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I am going to read a sentence that stuck out to me in the March 1st 2011 issue
of The Watchtower on page 20. The sentence reads: "Historians and researchers have found
no evidence to validate the use of the cross among the early Christians." If the prior statement is true
than allow me to present some evidence that "historians and researchers" must have been ignorant of.
The epistle of Barnabas dated to 100 AD says the following in chapter 9:
was written in Greek so where I read "T", it was actually the Greek letter Tau. Next we
have the 2nd century writing of Justin Martyr which says the following in chapter 91:
There is an inscription known as Alexamenos Graffito
that was engraved on a wall in Rome perhaps in the early 3rd century. Most scholars view this inscription
as mocking the Christian faith. And like the two other examples the instrument of crucifixion has the arms outstretched
horizontally. In Matthew 27:37 it says:
This shows that even though his hands were outstretched horizontally there was room above his head for a sign to be posted,
and sure enough this makes the following symbol. Now ignoring the 3 examples I showed, some view the instrument
as simply an upright pole as they claim that is the only definition of the Greek word 'stauros'.
I am going to focus on another word that is used in the bible to refer to the object Jesus was crucified on.
It is found in Galatians 3:13 which reads:
In this verse Paul quotes from Deuteronomy 21:23. This connects the Greek word
'xylon' to the Hebrew word 'ets' which are both translated as 'stake'. Now before I get into the Hebrew
word, consider one usage of the Greek word 'xylon' It appears in Acts 16:24
which reads:
Here is what a foot stock looks like. This shows us that the object
does not have to be upright. The Hebrew word 'ets' also gives plenty of examples of what the word can mean
and lets start with Exodus 31:5:
So the word can mean simply any kind of wood.
Next is Jeremiah 28:13:
Here we see that this wood if formed into
a yoke which is also not upright. And the last verse I will show is Ezekiel chapter 37
verses 16-17 which reads:
Here we see that two separate pieces of wood can be affixed together and yet still referred to as a singular piece of wood.
I am not aware of any ancient document that's primary purpose is to describe the shape of the object that Jesus was
crucified on. This is most likely because it is of no importance what what Jesus was crucified on, but instead
that he was crucified for the sins of the world. When Jesus was on the cross he said "it is finished".
This indicated that the payment for sin was completely taken care of by his death. Just like the Israelites who only had to
look on the serpent to live, people today need only to look to Jesus' death on the cross to inherit eternal life.
With this wonderful free gift I can agree with Paul where he said: