by cakes 45 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
If the JW's consider the cross a pagan symbol, do they consider the stake a sacred, special, or holy symbol? If so, why would the Romans use something a group considered sacred, like a stake; Maybe for spite??
I agree with RR, "Of course Jesus died on a pagan cross, the Romans were pagan!"
It's fun to argue and prove the JW's wrong on points like this, and lots of others, but I also know that in the long run it really does not matter. Jesus died for us, and that is a fact.
Hondo
I also thought it was a historical fact that criminals died on a cross. As Gumby stated, if it was a T then where was the sign over Jesus' head placed? Also if it was a stake, how large was it? A Cyrene named Simon was forced to carry what I believe was the cross beam. I thought the main post was permanently in the ground and they hauled the body up on a cross beam. If this has already been mentioned I apologize. I don't always have time to read all the replies.
Matthew's description of the titilus being placed over Jesus' head would indeed point to a crux issisima, tho this does not necessarily controvert the analogy between Jesus' stauros and the Greek letter Tau.
Hondo,
No, they don't venerate the stake . Looks too much like a phallic symbol. And that's why Kingdom Halls don't have steeples either.
In the Theocratic School this year, many of the talks were based on the "Reasoning" Book. When it came to the chapter on the Cross...........I don't recall those paragraphs being covered in any talk.
I'm of the opinion the Society has been wrong on this one for decades, and won't admit to it. They just want people to forget about these little details.
I would feel very foolish now to try and bring this up to anyone in the ministry...........the Bible itself gives more evidence towards the traditional view. (Ex. -sign above his head, not hands.............nails, not one nail in his hands, etc.)
The roads outside Roman controlled cities were lined with stakes. Typically, the victim would carry the crossbeam from his place of incarceration to the stake where it was hauled up on the fixed stake. The bodies of the executed were commonly left hanging for days as a warning to other would be law breakers.
"Incidentally why do they still sing a Kindom Song "He died upon a tree to set all mankind free", I suppose it rhymes."
The Romans would also make use of trees that lined the road. They would be used as the stake and the victim, nailed or strapped to the crossbeam, attached to it.
Cults like the WTS have a need to be different. The upright stake doctrine is probably just another means to this end.
chappy
