Sermon Tone Analysis

*Cross*

1.     General

2.     Presuppositions

3.     Forms

4.     Methodology

5.     Depictions

*1.

General*

The prominence of the cross as a Christian → symbol is rooted in the NT account of the saving death of → Jesus on the cross at Golgotha.

The wealth of the symbolism is due to the link with another line of interpretation that was originally independent, namely, the cross as an eschatological seal.

In this view, the cross is a sign whose bearers commit themselves to the protection and possession of God at the last judgment.

Basic here is the idea of sealing, which carries with it from the legal sphere the element of inviolability.

The adoption of Ezek.

9:4 in Rev. 7:2 and elsewhere bears witness to the antiquity of this tradition.

The crosses in Jewish graves give archaeological evidence of its impact upon → Judaism.

Most important for the image and concept of the cross was the need to wrestle with the “scandal” of the crucifixion of Jesus (see Gal. 5:11).

The shame of crucifixion in the Roman empire as a capital punishment for slaves and criminals was the reason for the relatively late appearance of the cross in official art.

The attempt to show that God willed the cross of Jesus, notwithstanding the curse of Deut.

21:23, initiated an early → theology of the cross and enriched cross iconography.

If the development is seen as a whole, for all the change of significance and the loss of value that the cross suffered as a cultic object at the → Reformation, the symbol of the cross has been historically most effective as an expression of the content of Christian faith, no other Christian symbol being comparable to it.

*2.

Presuppositions*

The witness in the Bible, early writings, and the cultus is older than that in depictions of crosses.

*2.1.

*The OT had a fruitful influence by means of typology.

Although Deut.

21:23 worked negatively through the equation of the cross with the accursed tree (LXX /xylon/, Vg /lignum/), proof was also adduced for the positive character of the Christian cross as salvific and conferring blessing (Justin Martyr ///Dial.///

89–91).

The prefigurations demonstrating this positive meaning lived on in Christian art.

The /xylon/ was given a positive meaning as the Tree of Life and paradise (Gen.

2:9; 3:22, 24).

This was the root of the symbolism of the cross as the Tree of Life (Ign.

///Trall.///

11.2).

Ezek.

9:4 had even greater impact.

At the last judgment the saved would be marked with a tau on the forehead.

This was the last letter of the alphabet, which in ancient Hebrew had the form of a + or a ×.

The concept made its way into Christianity, unmistakably in Rev. 7:2–3 and other passages.

→ Tertullian (ca.

160-ca.

225) quoted Ezek.

9:4 as a biblical argument in favor of marking a cross on the forehead; he found the cross in the /t/[/au/] of the Latin and Greek text of Ezekiel (///Adv.

Marc./// 3.22).

→ Origen (ca.

185-ca.

254) saw the proof in the crosslike /tau /of the archaic letters (///Sel.

in Ezech.////

/9), which was known also to → Jerome (ca.

345–420; ///In Hiez.

comm.////

/3:9).

We have here a basic component of cross symbolism, namely, the cross as an eschatological seal (Gk.

/sphragis/), a sign (Gk.

/s//ē//meion/, Lat.

/signum/) of possession, protection, and dedication.

A related phenomenon may be the custom of apotropaic crosses (e.g., on the entrance door) or their use in → exorcism.

This line of understanding quickly joined hands with a second motif that had NT roots in the accounts of the historical /lignum/ of Golgotha and the Easter story.

Paul used “the word of the cross” as a phrase describing the whole salvation event, including → Easter.

The idea implies victory (1 Cor.

1:18–25 etc.).

In Eph.

2:16 and Col.

2:14 the cross is the mediator of → reconciliation and the liberator from → guilt.

A link to its cosmological significance may be seen in Eph.

3:18 and 4:16 (cf.

Justin Martyr ///Apol.///

1.55).

The saying of Jesus about bearing the cross (Mark 8:34) became significant for the seeing of an attribute in the cross.

Along with these texts that are oriented to the crucifixion, Matt.

24:30 was also an influential text for Christian symbolism, especially in the East (→ Eschatology).

The resplendent sign of the Son of Man was very soon interpreted as the cross (///Did.///

16.6), which at the → parousia goes before Christ as a sign of victory (/tropaion/, “trophy”; Cyril of Jerusalem ///Cat.///

13.41).

*2.2.

*The /Sitz im Leben /of the sign and symbolism of the cross was the → liturgy and cultus, and primarily → baptism (§1).

In 2 Cor.

1:22 (cf.

Eph.

1:13–14; 4:30) we perhaps have an early witness to a rite of marking with the cross /(sphragis)/.

There might be a connection here with non-Christian rites of sealing.

When Paul in Rom.

6:6–11 speaks of baptism as being crucified with Christ, we can see how the two components of interpretation of the cross come together—the cross as cultic /sphragis/ and as historical /stauros/.

The gesture of crossing oneself, of which we have early attestation, also came to be linked to baptismal sealing.

Pagan, magical, and apotropaic ideas might have had an influence at this point, with the power to terrify demons being ascribed to the cross (Origen ///In Exod.

hom.//// /6.8; Cyril ///Cat.///

4.13–14).

Praying with outstretched arms was also regarded as a “type of a cross” (/typos staurou/; Justin Martyr ///Apol.///

1.55).

Especially influential on art was the early turning to the east in prayer, for it was from the east that the parousia was expected (Matt.

24:27).

This tradition produced the symbolism of the cross of → light and the crosses in church apses.

At all these points we can see clearly the antiquity of the liturgical impact of the cross.

Theological thinking on the cross and the liturgical sign of the cross converged in the act of baptism long before the symbol took actual shape.

*3.

Forms*

Over the centuries, the cross has assumed many different forms, some of which appear in the accompanying figures.

1.

The circular cross is commonly used in magic.

2.     The ankh cross, or /crux ansata/, takes its form and meaning from the Egyptian hieroglyph for “life”; it was Christianized before a.d. 391.

3.     The Greek cross is the /crux quadrata/.

4.     The St.

Andrew’s cross (= the Greek cross on its side), or /crux decussata/, corresponds formally to the Hebrew tau and occurs also in Jewish art.

5.     The Latin cross is the /crux immissa/; in the later fourth century it often appears with scalloped ends (cf.

11).

6.

The staurogram, or (inaccurately) /crux monogrammatica/, seems to be the oldest Christian symbol.

Consisting of the superimposed letters rho and tau, it was originally a pagan shorthand abbreviation but was adopted in Greek gospel MSS about a.d. 200.

The abbreviation was placed into the context of a word—/CrOC/ /(= stauros)/—and treated like a /nomen sacrum/.

7.     The St.

Anthony’s cross, also known as the tau cross or the /crux commissa/, is based on the Greek tau and is thought to have been in the form of the cross at Golgotha (see Justin Martyr ///Dial.///

91.2).

8.     The crooked cross is common in texts.

9.     The Maltese cross became the sign of the order.

10.

The forked cross, or pestilence cross, was common in the later Middle Ages.

It stressed the torment of the cross and, when depicted with branches, also symbolized the Tree of Life.

11.

The (tear)drop cross, with its opening arms, denotes the victorious character of the cross.

12.

The Jerusalem cross carries a suggestion of the five wounds of Christ.