joe134cd : [The assertion that the cross was not the device used to kill Jesus] is rubbish.
“History is right, perhaps, but let us not forget, it was written by the
victors”. That also goes for the shape of the stauros that Christ died
on. If any of those who witnessed his death left a description of the stauros
we have no record of it. There is evidence that some Christians in the second
century believed that Jesus died on a T-shaped cross (crux commissa), however
in the dialogue of Octavius (probably written in the mid-second century),
Minucius Felix writes (in chapter 29) of both an upright pole (crux simplex)
and a latin cross (crux immissa) :
Crosses, moreover, we neither worship nor wish for. You, indeed, who consecrate gods of wood, adore wooden crosses perhaps as parts of your gods. For your very standards, as well as your banners; and flags of your camp, what else are they but crosses gilded and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate the appearance of a simple cross [simplicis crucis], but also that of a man affixed to it…Thus the sign of the cross either is sustained by a natural reason [a ship with swelling sails; a military yoke; a man adoring God with hands outstretched], or your religion is formed with respect to it.
But what do we actually know about the shape of the stauros at the time of Christ. Very little, as it turns out. In 2010 Gunnar Samuelsson published a thesis (and in 2011 wrote a book) “Crucifixion in Antiquity” which was discussed here at the time. The fact is that there was no terminology of crucifixion at the time of Jesus, only of suspension. In some cases, stauros is a kind of suspension device, used for the suspension of corpses, torture, or in a few cases executionary suspensions. Very little or nothing is said about what it was made of or how it looked. The fact that xulon is also used (Acts 5:30;10:39;13:29) indicates it was made of wood. The punishment of executionary suspension could be carried out in a way that was simply fitting for the moment. The manner in which Jesus was suspended at Calvary might then have been only a momentary expression of local caprice. Previous and subsequent executions might have been completely different.
He could have died on a latin cross (crux immissa), a T-shaped cross (crux commissa), an upright pole (crux simplex) or any form of suspension using wood. We simply don’t know. Any display of certainty about this is just a display of ignorance.