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The Non-Christian Cross: An Enquiry into the Origin and History of the Symbol Eventually Adopted as That of Our ReligionParsons, John Denham

Religion

The Non-Christian Cross: An Enquiry into the Origin and History of the Symbol Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion

Name: The Non-Christian Cross: An Enquiry into the Origin and History of the Symbol Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion
Author: Parsons, John Denham

Parsons, John Denham

Crosses

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 FATHERS3                   41
  CHAPTER IV.
    CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENAEUS                       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 CRESCENT8                                  92
  CHAPTER IX.
    THE CORONATION ORB9                                 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.

This was, however, by no means necessarily the case.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Non-Christian Cross: An Enquiry into the Origin and History of the Symbol Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion

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