He moreover discovered that no one has ever written a complete history of the symbol, showing the possibility that the stauros or post to which Jesus was affixed was not cross-shaped, and the certainty that, in any case, what eventually became the symbol of our faith owed some of its prestige as a Christian symbol of Victory and Life to the position it occupied in pre-Christian days.
The author has therefore, in the hope of drawing attention to the subject, incorporated the results of his researches in the present essay.
14, ST. DUNSTAN'S HILL,
LONDON, E.C.
| C O N T E N T S . | |
|---|---|
| PAGE | |
| CHAPTER I. | |
| [WAS THE STAUROS OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED?] | [13] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| [THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX] | [31] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| [THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS] | [41] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| [CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENÆUS] | [52] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| [ORIGIN OF THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS] | [57] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| [ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS] | [65] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| [THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH] | [82] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| [CROSS AND CRESCENT] | [92] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| [THE CORONATION ORB] | [104] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| [ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE] | [119] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| [THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE] | [133] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| [ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE] | [142] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| [THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST] | [147] |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| [THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS] | [163] |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| [THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE] | [169] |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| [THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA] | [178] |
| CHAPTER XVII. | |
| [THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA] | [183] |
| CHAPTER XVIII. | |
| [EVIDENCE OF TROY] | [187] |
| CHAPTER XIX. | |
| [EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS] | [193] |
| CHAPTER XX. | |
| [MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE] | [204] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| [SUMMARY] | [214] |
THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS.
[CHAPTER I.]
WAS THE STAUROS OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED?
In the thousand and one works supplied for our information upon matters connected with the history of our race, we are told that Alexander the Great, Titus, and various Greek, Roman, and Oriental rulers of ancient days, "crucified" this or that person; or that they "crucified" so many at once, or during their reign. And the instrument of execution is called a "cross."
The natural result is that we imagine that all the people said to have been "crucified" were executed by being nailed or otherwise affixed to a cross-shaped instrument set in the ground, like that to be seen in our fanciful illustrations of the execution of Jesus.