Understanding the Cross.

Written by TR Johns

The cross is one of the most recognisable and influential symbols in human history. It crops up in all walks of life from an X-box or the X of Twitter, to crossroads, crosswords, and crossbows? As a motif adopted in politics, literature, art, music, fashion, architecture and the media, it reflects the diversity and dynamism of human culture. Simply made up of two lines, one placed transversely to the other, its most prolific use has been in religion.

One of the earliest forms of the cross is the ankh, a symbol of life in ancient Egypt. The tau cross is ‘T’-shaped, with a loop on top, resembling a key. Of similar positivity in its origins, as a symbol of good fortune and harmony, is the swastika, a cross with four arms bent at right angles, in either direction. The term originates from Sanskrit, ‘svastika’, meaning ‘conducive to well-being’. Its ancient sacred use is found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and other Eurasian traditions, with many examples also discovered on Middle Eastern archaeological finds.[i]

Tragically the swastika was appropriated and corrupted by Nazi Germany, as a nationalist sign of the Aryan race and consequently of the evil, hate and genocide of the Holocaust. It remains the Neo-Nazi emblem.

The most prominent and influential use of the cross is in Christianity, derived from the Roman instrument of execution, which consisted of a vertical stake and a horizontal beam. Upon such the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was discharged, with his subsequent resurrection. The symbol captures the suffering and victory of Christ over sin and death. As such, in varied forms, it is central to Christian worship and inspires faith, hope and devotion, as the ultimate sign of Christ’s love and sacrifice for human salvation. Allegedly, when Russian novelist and dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned in a Siberian Gulag, he saw a ‘cross’ scratched in the dirt by a fellow intern. In the hopelessness of his situation, he recognized a gift, reflecting; ‘in that moment he knew that there was something greater than the Soviet Union. He knew that the hope of all mankind was represented in that simple cross’.[ii]

The Latin cross became a widespread symbol of Christianity after Emperor Constantine legalised the religion in the early C4th AD. As a powerful representation of the core of the Christian faith and life, it has endured as a profession of faith. Touching forehead, breast and shoulders, declares a belief in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as an abbreviation of the Apostles' Creed.

Found throughout history in paintings, sculptures, monuments, buildings, books, music, and films, the cross of Christ has been a source of inspiration, creativity, and innovation for artists and designers. Transcending time and space, it communicates emotively across languages; beauty, grace, sorrow, justice, or rebellion. In contrast it represents a source of shameful controversy and conflict too, associated with persecution, violence, and oppression of minority groups (eg. by Papal Inquisition, Ku Klux Klan).  

In the last 70 years the secularisation of Western society has progressed to the point where an expression such as ‘the Cross’, in terms of its Christian meaning, is in fewer and fewer people’s vocabulary. A cross to indicate a location, a choice, a vote, or a kiss, maybe, but to explain a way of life and a set of beliefs, fast fading. In the 1970s, satirist Malcolm Muggeridge wrote that, ‘the orgasm has replaced the Cross as the focus of longing and the image of fulfilment’ in British society. Christian theology had been hugely affected by the liberation and civil rights movements of the 1960s, condensing it into the mantra, ‘All you need is love’! The interpretation of love, however, demonstrated a lack of knowledge and understanding, and loss of reverence in relation to its Christian roots. 

In March 2018 Arnaud Beltrame, a policeman, exchanged himself for a hostage in a supermarket attack in Trèbes, southern France. He subsequently died at the hands of an ISIS terrorist, stabbed and shot four times, accepting to give his life in order for an innocent cashier to live. He was posthumously honoured, and a national tribute was paid to him in Paris, by the president. His courage and actions were inspired by his faith in a Saviour, Christ, who had said, “Greater love has no one, than he who lays down his life for a friend’. The willingness of Jesus to suffer on a cross was significant in that he died not only for the innocent and his soul mates, but for the guilty and his enemies, too. He was prepared to be a substitute for every human face, regardless of his or her actions. His cross had a radical message. 

The love symbolized by this cross turns the world on its head. An ‘incarnate’ God, prepared to be humiliated and impaled by Roman soldiers, was an inversion of normal power structures. Neither distant from the world nor impersonal to it, the cross acts as a mysterious portal, bringing Christ into the very heart of human experiences, to walk alongside all. It also leads to something beyond, opening new doors and horizons, liberating, forgiving, and providing a bridge between God and humanity, between the temporal world and eternity.

References

[i] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/man-who-brought-swastika-germany-and-how-nazis-stole-it-180962812/ (accessed 14-2-24)

[ii] God on Mute – Pete Greig. David C. Cook/ Kingsway 2007. p84