There is still much debate as to how our Lord Jesus Christ was executed. Even in this forum. The debate is centered around nail, nails in the body, a two beam piece of wood, the sign hanging over Jesus head, etc… Just so we can end this debate which I think will still continue despite findings, common sense and complete understanding of biblical words and context, the following is posted for final discussions for now of this all important event! We will take into consideration first God’s word which is truth, scholar’s comments, and actual findings of the day centering around the Romans methods. As we should know first, The Greek word for `cross (Stau•ros´) means primarily an upright stake or beam, and secondarily a stake used as an instrument for punishment and execution. - Douglas New Bible Dictionary of 1985 under Cross, page 253. And noted Baptist Greek scholar W. E. Vine mentions the following concerning this subject: STAUROS denotes, primarily, an upright pale or stake. On such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo, to fasten to a stake or pale, are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed cross. - Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1981, Vol. 1, p. 256. Vine also goes on to describe the Chaldean origin of the two-piece cross and how it was adopted from the pagans by Christendom in the third century C.E. as a symbol of Christs impalement. W.E. Vine further wrote The shape of the latter had its origins in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd cent. A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ. - p. 248, An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, Thomas Nelson, 1983 printing. Some have used the plural nails in Jn 20:25 as evidence that Jesus was hung on a cross is to force their own presupposition onto the text. Yet to do this they must completely ignore all logical alternatives and more importantly they must ignore the explicit statements of Scripture. First, the Bible explicitly states that Jesus was hung on a STAUROS or XYLON. According to Greek dictionaries these words ALWAYS denote a stake or pole or tree. Both words disagree with the modern idea of a cross...The stauros was simply an upright pale or stake...Stauroo never means two pieces of wood joining each other at any angle. Even the Latin word crux means a mere stake. --A Critical Lexicon, E.W.Bullinger There is not a single sentence in the New testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the case of Jesus was other than one piece of timber. It is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to translate the word stauros as cross...honesty demands that we should no longer translate as cross a word which at the time our Gospels were written did not necessarily signify something cross-shaped. And it is equally incumbent upon us, from a moral point of view, that we should cease to render as crucify or crucified words which never bore any such meaning. Using the plural nails to claim that Jesus was hung on a cross would be to contradict the explicit teaching of the bible. Two could have been used. In fact, there is actually archeological evidence that four nails could have been used, two in the hands placed on both sides of a stake and two similarly in the feet. The archaeological evidence was of a leg bone with one nail stuck *sideways* into the ankle. Israel Exploration Journal 1985, Volume 35, pages 22-7). Historical facts show that the Romans often put individuals to death on posts having no crossbars. Further, grammatically the plural nails could have meant a nail through each hand, or might have simply included both nail prints in ‘his hands and his feet. Thomas use of the plural “nails” does not have to be understood as a precise description indicating that each of Jesus hands was pierced by a separate nail. In Luke 24:39 Jesus said: See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. This suggests that Christs feet also were nailed. Since Thomas made no mention of nail prints in Jesus feet, his use of the plural nails could have been a general reference to multiple nails used in impaling Jesus. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says: “The exact number of nails used . . . has been the subject of considerable speculation. In the earliest depictions of the crucifixion Jesus’ feet are shown separately nailed, but in later ones they are crossed and affixed to the upright with one nail.” The Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, by M’Clintock and Strong, comments: “Much time and trouble have been wasted in disputing as to whether three or four nails were used in fastening the Lord. “—Volume II, page 580. “Claiming that two nails in the arms MUST mean crucifixion on a cross is to illogically force our favored interpretation while ignoring the evidence for other conclusions. This is a fallacious form of reasoning and eisogesis”. So, Thomas statement cannot be used to show the Jesus was executed upon a cross, since it is just as reasonable to believe Christ was impaled to a stake with a separate nail in each arm. What is the most important thing for Christians is how the Cross was introduced into Christianity. Notice again that the above quote from Vine’s Dictionary says that the cross was adopted after the church had “either DEPARTED FROM, OR HAD TRAVESTIED, certain doctrines of the Christian faith...pagans were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. The cross had been used in Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman paganism for centuries. It was a common emblem in sun worship. The adoption of the cross into Christianity can be traced directly to the Roman Emperor Constantine three hundred years after Christ. Constantine was not a “Christian” when he saw a vision of a cross which he adopted as his victory sign. Rather he was still a Sun-God worshiper at the head of an army of Sun-God worshipers. Although he later mandated this corrupted form of Christianity as the national religion, he was not converted until his death. So the use of the cross was a not a tradition from God, but a corruption of true Christianity. This is proven by solid evidence from history and archaeology: The universal use of the sign of the cross makes more poignant the striking lack of crosses in early Christian remains. Most scholars now agree that the cross, as an artistic reference to the passion event, cannot be found prior to the time of Constantine.--Evidence of Church Life Before Constantine (1985), by Professor Graydon F. Snyder Two hundred years after Christ the Christian writer Minucius Felix wrote to the pagans in Octavius and revealed the attitude that early Christians had toward the cross up to that time: Crosses, moreover, we neither worship nor wish for. You, indeed, who consecrate gods of wood, adore wooden crosses perhaps as parts of your gods. . . . Your victorious trophies not only imitate the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man affixed to it. (The Ante- Nicene Fathers, Vol. 4, p. 191) Notice, that this early church father said that Christians did not have crosses and never thought of having one. Only pagans at that time used it. The apostate Christianity that arose several hundred years after Christ decided to adopt the pagan symbol for the god Tammuz and use it for worship in their religion. When the Bible was translated into modern languages the mistranslation of cross was inserted because of Roman Catholic tradition. So, in conclusion to all of the above I believe we have to take it all into consideration and form the truth. First and foremost, Gods word, Sturos is the word for Jesus execution which means pole, tree or stake. This fact is confirmed by scholars of many denominations. Second, as to whether nail, nails were used, God’s word has it as plural, however, that doesn’t indicate how many or at what precise position as the comments above brings out. Third, the sign hanging over Jesus head in God’s word says” the sign over his head” but interestingly, Luke 23:38 says of the NIV “above him” “it was over him” according to the new American standard version and young’s literal translation, and the living bible and a few others. So, while some of us haggle as they say” over details” maybe this one escaped the notice. Which of those comments from scripture is right? It doesn’t matter what matters is the sign is hanging over Jesus whether over his head or over him or above him it could be easily one or the other this was written 2, 000 years ago, what matters is what is Jesus hung on?
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 12:52:07 +0000
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