Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas
The early Christians used various symbols
either to honor Christ and the Saints or to denote their Christian Faith or
even to decorate the catacombs where they gathered to celebrate the Mass, since
the Church and their faith were persecuted back then. Thus, they used to draw a fish (ΙΧΘΥΣ in Greek means fish), the acronym of which denotes Jesus Christ, a
mythical bird, the Phoenix,
which symbolizes the eternity of the soul, hope, etc.
However, among the
symbols used the Cross held a special position. So, wherever we may look inside
or outside the Church, we’ll come across the Cross. It exists in the liturgical books, in the
place of the Mass; it accompanies the holy service and every individual prayer
of the faithful people. Last but not least, it’s a honor for quite a few of us
to carry it with us, not because it is in vogue, but for the invigorating power
it has with which it beats the dark powers and death.
The fact that the Cross is a symbol of victory is obvious in the Lord’s
words. It is marked with glory and erection, which aims at our own erection. We
read in John’s Gospel, chapter 12, verses 23-33: “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man
should be glorified...... And I, if I be lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death
he should die”.
Lord on the Cross is presented as if he were on a triumphal chariot.
Victoriously, He draws the demons on this triumphal chariot to hold them up to
public ridicule and overtly disgrace them in the eyes of the spiritual world: “Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of
the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers,
he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it”. Apostle Paul in his epistle to Colossians, chapter 2, verses 14-15.
This is why the Lord’s Cross does not look like the thieves’ crosses,
because His Cross is not a weakness but a strength, it’s not a shame but a
pride: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world”. Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Galatians,
chapter 6, verse 14.
Well, the Cross that we take pride in is a symbol of stupidity for the
unfaithful, the irreverent, the heretics and a symbol against which they turn.
Those miserable people do not understand that this way they play their father’s
game who is no other than devil, and this game will lead them to their
destruction: “For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even
weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is
destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who
mind earthly things.” Once again Apostle Paul in his epistle to the
Philippians, chapter 3, verses 18-19.
Jehovah’s Witnesses vehemently turn against the Cross and blame
Christians for being idolaters because they claim that the honors we pay to the
Cross equal idolatry and the Holy Scriptures forbid reverence and worship of
objects which exist on Earth in the sky or in the water. But before we examine
whether what Jehovah’s Witnesses say is true or not, let us point out something
that most faithful ignore, a truth that the above mentioned heretics deliberately
withhold; the fact that for over 60 years, and more specifically from 1870 up
to 1931, Jehovah’s Witnesses revered the Cross and held the Cross in high
esteem. It decorated their buildings and the front cover of their first-rate
magazine, the “Watchtower”, and they also wore it as a badge on their lapels.
And before they hurry to blame us for being liars and slanders, we quote the
following document from their book “The Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom” which
includes all the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On page 200 you can read
everything we said above:
For years, Bible Students wore a cross and crown
as a badge of identification, and this symbol was on the front cover of the “Watch Tower”
from 1891 to 1931. But in 1928 it was emphasized that not a decorative symbol
but one’s activity as a witness showed he was a Christian. In 1936 it was
pointed out that the evidence indicates that Christ died on a stake, not a
two-beamed cross
Book
"Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom" p 200: Jehovah’s
Witnesses revered the Cross
And to make them stop once and for all we’ll bring a rare document into
light a document most of Jehovah’s Witnesses ignore the existence of. This rare
document comes from another publication of the Society entitled “Book of the
Year 1975”.
What we read on page 38 can be described unique and shocking; that Carl
Russell, their founder, had the brilliant idea to publish a magazine IN ORDER
TO LIFT THE SYMBOL OF THE CROSS. And which do you think this magazine is? Of
course their official magazine “Watchtower”, through the pages of which they
believe that Jehovah Himself speaks! We won’t make any further comments:
‘A DAY OF SMALL THINGS’
Writes Russell: “I therefore understood it to be
the Lord’s will that I should start another journal, in which the standard of
the Cross should be lifted high, the doctrine of the Ransom defended and the
Good Tidings of great Joy proclaimed as extensively as possible.”
C. T. Russell took it as the Lord’s leading that
he give up traveling and begin publishing a journal. Thus in July 1879 the
first issue of Zion’s Watch Tower
and Herald of Christ’s Presence made its appearance. Now known world wide as
The Watchtower
Book of the
Year 1975, p 38: Carl Russel
brought out the journal “Watchower” to lift the symbol of the Cross!
Now, since we have resolved the accusations against the
symbol of the Cross imposed on us by Jehovah’s Witnesses, it is time to deal
with the accusation of idolatry. But first we’d like to clarify a couple of
small points; what idolatry is and when an object is considered to be an idol.
Well, idolatry exists when we believe that an object equals God or we think
that the object represents God. As the
book of “Exodus” informs us while Moses was ascending mount Sinah
to take the 10 commandments from God, Israelites convinced his brother Aaron to
make a golden calf which they worshiped as their God. It’s worth quoting
Aaron’s words “These be thy gods, O Israel”
(Exodus, chapter 32, verse 2). And we can’t but wonder now; Which Orthodox
Congress or Orthodox theologian has ever declared that the Cross is our God or
that the Cross represents our God? Or even more specifically, has any Christian
Orthodox ever thought “This is my God” when standing either in front of the
Cross or in front of an icon?
On the contrary, we venerate and honor the
Cross not in isolation but in conjunction with Jesus Christ because the Wood of
the Cross became holy the moment it came into contact with the Holy Body of the
Lord. In the Synodicon of Orthodoxy which is recited on the Sunday of Orthodoxy
we read: “We worship Christ on the one hand as our God and Master, and on the
other hand we honor the saints, the icons, the cross and all the other
consecrated symbols apportioning relative worship to them – relative and not
absolute.”
But it still makes one wonder whether the Holy Scriptures do forbid us to
bow before the holy objects indeed. Of course, this is not true. Actually, the
book of “Genesis”, chapter 47, verse 31 informs us that Patriarch Jacobs bowed
before Joseph’s cane: “And he said, Swear
unto me. And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's
head.” Does this mean that Jacob was an idolater? Of course not, his bow
was a token of admiration and honor and not of worship.
In a nutshell, a symbol such as the Cross becomes idolatrous when we honor
it in isolation from the source of the miraculous power, that is God, and when
we believe that the symbol on its own has some sort of magical or miraculous
power. Something like that happened with the bronze snake that Moses had made
to save Israelites from snake bites, whenever they looked at it. So, King
Hezekiah did not hesitate to smash the snake when he realized that the Israeli
people took it as God due to its miraculous power.
In addition, the fact that in any era God is able to work wonders with
material objects should not escape our notice. Like He did with Moses’ cane
with which He opened the Red Sea and with a splinter of wood that prophet
Elisaie (Elisha) dropped into Jordan River and
made an iron axe float or with the bronze snake we have already mentioned. Also
in The Acts of the Apostles, chapter 19, verses 11-13 we read that people were
taking handkerchiefs or aprons from the neck and the waist of Apostle Paul and
by using them they were able to heal their relatives from diseases and evil
spirits.
Everything we have said so far works as an answer to all those who fight
against the Cross and our Orthodox Faith. We have never feared them and we will
not fear them now. As far as our Lord’s Cross is concerned we need to tell them
that there is only one place It deserves to be kept. And this is in OUR HEARTS.
Writer Christos Pal
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