Christianity and the cross.

@eye-of-horus-42
You are right. Good observation...

Also more info on the origin of the cross....

In its edition of 1908, The Catholic Encyclopedia states in volume 4, page 517: “The sign of the cross, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly antedates, in both the East and the West, the introduction of Christianity. It goes back to a very remote period of human civilization.” The book The Ancient Church by clergyman W. D. Killen concurs by saying, on page 316: “From the most remote antiquity the cross was venerated in Egypt and Syria; it was held in equal honor by the Buddhists of the East; and, what is still more extraordinary, when the Spaniards first visited America, the well-known sign was found among the objects of worship in the idol temples of Anahuac. It is also remarkable that, about the commencement of our era, the pagans were wont to make the sign of a cross upon the forehead in the celebration of some of their sacred mysteries.”

An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words by W. E. Vine states on page 256 of volume one: “By the middle of the 3rd century A.D. the churches had either departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith. In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ.”

From the Egypt connection:

The Egyptian Ankh Symbol: The Actual Meaning And History:


What religion does the Ankh represent?
While the Ankh is presently seen as a harmless universal symbol in all cultures and religions, historians say it was once adopted by Egypt’s Coptic Christians in the 4th century AD. They regarded it as a symbol of Christ’s promise of eternal life through his death and resurrection. Over the years, the Ankh later lost the loop and became the Christian cross we see today.

From Babylon: https://ahnsahnghong.com/en/church-of-god/origin-of-cross/

This clearly explains the original use of the cross........

@galveston75 said
@eye-of-horus-42
You are right. Good observation...

Also more info on the origin of the cross....

In its edition of 1908, The Catholic Encyclopedia states in volume 4, page 517: “The sign of the cross, represented in its simplest form by a crossing of two lines at right angles, greatly antedates, in both the East and the West, the introduction of Christianity. I ...[text shortened]... to make the sign of a cross upon the forehead in the celebration of some of their sacred mysteries.”