Mystical Angels - Is the Cross for Christians- Do you believe that Christ died on a Hindu Symbol?

Is the Cross for Christians- Do you believe that Christ died on a Hindu Symbol?

You may assume that Christians were the first to use the cross. The Encyclopedia Americana, however, speaks of “its ancient usage by both Hindus and Buddhists in India and China, and by the Persians, Assyrians, and Babylonians.” Similarly, Chambers’s Encyclopedia, (1969 edition) says that the cross “was an emblem to which religious and mystical meanings were attached long before the Christian era.” Indeed, there is no evidence that early Christians used the cross in their worship. During the early days of Christianity, it was the pagan Romans who used the cross! Says The Companion Bible: “These crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian sun-god . . . and are first seen on a coin of Julius Caesar, 100-44 B.C., and then on a coin struck by Caesar’s heir (Augustus), 20 B.C.” The Roman nature-god Bacchus was at times represented with a headband containing a number of crosses. Do Not Ignore the Facts.... In case you did not Know.... In 312 C.E., Constantine, ruling the area now known as France and Britain, headed out to war against his brother-in-law, Maxentius, of Italy. En route he reportedly saw a vision—a cross on which were the words “Hoc vince,” meaning, “By this conquer.” After his victory, Constantine made the cross the standard of his armies. When Christianity later became the state religion of the Roman Empire, the cross became the symbol of the church. Those are the Facts...Look it Up. Believing that Jesus died and rose from the grave is FACT..believing that Jesus died on a Cross is not Correct. This is evident here... (2 Corinthians 4:4) among whom the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, that the illumination of the glorious good news about the Christ, who is the image of God, might not shine through.

Public Comments

he didnt die on a swastika...
Wait...wouldn't he be crucified in the shape on a C then? How humiliating. ROFL
I believe Christ died on a Roman execution device.
Crucifixion had been around for a while, but the Romans perfected it. It doesn't matter what the cross represented before that event, because it means what it means now.
I dont believe Christians were the first to use the cross. I dont believe any christians think that. We are all very aware that the cross was used by the Romans prior to Christ. So. whats the purpose of your question? Are you just feeling silly? If you are just giving me a bite sized history lesson. Cheers.
Why do you concern yourself with symbolism? If Nicholas Roeg in "Walkabout" invoked a Christ-symbol, does that somehow invalidate all of the Christian religions? Note that the two-finger "v for victory" sign that Winston Churchill employed to encourage militarism in WWII became the "peace" symbol of the hippie generation. Symbols get abused by anyone for any purpose. That's all.
So what is your point? Wouldn't matter if it was used from the time of Adam, Christ still died on a cross.
Who really cares if it was used by other religions or not. We Christians use it as a remembrance of what Christ died for on the cross. From the looks of it I think that is what you fail to understand.
Pretty much everything in Christianity is stolen from some other religion. Don't worry to much about it. They don't.
Yeah, and the Romans crucified Christ. What's your point?
The Cross to Christians stands for the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for all mankind. The cross may have been used by others but Jesus Christ is the only one who died on one and was resurrected and is now seated in Heaven as our High Priest. He is there making intercession for those who belong to Him and He will return again to Judge the world.
Yes, you are correct. The cross is a mistranslation of the Greek word stauros. Stauros is Greek for a stake, of pole, of post. It is the Catholic Church changed it to the word cross. It is a pagan religion, a form of sun worship.
I won't ignore the facts, because in fact, the Cross - as used by the Christians - is a long-time pagan symbol! Check out the facts - it was used for protection and other means of symbols! http://www.a-voice.org/qa/crosspgn.htm
I don't carry symbols, images, etc. The second of the Ten Commandments is: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness...
Christians did not choose the method of execution, the Romans did. The Romans also crucified several thousand Spartans at one time. It was an execution form calculated to maximize pain suffering and humiliation for the victim. We didn't use it. Rome did. Pax Christi
Of course there were crosses before Jesus! There's no place in the Bible that says He was the first to die on a cross. I'm not getting what you're trying to prove here. That because Christians use the cross now as symbolic of Christ's death and resurrection, that we're worshiping the god Bacchus? Dude - an R on a hat could mean the Rangers to a baseball fan, but that same R could mean Redskins to a football fan. And thankfully, I don't worship a symbol, I worship and believe in God who came to earth as a man to die on a cross, rose the third day, and is waiting for his children to meet him in Heaven some day. Crosses remind me of all of this, but I don't worship a cross, I worship Jesus.
The cross isn't the only symbol used to signify Christianity. The adapted several symbols, but the cross has endured. The ancient Indians used the swastika way before the German Nazis stole it and didn't know how to use it- they used it to inspire overblown pride and hate. The Christian use of the cross is in remembrance of Jesus' crucifiction on a cross by Romans who were really good at executing people on them. It has that relevance to christians. You have cited many different facts and no facts relevant to Christianity. If the vocal sound, "Oh" was uttered by some humanoid 15,000 years before you, does that take away its current meaning and use for you? No, it doesn't. So, when you read some historical fact, take it for what it's worth in its context.
I believe that Jesus died on the cross as the official Roman method of execution. That Jesus was sacrificed on a cross is of course important to Christians as a means of symbolically representing Christianity. It's important to the Father in the fact that Psalms 22 is reflected in this method of execution. Except in the fulfillment of prophecy, the cross really has no mystical quality to a Christian. It is important to vampire movies though... : )
The Hindu and Babylonian civilizations are much more older and were way ahead of their time in many ways. The ancient Hindus (this name by the way is not a religion or religious term, but was derived from the river Indus) of the Vedic period (an interval between 2000-4000 years back) were very spiritual, inventive and inquisitive -- in fact, they invented lots of other symbols, besides Swastika and Cross. As for the Cross, I agree that it was simply a later adaptation after the Romans took over Christianity. The Romans were a lot more into symbolism than the early Christians were. So, the adapation of a symbol makes sense. But why did they choose the Cross? Perhaps that is the real question. May be since it was already in use by the Romans, it may been a logical choice.
So if you see someone drive the same color car that you own do you immediately assume that they have stolen your car? No. People can discern this from other features apart from the most obvious form of recognition. What was relevant at that time was that Jesus was hung on a tree. It was a curse for people to die on a tree. So is this Hindu symbol a sign of a curse? Probably not. Early Christians used the fish symbol as a sign of recognition. There are probably Hindu symbols like this one as well and again it would have a different meaning. Christians base the meanings of the symbols they use on their understanding of the bible. The cross is a symbol of suffering. Any other uses of the symbol are irrelevant. Though I see how some people could be confused by taking the facts out of their context.
Matthew 27:32 - "And as they came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his CROSS." Verse 42 - "He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the CROSS and we will believe him." Whatever the Romans did or did not do it is obvious from this and the other scriptures that Jesus died on a cross, and you are incorrect to believe or teach anything else.
Are you sure? You better check and double check. I believe that the cross was copied by the Egyptian Ankh. The Ankh symbol for eternal life.
India never has the practice of nailing the felons on a cross or a tree even. Hindu swastika is NOT the cross.