by turtleturtle 5 Replies latest watchtower bible
I am looking for a Questions From Readers in the WT. The question was along the lines of asking why the WT promoted the stake, rather than the cross, even though history shows the Romans did use the cross in executions.
The answer from the WT was along the lines of admitting that the Romans did use crosses for execution, but in the area where Jesus' death took place, it was commonplace to use stakes, since lumber was not readily available.
Can anyone find this for me?
On the Library I can only find one Questions from Readers on it:
Questions From Readers
? Where other Bible translations use “cross” the New World Translation usually uses “stake,” but in some places it uses “tree,” as at Acts 5:30 in the margin. Why is this?—W. M., United States.
In the Bibles of Christendom in general the Greek word that is translated “cross” is the word staurós. Originally this was used to mean simply a stake or a pole, that is, one without a crossbeam. That this is the proper meaning of the word when referring to the instrument that Jesus was hung upon is shown by the fact that the apostles Peter and Paul sometimes referred to it as a tree, namely, in Acts 5:30, Acts 10:39, Acts 13:29, Galatians 3:13 and 1 Peter 2:24. The Greek word here translated “tree” is the word xylon, from which we get the word “xylophone,” an instrument of music made of wooden pieces. However, this Greek word xylon does not refer to a live tree growing in the ground and producing fruits. For a live, growing fruit-bearing tree the Greeks used another word, namely, dendron, from which we get the English word “dendrology,” meaning the science of trees. Dendron is the Greek word used in such verses as Matthew 3:10; 7:17, 18, 19; 12:33; 13:32; 21:8. Also Mark 8:24; 11:8; Luke 3:9; Jude 12; Revelation 7:1, 3; 8:7; 9:4.
So the Greek-speaking people of old did not refer to the torture stake of Jesus as a live tree or dendron, but as a xylon. So this xylon corresponds with a log or a staff. In fact, the word is translated “staff” or “staves” in Matthew 26:47, 55; Mark 14:43, 48; Luke 22:52. (AV) Certainly the xylon that the mob which came to take Jesus under arrest used was not a cross, nor was it a live tree rooted in the ground. Sometimes because of the wood of which a tree is composed, or which is taken from a tree, even a live tree may be called a xylon. In this case the reading matter around the word would indicate whether it is a dead tree or a live one, as for instance at Luke 23:31; Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14.
As you can see, therefore, the above discussion bears out the fact that the torture stake or tree upon which Jesus was impaled was not a cross, or a log with a crossbeam, as Christendom teaches, but was a straight, erect pole or log or stick and did not correspond with the phallic symbol of the cross.
There is this though:
What Is the Bible’s View?
Does Christianity Have a Visible Symbol?
THROUGHOUT human history the religions of the world have featured numerous visible symbols. Stars, moon crescents, fish, dragons, gargoyles—these and many other symbols have appeared in the writings and art of the world’s religious systems.
Is there a visible symbol for Christianity? Do you think of the cross? What about the figure of a fish, which appears on some ancient artifacts associated with Christians? Or is there perhaps some other visible symbol representative of Christianity?
Let us consider first the cross. Many English translations of the Christian Scriptures employ the word “cross” for the instrument upon which Jesus was nailed to die. (Phil. 2:8, Authorized Version) But was it really cross-shaped?
The Imperial Bible-Dictionary points out: “The Greek word for cross, staurós, properly signified a stake, an upright pole, or piece of paling, on which anything might be hung, or which might be used in impaling [fencing in] a piece of ground. . . . Even amongst the Romans the crux (from which our [word] cross is derived) appears to have been originally an upright pole.” It is true that on occasion these terms were used to refer also to cross-shaped objects. In these cases, however, the contexts of accounts employing these words describe crosses. But that is not the basic meaning of either the Greek staurós or the Latin crux.
Furthermore, the Bible also designates the instrument upon which Jesus died by the Greek word xylon. According to a Greek-English lexicon by Liddell and Scott, this word means “wood . . . II. a stick or piece of wood . . . III. later, a tree.” In the Authorized Version this word is rendered as “tree,” as at Acts 5:30, where we read: “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.”—See also Acts 13:29; Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 2:24, AV.
But do not writers early in the Common Era claim that Jesus died on a cross? For example, Justin Martyr (114-167 C.E.) described in this way what he believed to be the type of stake upon which Jesus died: “For the one beam is placed upright, from which the highest extremity is raised up into a horn, when the other beam is fitted on to it, and the ends appear on both sides as horns joined on to the one horn.” This indicates that Justin himself believed that Jesus died on a cross.
However, Justin was not inspired by God, as were the Bible writers. He was born more than eighty years after Jesus’ death, and was not an eyewitness of that event. It is believed that in describing the “cross” Justin followed an earlier writing known as the “Letter of Barnabas.” This non-Biblical letter claims that the Bible describes Abraham as having circumcised three hundred and eighteen men of his household. Then it derives special significance from a Greek-letter cipher for 318, namely, IHT. The writer of this apocryphal work claims that IH represents the first two letters of “Jesus” in Greek. The T is viewed as the shape of Jesus’ death stake.
Concerning this passage, M’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia states: “The writer evidently was unacquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures, and has [also] committed the blunder of supposing that Abraham was familiar with the Greek alphabet some centuries before it existed.” A translator into English of this “Letter of Barnabas” points out that it contains “numerous inaccuracies,” “absurd and trifling interpretations of Scripture,” and “many silly vaunts of superior knowledge in which its writer indulges.” Would you depend on such a writer, or persons who followed him, to provide accurate information about the stake on which Jesus died?
The cross did not become popular as a symbol in Christendom until the fourth century C.E., when Roman emperor Constantine adopted the labarum, a flag bearing the symbol [Artwork—Greek character]. However, this represented, not Jesus’ death stake, but the Greek letters khi (X) and hro (P) one atop the other. Many began to view this symbol as depicting the first two letters of the Greek word for Christ (XRistos).
What about the symbol of a fish? Objects dated as far back as the second century C.E. have been found bearing this figure along with the Greek word for fish, ICHTHÝS. This is understood by many as a cipher for the Greek expression Iesous CHristos THeou Yios Soter, meaning “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” Is the fish a truly Christian symbol?
According to The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, fish frequently appear in ancient pagan symbolism, often apart from water scenes. “In such cases,” notes this reference work, “it would seem to have symbolic significance, possibly to represent deity, power, fecundity, etc.”
The same publication further notes that certain Jews adopted use of the fish symbol from pagan religious customs, adding: “It is probable that the considerations mentioned [in this regard] account in part for the appearance of the fish in the art of the oldest Christian catacombs. How early the Greek word for ‘fish’ (ichthýs) came to be interpreted as a cipher for ‘Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior’ . . . we do not know; but once this identification was made, the fish became a standard Christian symbol.”
The Bible, however, sets forth no visible symbol for Christianity. Christians today, therefore, must be on guard not to adopt such a symbol. For example, watchtower-like designs appear on some buildings and Kingdom Halls of Jehovah’s Witnesses. There is nothing wrong with these in themselves. Possibly they may help persons to identify property owned by Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, at no time should anyone look upon such things with reverence, as if they were a visible sign of Christianity. Jesus taught that, rather than through visible symbols, “by this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”—John 13: 35.
While visible symbols have always been a feature of non-Biblical religions, they were absent from Christianity at its beginning. As in the first century C.E., so today, true Christians must conform to the Scriptural standard: “We are walking by faith, not by sight.”—2 Cor. 5:7.
Nearest I could find..Bible teach book 'Why True Christians Do Not Use the Cross in Worship'.. "Explaining why a simple stake was often used for executions, the book Das Kreuz und die Kreuzigung (the cross and the crucifixion), by Hermann Fulda, states 'Trees were not everywhere available at the places chosen for public execution. So a simple beam was sunk into the ground. On this the outlaws, with hands raised upwards and often also with their feet, were bound or nailed."
What's the difference when a stake is worshiped?
Doug
Honestly, in history a cross or "x" was common in Roman cucifictions. Then again the three words that are translated to mean the instrument Jesus died on all share only one definition (I believe it was tree), which could give the idea of one stake.
But who cares? Honestly does God really care what people think Jesus died on since they weren't there and there is no way to tell for sure?
