Cross As A Pendant?

[ViaCrucis]

I do not wear a cross myself, if people want to wear a cross, that's fine, my own mom wears a cross.

I get the impression people are very divided on this and some people are even deeply against it and I would like to know why?

The number of Christians who would take issue with display of the cross is statistically insignificant, and generally reflects either a deep misunderstanding of Christian teaching and practice, or is based upon some kind of false teaching (or both).

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Michie]

So is this an advice thread or a theological one??

 

[ViaCrucis]

Talk to the Author ...That would be God
stow-ros'; from the base of G2476; a stake or post

And yet, Greek-speaking people used stauros to describe the Roman instrument of execution, the cross, in its many different forms, which included the T-shaped (crux commissa) and t-shaped cross (crux immissa), as well as the X-shaped cross (crux decussata) and the I-shaped cross (crux simplex).

Stauros was not used explicitly of the crux simplex, but of all forms and variations of the Roman crux. Which is why early Christian writers, as well as Pagan writers, all use stauros for all of these.

The Greek satirist Lucian of Samosata's work, Trial in the Court of the Vowels, in which the letters of the Greek alphabet are presented in a courtroom has the Greek letter Sigma accuse the letter Tau as being the shape of the symbol of the tyrants,

"Such are his verbal offences against man; his offences in deed remain. Men weep, and bewail their lot, and curse Cadmus with many curses for introducing Tau into the family of letters; they say it was his body that tyrants took for a model, his shape that they imitated, when they set up the erections on which men are crucified. Stauros the vile engine is called, and it derives its vile name from him. Now, with all these crimes upon him, does he not deserve death, nay, many deaths? For my part I know none bad enough but that supplied by his own shape--that shape which he gave to the gibbet named σταυρός after him by men." - Lucian of Samosata, Trial in the Court of the Vowels,

Note: I am more than happy to provide more historical sources if others are curious, though this information is also not very difficult to find online.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Albion]

Talk to the Author ...That would be God

More like the Watchtower Society in New York

stow-ros'; from the base of G2476; a stake or post

That's the source of the misunderstanding, all right--an overly literal translation made by a religious movement of recent origin that didn't have the benefit of much training in language or ancient history.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Part of my spiritual journey was a season when my identifications with the sufferings of the cross were so intense that I couldn't hold my gaze on a crucifix.
These days I would not wear one because the identification with His experience at Golgotha is too personal.

 

[Sophrosyne]

I once had a new believer that asked me about wearing a cross or a crucifix and I told him that you don't need to wear one if you are a believer to prove yourself as one and pointed out that a lot of entertainers that were not Christian wear them some even play satanic music and wear crosses so wearing a cross doesn't make you a Christian at all and needing a cross with a symbol of Jesus on it (crucifix) to remind yourself of him is not needed either and can be more of a crutch or reminder. Many people out there have gotten used to hypocrites wearing crosses (some Christian, some not) and so the symbol has become somewhat meaningless these days as the fish symbol has also become likewise as some people have used the symbol just to get business from Christians who aren't out front believers in Christ.

I wore a cross for awhile when I was a kid and my mom who bought it took it away saying the type of cross was bad for some weird reason and I never wore it and sold it years after she died to help pay bills for silver scrap prices. I hated cleaning the silver on it anyway. I haven't worn any cross since as these days people want to see Jesus in your life not a piece of jewelry.

 

[CMDRExorcist]

I'm not a big jewelry person, but I've never had a problem with it or known anyone who objected to wearing a cross. I've seen some online arguments about it being potential idolization of the symbol, but honestly I think that sometimes people reach too far just to be reductive in the name of holiness.