Christian cross

{{Short description|Symbol of Christianity}}
{{About|the Christian cross in general|the specific type of physical cross with Jesus on it|Crucifix}}
[[File:Christian cross.svg|thumb|upright|A typical [[Latin cross]]]]
[[File:Greek cross.svg|thumb|upright|A typical [[Greek Cross]]]]
{{Christianity|expanded=Related}}

The '''Christian cross''', seen as a representation of the [[crucifixion of Jesus]] on a large wooden [[cross]], is a [[religious symbol|symbol]] of [[Christianity]].<ref name=McGrath321 /> It is related to the [[crucifix]] (a cross that includes a ''corpus'', usually a three-dimensional with representation of Jesus' body) and to the more general family of [[cross|cross symbols]], the term ''[[:wikt:cross|cross]]'' itself being detached from the original specifically Christian meaning in [[Early Modern English|modern English]] (as in many other western languages).{{refn|group=note|The [[Old English]] (10th century) {{lang|ang|cros}} refers to the instrument of [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Christ's crucifixion]], specifically replacing the native Old English word {{lang|ang|[[rood]]}}, ultimately from the Latin {{lang|la|[[:wikt:crux|crux]]}} (or its accusative {{lang|la|crucem}} and its genitive {{lang|la|crucis}}), "stake, gibbet; cross". The English verb ''to cross'' arises from the noun {{c.|1200}}, first in the sense "to make the sign of the cross"; the generic meaning "to intersect" develops in the 15th century.}}

The basic forms of the cross are the [[Latin cross]] with unequal arms and the [[Greek cross]] with equal arms, besides [[Christian cross variants|numerous variants]], partly with confessional significance, such as the [[tau cross]], the [[Patriarchal cross|double-barred cross]], [[Papal cross|triple-barred cross]], [[Jerusalem cross|cross-and-crosslets]], and many [[heraldic cross|heraldic variants]], such as the [[cross potent]], [[cross pattée]], [[cross moline]], [[cross fleury]], etc.

==Pre-Christian symbolism==
A version of the cross symbol was used long before the Christian era in the form of the ancient Egyptian [[ankh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/cross-religious-symbol|title = Cross {{pipe}} Definition, Symbolism, Types, & History {{pipe}} Britannica| date=20 June 2023 }}</ref>

==Instrument of Jesus' execution==
{{Further|Instrument of Jesus' crucifixion|Descriptions in antiquity of the execution cross|Crux simplex|Tau cross}}

[[John Pearson (bishop)|John Pearson, Bishop of Chester]] ({{c.|1660}}) wrote in his commentary on the [[Apostles' Creed]] that the Greek word {{transliteration|grc|[[stauros]]}} originally signified "a straight standing Stake, Pale, or Palisador", but that, "when other transverse or prominent parts were added in a perfect Cross, it retained still the Original Name", and he declared: "The Form then of the Cross on which our Saviour suffered was not a simple, but a compounded, Figure, according to the Custom of the ''Romans'', by whose Procurator he was condemned to die. In which there was not only a straight and erected piece of Wood fixed in the Earth, but also a transverse Beam fastened unto that towards the top thereof".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xigOAAAAQAAJ&dq=procurator&pg=PA203|title=An exposition of the [Apostles' Creed]|first=John Pearson (bp of|last=Chester.)|date=January 5, 1715|via=Google Books}}</ref>

Frederick Elwothy claims that for the few centuries, the emblem of Christ was a headless T-shaped [[Tau cross]] rather than a Latin cross.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Evil Eye|last=Elworthy|first=Frederick|publisher=Julian Press, Inc.|year=1958|location=New York|pages=103–4}}</ref>

==Early Christian usage==
{{See also|Christian symbolism#Early Christian symbols}}
[[File:alexorig.jpg|thumb|The [[Alexamenos graffito]]]]
[[File:Spas vsederzhitel sinay.jpg|thumb|upright|The Sinai icon of [[Christ Pantocrator]] (6th century), showing Christ with a [[cruciform halo]] and holding a book adorned with a {{Lang|la|[[crux gemmata]]}}]]

There are few extant examples of the cross in 2nd century Christian [[iconography]]. It has been argued that Christians were reluctant to use it as it depicts a purposely painful and gruesome method of public [[execution]].<ref name=McGrath321 >[https://books.google.com/books?id=v26doW8jIyYC&pg=PT261 ''Christianity: an introduction''] by Alister E. McGrath 2006 {{ISBN|1-4051-0901-7}} pages 321-323</ref> A symbol similar to the cross, the [[staurogram]], was used to abbreviate the Greek word for ''cross'' in very early [[New Testament]] [[manuscript]]s such as [[Papyrus 66|P66]], [[Papyrus 45|P45]] and [[Papyrus 75|P75]], almost like a {{lang|la|[[nomina sacra|nomen sacrum]]}}.<ref name="Hurtado">{{cite book | editor-last = Kraus | editor-first = Thomas | title = New Testament Manuscripts | publisher = Brill | location = Leiden | year = 2006 | isbn = 978-90-04-14945-8 | chapter=The staurogram in early Christian manuscripts: the earliest visual reference to the crucified Jesus? | first=Larry| last=Hutado| author-link=Larry W. Hurtado | pages=207–26 | hdl = 1842/1204 }}</ref> The extensive adoption of the cross as a Christian iconographic symbol arose from the 4th century.<ref>{{cite book | last = Stranger| first = James| editor-last = Skarsaune| editor-first = Oskar| title = Jewish Believers in Jesus The Early Centuries | publisher = Baker Academic | location = City | year = 2007 | isbn = 9780801047688 |page=715 |chapter=Archeological evidence of Jewish believers? }}</ref>

However, the cross symbol was already associated with Christians in the 2nd century, as is indicated in the anti-Christian arguments cited in the ''[[Octavius (dialogue)|Octavius]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-34.htm |title=''Octavius'' |publisher=Ccel.org |date=2005-06-01 |access-date=2011-12-10}}</ref> of [[Minucius Felix]], chapters IX and XXIX, written at the end of that century or the beginning of the next,{{refn|group=note|Minucius Felix speaks of the cross of Jesus in its familiar form, likening it to objects with a crossbeam or to a man with arms outstretched in prayer.<ref>[http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-34.htm#P5713_906729 Octavius of Minucius Felix], chapter XXIX]</ref>}} and by the fact that by the early 3rd century the cross had become so closely associated with Christ that [[Clement of Alexandria]], who died between 211 and 216, could without fear of ambiguity use the phrase {{lang|grc|τὸ κυριακὸν σημεῖον}} (the Lord's sign) to mean the cross, when he repeated the idea, current as early as the [[apocrypha]]l [[Epistle of Barnabas]], that the number 318 (in [[Greek numerals]], ΤΙΗ) in Genesis 14:14<ref>{{Bibleverse|Genesis|14:14}}</ref> was interpreted as a foreshadowing (a [[Typology (theology)|"type"]]) of the cross (T, an upright with crossbar, standing for 300) and of Jesus (ΙΗ, the first two letters of his name {{lang|grc|ΙΗΣΟΥΣ}}, standing for 18).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/clement-stromata-book6.html |title=Stromata, book VI, chapter XI |publisher=Earlychristianwritings.com |date=2006-02-02 |access-date=2011-12-10}}</ref> His contemporary [[Tertullian]] rejected the accusation of Christians being "adorers of the gibbet" ({{lang|la|crucis religiosi}}).{{refn|group=note|name=Tertullian|Tertullian rejects the accusation that Christians are {{lang|la|crucis religiosi}} (i.e. "adorers of the gibbet"), and returns the accusation by likening the worship of pagan idols to the worship of poles or stakes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0301.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Apology (Tertullian)|website=New Advent }}</ref> "Then, if any of you think we render superstitious adoration to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us. If you offer homage to a piece of wood at all, it matters little what it is like when the substance is the same: it is of no consequence the form, if you have the very body of the god. And yet how far does the Athenian Pallas differ from the stock of the cross, or the Pharian Ceres as she is put up uncarved to sale, a mere rough stake and piece of shapeless wood? Every stake fixed in an upright position is a portion of the cross; we render our adoration, if you will have it so, to a god entire and complete. We have shown before that your deities are derived from shapes modelled from the cross." [Original Latin: {{lang|la|"Sed et qui crucis nos religiosos putat, consecraneus noster erit. Cum lignum aliquod propitiatur, viderit habitus, dum materiae qualitas eadem sit; viderit forma, dum id ipsum dei corpus sit. Et tamen quanto distinguitur a crucis stipite Pallas Attica, et Ceres Pharia, quae sine effigie rudi palo et informi ligno prostat? Pars crucis est omne robur, quod erecta statione defigitur; nos, si forte, integrum et totum deum colimus. Diximus originem deorum vestrorum a plastis de cruce induci."}}}} In his book {{lang|la|De Corona}}, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the [[sign of the cross]].{{refn|group=note|name=De Corona3|"At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign".<ref>{{cite book|url= http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.vi.iii.html |title=De Corona |chapter=3 |author=Tertullian}}</ref>}} The crucifix, a cross upon which an image of Christ is present, is not known to have been used until the 6th century AD.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stott|first=John|isbn=0-8308-3320-X|title=The Cross of Christ |year=2006 |publisher=InterVarsity Press |location=Downers Grove |edition=20th Anniversary |page=27}}</ref>

The oldest extant depiction of the execution of Jesus in any medium seems to be the second-century or early third-century relief on a jasper gemstone meant for use as an amulet, which is now in the [[British Museum]] in [[London]]. It portrays a naked bearded man whose arms are tied at the wrists by short strips to the transom of a T-shaped cross. An inscription in Greek on the obverse contains an invocation of the redeeming crucified Christ. On the reverse a later inscription by a different hand combines magical formulae with Christian terms.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/34056103|title=The Magic 'Crucifixion Gem' in the British Museum|first=Roy|last=Kotansky|date=January 1, 2017|journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies|via=www.academia.edu}}</ref> The catalogue of a 2007 exhibition says: "The appearance of the Crucifixion on a gem of such an early date suggests that pictures of the subject (now lost) may have been widespread even in the late second or early third century, most likely in conventional Christian contexts".<ref name=Yale>{{Cite book |first=Felicity |last=Harley-McGowan |chapter=The Crucifixion |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/1787622 |editor=Jeffrey Spier |title=Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art |date=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300116830}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://crucifixbg.blogspot.com/2014/09/crucified-on-bloodstone.html|title=Earliest crucifixes: First depiction of Jesus on cross - the Bloodstone amulet|date=September 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=59616&partId=1|title=British Museum Collection online: magical gem / intaglio}}</ref>

''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' says:<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=899&letter=C |title=Cross |encyclopedia=[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]] |access-date=2011-12-10}}, (see Apocalypse of Mary, viii., in James, "Texts and Studies," iii. 118).</ref>

{{blockquote|The cross as a Christian symbol or "seal" came into use at least as early as the second century (see "Apost. Const." iii. 17; Epistle of Barnabas, xi.-xii.; Justin, "Apologia," i. 55–60; "Dial. cum Tryph." 85–97); and the marking of a cross upon the forehead and the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of demons (Tertullian, "De Corona," iii.; Cyprian, "Testimonies," xi. 21–22; Lactantius, "Divinæ Institutiones," iv. 27, and elsewhere). Accordingly the Christian Fathers had to defend themselves, as early as the second century, against the charge of being worshipers of the cross, as may be learned from Tertullian, "Apologia," xii., xvii., and Minucius Felix, "Octavius," xxix. Christians used to swear by the power of the cross[.]}}

==In contemporary Christianity==
{{Further|Cross necklace}}

In Christianity, communicants of the [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox]] and [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]es are expected to wear a [[cross necklace]] at all times; these are ordinarily given to believers at their [[baptism]].<ref name="Samaan2010">{{cite web |last1=Samaan |first1=Moses |title=Who wears the Cross and when? |url=https://www.lacopts.org/story/wearing-the-cross/ |publisher=[[Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California, and Hawaii]] |access-date=18 August 2020 |language=en |date=25 August 2010}}</ref><ref name="Konstantopoulos2017">{{cite web |last1=Konstantopoulos |first1=George D. |title=All Orthodox Christians are Given a Cross Following Their Baptism to Wear for Life |url=http://saintandrewgoc.org/home/2017/9/18/all-orthodox-christians-are-given-a-cross-following-their-baptism-to-wear-for-life |publisher=St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church |access-date=18 August 2020 |language=en |date=18 September 2017 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003060044/http://saintandrewgoc.org/home/2017/9/18/all-orthodox-christians-are-given-a-cross-following-their-baptism-to-wear-for-life |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Many Christians, such as those in the tradition of the [[Church of the East]], continue the practice of hanging a Christian cross in their homes, often on the [[direction of prayer|east wall]].<ref name="ACE2020">{{cite web |title=Sign of the Cross |url=https://www.assyrianchurch.org.au/about-us/the-sacraments/sign-of-the-cross/ |website=Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East - Archdiocese of Australia, New Zealand and Lebanon |access-date=11 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414091409/https://www.assyrianchurch.org.au/about-us/the-sacraments/sign-of-the-cross/ |archive-date=14 April 2020 |language=en |quote=Inside their homes, a cross is placed on the eastern wall of the first room. If one sees a cross in a house and do not find a crucifix or pictures, it is almost certain that the particular family belongs to the Church of the East.}}</ref><ref name="DanielouOrigen2016">{{cite book |last1=Danielou |first1=Jean |title=Origen |date=2016 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-4982-9023-4 |page=29 |language=en |quote=Peterson quotes a passage from the ''Acts of Hipparchus and Philotheus'': "In Hipparchus's house there was a specially decorated room and a cross was painted on the east wall of it. There before the image of the cross, they used to pray seven times a day [...] with their faces turned to the east." It is easy to see the importance of this passage when you compare it with what Origen says. The custom of turning towards the rising sun when praying had been replaced by the habit of turning towards the east wall. This we find in Origen. From the other passage we see that a cross had been painted on the wall to show which was the east. Hence the origin of the practice of hanging crucifixes on the walls of the private rooms in Christian houses. We know too that signs were put up in the Jewish synagogues to show the direction of Jerusalem, because the Jews turned that way when they said their prayers. The question of the proper way to face for prayer has always been of great importance in the East. It is worth remembering that Mohammedans pray with their faces turned towards Mecca and that one reason for the condemnation of Al Hallaj, the Mohammedan martyr, was that he refused to conform to this practice.}}</ref><ref name="Charles2002">{{cite web |last1=Charles |first1=Steve |title=Among the Living Maya |url=https://www.wabash.edu/magazine/displaystory.cfm?news_ID=1534 |work=Wabash Magazine|publisher=[[Wabash College]] |access-date=11 August 2020 |language=en |date=24 March 2002 |quote=In Chamula, ancient Mayan beliefs mingle with Roman Catholicism—the "syncretism" we've been observing in various forms since we arrived in Mexico—to form the costumbres of these descendants of the Maya. A cross is placed on the eastern wall of every Mayan home to commemorate the risen Christ and the rising sun; on the patio another cross faces west to salute the sun's passage below the earth.}}</ref> Crosses or crucifixes are often the centre of a Christian family's [[home altar]] as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immanuel.us/adults/home-altars|title=Home Altars|last=Nelson|first=Paul A.|publisher=Immanuel Lutheran Church|language=en|access-date=14 April 2018}}</ref>

[[Catholic]]s, [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Catholic]], [[Oriental Orthodox]], members of the major branches of Christianity with other adherents as [[Lutheranism]] and [[Anglicans]], and others often make the [[Sign of the Cross]] upon themselves. This was already a common Christian practice in the time of [[Tertullian]].{{refn|group=note|name=De Corona3}}

The [[Feast of the Cross]] is an important Christian feast. One of the twelve [[Great Feasts]] in [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Orthodox Catholic]] is the [[Exaltation of the Cross]] on September 14, which commemorates the [[consecration]] of the [[basilica]] on the [[Holy Sepulchre|site where]] the [[True Cross|original cross]] of Jesus was reportedly discovered in 326 by [[Helena of Constantinople]], mother of [[Constantine the Great]]. The Catholic Church celebrates the feast on the same day and under the same name ({{lang|la|In Exaltatione Sanctae Crucis}}), though in English it has been called the feast of the Triumph of the Cross.

Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglican [[bishop]]s place a cross (+) before their name when [[signature|signing]] a document. The [[dagger (typography)|dagger]] symbol (†) placed after the name of a dead person (often with the date of death) is sometimes taken to be a Christian cross.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=3fbWAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 Keith Houston, ''Shady Characters''] (W. W. Norton & Company 2013 {{ISBN|978-0-39306442-1}}), pp. 97 and 106</ref>

In many Christian traditions, such as the [[Methodist Church]]es, the [[altar cross]] sits atop or is suspended above the [[Altar#In Western Christian churches|altar table]] and is a focal point of the [[chancel]].<ref name="Committee1968">{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mBvrAAAAMAAJ |title= The History of the First United Methodist Church of Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, 1830-1969 |year=1968 |publisher=F. W. Orth Company |page=134 |quote=The cross suspended over the altar is the focal point of the entire Church interior, and reminds us to center our lives in Christ.}}</ref>

In many [[Baptist]] churches, a large cross hangs above the [[baptistry]].<ref name="Betteridge2010">{{cite book|last=Betteridge|first=Alan|title=Deep Roots, Living Branches: A History of Baptists in the English Western Midlands|date=1 August 2010|publisher=Troubador Publishing Ltd|language=en|isbn=9781848762770|page=446}}</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Mar George Alencherry at Kothamangalam Cathedral.jpg|An [[Eastern Catholic]] [[Syro-Malabar]] Major Archbishop with his [[blessing cross]]
File:Basilica di San Pietro, città del Vaticano (Roma) - panoramio.jpg|The Vatican Obelisk in Rome
File:Salvadordelmundo.jpg|Cross on each side of the [[Monumento al Divino Salvador del Mundo]] pedestal]
File:Cross on Church.JPG|A crucifix on the wall of a church
Image:CROSS1601.JPG|A man holding several [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[pectoral cross]]es
</gallery>

==Rejection among various religious groups ==
[[File:Chancel of Grace Lutheran Church on Good Friday.jpg|thumb|The [[chancel]] of this Lutheran church features a very large [[altar cross]].]]

Although Christians accepted that the cross was the [[gallows]] on which Jesus died,{{refn|group=note|The perhaps 1st-century [[Epistle of Barnabas]] sees the letter T as indicating the cross of Christ.<ref>[[wikisource:Epistle of Barnabas (Lightfoot translation)#Chapter 9|Chapter 9, 7]]</ref>}} they had already begun in the 2nd century to use it as a Christian symbol.{{refn|group=note|''[[The Jewish Encyclopedia]]'' states: "The cross as a Christian symbol or 'seal' came into use at least as early as the 2nd century (see 'Apost. Const.' iii. 17; Epistle of Barnabas, xi.-xii.; Justin, 'Apologia,' i. 55-60; 'Dial. cum Tryph.' 85-97); and the marking of a cross upon the forehead and the chest was regarded as a talisman against the powers of demons (Tertullian, 'De Corona,' iii.; Cyprian, 'Testimonies,' xi. 21–22; Lactantius, 'Divinæ Institutiones,' iv. 27, and elsewhere). Accordingly the Christian Fathers had to defend themselves, as early as the 2nd century, against the charge of being worshipers of the cross, as may be learned from Tertullian, 'Apologia,' xii., xvii., and Minucius Felix, 'Octavius,' xxix" 9<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4776-cross|title=CROSS - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref>}} During the first three centuries of the Christian era the cross was "a symbol of minor importance" when compared to the prominence given to it later,<ref>Jan Willem Drijvers, ''Helena Augusta: The mother of Constantine the Great and the legend of her finding of the True Cross'', Brill 1992, p. 81.</ref> but by the second century it was closely associated with Christians, to the point where Christians were mocked as "adorers of the gibbet" ({{lang|la|crucis religiosi}}), an accusation countered by [[Tertullian]].{{refn|group=note|name=Tertullian}} and it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross.{{refn|group=note|name=De Corona3}} [[Martin Luther]] at the time of the Reformation retained the cross and [[crucifix]] in the [[Lutheranism|Lutheran Church]],{{refn|group=note|"The Calvinizers sought to remove the crucifix as idolatrous. There was considerable continuity, certainly, between the Lutheran use of the crucifix and the Catholic."<ref name="ObelkevichRoper2013">{{cite book|last1=Obelkevich |first1=James |last2=Roper |first2=Lyndal |title=Disciplines of Faith: Studies in Religion, Politics and Patriarchy |date=5 November 2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781136820793 |page=548}}</ref>}} which remains an important feature of Lutheran devotion and worship today.<ref name="Heal2017">{{cite book|last=Heal|first=Bridget|title=A Magnificent Faith: Art and Identity in Lutheran Germany|year=2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|language=en|isbn=9780198737575|page=270|quote=It was, however, the crucifix that became the most important and widely disseminated Lutheran devotional image.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=[[The Lutheran Witness]], Volume 81|year=1962|publisher=Concordia Publishing House.|language=en|page=280|quote=Lutherans have always used crucifixes and crosses, candles, and objects of sacred art.}}</ref> Luther wrote: {{lang|la|Crux sola est nostra theologia}}, "The cross alone is our theology."<ref name="KolbDingel2014">{{cite book|last1=Kolb|first1=Robert|last2=Dingel|first2=Irene|last3=Batka|first3=Lubomír|title=The Oxford Handbook of Martin Luther's Theology|date=24 April 2014|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|language=en|isbn=9780191667473|pages=208–}}</ref>

On the other hand, the [[Beeldenstorm|Great Iconoclasm]] was a wave of rejecting sacred images among Calvinists of the 16th century.{{refn|group=note|"Iconoclastic incidents during the Calvinist 'Second Reformation' in Germany provoked reactive riots by Lutheran mobs, while Protestant image-breaking in the Baltic region deeply antagonized the neighbouring Eastern Orthodox, a group with whom reformers might have hoped to make common cause."<ref name="Marshall2009">{{cite book|last=Marshall |first=Peter |title=The Reformation |date=22 October 2009 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780191578885 |page=114}}</ref>}} Some localities (such as England) included polemics against using the cross in worship. For example, during the 16th century, theologians in the [[Anglican]] and [[Reformed church|Reformed]] traditions [[Nicholas Ridley (martyr)|Nicholas Ridley]],<ref>Nicholas Ridley, ''[http://anglicanhistory.org/reformation/ps/ridley/images.pdf A Treatise on the Worship of Images]'', written before 1555.</ref> [[James Calfhill]],<ref>James Calfhill, ''An aunsvvere to the Treatise of the crosse'' (''[https://archive.org/details/ananswertojohnma00calfuoft An answer to John Martiall's Treatise of the cross]'') at 1565.</ref> and [[Theodore Beza]],<ref>Theodore Beza, in his ''Answer to the Colloquium of Montheliard'' at 1588, according to [[Jaroslav Pelikan]], ''The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine'', Vol. 4, University of Chicago Press 1985, p. 217.</ref> rejected practices that they described as cross worship. Considering it a form of idolatry, there was a dispute in 16th century England over the baptismal use of the sign of the cross and even the public use of crosses.<ref>Peter Blickle, ''Macht und Ohnmacht der Bilder.: Reformatorischer Bildersturm im Kontext der europäischen Geschichte'', Oldenbourg Verlag, 2002, pp. 253–272.</ref> There were more active reactions to religious items that were thought as 'relics of [[Papacy]]', as happened for example in September 1641, when Sir [[Robert Harley (1579–1656)|Robert Harley]] pulled down and destroyed the cross at Wigmore.<ref>''Religious Politics in Post-Reformation England: Essays in Honour of Nicholas Tyacke'', Boydell & Brewer, 2006, p. 26.</ref> Writers during the 19th century indicating a Pagan origin of the cross included [[Henry Dana Ward]],<ref>Henry Dana Ward, ''[https://archive.org/details/historyofcrosspa00ward History of the cross, the pagan origin, and idolatrous adoption and worship of the image]'', at 1871.</ref> Mourant Brock,<ref>Mourant Brock, ''[https://archive.org/download/crossheathenchri00broc/crossheathenchri00broc.pdf The cross, heathen and Christian: A fragmentary notice of its early pagan existence and subsequent Christian adoption]'', London 1879.</ref> and [[John Denham Parsons]].<ref>John Denham Parsons, ''[https://archive.org/details/nonchristiancros00pars The non-Christian cross; an enquiry into the origin and history of the symbol eventually adopted as that of our religion]'', at 1896.</ref> David Williams, writing of medieval images of monsters, says: "The disembodied phallus is also formed into a cross, which, before it became for Christianity the symbol of salvation, was a pagan symbol of fertility."<ref>David Williams, ''Deformed Discourse: The function of the Monster in Mediaeval thought and literature'', McGill-Queen's Press 1999, p. 161.</ref> The study, ''Gods, Heroes & Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain'' states: "Before the fourth century CE, the cross was not widely embraced as a sign of Christianity, symbolizing as it did the gallows of a criminal."<ref>[[Christopher R. Fee]] & David Adams Leeming, ''Gods, Heroes & Kings: The battle for mythic Britain'', Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 113.</ref> This reaction in the Anglican and other Reformed Churches was short-lived and the cross became ubiquitous in these Christian traditions.<ref>{{cite book|title=New International Encyclopedia|year=1914|publisher=Dodd, Mead And Company|language=en|page=298}}</ref>

[[Jehovah's Witnesses]] do not use the symbol of the cross in their worship, which they believe constitutes [[idolatry]].<ref>{{cite book|title=What Does the Bible Really Teach?|pages=204–205|url=http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1102005154|publisher=Watch Tower Society}}</ref> They believe that Jesus died on a single upright torture stake rather than a two-beam cross, arguing that the Greek term {{transliteration|grc|stauros}} indicated a single upright pole.<ref>''New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures'', appendix 5C, page 1577</ref> Although early [[Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania|Watch Tower Society]] publications associated with the [[Bible Student movement]] taught that Christ was executed on a cross, it no longer appeared on Watch Tower Society publications after the name ''Jehovah's {{not a typo|witnesses}}''{{refn|group=note|The word ''witnesses'' was not capitalised until the 1970s.}} was adopted in 1931,<ref>{{harvnb|Franz|2007|p=150}}</ref> and use of the cross was officially abandoned in 1936.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/riches/riches1.html|title=''Riches'', by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1936, page 27.|access-date=2013-10-15|archive-date=2021-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308034935/http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/riches/riches1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] teaches that Jesus died on a cross; however, their prophet [[Gordon B. Hinckley]] stated that "for us the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ." When asked what was the symbol of his religion, Hinckley replied "the lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship."<ref>{{cite web |author=Hinckley, Gordon B |author-link=Gordon B. Hinckley |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1975/05/the-symbol-of-christ?lang=eng |title=The Symbol of Christ |work=[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |date=May 1975}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Hinckley, Gordon B |author-link=Gordon B. Hinckley |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2005/04/the-symbol-of-our-faith?lang=eng |title=The Symbol of Our Faith |work=[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |date=April 2005}}</ref> Prophet [[Howard W. Hunter]] encouraged Latter-day Saints "to look to the temple of the Lord as the great symbol of your membership."<ref>{{cite web |author=Hunter, Howard W. |author-link=Howard W. Hunter |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1994/11/exceeding-great-and-precious-promises?lang=eng |title=Exceeding Great and Precious Promises |work=[[Ensign (LDS magazine)|Ensign]] |date=November 1994}}</ref> Images of LDS temples and the [[Angel Moroni]] (who is found in statue on most temples) are commonly used to [[Symbolism in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|symbolize the faith of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]].<ref>{{cite web |last=McKeever |first=Bill |title=Why No Crosses? |url=http://www.mrm.org/no-crosses |publisher=Mormonism Research Ministry |access-date=1 April 2013}}</ref> In April 2020, under [[President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|President]] [[Russell M. Nelson]], the [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints|Church]] formally adopted an image inspired by [[Christus (statue)|Thorvaldsen's Christus statue]] underlain with the Church's name as an official symbol of the faith.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/new-symbol-church-of-jesus-christ|title=The Church's New Symbol Emphasizes the Centrality of the Savior|publisher=Church of Jesus Christ Newsroom|date=April 4, 2020|access-date=August 12, 2020}}</ref>

==Notable individual crosses==
{{Further|High cross|Monumental crosses|Memorial cross|Market cross}}
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Ruthwell 002.jpg|The [[Ruthwell Cross]], a stone Anglo-Saxon cross located in [[Ruthwell]], [[Dumfriesshire]] (8th century)
File:VA23Oct10 101-crop-horz.jpg|[[Easby Cross]] (9th century)
File:Mainistir Bhuithe cross Muiredach.jpg|[[Muiredach's High Cross]] (10th century)
File:Oviedo croix Victoire.jpg|[[Victory Cross]], Cathedral of San Salvador of Oviedo (10th century)
File:Concepción Santa Cruz 45.jpg|Holly Cross with which the city of [[Santa Cruz de Tenerife]] was founded in [[Spain]] (1496).
File:A Commonwealth Cross of Sacrifice or War Cross.jpg|[[Cross of Sacrifice]] or War&nbsp;Cross, from a [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]] cemetery (1920)
File:Coventry Cathedral burnt cross.jpg|A wooden cross at [[Coventry Cathedral]], constructed of the remnants of beams found after the [[Coventry Blitz]]
File:SPA-2014-San Lorenzo de El Escorial-Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Caídos).jpg|Cross in [[Valle de los Caídos]] near [[Madrid]], the highest cross in the world ([[Juan de Ávalos]] 1959)
File:Millennium Cross Skopje 1.jpg|The [[Millennium Cross]] in [[Skopje]], [[North Macedonia]], one of the biggest crosses in the world (2000)
File:World Trade Center Cross.jpg|The [[World Trade Center Cross]] rises from the World Trade Center wreckage.
File:Grabkreuz mit Nägeln.jpg|[[Grave]] cross with [[Nail (fastener)|nails]] – [[Evros (regional unit)|Evros]]/Greece
File:Anoniem, Reliekkruis van het Heilige Kruis (ca. 1228 - 1250), TO 25, KBS-FRB (2).jpg|The Reliquary Cross of the Holy Cross
File:Et-Parnu coa.svg|Hand holding Christian cross in the coat of arms of [[Pärnu]]
File:Kirchliche Fahnenspitze aus Messing - Deutschland - III.Reich.jpg|Ecclesiastical flag tip made of brass - Germany - III.Reich
</gallery>

== Controversies ==
In 2014, the [[Chinese Communist Party]], which espouses a doctrine of [[state atheism]], began a program of removing exterior crosses from church buildings "for reasons of safety and beauty."<ref>Kate Tracy, [https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2014/may/china-lifts-high-cross-right-off-dozens-churches-zhejiang.html China Lifts High the Cross (Right Off Dozens of Churches)], christianitytoday.com, USA, May 30, 2014</ref><ref>Tom Phillips, [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/29/china-crusade-remove-crosses-from-churches-safety-concerns China's crusade to remove crosses from churches 'is for safety concerns'], theguardian.com, UK, 29 July 2015</ref> In 2016, 1,500 crosses were removed.<ref>Morgan Lee, [https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2016/february/pastor-china-largest-church-jailed-crosses-gu-yuese-chongyi.html Pastor of China's Largest Church Jailed for Protesting Removal of 1,500 Crosses], christianitytoday.com, USA, February 2, 2016</ref> In 2020, this campaign resumed, justified by the fact that some crosses were higher than the Chinese national flag.<ref>Caleb Parke, [https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-coronavirus-church-cross-officials-update Chinese officials remove crosses from churches amid coronavirus for being 'higher than the national flag'], foxnews.com, USA, April 15, 2020</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Atrial cross]]
* [[Chi Rho]]
* [[Christian cross variants]]
* [[Cross burning]]
* [[Cross of All Nations]]
* [[Crosses in heraldry]]
* [[Mandaean cross]]
* [[Ichthys]]
* [[IH Monogram]]
* [[IX monogram]]
* [[Khachkar]]
* [[Nordic cross flag]]
* [[Rood screen]]
* [[Roodmas]]
* [[Rose Cross]]
* [[Russian Orthodox cross]]
* [[Scientology cross]]
{{Div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

* {{cite book |last=Franz |first=Raymond |authorlink=Raymond Franz |title=In Search of Christian Freedom |publisher=Commentary Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-914675-17-4}}
* [[Philip Schaff]], ''History of the Christian Church'', ch. 6, "[http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/2_ch06.htm Christian Art: § 77. The Cross and the Crucifix]" (1910 ed. [1858–1890])
* William Wood Seymour, [https://archive.org/stream/crossintraditi00seym#page/364/mode/2up ''The Cross in Tradition, History and Art''] (1898).

==External links==
{{Catholic Encyclopedia poster|Archæology of the Cross and Crucifix}}
{{Catholic Encyclopedia poster|The Cross and Crucifix in Liturgy}}
{{wikiquote}}
*[https://www.britannica.com/topic/cross-religious-symbol "Cross: religious symbol" article] at the ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', with a clearer systematic presentation and chronology of Christian and pre-Christian use
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100507030114/http://www.catholicrevelations.com/category/saints/the-christian-cross-of-jesus-christ-christianity-symbols-images-clip-art-designs.html The Christian Cross of Jesus Christ, Symbols of Christianity, and representations of it as objects of devotion]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040407014344/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761570847/Cross.html#s4 MSN Encarta] (2009-10-31), "Cross"
* [http://www.churchofthenativity.net/orthodoxy/three-bar-cross/ An Explanation of the Russian Orthodox Three-Bar Cross]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160318033820/http://lutheransonline.com/servlet/CpsServlet/dbpage%3Dcge%26gid%3D20052995655655607101111555%26pg%3D20053040942236960101111555 Variations of Crosses – Images and Meanings]

{{Christian crosses}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian Cross}}
[[Category:Christian crosses| ]]
[[Category:Christian practices]]
[[Category:Christian symbols|Cross]]
[[Category:Cross symbols]]