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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture On Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:48:44 +0100, Rosemary Hayes-Milligan and Andrew Milligan wrote: >At Mass today, we were told that the Cross was seen as shameful until Helena >found it in Jerusalem (326?), when the 'true' cross of the three found >healed and was so identified. Does this fit in at all with the earlier >queries about the time the Cross began to appear in iconography? >Regards >Rosemary Hayes Based on my (sometimes obcessive and off-subject) research, no, the cross itself does not seem to have been a shameful symbol avoided by pre- Constantinian Christians. In fact, it appears that it was so common among non/pre-Christian religions that it was fairly easy for Christians to use it in various forms openly. They were, in fact, accused of worshiping the cross at least as early as Tertullian and Minucius Felix, both of whom answer those charges (sort of) in their Apology and Octavius respectively. What the good pastor - indeed most popular preaching - on the subject may have confused on this is that Constantine is credited by Eusebius with having ended crucifixion out of deferrence to Christ's passion (apparently he initially continued the practice, however). As Paul Chandler and some others suggested, it appears that the funerary ivory currently in the British Museum which depicts a crucifixion is the earliest surviving/known and dates from 420- 430. Interestingly, it depicts Christ with eyes open on a "tau" cross. From what I've read, the crucifixion became increasingly common during the controversies over Christ's nature during the 6th and 7th centuries. . . But I digress. Basically, Tertullian definitely mentions the use of the cross both for signing purposes and indicates that Christians exercised some sort of veneration or respect for the cross at least during the later 2nd Century. On a curious point, the ass-headed crucifixion "worshiped" in the servants quarter on the Palatine may have links to Roman notions that Jew's worshiped an ass. . . a donkey, I mean. That sounded bad. That subject is also answered by Tertullian in his Apology in some interesting ways. So, that's what I can contribute. Those more erudite will likely provide greater insight (notice I did not include reference to the Herculaneum Cross). George the Less ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html