doubted the "conversion" of Constantine because of the wicked deeds that he did afterwards.
After Constantine had the "vision of the cross," he promoted another variety of the cross, the Chi-Rho or Labarum. This has been explained as representing the first letters of the name Christos (CH and R, or, in Greek, X and P). The identical symbols were found as inscriptions on rock, dating from ca. 2500 B.C., being interpreted as "a combination of the two Sun-symbols." Another proof of its pagan origin is that the identical symbol was found on a coin of Ptolemeus III from 247-222 B.C.
According to An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, the labarum was also an emblem of the Chaldean sky-god. Emperor Constantine adopted the labarum as the imperial ensign. According to Dictionary of Mythology Folklore and Symbols, the symbol was in use long before Christianity. Chi probably stood for Great Fire or Sun. Rho probably stood for Pater or Patah (Father). The word labarum yields "everlasting Father Sun."
| Matthew 27: 32 |
| CJB | execution-stake | SISR | stake | SSBE | torture stake |
| NWT | torture stake |
The following versions have the symbol of the cross, either small or large, in a prominent place, usually on the cover or on the front or back of the title page: An American Translation (Beck); Contemporary English Version; Douay-Rheims New Testament; English Version for the Deaf; The Jerusalem Bible; John Wesley New Testament; Kleist-Lilly New Testament; Knox Translation; Living Bible; Moffatt New Translation; New American Bible; New Century Version; New Jerusalem Bible; New Revised Standard Version; Noli New Testament; Reese Chronological Bible; Revised Standard Version; Riverside New Testament; The Scholars Version. In Christianity, the cross is the symbol of the death of Yahshua for the sins of the world. It is in this context that a symbol of the cross is used. All the Catholic versions use the symbol with the imprimatur. The Moffatt New Translation has the cross superimposed on a blue ball. Whether or not intended, that ball is the symbol of the sun. The cross, with the sun behind it, was the vision seen by Constantine at the time of is alleged conversion to Christianity. The editors may have unintentionally used the pagan symbol of the cross to represent a symbol that is important to Christians. Following the title page in An American Translation (Beck) is an explanation of a symbol on the cover. "This is the word for "cross" in papyrus 75, our oldest manuscript of Luke. ... . If you spell out this Greek word, it is stauron. But the letters au are omitted and their omission is indicated by the line above the word. Then the r, which in Greek has the form of a p, is superimposed on the t so that we have a head suggesting a body on a cross." The purpose may be well-intentioned and the source of the symbol not understood. Again, there may have been an innocent error. In the Keyword Concordance at the back of the Concordant Literal New Testament is the following definition of the word cross: "an upright stake or pale, without any crosspiece, now, popularly, cross." Several examples of where the word is used is given. In the beginning of the New Evangelical Translation is a page describing the chi-rho symbol. "The symbol above is called a chi-rho; it reminds Christians of their Savior, Jesus Christ. This emblem is composed of two Greek letters (chi = "ch" and rho = "r"), which are superimposed on each other, and form an abbreviation of the Name "CHRIST." The chi-rho emblem also stands in the columns of the New Evangelical Translation (NET) New Testament text, indicating passages which directly quote those Old Testament promises which were fulfilled in relation to or through the work of the CHRIST!" Again , there is a well-intentioned purpose with the source of the symbol apparently being not known.
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