I think you are a Jehovah's Witness who is here to try and "convert" Adventists. When you find proof in the Bible for what you are accusing us of this time; I will listen.
You know Castaway:
I have been a SDA all of my life except when I left the church in sin. While out there I never attended any other church I club and did other horrible things. I am a historian and the cross came about with the Catholic. Most Bible Scholars will tell you that it was a stake and not a cross.
In the Hebrew Bible Deuteronomy 21:23 states that "cursed of God is everyone who hangs on a tree." In the Septuagint this became epi xylon "upon a piece of wood," and usage for "hanging" (Joshua 8:29; 10:24), then passing into New Testament usage such as Peter's 3 uses of xylon (in English Bibles "tree") compared to Paul who only uses xylon "piece of wood" once. 1 Peter: a new translation with introduction and commentary: Volume 37, Part 2 John Hall Elliott - 2000; The Acts of the Apostles - Page 98 Luke Timothy Johnson, Daniel J. Harrington - 1992
A Roman citizen of no obscure station, having ordered one of his slaves to be put to death, delivered him to his fellow-slaves to be led away, and in order that his punishment might be witnessed by all, directed them to drag him through the Forum and every other conspicuous part of the city as they whipped him, and that he should go ahead of the procession which the Romans were at that time conducting in honour of the god. The men ordered to lead the slave to his punishment, having stretched out both his arms and fastened them to a piece of wood which extended across his breast and shoulders as far as his wrists, followed him, tearing his naked body with whips. Dionysius of Halicarnassus; Roman Antiquities, VII, 69:1-2
The Gospels do not say Jesus was crucified in the original Greek, the ancient texts reveal only that Jesus carried "some kind of torture or execution device" to a hill where "he was suspended and died. He was handed over to be 'stauroun. At the time the apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were writing their Gospels, that word simply meant "suspended," I am a pastor, a conservative evangelical pastor, a Christian. I do believe that Jesus died the way we thought he died. He died on the cross.There is no word in Greek, Latin, Aramaic or Hebrew that means crucifixion in the sense that we think of it, It's only after the death of Jesus - and because of the death of Jesus - that the Greek word "stauroun" comes specifically to mean executing a person on the cross, if my observations are correct, every book on the history of Jesus will need to be rewritten, as will the standard dictionaries of Biblical Greek. My research ought to make Christians a bit more humble.We fight against each other the theological stances that keep churches apart are founded on things that we find between the lines.
We have put a lot of things in the Bible that weren't there in the beginning that keep us apart. We need to get down on our knees as Christians together and read the Bible." Gunnar Samuelsson; Crucifixion in Antiquity: An Inquiry into the Background of the New Testament Terminology of Crucifixion
Erkki Koskenniemi Professor of Åbo University, Finland, was drastic in his opening when he said that "if Gunnar Samuelsson is right, then all lexica will need revision on this point." "Koskenniemi also pointed out that "if Gunnar Samuelsson is wrong, he will from this moment be known as the Gunnar Samuelsson who wrote about the cross."
First, what is the ancient - pre-Christian - terminology of crucifixion? The answer is that there was no such terminology. There was only a terminology of suspension - a group of words and idioms that were used more or less interchangeably when referring to various forms of suspension ... The problem is that no specific terminology is linked to this particular form of execution - before the execution of Jesus. Tommy Wasserman
It may come as a shock to know that there is no word such as 'cross' in the Greek of the New Testament. The word translated 'cross' is always the Greek word [stau·ros'] meaning a 'stake' or 'upright pale.' The cross was NOT originally a Christian symbol; it is derived from Egypt and Constantine. -Dual Heritage- The Bible and the British Museum
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. - The Non-Christian Cross; John Denham Parsons
If Jesus had been executed, mythically or historically, it would NOT have been with outstretched arms on a cruciform structure. Cutner reports that scholars have been aware of the error but have been unable to resist the TRADITIONAL MISTRANSLATION. In the 18th century - some Anglican bishops recommended eliminating the cross symbol altogether, but they were ignored. There is no cross in early Christian art before the middle of the 5th century. - Jesus: God, Man, or Myth (The Truth Seeker, 1950)
Another. . .tradition of the Church which our fathers have inherited, was the adoption of the words 'cross' and 'crucify'. These words are nowhere to be found in the Greek of the New Testament." (Koster, p. 29). -Koster, C.J. Come Out of Her My People. Johannesburg, RSA: Institute for Scripture Research, 1998
Homer uses the word 'stauros' - of an ordinary pole or stake, or a single piece of timber. And this is the meaning and usage of the word throughout the Greek classics. It never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle, but always of one piece alone. Hence the use of the word 'xulon' [which means a timber] in connection with the manner of our Lord's death, and rendered tree in Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29; Gal. 3:13; and 1 Pet. 2:24
. . .There is nothing in the Greek N.T. even to imply two pieces of timber. . . The evidence is thus complete, that the Lord was put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of timber placed at any angle. - The Companion Bible, published by the Oxford University Press, on page 186 in the Appendixes.
The representation of Christ's redemptive death on Golgotha does not occur in the symbolic art of the first Christian centuries. The early Christians, influenced by the Old Testament prohibition of
graven images, were reluctant to depict even the instrument of the Lord's Passion. New Catholic Encyclopedia (1967), Vol. IV, p. 486
Most scholars now agree that the cross, as an artistic reference to the passion event (Jesus' death), cannot be found prior to the time of Constantine. Ante PacemArchaeological Evidence of Church Life before Constantine (1985), by Professor Graydon F. Snyder, page 27
The symbol of Phallic worship, the cross, has become the emblem of Christianity. We find the cross in India, Egypt, Tibet, and Japan...it was worn as an amulet and seems to have been specially worn by the women attached to the temples as sacred prostitutes, as a symbol of what was, to them, a religious calling. The cross is, in fact, nothing but the phallus, and in the Christian religion is a significant emblem of its pagan origin; it was adored, carved in temples, and worn as a sacred emblem by sun and nature worshipers, long before there were any Christians to adore, carve, and wear it. - The Christ by John Remsburg, Prometheus Books, 1994
You know if you would take the time out and just check out the information you would have a better handle on many things. Even though you are from Canada you can find out who I am. If you like email me and I will be glad to provide to you ministers even Elder Baker who is the Vice President of the General Conference. We went to Oakwood together and he knows me quite well. You have no clue who I am and think that because I disagree with the traditions of the church, I do not believe in the basic fundalmental principle that SDA once taught and believed in. I am not a follower or jump on anyones ship because they say they are a preacher, they lie too! What's the problem with many SDA is they want smooth words and they I am sad to say are lazy. They will not search the Scriptures deeply to found out what is correct or not. You see the whole truth is that Constantine during the
Nicene Councils, many things we accept today are pagan and you just refuse to accept. However, please do not make accusations on me or anyone else that you really do not know anything about! That is just going to far and so disrespectful. I do not know how long you been in the SDA church but I have been in it for almost a live time. If you want to gain some true knowledge in fact about what I present I be glad to give it to you. I have lived and be a lot of places and countries and I am known for my research, it has been my living for over thirty five years, I just that good. I wish and pray that you would learn to listen, pray, be humble and check out the information before judging people. Take Care and,
Be Bless,
stinsonmarri