dzheremi
Coptic Orthodox non-Egyptian
- Aug 27, 2014
- 13,897
- 14,169
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- United States
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- Male
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- Oriental Orthodox
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From the page that the Mormon poster above called 'poignant':
If by her death and resurrection she conquered the power of death over us all and offered life to those in the tombs and to those that believed in her, you would. Because that's what Christ did. And that's why we bow before the holy cross, and kiss it, and do all of these other things. It is not mere remembrance of a one-time action, nor the oft-expressed but wrong idea of "glorifying an instrument of torture", but because through His death and resurrection, what most definitely had been a symbol of death became in fact a symbol of not just life, but of eternal life. Perhaps for some Christians who are overly focused on the gory details of the passion (people who love Mel Gibson's film in an unhealthy way), this is not the case, but within the context of its invocation in Orthodox worship, it is entirely because of Christ's resurrection that we hold the cross up, proudly and with reverence. I suppose if we saw it as something shameful or an instrument of defeat, we might feel differently, but in the Orthodox celebration of the cross, it is instead common to hear it referred as having "victorious power" (as in the video below, from an Indian Orthodox Church), precisely due to Christ's victory over death upon it.
So it would appear that the Mormons are objecting on false grounds, and furthermore damaging their own claim (made on that page) to be of the same mind as the early Christians in this matter. Again, St. Clement of Alexandria (2nd century) calls the cross the symbol of the Lord. Heck, India -- where the church in the video was founded -- was evangelized by St. Thomas the Apostle in the 50's, and they have certainly never shied away from veneration of and identification with the cross in any way (see, notably, events like the Coonan Cross Oath). And why should they, or any of us? The cross is the victory, power, and protection of the Christians. Others would see us shamed by it because they do not understand it, or maybe (as in the case of some other religions) they do not believe in the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ. But for people who claim to be Christians and therefore believe in that to not venerate the cross...well, that's the real source of shame in all this, as it is opposing Christianity by re-making the cross into something bad after Christ sanctified it by His holy sacrifice, as though He is not risen so it is still what it was before!
If by her death and resurrection she conquered the power of death over us all and offered life to those in the tombs and to those that believed in her, you would. Because that's what Christ did. And that's why we bow before the holy cross, and kiss it, and do all of these other things. It is not mere remembrance of a one-time action, nor the oft-expressed but wrong idea of "glorifying an instrument of torture", but because through His death and resurrection, what most definitely had been a symbol of death became in fact a symbol of not just life, but of eternal life. Perhaps for some Christians who are overly focused on the gory details of the passion (people who love Mel Gibson's film in an unhealthy way), this is not the case, but within the context of its invocation in Orthodox worship, it is entirely because of Christ's resurrection that we hold the cross up, proudly and with reverence. I suppose if we saw it as something shameful or an instrument of defeat, we might feel differently, but in the Orthodox celebration of the cross, it is instead common to hear it referred as having "victorious power" (as in the video below, from an Indian Orthodox Church), precisely due to Christ's victory over death upon it.
So it would appear that the Mormons are objecting on false grounds, and furthermore damaging their own claim (made on that page) to be of the same mind as the early Christians in this matter. Again, St. Clement of Alexandria (2nd century) calls the cross the symbol of the Lord. Heck, India -- where the church in the video was founded -- was evangelized by St. Thomas the Apostle in the 50's, and they have certainly never shied away from veneration of and identification with the cross in any way (see, notably, events like the Coonan Cross Oath). And why should they, or any of us? The cross is the victory, power, and protection of the Christians. Others would see us shamed by it because they do not understand it, or maybe (as in the case of some other religions) they do not believe in the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ. But for people who claim to be Christians and therefore believe in that to not venerate the cross...well, that's the real source of shame in all this, as it is opposing Christianity by re-making the cross into something bad after Christ sanctified it by His holy sacrifice, as though He is not risen so it is still what it was before!
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