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
Parsons, John Denham
Crosses
We are more or less in the habit of assuming that just as Paul, the
founder of the catholic faith, was converted, not altogether by reason
but as it were by force and with the rapidity of a flash of lightning,
under the rays of a meridian sun ("About _noon_ suddenly there shone
from heaven a great light round about me," _Acts_ xxii. 6; "At
_mid-day_," _Acts_ xxvi. 13), so Constantine, the establisher of that
faith as the State Religion of the empire in which Paul was so proud of
his rights as a citizen, was in similarly rapid fashion converted by
the appearance of a miraculous "cross" of light and an accompanying
legend above a meridian sun ("At _mid-day_," Eusebius, _Vit. Const.
I._).
But, as has already been pointed out, this alleged vision of
Constantine is said to have taken place during his march upon Rome in
the year A.C. 312; and during the remaining twenty-five years of his
life he acted rather as if he were converting Christianity into what he
thought most likely to be accepted by his subjects as a catholic
religion, than as if he had been converted to the teachings of Jesus
the Nazarene.
The fact is that Constantine was favourable to our religion out of
policy rather than conviction; and if after refusing so long he did
indeed, a quarter of a century after the alleged vision, consent to be
baptised when ill and dying, policy doubtless swayed him even then.
Anyway, as has already been stated and will now be seen, the evidence
of his coins conclusively shows that the God to whom Constantine from
first to last attributed his victories, was--the Sun-God.
Upon one coin issued by Constantine we see upon the reverse a nude
figure crowned with rays, with the right hand elevated toward the east,
and a round object in the left hand. In the field is a cross widened at
the extremities, and the surrounding legend is a significant one, _Soli
Invicto Comiti_. This coin was struck years after the alleged
conversion of Constantine, and the combined reference to the Sun-God
and use of the cross are worthy of special notice.
Upon two somewhat similar coins of Constantine the cross is placed
within a circular wreath of bay or laurel.
On another coin with the same legend we see the same nude figure
crowned with rays, representing the Sun-God and carrying a round
object; while in the field we see the Gaulish symbol, sometimes called
a cross, which by the addition of a loop was, as we shall see later on,
turned into the so-called Monogram of Christ.
Upon a coin with the anything but Christian legend _Marti
Conservatori_, is a cross with four equal arms.
On a somewhat similar coin with the same legend, the helmet on the
reverse is ornamented with the so-called Monogram of Christ.
Upon another coin we see Mars leaning on a shield adorned with the
so-called Monogram of Christ, the legend being _Marti Patri
Conservator_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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