by Titus 101 Replies latest watchtower bible
Why does it matter so much to JWs? That's the part I could never figure out about this debate.
If they can convince a convert that the cross is pagan, that person can then use the cross to identify damned near every Christian religion as pagan.
It is just a common cult tactic of demonstrating that they are 'different'. Truth has nothing to do with it.
Cheers
Chris
Jesus died on a cross piece that was attached to a tree!
The Apostle Peter mentions twice in Acts that Jesus was nailed to a tree.
I know that impetuous, seasoned, weathered seaman knew the difference between a pole and a tree!
Sheesh!
Syl
If Jesus was given a lethal injection, he still died, that was the point, he didn't deserve death, didn't inherit Adam's sinful condition, whatever death he faced it was unnatural and a sacrifice ... for that I am grateful, he is my savior
Well said, WBF!
I regret that I often confuse you with Wannabe, the poster who gives us all that Bible information and little else.
Syl
What I never understood about the witness view was how they became so prejudiced against the traditional cross that they began to view it as a "pagan symbol" and practically more Satanic than a witches pentagram. This was quite some time after they openly used the cross themselves, ironically during their self-proclaimed "selection" as the only true christian organization left on earth.
And yet, they insist on the upright stake, and openly illustrate it in their literature - which stake was itself pagan in the sense that it was not Jewish.
Seems like they copied a lot of this from the rantings of Alexander Hislop and have, as others pointed out above, simply been nursing a grudge against other christian religions as per their usual custom.
So much simpler to just say "we don't know for sure". After all, they don't know for sure that the name Jehovah is halfway right, but accept earlier christian tradition prior to their own time for the spelling and pronunciation on that all-important name.
Their explanation on Jehovah is that "it is commonly recognized now after many years and is good enough even if it is probably wrong". Why wouldn't that explanation equally apply to the traditional christian cross?
Black sheep has it right, they insist on the stake because it makes them different, that's all because when pressed, the more "educated" ones will say, "it doesn't really matter how he died".
Leolaia did an excellent thread here a few years ago on this very subject. Once again, she demonstrates how the WTS twists things to suit their own agenda. The evidence is overwhelming, both scripturally and historically, that Jesus did in fact, die on a two-beam cross. It's a long read, but well worth it:
Why does it matter so much to JWs? That's the part I could never figure out about this debate.
My father likes to say that the cross symbol is a pagan phallic symbol and that's one of the reasons why it's wrong. And I didn't have a comeback for that until I found out by doing a little bit of research that an upright pole can be a phallic symbol too. When I pointed that out to my father he was too happy.
My father likes to say that the cross symbol is a pagan phallic symbol and that's one of the reasons why it's wrong.
The cross as a phallic symbol?
That shit had to hurt...
