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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9071-0.txt b/9071-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a356b8 --- /dev/null +++ b/9071-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5145 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Non-Christian Cross, by John Denham Parsons + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Non-Christian Cross + An Enquiry Into the Origin and History of the Symbol Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion + +Author: John Denham Parsons + +Release Date: October, 2005 [eBook #9071] +[Most recently updated: November 28, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + + + + +THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS + +An Enquiry Into The Origin And History Of +The Symbol Eventually Adopted As +That Of Our Religion + +By John Denham Parsons + +London + +1896 + + +"O Crux, Splendidior Cunctis Astris, Mundo +Celebris, Hominibus Multum Amabilis, Sanctior +Universis." + [_Breviarium Romanum,_ + _Festival Of The Invention Of The Holy Cross._ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The history of the symbol of the cross has had an attraction for the +author ever since, as an enquiring youth, he found himself unable to +obtain satisfactory answers to four questions concerning the same which +presented themselves to his mind. + +The first of those questions was why John the Baptist, who was beheaded +before Jesus was executed, and so far as we are told never had anything +to do with a cross, is represented in our religious pictures as holding +a cross. + +The second question was whether this curious but perhaps in itself +easily explained practice had in its inception any connection with the +non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism; which Jesus accepted as a matter +of course at the hands of his cousin John, and in which the sign of the +cross has for ages been the all-important feature. And it was the +wonder whether there was or was not some association between the facts +that the New Testament writers give no explanation whatever of the +origin of baptism as an initiatory rite, that this non-Mosaic +initiatory rite was in use among Sun-God worshippers long before our +era, and that the Fathers admitted that the followers of the Persian +conception of the Sun-God marked their initiates upon the forehead like +the followers of the Christ, which finally induced the author to start +a systematic enquiry into the history of the cross as a symbol. + +The third question was why, despite the fact that the instrument of +execution to which Jesus was affixed can have had but one shape, almost +any kind of cross is accepted as a symbol of our faith. + +The last of the four questions was why many varieties of the cross of +four equal arms, which certainly was not a representation of an +instrument of execution, were accepted by Christians as symbols of the +Christ before any cross which could possibly have been a representation +of an instrument of execution was given a place among the symbols of +Christianity; while even nowadays one variety of the cross of four +equal arms is the favourite symbol of the Greek Church, and both it and +the other varieties enter into the ornamentation of our sacred +properties and dispute the supremacy with the cross which has one of +its arms longer than the other three. + +Pursuing these matters for himself, the author eventually found that +even before our era the cross was venerated by many as the symbol of +Life; though our works of reference seldom mention this fact, and never +do it justice. + +He moreover discovered that no one has ever written a complete history +of the symbol, showing the possibility that the _stauros_ or post to +which Jesus was affixed was not cross-shaped, and the certainty that, +in any case, what eventually became the symbol of our faith owed some +of its prestige as a Christian symbol of Victory and Life to the +position it occupied in pre-Christian days. + +The author has therefore, in the hope of drawing attention to the +subject, incorporated the results of his researches in the present +essay. + +14, ST. DUNSTAN'S HILL, + +LONDON, E.C. + + + + +C O N T E N T S + PAGE + CHAPTER I. + WAS THE _STAUROS_ OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED? 13 + CHAPTER II. + THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX 31 + CHAPTER III. + THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS3 41 + CHAPTER IV. + CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENAEUS 52 + CHAPTER V. + ORIGIN OF THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS 57 + CHAPTER VI. + ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS 65 + CHAPTER VII. + THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH 82 + CHAPTER VIII. + CROSS AND CRESCENT8 92 + CHAPTER IX. + THE CORONATION ORB9 104 + CHAPTER X. + ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE 119 + CHAPTER XI. + THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE 133 + CHAPTER XII. + ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE 142 + CHAPTER XIII. + THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST 147 + CHAPTER XIV. + THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS 163 + CHAPTER XV. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE 169 + CHAPTER XVI. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA 178 + CHAPTER XVII. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA 183 + CHAPTER XVIII. + EVIDENCE OF TROY 187 + CHAPTER XIX. + EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS 193 + CHAPTER XX. + MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE 204 + CHAPTER XI. + SUMMARY 214 + + + + +THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS. + + +CHAPTER I. +WAS THE _STAUROS_ OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED? + +In the thousand and one works supplied for our information upon matters +connected with the history of our race, we are told that Alexander the +Great, Titus, and various Greek, Roman, and Oriental rulers of ancient +days, "crucified" this or that person; or that they "crucified" so many +at once, or during their reign. And the instrument of execution is +called a "cross." + +The natural result is that we imagine that all the people said to have +been "crucified" were executed by being nailed or otherwise affixed to +a cross-shaped instrument set in the ground, like that to be seen in +our fanciful illustrations of the execution of Jesus. + +This was, however, by no means necessarily the case. + +For instance, the death spoken of, death by the _stauros_, included +transfixion by a pointed stauros or stake, as well as affixion to an +unpointed stauros or stake; and the latter punishment was not always +that referred to. + +It is also probable that in most of the many cases where we have no +clue as to which kind of stauros was used, the cause of the condemned +one's death was transfixion by a pointed stauros. + +Moreover, even if we could prove that this very common mode of capital +punishment was in no case that referred to by the historians who lived +in bygone ages, and that death was in each instance caused by affixion +to, instead of transfixion by, a stauros, we should still have to prove +that each stauros had a cross-bar before we could correctly describe +the death caused by it as death by crucifixion. + +It is also, upon the face of it, somewhat unlikely that the ancients +would in every instance in which they despatched a man by affixing him +to a post set in the ground, have gone out of their way to provide the +artistic but quite unnecessary cross-bar of our imaginations. + +As it is, in any case, well known that the Romans very often despatched +those condemned to death by affixing them to a stake or post which had +no cross-bar, the question arises as to what proof we have that a +cross-bar was used in the case of Jesus. + +Nor is the question an unimportant one. For, as we shall see in the +chapters to come, there was a pre-Christian cross, which was, like +ours, a symbol of Life. And it must be obvious to all that if the cross +was a symbol of Life before our era, it is possible that it was +originally fixed upon as a symbol of the Christ because it was a symbol +of Life; the assumption that it became a symbol of Life because it was +a symbol of the Christ, being in that case neither more nor less than a +very natural instance of putting the cart before the horse. + +Now the Greek word which in Latin versions of the New Testament is +translated as _crux_, and in English versions is rendered as _cross, +i.e._, the word _stauros_, seems to have, at the beginning of our era, +no more meant a cross than the English word stick means a crutch. + +It is true that a stick may be in the shape of a crutch, and that the +stauros to which Jesus was affixed may have been in the shape of a +cross. But just as the former is not necessarily a crutch, so the +latter was not necessarily a cross. + +What the ancients used to signify when they used the word _stauros_, +can easily be seen by referring to either the Iliad or the Odyssey.[1] + +It will there be found to clearly signify an ordinary pole or stake +without any cross-bar. And it is as thus signifying a single piece of +wood that the word in question is used throughout the old Greek +classics.[2] + +The stauros used as an instrument of execution was (1) a small pointed +pole or stake used for thrusting through the body, so as to pin the +latter to the earth, or otherwise render death inevitable; (2) a +similar pole or stake fixed in the ground point upwards, upon which the +condemned one was forced down till incapable of escaping; (3) a much +longer and stouter pole or stake fixed point upwards, upon which the +victim, with his hands tied behind him, was lodged in such a way that +the point should enter his breast and the weight of the body cause +every movement to hasten the end; and (4) a stout unpointed pole or +stake set upright in the earth, from which the victim was suspended by +a rope round his wrists, which were first tied behind him so that the +position might become an agonising one; or to which the doomed one was +bound, or, as in the case of Jesus, nailed. + +That this last named kind of stauros, which was admittedly that to +which Jesus was affixed, had in every case a cross-bar attached, is +untrue; that it had in most cases, is unlikely; that it had in the case +of Jesus, is unproven. + +Even as late as the Middle Ages, the word stauros seems to have +primarily signified a straight piece of wood without a cross-bar. For +the famous Greek lexicographer, Suidas, expressly states, "Stauroi; +ortha xula perpegota," and both Eustathius and Hesychius affirm that it +meant a _straight_ stake or pole. + +The side light thrown upon the question by Lucian is also worth noting. +This writer, referring to Jesus, alludes to "That sophist of theirs who +was fastened to a _skolops_;" which word signified a single piece of +wood, and not two pieces joined together. + +Only a passing notice need be given to the fact that in some of the +Epistles of the New Testament, which seem to have been written before +the Gospels, though, like the other Epistles, misleadingly placed after +the Gospels, Jesus is said to have been _hanged_ upon a _tree_.[3] For +in the first place the Greek word translated "hanged" did not +necessarily refer to hanging by the neck, and simply meant suspended in +some way or other. And in the second place the word translated "tree," +though that always used in referring to what is translated as the +"_Tree of Life_," signified not only "tree" but also "wood." + +It should be noted, however, that these five references of the Bible to +the execution of Jesus as having been carried out by his suspension +upon either a tree or a piece of timber set in the ground, in no wise +convey the impression that two pieces of wood nailed together in the +form of a cross is what is referred to. + +Moreover, there is not, even in the Greek text of the Gospels, a single +intimation in the Bible to the effect that the instrument actually used +in the case of Jesus was cross-shaped. + +Had there been any such intimation in the twenty-seven Greek works +referring to Jesus, which our Church selected out of a very large +number and called the "New Testament," the Greek letter _chi_, which +was cross-shaped, would in the ordinary course have been referred to; +and some such term as _Kata chiasmon_, "like a chi," made use of. + +It should also be borne in mind that though the Christians of the first +three centuries certainly made use of a transient sign of the cross in +the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism and at other times, it is, as +will be shown in the next two chapters, admitted that they did not use +or venerate it as a representation of the instrument of execution upon +which Jesus died. + +Moreover, if in reply to the foregoing it should be argued that as it +is well known that cross-shaped figures of wood, and other lasting +representations of the sign or figure of the cross, were not venerated +by Christians until after the fateful day when Constantine set out at +the head of the soldiers of Gaul in his famous march against Rome; and +that the Christian crosses of the remainder of the fourth century were +representations of the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died; a +dozen other objections present themselves if we are honest enough to +face the fact that we have to show that they were so from the first. +For the Gauls, and therefore the soldiers of Gaul, venerated as symbols +of the Sun-God and Giver of Life and Victory the cross of four equal +arms, {image "plus.gif"}, or {image "x.gif"}, and the solar wheel, +{image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}; while the +so-called cross which Constantine and his troops are said to have seen +above the midday sun was admittedly the monogram of Christ, {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"}, which was admittedly an +adaptation of the solar wheel, as will be shown further on; and it was +as tokens of the conquest of Rome by his Gaulish troops, that +Constantine, as their leader, erected one of these symbols in the +centre of the Eternal City, and afterwards placed upon his coins the +crosses {image "solarwheel1.gif"}, {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, {image +"monogram1.gif"}, {image "monogram2.gif"}, {image "asterisk.gif"}, +{image "monogram3.gif"}, {image "monogram4.gif"}, the cross of four +equal arms {image "x.gif"}, and several variations of that other cross +of four equal arms, the right-angled {image "plus.gif"}. And it was not +till long after these crosses were accepted as Christian, and +Constantine was dead and buried, that the cross with one of its arms +longer than the other three (or two), which alone could be a +representation of an instrument of execution, was made use of by +Christians. + +Another point to be remembered is that when Constantine, apparently +conceiving ours, as the only non-national religion with ramifications +throughout his world-wide dominions, to be the only one that could weld +together the many nations which acknowledged his sway, established +Christianity as the State Religion of the Roman Empire, the Church to +which we belong would naturally have had to accept as its own the +symbols which Constantine had caused to be those of the State in +question. And it should be added that the cross of later days with one +of its arms longer than the others, if not also the assumption that the +stauros to which Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar, may have been +merely the outcome of a wish to associate with the story of Jesus these +Gaulish symbols of victory which had become symbols of the Roman State, +and therefore of its State Church. + +Anyway, the first kind of cross venerated by Christians was not a +representation of an instrument of execution; and the fact that we hold +sacred many different kinds of crosses, although even if we could prove +that the stauros to which Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar but one +kind could be a representation of that instrument of execution, has to +be accounted for. + +Our only plausible explanation of the fact that we hold sacred almost +any species of cross is that, as we do not know what kind of cross +Jesus died upon, opinions have always differed as to which was the real +cross. + +This difference of opinion among Christians as to the shape of the +instrument upon which Jesus was executed, has certainly existed for +many centuries. But as an explanation of the many different kinds of +crosses accepted by us as symbols of the Christ, it only lands us in a +greater difficulty. For if we did not know what kind of cross Jesus +died upon when we accepted the cross as our symbol, the chances +obviously are that we accepted the cross as our symbol for some other +reason than that we assert. + +As a matter of fact our position regarding the whole matter is +illogical and unsatisfactory, and we ought to alter it by honestly +facing the facts that we cannot satisfactorily prove that our symbol +was adopted as a representation of the instrument of execution to which +Jesus was affixed, and that we do not even know for certain that the +instrument in question was cross-shaped. + +It need only be added that there is not a single sentence in any of the +numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original +Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used +in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to +the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two +pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. + +Taking the whole of the foregoing facts into consideration, it will be +seen that it is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers +to translate the word stauros as "cross" when rendering the Greek +documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that +action by putting "cross" in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros +without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary +meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its +primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at +all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it +was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon +which Jesus was executed had that particular shape. + +But--the reader may object--how about the Greek word which in our +Bibles is translated as "crucify" or "crucified?" Does not that mean +"fix to a cross" or "fixed to a cross?" And what is this but the +strongest possible corroboration of our assertion as Christians that +Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped instrument? + +The answer is that no less than four different Greek words are +translated in our Bibles as meaning "crucify" or "crucified," and that +not one of the four meant "crucify" or "crucified." + +The four words in question are the words _prospegnumi, anastauroo, +sustauroo_, and _stauroo_. + +The word prospegnumi, though translated in our Bibles as "crucify" or +"crucified," meant to "fix" to or upon, and meant that only. It had no +special reference to the affixing of condemned persons either to a +stake, pale, or post, or to a tree, or to a cross; and had no more +reference to a cross than the English word "fix" has. + +The word _anastauroo_ was never used by the old Greek writers as +meaning other than to impale upon or with a single piece of timber.[4] + +The word _sustauroo_ does not occur in pre-Christian writings, and only +five times in the Bible against the forty-four times of the word next +to be dealt with. Being obviously derived in part from the word +stauros, which primarily signified a stake or pale which was a single +piece of wood and had no cross-bar, _sustauroo_ evidently meant +affixion to such a stake or pale. Anyhow there is nothing whatever +either in the derivation of the word, or in the context in either of +the five instances in which it occurs, to show that what is referred to +is affixion to something that was cross-shaped. + +The word _stauroo_ occurs, as has been said, forty-four times; and of +the four words in question by far the most frequently. The meaning of +this word is therefore of special importance. It is consequently most +significant to find, as we do upon due investigation, that wherever it +occurs in the pre-Christian classics it is used as meaning to +impalisade, or stake, or affix to a pale or stake; and has reference, +not to crosses, but to single pieces of wood.[5] + +It therefore seems tolerably clear (1) that the sacred writings forming +the New Testament, to the statements of which--as translated for us--we +bow down in reverence, do not tell us that Jesus was affixed to a +cross-shaped instrument of execution; (2) that the balance of evidence +is against the truth of our statements to the effect that the +instrument in question was cross-shaped, and our sacred symbol +originally a representation of the same; and (3) that we Christians +have in bygone days acted, and, alas! still act, anything but +ingenuously in regard to the symbol of the cross. + +This is not all, however. For if the unfortunate fact that we have in +our zeal almost manufactured evidence in favour of the theory that +_our_ cross or crosses had its or their origin in the shape of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed proves anything at +all, it proves the need for a work which, like the present one, sets in +array the evidence available regarding both the pre-Christian cross and +the adoption in later times of a similar symbol as that of the catholic +faith. + +Nor should it be forgotten that the triumph of Christianity was due to +the fact that it _was_ a "catholic" faith, and not, like the other +faiths followed by the subjects of Rome, and like what Jesus seems to +have intended the results of His mission to have been inasmuch as He +solemnly declared that he was sent to the lost sheep of the House of +Israel and to them alone, the monopoly of a single nation or race. + +For if Paul, taking his and other visions of Jesus as the long-needed +proofs of a future life, had not disregarded the very plain intimations +of Jesus to the effect that His mission was to the descendants of Jacob +or Israel, and to them alone; if Paul had not withstood Christ's +representative, Peter, to the face, and, with unsurpassed zeal, carried +out his grand project of proclaiming a non-national and universal +religion founded upon appearances of the spirit-form of Jesus, what we +call Christianity would not have come into existence. + +The fact that but for Paul there would have been no catholic faith with +followers in every land ruled by Constantine when sole emperor, for +that astute monarch to establish as the State Religion of his loosely +knit empire, because, on account of its catholicity, that best fitted +to hold power as the official faith of a government with world-wide +dominions, is worthy of a lasting place in our memory. + +Nor is the noteworthy fact last mentioned unconnected with the symbol +of the cross. For, as will be shown, it is clear that it was because +Constantine caused the figure of the cross to become a recognized +symbol of his catholic empire, that it became recognized as a symbol of +the catholic faith. + +Not till after Constantine and his Gaulish warriors planted what +Eusebius the Bishop of Caesarea and other Christians of the century in +question describe as a cross, within the walls of the Eternal City as +the symbol of their victory, did Christians ever set on high a +cross-shaped trophy of any description. + +Moreover, but for the fact that, as it happened, the triumph of +Constantine resulted in that of the Christian Church, we should +probably have deemed the cross, if to our minds a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed, as anything but the +symbol of Victory we now deem it. + +This is evident from the fact that the so-called cross of Jesus +admittedly fulfilled the purpose for which it was erected at the +request of those who sought the death of Jesus. And even according to +our Gospels the darkness of defeat o'ershadowed the scene at Calvary. + +To put the matter plainly, the victory of Jesus was not a victory over +the cross; for He did not come down from the cross. Nor was it a +victory over His enemies; for what they sought was to get rid of a man +whom they deemed an agitator, and their wish was gratified, inasmuch +as, thanks to the cross, He troubled them no more. + +In other words the victory which we ascribe to Jesus did not occur +during the gloom which hung like a pall over his native land at the +time of His execution, but upon the then approaching Sun-day of the +Vernal Equinox, at the coming of the glory of the dawn. + +For the victory in question, from whatever point of view we may look at +it, was not the avoidance of defeat, but its retrieval. And its story +is an illustration of the old-world promise, hoary with antiquity and +founded upon the coming, ushered in every year by the Pass-over or +cross-over of the equator by the sun at the Vernal Equinox, of the +bounteous harvests of summer after the dearth of devastating winter; +bidding us ever hope, not indeed for the avoidance of death and +therefore of defeat, but for such victory as may happen to lay in +survival or resurrection. + +It is therefore clear that even if we _could_ prove that the instrument +of execution to which Jesus was affixed was cross-shaped, it would not +necessarily follow that it was as the representation of the cause of +His death which we now deem it, that the figure of the cross became our +symbol of Life and Victory. + +In any case honesty demands that we should no longer translate as +"cross" a word which at the time our Gospels were written did not +necessarily signify something cross-shaped. And it is equally incumbent +upon us, from a moral point of view, that we should cease to render as +"crucify" or "crucified" words which never bore any such meaning. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX. + +The Fathers who wrote in Latin, used the word _crux_ as a translation +of the Greek word _stauros_. It is therefore noteworthy that even this +Latin word "crux," from which we derive our words "cross" and +"crucify," did not in ancient days necessarily mean something +cross-shaped, and seems to have had quite another signification as its +original meaning. + +A reference, for instance, to the writings of Livy, will show that in +his time the word crux, whatever else it may have meant, signified a +single piece of wood or timber; he using it in that sense.[6] + +This however is a curious rather than an important point, for even the +assumption that the word _crux_ always and invariably meant something +cross-shaped, would not affect the demonstration already made that the +word _stauros_ did not. + +As our Scriptures were written in Greek and were written in the first +century A.C., the vital question is what the word stauros then meant, +when used, as in the New Testament, without any qualifying expression +or hint that other than an ordinary stauros was signified. What the +Fathers chose to consider the meaning of that word to be, or chose to +give as its Latin translation, would, even if they had written the same +century, in no wise affect that issue. And, as a matter of fact, even +the earliest of the Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to +us, did not write till the middle of the second century. + +Granting, however, as all must, that most if not all of the earlier of +the Fathers, and certainly all the later ones, rightly or wrongly +interpreted the word stauros as meaning something cross-shaped, let us, +remembering that this does not dispose of the question whether they +rightly or wrongly so interpreted it, in this and the next two chapters +pass in review the references to the cross made by the Fathers who +lived before Constantine's march upon Rome at the head of his Gaulish +army. + +Commencing, on account of its importance, with the evidence of Minucius +Felix, we find that this Father wrote + + "We assuredly see the sign of a cross naturally, in the + ship when it is carried along with swelling sails, when + it glides forward with expanded oars; and when the + military yoke is lifted up it is the sign of a cross; + and when a man adores God with a pure mind, with arms + outstretched. Thus the sign of the cross either is + sustained by a natural reason or your own religion is + formed with respect to it."[7] + + +Various other pronouncements to a similar effect are to be found in the +writings of other Christian Fathers, and such passages are often quoted +as conclusive evidence of the Christian origin of what is now our +symbol. In reality, however, it is somewhat doubtful if we can fairly +claim them as such; for the question arises whether, if the writers in +their hearts believed their cross to be a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed, they would have +omitted, as they did in every instance, to mention that as the right +and proper and all-sufficient reason for venerating the figure of the +cross. + +Moreover it is quite clear that while, as will be shown hereafter, the +symbol of the cross had for ages been a Pagan symbol of Life, it can, +as already stated, scarcely be said to have become a Christian _symbol_ +before the days of Constantine. No cross-shaped symbol of wood or of +any other material had any part in the Christianity of the second and +third centuries; and the only cross which had any part in the +Christianity of those days was the immaterial one traced upon the +forehead in the non-Mosaic and originally Pagan initiatory rite of +Baptism, and at other times also according to some of the Fathers, +apparently as a charm against the machinations of evil spirits. + +This "sign" or "signal" rather than "symbol" of the cross, referred to +as theirs by the Christian writers of the second and third centuries, +is said to have had a place before our era in the rites of those who +worshipped Mithras, if not also of those who worshipped certain other +conceptions of the Sun-God; and it should be noted that the Fathers +insist upon it that a similar mark is what the prophet Ezekiel referred +to as that to be placed upon the foreheads of certain men as a sign of +life and salvation; the original Hebrew reading "Set a _tau_ upon the +foreheads of the men" (_Ezek_. ix. 4), and the tau having been in the +days of the prophet in question--as we know from relics of the +past--the figure of a cross. Nor should it be forgotten that Tertullian +admits that those admitted into the rites of the Sun-God Mithras were +so marked, trying to explain this away by stating that this was done in +imitation of the then despised Christians![8] + +That it was this immaterial sign or signal, rather than any material +symbol of the cross, which Minucius Felix considered Christian, is +demonstrated by the fact that the passage already quoted is accompanied +by the remark that + + + "Crosses, moreover, we Christians neither venerate nor + wish for. You indeed who consecrate gods of wood + venerate wooden crosses, perhaps as parts of your gods. + For your very standards, as well as your banners, and + flags of your camps, what are they but crosses gilded + and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate + the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man + affixed to it."[9] + +This remarkable denunciation of the Cross as a Pagan symbol by a +Christian Father who lived as late as the third century after Christ, +is worthy of special attention; and can scarcely be said to bear out +the orthodox account of the origin of the cross as a Christian symbol. +It is at any rate clear that the cross was not our recognised symbol at +that date; and that it is more likely to have been gradually adopted by +us from Sun-God worshippers, than by the worshippers of Mithras and +other pre-Christian conceptions of the Sun-God from us. + +As our era was six or seven centuries old before the crucifix was +introduced, and the earliest pictorial representation of the execution +of Jesus still existing or referred to in any work as having existed +was of even later date, much stress has been laid by us upon what we +allege to be a caricature of the crucifixion of Jesus and of much +earlier date. The drawing in question was discovered in 1856 to be +scrawled upon a wall of the Gelotian House under the Palatine at Rome; +and as no Christian representations of the alleged execution upon a +cross-shaped instrument of even a reasonably early date exist, it would +of course be greatly to our interest to be able to quote this alleged +caricature, which is said to be as old as the third and perhaps even as +old as the second century, as independent evidence of the truth of our +story. But can we fairly do so? + +The drawing in question is a very roughly executed representation of a +figure with human arms, legs, and feet; but with an animal's head. The +arms are extended, and two lines, which are said to represent a cross +but appear in front of the figure instead of behind it, traverse the +arms and trunk. In the foreground is a man looking at this grotesque +figure; and an accompanying inscription is to the effect that +"Alexamenos adores his God." + +Tertullian relates that a certain Jew "carried about in public a +caricature of us with this label, _An ass of a priest_. This figure had +an ass's ears, and was dressed in a toga with a book; having a hoof on +one of his feet."[10] + +It is upon the strength of this passage and the two lines traversing +the figure, that we, ignoring the fact that the figure is standing, +claim this much-quoted _graffito_ as conclusive evidence of the +historical accuracy of our story. But it may be pointed out that even +if this was a caricature of the execution of Jesus made at the date +mentioned, a caricature, made certainly not less than two hundred years +after the event, is not altogether trustworthy evidence as to the +details. + +And, was it a caricature of the execution of Jesus? It would appear +not. + +To commence with, the two lines or scratches--for they are little +more--which we call a cross, need not necessarily have formed a part of +the original _graffito_; and, even if they did, of themselves prove +nothing. There is no reference to a cross in the inscription, nor is +there anything to show that an execution of any kind is what is +illustrated. Moreover, the hoof upon one foot, mentioned by Tertullian, +is not to be seen; a remark which also applies to the toga and the book +he mentions. And even what Tertullian referred to was not a caricature +of the execution of Jesus. + +It should also be noted that the head of the figure in this famous +graffito, is more like that of a jackal than that of an ass; and +appears to have been a representation of the Egyptian god Anubis, who +is so often to be seen upon relics of the past as a figure with a +jackal's head, with human arms extended, and with human legs and feet, +as in this drawing. + +Upon all points, therefore, our claim concerning the graffito is an +ill-founded one; and it cannot be considered evidence regarding either +cross or crucifixion. + +There thus being no opposing evidence of any weight, it is quite clear +from the fact that as late as the third century after Christ we find a +Christian Father who venerated the sign or figure of the cross +denouncing it as a symbol, that no material representations of that +sign or figure were recognised as Christian till an even later date. +And such a conclusion is borne out by the striking fact that when +Clement of Alexandria at the beginning of the third century made out a +list of the symbols which Christians were permitted to use, he +mentioned the Fish and the Dove but said nothing regarding the +Cross.[11] + +As to the sign or figure of the cross referred to by the Fathers of the +second and third centuries, even so high an authority as the Dean of +Canterbury admits, as we shall see in the next chapter, that it was not +"mainly" as reminding them of the death of Jesus that the Christians of +the second and third centuries venerated it. If, therefore, not in the +main, and, it would follow, not originally as a representation of the +instrument of execution upon which Jesus died, what more likely than +that the early Christians venerated the sign and figure of the cross as +the age-old and widely accepted symbol of Life and of the Sun-God we +know it to have been? + +Anyway Minucius Felix may be said to stand alone in denouncing the +symbol of the cross as non-Christian. And as even he expresses +veneration for the figure of the cross, and must have approved of the +sign of the cross in the initiatory rite of baptism, that denunciation +evidently applied only to material representations of the cross. + +Moreover the denunciation in question was clearly due to the fear that +such objects might degenerate amongst Christians, as they afterwards +did, into little better than idols. And if the sign or figure of the +cross did not mainly remind the early Christians of the death of Jesus, +it must have mainly reminded them of something else. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS. + +The works which have come down to us from the Fathers who lived before +the days of Constantine make up over ten thousand pages of closely +printed matter; and the first point which strikes those who examine +that mass of literature with a view to seeing what the Christians of +the first three centuries thought and wrote concerning the execution of +Jesus and the symbol of the cross, is that the execution of Jesus was +hardly so much as mentioned by them, and no such thing as a +representation of the instrument of execution once referred to. + +Another fact worthy of special note is that, whether the Fathers wrote +in Greek and used the word _stauros_, or wrote in Latin and translated +that word as _crux_, they often seem to have had in their mind's eye a +tree; a tree which moreover was closely connected in meaning with the +forbidden tree of the Garden of Eden, an allegorical figure of +undoubtedly phallic signification which had its counterpart in the Tree +of the Hesperides, from which the Sun-God Hercules after killing the +Serpent was fabled to have picked the Golden Apples of Love, one of +which became the symbol of Venus, the Goddess of Love. Nor was this the +only such counterpart, for almost every race seems in days of old to +have had an allegorical Tree of Knowledge or Life whose fruit was Love; +the ancients perceiving that it was love which produced life, and that +but for the sexual passion and its indulgence mankind would cease to +be. + +Starting upon an examination of the early Christian writings in +question, we read in the _Gospel of Nicodemus_ that when the Chief +Priests interviewed certain men whom Jesus had raised from the dead, +those men made upon their faces "the sign of the stauros."[12] The sign +of the cross is presumably meant; and all that need be said is that if +the men whom Jesus raised from the dead were acquainted with the sign +of the cross, it would appear that it must have been as a pre-Christian +sign. + +Further on in the same Gospel, Satan is represented as being told that +"All that thou hast gained through the Tree of Knowledge, all hast thou +lost through the Tree of the Stauros."[13] + +Elsewhere we read that "The King of Glory stretched out his right hand, +and took hold of our forefather Adam, and raised him: then, turning +also to the rest, he said, 'Come with me as many as have died through +the Tree which he touched, for behold I again raise you all up through +the Tree of the Stauros.'"[14] Some see in this peculiar pronouncement a +reference to the doctrine of re-incarnation. + +In the _Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Andrew_ we are told that +those who executed Andrew "lifted him up on the stauros," but "did not +sever his joints, having received this order from the pro-consul, for +he wished him to be in distress while hanging, and in the nighttime as +he was suspended to be eaten by dogs." There is nothing to show that +the stauros used was other than an ordinary stauros. + +In the _Epistle of Barnabas_ are various references to the stauros; +mixed up with various passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, +quoted--without any justification--as referring to the initiatory rite +of baptism; a rite, be it noted, that was admittedly of Gentile rather +than Israelitish origin, and not unconnected with the Sun-God worship +of the Persians and other Orientals of non-Hebrew race. + +The references in question commence with the enquiry, "Let us further +ask whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the Water and the +Stauros?" + +Afterwards we have a quotation of _Psalm_ i. 3-6--which likens the good +man to a tree planted by the side of a river and yielding his fruit in +due season--and the pronouncement, "Mark how he has described at once +both the Water and the Stauros. For these words imply, Blessed are they +who, placing their trust in the Stauros, have gone down into the +Water." + +This further reference to the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism is +followed by a quotation of _Ezekiel_ xlvii. 12, which speaks of a river +by whose side grow trees those who cat the fruit of which grow for +ever. + +Further on is a declaration that when Moses stretched out his hands (in +a direction not specified) that victory might rest with the forces he +commanded, he stretched them out in the figure of a stauros, as a +prophecy that Jesus "would be the author of life." + +A reference is then made to the Brazen Serpent, and to the pole upon +which it was placed; and it is stated that this lifeless imitation of a +serpent was a type of Jesus. + +In the _Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians_ we read that the stauros +of the Christ is indeed a stumbling block to those who do not believe. +The evidence of Irenaeus, as that of one who was through his +acquaintance with the aged Polycarp almost in touch as it were with the +apostles, will on account of his importance as a witness be specially +dealt with in the next chapter. + +Justin Martyr, arguing that the figure of the cross is impressed upon +the whole of nature, asks men to + + + "Consider all things in the world, whether without this + form they could be administered or have any certainty. + For the sea is not traversed except that trophy which is + called a sail abide safe in the ship; and the earth is + not ploughed without it: diggers and mechanics do not + their work except with tools which have this shape. And + the human form differs from that of the irrational + animals in nothing else than in its being erect and + having the hands extended and having on the face + extending from the forehead what is called the nose, + through which there is respiration for the living + creature; and this shows no other form than that of the + cross. And so it was said by the prophet _The breath + before our face is the Lord Christ_. And the power of + this form is shown by your own symbols on what are + called standards and trophies; with which all your + processions are made, using these as insignia of your + power and government."[15] + +Elsewhere Justin Martyr declares that the Christ + + "Was symbolised both by the Tree of Life which was said + to have been planted in Paradise, and by those events + which should happen to all the just. Moses was sent with + a _rod_ to effect the redemption of the people; and with + this in his hands at the head of the people he divided + the sea. By this he saw the water gushing out of the + rock; and when he cast a _tree_ into the waters of + Marah, which were bitter, he made them sweet. Jacob by + putting _rods_ into the water troughs caused the sheep + of his uncle to conceive . . . . Aaron's _rod_ which + blossomed declared him to be the High Priest. Isaiah + prophesied that a rod would come forth from the root of + Jesse, and this was the Christ."[16] + +Further on in the same work, Justin Martyr, alluding to the statement +in the Israelitish Law "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," +states that + + + "It was not without design that the prophet Moses + when Hur and Aaron upheld his hands, remained in this + form until evening. For indeed the Lord remained upon + the tree almost until evening."[17] + +Tertullian writes concerning the Christ "With the last enemy Death did +he fight, and through the trophy of the cross he triumphed"[18]; and +elsewhere tells us that "Cursed is every one who hangeth on a tree" was +a prediction of his death.[19] + +There is also in existence a long essay by Tertullian which starts by +discussing the efficacy of "the sign" as an antidote. The sign of the +cross as traced upon the forehead in the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of +baptism seems to be what is referred to; and no representation of an +instrument of execution, or cross-shaped symbol of wood or any +material, is once mentioned.[20] + +In another of Tertullian's works we come across the passage "In all the +actions of daily life we trace upon the forehead the sign."[21] + +His famous reference to the Sun-God Mithras reads as follows:-- + + + "The devil in the mystic rites of his idols competes + even with the essential portions of the sacraments of + God. He, like God, baptizes some, that is, his own + believing and faithful followers, and promises the putting + away of sins by baptism; and if I remember rightly + Mithras there signs his soldiers upon their foreheads, + celebrates the oblation of bread, introduces a representation + of the resurrection, and places the crown beyond + the sword."[22] + +Elsewhere Tertullian writes:-- + + "If any of you think we render superstitious adoration + to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us . . + You worship _victories_, for in your trophies the cross + is the heart of the trophy. The camp religion of the + Romans is all through a worship of the standards . . . I + praise your zeal: you would not worship crosses + unclothed and unadorned."[23] + +In another of Tertullian's works we read:-- + + + "As for him who affirms that we are the priesthood of a + cross, we shall claim him as a co-religionist . . . + Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in an + erect position is part of a cross, and indeed the + greater part of its mass. But an entire cross is + attributed to us . . . . The truth however is that + _your_ religion is _all_ cross . . . You are ashamed, I + suppose, to worship unadorned and simple crosses."[24] + +In the _Instructions of Commodianus_ we read "The first law was in the +tree, and so, too, was the second."[25] + +Cyprian contends that "By the sign of the cross, also, Amalek was +conquered by Moses."[26] + +Elsewhere Cyprian tells us that "In this sign of the cross is salvation +for all people who are marked on their foreheads"; quoting as proof of +this, from the Apocalypse, "They had his name and the name of his +Father written on their foreheads," and "Blessed are they that do his +commandments that they may have power over the Tree of Life."[27] + +Methodius tells us that "He overcame, as has been said, the powers that +enslaved us by the figure of the cross; and shadowed forth man, who had +been oppressed by corruption as by a tyrant power, to be free with +unfettered hands. For the cross, if you wish to define it, is the +confirmation of victory."[28] + +Passing on to Origen, we find in one of his works the noteworthy +passage:-- + + "It is possible to avoid it if we do what the Apostle + saith 'Mortify your members which are upon earth,' and + if we always carry about in our bodies the death of + Christ. For it is certain that where the death of Christ + is carried about, sin cannot reign. For the power of the + _stauros_ of Christ is so great that if it be set before + a man's eyes and kept faithfully in his mind so that he + look with steadfast eyes of the mind upon that same + death of Christ, no concupiscence, no sensuality, no + natural passion, and no envious desire, is able to + overcome him."[29] + +Whether however this reference to the "_stauros_ of Christ" is or is +not a reference to the figure of the cross, is doubtful. + +Such is the evidence regarding the cross, whether considered as +immaterial sign or material symbol, obtainable from the writings of the +Christians who lived between the days of the Apostles and those of +Constantine; other of course than the _Octavius_ of Minucius Felix, +which was dealt with in the last chapter, and the writings of Irenaeus, +which will be dealt with in the next. + +Among the noteworthy features of the evidence in question prominently +stands out the smallness of its volume. + +This is but a negative point, however; and what should be carefully +borne in mind is that the evidence as a whole leads to the conclusion +that the Christians of the second and third centuries made use of the +sign and venerated the figure of the cross without, as Dean Farrar +admits, it "only or even mainly," reminding them of the death of Jesus; +and therefore otherwise than as a representation of the instrument of +execution upon which Jesus died.[30] + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENAEUS. + +The special importance of the evidence of Irenaeus, is due to the fact +that of all the Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to us he +is the only one who can be considered to have been anything like in +touch with the Apostles. As an acquaintance of the aged Polycarp, who +is said to have been in his youth a pupil of the aged Evangelist and +Apostle St. John and to have met yet other Apostles, Irenaeus had +opportunities for ascertaining facts concerning the life and death of +Jesus which the other Fathers upon whose works we rely did not possess. + +What, then, does this important witness have to say, which bears upon +the points at issue? As a matter of fact, very little. + +There are, however, two passages in the works of Irenaeus which it +would not be right to altogether ignore. + +In the first of these passages Irenaeus mentions that some Christians +believed that Simon of Cyrene was executed instead of Jesus, owing to +the power of Jesus to metamorphose himself and others having been +exercised with that object in view.[31] This power is referred to more +than once in our Gospels, for instance in the account of the so-called +"Transfiguration" upon the Mount; the Greek word rendered in our Bibles +as "transfigured" being the word which in translations of the older +Greek classics is rendered "metamorphosed." + +Even if we pass by this belief of certain of the early Christians that +Jesus was never executed, a question here arises which should at least +be stated, and that is the question how, if Jesus was metamorphosed +upon the Mount, as the Gospels tell us, he can be said to have died as +a man at Calvary? For if upon the Mount of Transfiguration, or at any +other time previous to the scene at Calvary, Jesus was metamorphosed, +the form which was the result of the process of re-metamorphosis +necessary to make him recognisable again cannot be said to have been +born of the Virgin Mary, and can have been human only in appearance. + +The other passage in the writings of Irenaeus which deserves our +notice, is neither more nor less than an emphatic declaration, by +Irenaeus himself, that Jesus was not executed when a little over thirty +years of age, but lived to be an old man. Explain it away how we will, +the fact remains; and it certainly ought not to be ignored. + +At first sight this statement of Irenaeus would decidedly seem to +support the theory advanced by some, that, as the Roman Procurator +Pontius Pilate admittedly did not want to carry out the extreme penalty +in the case of Jesus, though he reluctantly consented to do so in order +to pacify the Jews and allowed Jesus to be fixed to a stauros and +suspended in public view, he took care to manage things so that Jesus +should only appear to die. The idea of course is that if Pilate wished +to preserve the life of Jesus he could easily have had him taken down +while in a drugged condition, have had the farce of burial carried out +at the earliest possible moment, and then have had him resuscitated and +removed to some region where he could dwell in safety. + +What Irenaeus says concerning Jesus is that + + + "He passed through every age, becoming an infant for + infants. . . . So likewise he was an old man for old + men, that he might be a perfect Master for all, not + merely as regards the setting forth of the truth but + also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time the + aged also and becoming an example to them likewise. + Then, at last, he came on to death itself. . . . From + the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline + towards old age, which our Lord possessed while he still + fulfilled the office of a Teacher; even as the Gospel + and all the elders testify, those who were conversant in + Asia with John the disciple of the Lord affirming that + John conveyed to them that information. And he remained + among them up to the times of Trajan. Some of them + moreover saw not only John but the other apostles also, + and heard the very same account from them, and bear + testimony as to the statement. Whom, then, should we + rather believe? Whether such men as these, or + Ptolemaeus, who never saw the apostles and who never + even in his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an + apostle?"[32] + +The reader must decide for himself or herself whether Irenaeus believed +that Jesus was never executed; or that he was executed but survived; or +that he was born when we suppose, but executed thirty years or so later +than we suppose; or that, though executed when we suppose, he was then +an old man, and was born, not at the commencement or middle or end of +the year A.C. 1, or B.C. 4, or whenever the orthodox date is, but +thirty years or more before what we call our era began. Anyhow he +mentions neither cross nor execution, and here seems to assume that +Jesus died a natural death. And in any case the fact remains that, +however mistaken he may have been, Irenaeus stated that Jesus lived to +be an old man; and stated so emphatically. + +Even granting that Irenaeus must have been mistaken, his evidence none +the less affects one of the most important points debated in this work. +For it is clear that if even he knew so little about the execution of +Jesus, the details of that execution cannot have been particularly well +known; and the affirmation that the stauros to which Jesus was affixed +had a transverse bar attached may have had no foundation in fact, and +may have arisen from a wish to connect Jesus with that well-known and +widely-venerated Symbol of Life, the pre-Christian cross. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ORIGIN OF THIS PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS. + +Having in the foregoing chapters demonstrated that it is possible, if +not indeed probable, that the instrument of execution to which Jesus +was affixed was otherwise than cross-shaped; and having also shown that +it was not mainly, if indeed even partially, that the early Christians +signified that instrument by the sign of the cross; it is now desirable +that, as a preliminary to an enquiry into the circumstances under which +the cross became the symbol of Christianity, we should enquire into the +origin of the _pre_-Christian cross. + +That there was a pre-Christian cross, and that it was, like ours, a +Symbol of Life, is generally admitted. + +The authorities upon such subjects, however, unfortunately differ as to +the reason why the Cross came to be selected by the ancients as the +Symbol of Life. And not one of their suggestions seems to go to the +root of the matter. + +Let us therefore in thought go back tens of thousands of years, and +conceive the genus Homo as a race gradually awakening to reason but as +yet unfettered by inherited traditions and creeds. Let us imagine Man +ere he began to make gods in his own image. Let us remember that what +would strike him as the greatest of all marvels would of necessity be +Life itself, and that far and away the next greatest marvel must have +been the glorious Sun; the obvious source of earth life, and Lord of +the Hosts of Heaven. + +Let us bear in mind, too, that though the Nature Worship of our remote +ancestors had other striking features, the facts mentioned would lead +to the predominance of the phallic idea, and to its association with +Sun-God worship. And as Life, the greatest marvel of all, must have had +a symbol allotted to it at a very early date, let us ask ourselves what +the untutored mind of Man would be most likely to select as its symbol. + +To this question there is, so far as the author can see, but one +reasonable answer:--the figure of the cross. + +And the author conceives this to be the real solution of the difficulty +for this reason:--because the figure of the cross is the simplest +possible representation of that union of two bodies or two sexes or two +powers or two principles, which alone produces life. + +For the ancients cannot fail to have perceived that all life more +immediately proceeds from the _union_ of _two_ principles; and the +first, readiest, simplest, and most natural symbol of Life, was +consequently one straight line superimposed upon another at such an +angle that both could be seen; in other words, a cross of some +description or other. + +It is evidently probable that this was the real reason why the figure +of the cross originally came to be adopted as the Symbol of Life. But, +of course, whatever the original reason, as time rolled on other +reasons for the veneration of the cross were pointed out; nothing being +more natural than that primitive Man should, or more certain than that +he did, find pleasure in connecting with other objects of his regard +than Life itself, that which as the Symbol of Life was pre-eminently a +symbol of good omen. + +The most notable instance of this is the way in which, or rather the +different ways in which, the figure of the cross was connected with the +Sun-God. + +A good example of the last named fact, is the declaration of the +philosophers of ancient Greece that the figure of the cross was the +figure of the "Second God" or "Universal Soul," the _Ratio_ as well as +the _Oratio_ of the All-Father, which they called the _Logos_ of God; a +term badly translated in our versions of the Gospel of St. John as the +_Word_ of God, as if it signified the _Oratio_ only. + +It was this Logos or "Second God" whom Philo, who was born before the +commencement of our era, described as the "Intellectual Sun," and even +as God's "First Begotten" and "Beloved" offspring, and the "Light of +the World"; terms afterwards made use of by the writers of our Gospels +in describing the Christ. And, as will be shown in a chapter upon the +subject, the reason the philosophers, among whom was Plato, gave for +declaring the cross to be the figure of the Logos, was that the Sun +creates this figure by crossing the Equator. + +An even better illustration can be seen in the fact that in days of old +almost every civilised race held feasts at the time of the Vernal +Equinox, in honour of the Passover or _Cross_-over of the Sun. + +The fact that the ancients were thus at special pains to connect the +symbol of Life with the Sun-God, and also, as we know, spoke of him as +the "Giver of Life" and the only "Saviour," was doubtless due to their +perceiving, not only that life is the result of the union of the two +principles distinguished by the titles male and female, but also that +the salvation of life is due to the action of the sun in preserving the +body from cold and in producing and ripening for its use the fruits of +the earth. + +As the Giver of Life, the Sun-God was of course considered to be +bi-sexual. But when the two great lights of heaven, the Sun and the +Moon, were associated with each other, as was often and naturally the +ease, the Sun was considered to be more especially a personification of +the Male Principle, and the waxing and waning moon, as represented by +the Crescent, a personification of the Female Principle. Hence the +worship of the God associated with the radiate sun, as of that of the +Goddess associated with the crescent moon and called the Sun-God's +mother or bride, was phallic in character; and their connection is +repeatedly symbolised upon the relics which have come down to us from +antiquity by the sign of the crescent containing within its horns +either a disc or what we should consider a star-like object, which +latter was almost as favourite a mode with the ancients of representing +the sun as it is with us of representing a star or planet, as will be +shown further on. + +Returning, however, to the symbol of the cross, as the first and +simplest representation of that union of the Male and Female Principles +which alone produces what we mortals call life, it is extremely curious +that the selection of the figure of the cross in comparatively modern +times as the simplest and most natural symbol both of addition and of +multiplication, should have led no one to perceive that, being for +these very reasons also the simplest and most natural symbol of Life, a +probable solution of the mystery surrounding the origin of the +pre-Christian cross as a symbol of Life, as it were stared them in the +face. As to the contention of not a few authorities, apparently founded +upon the mistaken assumption that the _Svastika_ was the earliest form +of cross to acquire importance as a symbol, that the pre-Christian +cross was originally a representation of the wheel-like motion of the +sun or a reference to the wheel of the Sun-God's chariot; it need only +be remarked that evidence exists to show that the cross was a symbol of +Life from a period so early, that it is doubtful if the Sun-God had +then been likened to a charioteer, and not certain that either chariots +or wheels had been invented. It is true that the Solar Wheel became a +recognized symbol of the Sun-God, and that additional veneration was +paid to it because the figure of the symbol of Life was more or less +discoverable in the spokes allotted to the Solar Wheel; but it is +putting the cart before the horse to suppose that the cross became the +symbol of Life because its form was so discoverable. + +It only remains to be added that there undoubtedly was a connection, +however slight, between the pre-Christian Cross as the Symbol of Life, +the Solar Wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God, and the Cross as the symbol +of the Christ. And whatever the date at which the cross was first +adopted as a Christian symbol, or whatever the reason for that +adoption, there is no doubt that, as will be shown further on, our +religion was considerably influenced by the facts that the Gaulish +soldiers whose victories enabled Constantine to become Sole Emperor +venerated the Solar Wheel, {image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image +"solarwheel2.gif"}, and that their leader, who was anxious to obtain +the support of the Christians, allowed a loop to be added to the top of +the vertical spoke so that the Christians might be able to interpret +the victorious symbol as {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram2.gif"}, {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}; +_i.e._, XP or XPI, the first two or three letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma}, _Christos_, Christ. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS. + +As has already been to some extent pointed out, it is evident that our +beloved Christendom more or less owes its existence to the fact that +Constantine the Great when only ruler of Gaul, himself a Sun-God +worshipper at the head of an army of Sun-God worshippers, seeing how +greatly the small but enthusiastic bodies of Christians everywhere to +be met with could aid him in his designs upon the attainment of supreme +power, bid for their support. For to this politic move, its success, +and Constantine's perception that only a non-national religion whose +followers sought to convert the whole world and make their faith a +catholic one, could really weld together different races of men, we owe +the fact that when he became Sole Emperor he made Christianity the +State Religion of the world-wide Roman Empire. + +This act and its far-reaching effects, are not all we owe to +Constantine, however. It should be remembered that even our creed was +to some extent decided by him. For it was this Sun-God worshipper--who, +though he advised others to enter what he wished should become a +catholic and all-embracing religion, refused to do so himself till he +was dying--who called together our bishops, and, presiding over them in +council at Nicaea, demanded that they should determine the controversy +in the ranks of the Christians as to whether the Christ was or was not +God, by subscribing to a declaration of his Deity. It is even recorded +that he forced the unwilling ones to sign under penalty off deprivation +and banishment. + +From these and other incidents in his career it would appear that, +either from policy or conviction, Constantine acted as if he thought +the Sun-God and the Christ were one and the same deity. + +The probability of this is more or less apparent from what we are told +concerning the part he played in connection with what, thanks, as we +are about to see, to him, became our recognised symbol. + +Our knowledge of the part played by Constantine in connection with the +symbol of the cross, except so far as we can gather it from a study of +ancient coins and other relics, unfortunately comes to us solely +through Christian sources. And the first that famous bishop and +ecclesiastical historian Eusebius of Caesarea, to whom we owe so large +a proportion of our real or supposed knowledge of the early days of +Christianity, tells us about Constantine and the cross, is that in the +year A.C. 312--a quarter of a century before his admission into the +Christian Church--Constantine and the Gaulish soldiers he was leading +saw at noon _over the Sun_ a cross of Light in the heavens, bearing +upon it or having attached to it the inscription EN TOYT{omega} NIKA, +_By this conquer_. + +The words of the Bishop, who is reporting what he states the Emperor in +question to have told him personally, are:-- + + "He said that at mid-day when the sun was beginning to + decline he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross + of light in the heavens, above the Sun, bearing the + inscription EN TOYT{omega} NIKA; he himself, and his + whole army also, being struck with amazement at this + sight."[33] + +Though this marvellous cross, declared by Christian writers of that +century to have been the so-called Monogram of Christ {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"} +or {image "monogram4.gif"}, appeared to an army of Sun-God worshippers, +Constantine himself--as can be seen from his coins--remaining one for +many years afterwards if not till his death, it is put before us as a +Christian cross. + +It is also noteworthy that no material representation of a cross of any +description was ever held aloft by adherents of the Christian Church, +until after Constantine is said to have had this more or less solar +cross so represented as the standard of his Gaulish army. + +Mention should therefore be made of the fact that, upon the coins he +struck, the symbol {image "monogram1.gif"} is perhaps the one which +occurs the most frequently upon representations of the famous _Labarum_ +or Military Standard of Constantine; but that the symbol {image +"monogram1.gif"}, the {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} without the circle, and the {image "solarwheel1.gif"} +and {image "asterisk.gif"}, are also to be seen. + +Now the Gauls led by Constantine specially venerated the Solar Wheel. +This had sometimes six and sometimes four spokes, {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, and the warriors of +their native land had long been in the habit of wearing a +representation of the same upon their helmets. It is therefore not +improbable that even before the date of the alleged vision when +marching upon Rome, some such symbol formed the standard of +Constantine's army. + +Anyhow, that the worthy Bishop Eusebius was, like other enthusiasts, +liable to be at times carried by his enthusiasm beyond the limits of +veracity, or else was the victim of imperial mendacity, is evident. For +Eusebius tells us in the _Life of Constantine_ he wrote after the death +of his patron, that the night after this miraculous "cross" and motto +were seen in the sky above the Sun, the Christ appeared to Constantine, +and, showing the Gaulish general the same sign that had been seen in +the sky, directed him to have a similar symbol made, under which his +army--an army, be it remembered, of Sun-God worshippers--should march +conquering and to conquer![34] + +All that is really likely to have happened is that Constantine, wishing +to encourage his troops, bade them rally round a standard on which was +represented the sacred Solar Wheel venerated by the Gauls; and that as +with this as a rallying point Constantine and his Gauls became masters +of Rome, the symbol we are discussing became a Roman--and therefore, +later on, upon the establishment of our faith as the State Religion of +the Roman Empire, also a _Christian_--symbol. And a loop seems to have +been sooner or later added to the top of the vertical spoke of the +Gaulish symbol, so that Christians could accept it as a Monogram of +Christ; as has already been hinted, and as will be demonstrated further +on. + +A noteworthy point is that we have two accounts of Constantine's +alleged vision of the Christ, and that they do not quite agree. The +Bishop of Caesarea's account is, that the night after the Emperor--then +only ruler of Gaul--and all his soldiers saw the "cross" and motto +above the meridian sun, the Christ appeared to Constantine + + "With the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, + and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which + he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard + in all engagements with his enemies."[35] + +But the author of _De Mortibus Persecutorem_, a work said to have been +written during the reign of Constantine, and attributed to Lactantius, +refers to the alleged vision as follows:-- + + "Constantine was admonished in his sleep to mark the + celestial sign of God on the shields, and thus engage in + battle. He did as he was commanded, and marked the name + of the Christ on the shields by the letter X drawn + across them with the top circumflexed. Armed with this + sign his troops--"[36] + +and the differences between these two accounts are greater than would +at first sight appear. + +Let us however return to the story of the Bishop of Caesarea, who tells +us that the morning after the Christ appeared to Constantine, the +Emperor told this second marvel to his friends, and, sending for the +workers in gold and precious stones who are assumed to have accompanied +the Gaulish army, directed them to overlay with gold a long spear + + "On the top of the whole of which was fixed a wreath of + gold and precious stones, and within this the symbol of + the Saviour's name, two letters indicating the name of + the Christ by means of its initial characters, the + letter P being intersected with the letter X in its + centre."[37] + +Several questions naturally arise at this point of our enquiry, and it +is not easy--nay, it is impossible--for us Christians to honestly +dispose of all of them and yet retain our cherished opinions upon this +matter. Only one such question need be stated, and it is this: Is it +likely that the Infinite Ruler of the universe, either at mid-day or at +mid-night, went out of his way to induce a Sun-God worshipper who would +not enter the Christian Church till a quarter of a century later and +ere then was to become a murderer of innocent persons like the +boy-Caesar Licinius, to adopt a symbol which he warranted would enable +Constantine to lead on the Gauls to victory? + +Pursuing the narrative of Eusebius we find that he, alluding to the +symbol which he describes as a monogram but calls a cross, states that, +setting this "victorious trophy and salutary symbol" in front of his +soldiers, Constantine continued his march against Maxentius; and, with +his forces thus "divinely aided," overthrew the Emperor just outside +the Imperial City, entered Rome in triumph, and thanked God that He had +enabled him to defeat and slay its ruler and assume the purple in that +ruler's stead.[38] + +Eusebius then tells us that Constantine, who did not dispose of all his +rivals and become sole emperor till some twelve years later, as victor +in the fight with Maxentius and master of Rome though not as yet of the +whole empire, at once + + "By loud proclamation and monumental inscriptions made + known to all men the salutary symbol, setting up this + great trophy of victory over his enemies, and expressly + causing it to be engraven in indelible characters that + the salutary symbol was the safeguard of the Roman + Government and entire people. Accordingly he immediately + ordered a lofty spear in the figure of a cross to be + placed beneath the hand of a statue representing himself + in the most frequented part of Rome, and the following + inscription engraven on it in the Latin tongue:--'By + virtue of this salutary sign which is the true test of + valour, I have preserved and liberated your city from + the yoke of tyranny, and I have also set at liberty the + Roman Senate and People, and have restored to them their + ancient distinction and splendour.'"[39] + +Now, as we have already seen, what Eusebius referred to as the "cross" +observed above the mid-day sun (and accompanied by a miraculous +inscription in, presumably, to agree with the monogram, the Greek +language; which was, well, "Greek" to the Gaulish soldiers) was the +so-called Monogram of Christ {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}. +That, too, was what Eusebius tells us the Christ afterwards told the +Gaulish leader Constantine to model his military standard after. That, +therefore, was the "salutary symbol" and "trophy of victory" referred +to in the above passage from the same authority. + +It is therefore clear that this "lofty spear in the figure of a cross" +which Eusebius tells us was placed under the hand of the statue of +Constantine in the central place of honour in Rome, was referred to by +Eusebius as a "cross" because it was shaped like or in some way +connected with some form or other of the so-called Monogram of Christ. +And such a conclusion is borne out by the fact that spears with +cross-bars had been in use among both Gauls and Romans for centuries, +whereas this one is referred to as something out of the common. + +It should also be noted that it was as a victorious military standard, +and not as either a monogram of the Christ or a representation of the +_stauros_ upon which Jesus was executed, that Constantine caused this +{image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "asterisk.gif"}, or {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram3.gif"}, or {image "monogram2.gif"} +or {image "monogram4.gif"} (all which variations occur upon the coins +of Constantine and his successors), to become a symbol of the Roman +Empire. + +Further on in his history of the Emperor, Eusebius tells us that +whenever Constantine saw his troops hard pressed, he gave orders that +the "salutary trophy" should be moved in that direction, and that +victory always resulted. + +The Bishop of Caesarea then goes on to relate that Constantine selected +fifty men of his bodyguard, the most distinguished for piety, valour, +and strength, whose sole duty it was to defend this famous standard; +and that, of the elect fifty, those who fled were always slain, and +those who stood their ground were always miraculously preserved.[40] + +One would imagine from all this that there was only one labarum. Many +different kinds are, however, represented upon the coins of +Constantine; as also almost every variety of ordinary cross, except, +perhaps, such as might conceivably have been a representation of an +instrument of execution, like that which has since come into vogue +among us. + +Eusebius also tells us that Constantine caused to be erected in front +of his palace a lofty tablet, on which was painted a representation of +himself with the "salutary sign" over his head and a dragon or serpent +under his feet.[41] + +He also informs us that inside the palace and in the principal +apartment, on a vast tablet in the ceiling, Constantine caused "the +symbol of our Saviour's passion to be fixed, composed of a variety of +precious stones inwrought with gold."[42] + +Which of all the "salutary" signs that appear upon the coins of +Constantine these particular crosses were, we do not know; but it is, +at any rate, obviously unlikely that a worshipper of Apollo who refused +to enter the Christian Church till he was dying, and on his coins +always attributed his victories to the Sun-God, elevated either as a +representation of an instrument of execution. + +As to the alleged finding at Jerusalem, by Helena the mother of +Constantine, of three stakes with transverse bars attached, all of +which were ancient instruments of execution and one of which was shown +by the occurrence of a miracle to have been a cross to which Jesus was +affixed three centuries before, it is clear that this is a fairy tale. +The story cannot be traced further back than to St. Cyril of Jerusalem +about A.C. 350; and Eusebius, who gives an account of Helena's visit to +Jerusalem, does not mention any such occurrence as that in question; a +sure sign that it was an invention of later date. + +The Christian Church, however, in a weak moment vouched for the truth +of this ridiculous story; and while what was suffered to remain in +Jerusalem of the true cross became the treasure of that city and a +trophy captured by its foes but afterwards secured from them and once +more placed in its holiest shrine, what was broken up into relics for +the faithful throughout Christendom multiplied into a thousand +fragments; one of which forms the centre of the Vatican Cross, and such +few others of which as survive would not if examined, 'tis said, even +prove to be all of the same kind of wood, or even limited to the two +kinds for the presence of which a supposed cross-bar of another kind of +timber might be held accountable. + +The same Christian Bishop to whom this fairy tale can be traced, in a +letter to one of the Emperors that succeeded Constantine declared that +on the seventh of May A.C. 351 he and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem +saw a brilliant cross in the heavens, stretching from Mount Golgotha to +the Mount of Olives, and _shining like the Sun for several hours_.[43] +And this marvellous vision is vouched for by St. Jerome, Socrates, +Matins, and the Alexandrine Chronicle, as well as by St. Cyril; and is +still kept in memory by the Greek Church, a solemn festival being held +upon anniversaries of the day in question. But which particular +"salutary sign" thus shone in the sky like the Sun for hours, is +uncertain. + +These painfully obvious inventions cannot but incline broad-minded +Christians to the belief that our Church went to great lengths in order +to induce people to believe that the cross was essentially a +_Christian_ symbol; which tends to show that there was a danger of +their thinking otherwise. + +It is also clear from the evidence already quoted concerning the +adoption by Christians in the fourth century of a symbol they denounced +in the third, that whether Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument or not, that was not the chief reason why the phallic symbol +of Life became recognised as the symbol of the Christ. + +The striking fact that though, as will be shown, the cross of four +equal arms (a cross which, as we have seen, preceded the Latin cross as +a Christian symbol, and one form of which is still the favourite symbol +of the Greek Church; while even in the other two great divisions of +Christendom its numerous variations, wheel-like and otherwise, as a +whole dispute the supremacy with the Latin cross) occurs many times +upon the coins of Constantine, yet it was the so-called Monogram of +Christ or adapted solar wheel of the Gauls which the Christians of the +fourth century were most careful to claim as a Christian symbol, should +also be noted. For though the cross of four equal arms was also put by +Constantine upon his coins as a solar symbol, yet that, being then, as +for ages previously, a symbol of the Sun-God of world-wide acceptation, +and one which as we shall see had already appeared as such upon Roman +coins, it was not so much a Gaulish symbol as the other; and it was +evidently because that other was the symbol followed by the triumphant +leader of the Gauls and his victorious army, that the Christians wished +to specially identify it with the Christ. + +In any case, whether the so-called Monogram of Christ was more or less +forced upon Christianity when Constantine made our faith the State +Religion of his empire, or whether it was adopted by Christians of +their own volition, it was a politic move (than which few possible +moves could have done more to secure the triumph of our faith) to +accept as the symbol of the Christian Church what was at one and the +same time the symbol of Constantine, of the Roman State, and of the +universally adored Sun-God. + +That the more generally accepted symbol of the Sun-God, the cross of +four equal arms, should in time supplant the more local one, was of +course only to be expected; as was the adoption of a cross with one arm +longer than the others, as being the only kind which could possibly be +connected with the story of Jesus as the Christ incarnate. + +As to the possible objection that what has been dealt with in this +chapter has been rather the origin of the Christian custom of +manufacturing and venerating material representations of the sign or +figure of the cross than the origin of the Christian cross itself, the +answer is obvious. And the answer is that the first cross which can +_justly_ be called "Christian," was the one which was the first to be +considered, to use Dean Farrar's expressions, "mainly," if not "only," +a representation of an instrument of execution; which cross was +undoubtedly not a transient sign or gesture but a material +representation of the cross with one arm longer than the others and was +introduced after such representations of the cross of four equal arms +and of the so-called Monogram of Christ had come into vogue among +Christians as a consequence of the influence of Constantine. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH. + +Having already shown not a little cause for believing that the adoption +of the cross as our symbol is due to the fact that we Christians helped +to secure the triumph of the ambitious ruler of the Gauls, and after +receiving numberless smaller favours from Constantine during the years +he was ruler of Rome but not as yet sole emperor eventually obtained +from him the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the +Roman Empire, adapting the victorious trophy of the Gauls and the +various crosses venerated by them and other Sun-God worshippers to our +faith as best we could, it is desirable that we should pause to trace +the career of the man we hail as the first Christian Emperor. + +To do this properly we must commence by referring to Constantine's +father, Constantius Chlorus; and to the favour shown to Constantius +Chlorus by his patron the Emperor Diocletian. + +Finding the supreme rule of the almost worldwide Roman Empire too much +for one man in ill-health to undertake successfully, Diocletian in the +year A.C. 286 made Maximian co-emperor. And in A.C. 292 Diocletian +followed this up by conferring the inferior position and title of +Caesar upon Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. + +In A.C. 305 Diocletian relinquished power altogether, forcing Maximian +to abdicate with him; Galerius and Constantius Chlorus thus obtaining +the coveted title of Augustus, and sharing the supreme power. + +Galerius now ranked first, however; for it was to the ruler of +Illyricum and not to that of Gaul that Diocletian gave the power of +appointing Caesars to govern Italy and the East. + +Constantius Chlorus died in Britain A.C. 306, the year after Diocletian +abdicated; and Galerius, who had married a daughter of Diocletian, +naturally thought that under the circumstances he ought to become sole +emperor. + +The legions of Gaul, however, proclaimed the son of Constantius Chlorus +as Augustus in his stead; and as Constantine thus became ruler of Gaul +and a power to be reckoned with, Galerius thought it best to give way +so far as to grant Constantine the inferior title of Caesar. + +Soon afterwards Galerius conferred the title of Augustus upon Severus; +and a little while after that the Eternal City was lost to Galerius +through the revolt of his son-in-law Maxentius, the son of Maximian. + +The Senate of Rome then asked Maximian to re-assume the purple, and he +and Maxentius shared the power between them, both taking the title of +Augustus. + +Upon this Severus at the request of Galerius marched upon Rome. He was, +however, defeated and slain. + +After being more or less expelled by his son Maxentius, Maximian in the +year A.C. 308 marched to Gaul and married his daughter Fausta to +Constantine; at the same time conferring upon him the title of +Augustus. About this time Galerius made his friend Licinius an Augustus +in the place of Severus; whereupon Maximin, the Governor of Syria and +Egypt, demanded and was granted that title also. + +There were thus in the year A.C. 308 some half-a-dozen Roman Emperors +instead of one; there being Constantine and Maximian in the west, +Maxentius at Rome, and Galerius, Licinius, and Maximin elsewhere; not +to mention Diocletian, who was content to remain in retirement. + +This decided break-up of the Roman Empire was Constantine's +opportunity; and he was favourably placed, for he had a warlike and +faithful people under him. + +Moreover by reversing so far as lay in his power as ruler of Gaul the +traditional policy of Rome towards Christianity, and setting himself +forward as a champion of a non-national religion which had been +persecuted because it was non-national, Constantine was secure of the +enthusiastic backing of all the Christians to be found in the dominions +of his various rivals. + +In A.C. 310 Constantine either executed his father-in-law the Emperor +Maximian, or caused him to commit suicide; and the first of his five +rivals was disposed of. + +In A.C. 311 the Emperor Galerius died from disease, and Constantine's +most formidable competitor, and one who undoubtedly had a better claim +than himself to the position of sole emperor, thus opportunely made way +for the ruler of Gaul. + +In A.C. 312 Constantine marched at the head of the Gauls against the +Emperor Maxentius, defeated him near the Milvian Bridge outside Rome, +and entered the Eternal City in triumph. Maxentius is said to have been +drowned in the Tiber; and the Senate decreed that Constantine should +rank as the first of the three remaining Augusti. + +In A.C. 313 the Emperor Maximin fought the Emperor Licinius; but his +forces were defeated, and he soon afterwards died. + +Some ten years or so later Constantine went to war with his only +remaining rival, Licinius, defeated him, and became sole emperor, A.C. +324. + +That despite his great qualities as a ruler the character of +Constantine was not perfect, can be easily seen from the fact that, not +content with executing the Emperor Licinius after accepting his +submission, he murdered the young Licinius; a boy certainly not over +twelve years of age, and according to some authorities two or three +years younger than that. He also put his own son Crispus to death, and +other relations as well. + +We are told that Constantine was so tortured by the memory of these and +other crimes that he applied to the priests of the Gods of Rome for +absolution, but that they bravely said that there was no absolution for +such sins, whereupon this worshipper of the Sun-God turned to his +friends the Christians and they gave him what he desired.[44] + +This statement seems somewhat improbable, however, as one would imagine +that the Pagan priests, when called upon by one who was Pontifex +Maximus and therefore their spiritual superior as well as the supreme +emperor, would not have scrupled to invent some purifying rite--if they +had none such--warranted to blot out the stain of every crime and +thoroughly appease offended heaven. + +However this may have been, these terrible crimes of Constantine, all +committed many years after his alleged conversion to our faith, show +how badly advised we are to so needlessly go out of our way to claim as +a Christian one who refused to enter the Christian Church till he was +dying and possibly no longer master of himself. + +It is said that this refusal of his to be baptised till he was weak and +dying and surrounded by Church officials who would perhaps have spread +the report that he had been baptised even if they had not then at last +been able to induce him to take the decisive step, was due, not to want +of belief, but to excess of belief; Constantine's idea being that the +longer he put off the rite in question, the more crimes would it wash +out. Or, in other words, that delay would enable him to sin with +impunity a little longer. + +This may possibly have been the case, but it should at the same time be +borne in mind that whether Constantine called him Apollo or Christ, it +seems probable that it was the Sun-God to whom he referred. For +everything tends to show that this astute emperor, who so naturally +wished to establish and mould a religion which all his subjects of +whatever race or nationality might be reasonably expected to become in +time willing to accept, acted during his reign as supreme ruler of the +Roman World, if not from first to last, as if the Christ were but +another conception of the Sun-God he was brought up to worship as +Apollo and all countries venerated under some name or other. + +This point is not only demonstrated by the fact that upon his coins +Constantine repeatedly declared that the Sun-God was his invincible +guide and protector and the giver even of the victory foreshadowed by +the alleged vision of the cross or Monogram of Christ above the +meridian sun, but is also clearly shown by certain incidents connected +with the founding towards the end of his life of the new metropolis +which in less than a century equalled Rome in all save antiquity. + +New Rome, or, as we now call it, Constantinople, the city of +Constantine, was built on the site of, and often called by the name of, +Byzantium. It was not designed till A.C. 324, and was not dedicated +till A.C. 330, or, as some think, an even later date: Constantine dying +in the year A.C. 337. + +We are told that Constantinople was dedicated to the Virgin Mother of +God.[45] This should remind us of the fact that long before our era, +and right down to the time when Constantine selected Byzantium as the +site of a new capital, that place was considered dedicated to the +Virgin Queen of Heaven. + +Now in the central place of honour in his new metropolis, one would +naturally expect Constantine to erect something or other to the honour +of the God to whom he attributed his victories. + +Whose, then, was the statue Constantine towards the end of his life, +and about twenty years after his alleged conversion to our faith, +erected in the centre of the Forum of New Rome? + +It was a statue of the Sun-God Apollo; or, as some explain it, a statue +of himself adorned with the attributes of the Sun-God. + +In fact, taking the career of Constantine as a whole, there is nothing +inconsistent with the supposition that he was a Christian only in so +far as, out of policy or conviction, he acted as if he considered the +Christ to be one of many conceptions of the Sun-God. For although, as +has been mentioned and will be shown in a later chapter, Constantine, +upon the many varieties of coins he issued, repeatedly acclaimed the +Sun-God as his companion and the author of his triumphs, he never once, +except in so far as he may have considered the God we Christians +worship to be the Sun-God, so attributed his victories to the Christ. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CROSS AND CRESCENT. + +Before passing in review the evidence regarding the symbol of the cross +derivable from Roman coins and other relics of antiquity, a few +introductory remarks are necessary regarding the too often forgotten +fact that the ancients naturally looked upon the Giver of Life as +bi-sexual; no life being known to them which was not a result of the +conjunction of the Male and Female Principles. + +The necessarily bi-sexual character of the creator of both the Male and +Female Principles, was, it should be remembered, borne in mind by the +thinkers of old all the while they accommodatingly spoke of the Sun-God +or Giver of Life as being a personification of the Male Principle and +gave him a Bride or Virgin Mother to represent the Female Principle. + +Moreover, just as the disc of the Sun, or the star-like form which the +ancients often used to signify the radiate or impregnating Sun, +naturally came to be recognised as the symbol of the Male Principle, so +the Crescent, as signifying the increasing Moon and the lesser of the +two great lights of heaven, in like manner came to be adopted as the +natural symbol of the Female Principle. + +In this connection it will not be amiss to draw attention to the symbol +of the conquerors of the city founded by Constantine. For though +misleadingly called "the Crescent," that symbol is, as the reader +cannot very well fail to be aware, not a mere crescent; but one which +has within its horns what we consider to be a star-like form and +therefore call a star. And though it is possible that it was not +knowingly adopted as such by the Moslems, this dual symbol was a +combination of the ancient symbols of the Male and Female Principles. + +An erroneous account of the origin of this symbol as a Moslem symbol is +given in all our works of reference which deal with the matter, as if +their compilers copied one from another without troubling to consider +the evidence for themselves. + +The incorrect but widely accepted explanation in question, is to the +effect that the so-called _star_ and crescent had its origin as a +Moslem symbol in the capture of Byzantium or Constantinople by the +Turks in A.C. 1453; our works of reference stating that it was then +adopted by Mahomet II., as the symbol of the famous city he had taken +from the Christians. + +But was the "star and crescent" the symbol of the City of Constantine? +It would appear not. + +Ancient Byzantium was, as stated in a previous chapter, considered, +long before our era and right up to the days of Constantine, as +dedicated to the Virgin Queen of Heaven; whose symbol was a crescent. +And when Constantine rebuilt and renamed Byzantium, he dedicated New +Rome--or, as we now call it, Constantinople--to the Virgin Mother of +God and Queen of Heaven; whose symbol, as can be seen upon reference to +both ancient and modern representations of the Virgin Mary, is also a +crescent. It would therefore appear that the symbol of the city is more +likely to have been a simple crescent than the so-called _star_ and +crescent. Such a conclusion is entirely borne out by the evidence. For +though the so-called star and crescent can be seen upon three or four +coins struck at Byzantium before such a place as New Rome was thought +of, this proves little if anything; inasmuch as the symbol in question +was a very common one in days of old, and occurs frequently upon coins +struck elsewhere. + +Moreover the question is what the symbol of Constantinople was at the +time it was captured by the Turks. And an inspection of the coins +issued by the Christian rulers of that city during the thousand years +and more it was in their hands, will reveal to the enquirer that though +the crescent with a _cross_ within its horns appears occasionally upon +the coins of the Emperors of the East, and in one or two instances we +see a cross of four equal arms with each extremity piercing a crescent, +it is doubtful if a single example of the so-called "_star_ and +crescent" symbol can be found upon them. + +We learn from other sources also that the symbol of the imperial +Christian Metropolis captured by the Turks nearly five hundred years +ago and ever since retained by them, was a simple crescent. And there +is no doubt whatever that the dual symbol of the Moslems was adopted by +them, not when they brought about the downfall of Constantinople as a +Christian city, but centuries before, as a result of the conquest of +Persia. + +It was in the year A.C. 641 that the battle of Nehavend, ever after +called by the Moslems the _Victory of Victories_, laid at the feet of +the followers of the Prophet the kingdom of Iran or Persia, and brought +to an end the Sassanian Monarchy. + +Now the coins of the Sassanian kings then and for the previous two +centuries bore upon them, with scarcely an exception, the so-called +"_star_ and crescent"; and it was as the symbol of this Zoroastrian +dynasty and of the fair land of Iran, that the Moslems adopted it as +their own. What the star-like object (star-like, that is, in _our_ +opinion) represented upon the coins of Iran or Persia when placed +within the horns of a crescent, was, of course, the Sun. The +supposition of certain writers that the dual symbol represented the two +crescent-presenting orbs, Venus and the Moon, is entirely mistaken. For +though the conjunction of the two crescent-shaped and feminine lights +of heaven, was of old, like the combination of the symbol of the +Sun--as representing the Male Principle--with that ever feminine symbol +the Crescent, held to signify Increase and Life, we are dealing with +what was admittedly a Mithraic symbol. And not only was the star-like +object in question the symbol of the Sun-God Mithras, but it was, as +any student of the coins of the Sassanian dynasty can see, substituted +for the disc. + +Upon the Sassanian coins the so-called star, in reality a +representation neither of a star nor of a planet but of the radiate +Sun, seems to have been first substituted for the round disc as a +representation of the Sun, by Perozes, about A.C. 457; the disc in the +horns of a crescent being the symbol on the coins of his father +Isdigerd II. and other predecessors. But the dual symbol miscalled the +"star and crescent" was one even then of great antiquity, as will be +shown in a later chapter dealing with Phoenician relics discovered in +Cyprus and elsewhere. + +The primary signification of the dual symbol in question, often +accompanied on the Sassanian coins by a prayer that the monarch might +"increase," or flourish generally, was undoubtedly _Life_. And it is +clear that the conjunction of the Crescent as the symbol of the Female +Principle of Life with the star-like figure which represented the +radiate, life-giving, or impregnating Sun, must have not only signified +Life, but also the necessarily bi-sexual Giver of Life. + +We are thus brought to the conclusion that the Cross and the so-called +Crescent are more or less allied in signification. + +Nor is this noteworthy fact to be wondered at. For only words and forms +divide the faiths of Mankind, and at heart the one object of our +desires is Life. Even those who piously lay down their lives for others +here, do so in the hope of being rewarded with longer life and more +blissful life hereafter. + +Another point which is too often overlooked, is that if the followers +of the so-called Crescent have, as would appear to be the case, +forgotten the meaning of their symbol and the fact that it alludes to +the bi-sexual nature of the Creator, we followers of the Cross may all +unconsciously be in a very similar position regarding our symbol. And +as the Cross as the recognised symbol of the Christ is not of older +date than the conquest of Rome by the Gauls, and more or less resulted +therefrom, it is clear that the same remark applies if we consider the +Moslems to have adopted their symbol as that of the land they conquered +from the Sassanian kings, rather than as one with the primal and +natural interpretation of which they were content. + +Anyway the cross as well as the "star and crescent" is more or less a +bi-sexual symbol, as will be clear to those who understand how the +cross came to be recognised ages before our era as the natural symbol +of Life. And a good illustration of the fact in question still exists +in the Caroccio crucifix of Milan; in which relic we see, under the +usual inscription, an androgynous Christ upon a cross, with a man's +head but half the body of female form, and with, instead of a cloth or +fig-leaf, the phallic _crux ansata_, or Egyptian cross or symbol of +Life, placed sideways, and as if the oval represented the female organ +of reproduction, and the _tau_ or incomplete cross that of the other +sex. + +Like the Red Cross of to-day, the Carocco bi-sexual crucifix, once so +common in Italy, was a symbol of Life and Salvation in two senses; it +not only being considered so in itself, but being also used on the +battlefield as a rallying point for wounded soldiers, signalling to +them that bandages, drugs, and surgical aid, could be obtained where it +towered aloft. + +These references to the fact that in days of old many very naturally +came to the conclusion that the Creator and Giver of Life and only +Saviour must be bi-sexual, should remind us Christians that our +assertion that the Infinite Spirit is "Our Father" is not from all +points of view an improvement upon the ideas of the ancients. For they +also, and rightly, conceived what we wrongly ignore, _viz._, that the +Infinite Author of all existence must also be "Our Mother." + +In this respect Protestants have if possible gone even further astray +than members of the Greek and Roman Churches. For in the veneration +paid by the latter to Mary of Nazareth as the Bride of God, the Mother +of God, the Star of the Sea, and the Queen of Heaven, can be seen a +survival, however toned down or distorted, of the old idea that the +Deity must necessarily be of both sexes. + +Even the plainly evident fact that, while in pre-Christian days the +symbol of the cross represented the two sexual powers in conjunction, +it has in Christian times come to be considered the symbol of Life as +being the symbol of the SON of God, should, moreover, lead us to note +that our religion scarcely does justice to the part played in the +economy of Nature by the fair sex. This is doubtless due to the fact +that the moulding of our creed and the interpretation of things hard to +be understood has for the most part been in the hands of the sex which, +as the author belongs to it, may by way of contrast be called unfair. + +What, for instance, can be more unfair than the assumption that God, if +incarnated as one of the genus Homo, must have been born a male? Yet +that assumption is at the very basis of modern Christianity. + +Moreover, even granting that the Deity was specially incarnated in +Jesus the Nazarene and therefore as a male, why should we, as if +supposing that a passing form could stamp its sex upon an Infinite +Spirit, speak of "God the Son" yet never of "God the Daughter?" + +The fact is that the natural disabilities and disadvantages of the +childbearing sex have from the first resulted in the power of the male +sex to rule the roast, and one result of the predominance thus ensured +to the male sex by the laws of Nature has of course been a similar +predominance for the opinion that the Creator is of the male sex. + +Some enthusiastic champion of her sex, alluding to the fact that the +opposing sex now has a monopoly of the priesthood, may even go so far +as to ask with a special meaning, Has not Man from the beginning made +God in his own image? + +The male sex did not always have a monopoly of the priesthood, however; +and in few if any instances did the priests of old go so far as to +teach that the Creator, whom out of compliment to the Deity--or +themselves--they naturally spoke of as belonging to the stronger sex, +was a male and _only_ a male. Nor did they even assume such a thing. +Though the different gods and goddesses were spoken of as belonging to +this or that sex, more than one were regarded as in reality +androgynous; and the fact that the Creator and Giver of Life must of +necessity be so was very generally recognised. + +As a matter of fact it is by no means certain that the Creator is not +represented as being androgynous even in our Bible. For in the account +of the Creation which the Jews brought with them from Babylon, the +Creator is represented as saying "Let _us_ make man in _our_ image"; +and a race which like the Jews solemnly declared that there was but one +God, could only, it would seem, have accepted such a declaration as a +divine revelation if they conceived the God supposed to be speaking to +be androgynous, and addressing the other part of himself. This would +account for the emphasis laid upon the statement that man was created +"male _and_ female," like, or in the image of, the Creator. + +In any case it is clear that if God be not female as well as male, Man +was _not_ created in the likeness of God. + +The theory of the ancients that Man himself was created an androgynous +being, capable, like the Creator, of creating life in himself, but was +afterwards divided into halves, one of which is ever seeking to find +the other, need only be mentioned. + +Suffice it to add that it can scarcely be said to have been altogether +progress in the right direction, which has led us mortals to call the +Author of all Life "Our Father," to the utter obscuration of the +equally important fact that the Deity in whom we live and move and have +our being must also be "Our Mother." + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE CORONATION ORB. + +The fact that though we Christians fail to do the matter justice, the +ancients upon the contrary recognised that the Creator and the Giver of +Life cannot be rightly spoken of as belonging to one sex and one alone, +is not the only fact which those who examine relics of antiquity, such +as the coins of the Roman Empire, with a view to ascertaining what +evidence is derivable from them that bears upon the history of the +symbol of the cross, should ever bear in mind. Another point to be kept +in view is the evolution of the Christian symbol now known as the +Coronation Orb. + +This compound symbol, which plays so prominent a part in the regalia of +a Christian Monarch, also crowns the topmost height of many a Christian +Temple including both St. Peter's at Rome and St. Paul's at London. And +it is noteworthy that it bears a certain resemblance to the +representation of the Apex, once worn by the Salian priests and +afterwards by the Pontifex Maximus and the Flamens generally, which +appears upon ancient coins of the _Fabia_ gens; the office of _Flamen +Quirinalis_ having been hereditary in the Fabia family. + +Upon other coins also, what is said to be meant for the pontifical apex +occurs as a round ball surmounted by something very like a cross, in +the hand of a female figure representing Rome; exactly as the so-called +Coronation Orb is to be seen upon coins of later date in the hand of +this or that Christian Emperor. + +The evidence as a whole, however, favours the supposition that the +Coronation Orb, instead of having been derived from the Apex of the +Pagan priests and thus signifying the claim to priesthood or headship +of the church so often made by monarchs, is a development of the round +object, frequently unsurmounted by anything, so continually to be met +with upon ancient coins of Rome in the hand of this or that God, +Goddess, or Ruler. + +This being the case, it is a matter of very considerable importance +that we should be quite sure what the round object in question used to +signify, and should base our assurance upon the results of personal +investigation rather than upon the assumption that the popular +explanation is necessarily the correct one. + +Though the round object in question was, as stated, in days of old +often used as a symbol by itself, it was sometimes, and, as time rolled +on, more and more frequently, surmounted by a small female figure with +wings; which figure was a representation of Victory. This figure was, +after the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the +Roman Empire, gradually, and only gradually, supplanted by the figure +of the cross. + +Although several writers of note assume that the initiative in this +direction was taken by Constantine himself, the first step seems to +have been taken upon the death of Constantine, when a coin or medal was +issued on which the deceased monarch is called a God and is represented +as holding a round object surmounted by the so-called Monogram of +Christ; a symbol continually referred to by Eusebius and other writers +of the fourth century as a cross. + +Later on an instance occurs of the Monogram surmounting a round object +held by a female figure representing Rome. This is upon a coin issued +by Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine. + +Passing on to the reign of Valentinianus II., we find that that Emperor +issued a coin upon which a round object surmounted by a cross is to be +seen in the hand of Victory herself. This would appear to have been the +first instance in which what we should call a cross, supplanted the +representation of Victory as a small female figure with wings, as a +symbol surmounting the round object which we are considering. + +A similar coin was issued by Theodosius I., surnamed the Great; the +last of the Emperors of Rome whose rule extended throughout the whole +of the Roman world. + +The instances named are, it will be understood, the exceptions to the +general rule during a considerable period. And upon many of the coins +of the Emperors mentioned, as well as upon those of the intervening +Emperors, the round object held by those rulers is surmounted by either +a Victory or a Phoenix; usually by the former, but in several instances +by the latter. + +The first ruler who caused _himself_ to be represented as holding a +round object surmounted by an ordinary cross, was Theodosius II., +Emperor of the East. + +The fact that for a long time the Victory, the Phoenix, and the Cross, +were made use of as symbols which might be substituted one for another, +is worthy of special note. For the facts that the round object held by +Theodosius II. is as often surmounted by a Victory as by a Cross, and +that a Victory instead of a Cross was often used by succeeding +Christian Emperors, tend to show that the Victory, the Phoenix, and the +Cross were allied in signification, and equally connected with the +round object the nature and meaning of which we are about to enquire +into. + +The reader may possibly object that no case has been made out for such +enquiry, inasmuch as not only did the cross in course of time entirely +supplant the Victory, but the round object from first to last, and +whether unsurmounted by anything or surmounted by a Victory or a +Phoenix or a Cross, signified the world upon which we dwell, the round +world, and nothing but the world. + +Such is, of course, the popular assumption; based upon what we are +taught in school books and in standard works of reference. But, as a +matter of fact, in many cases the round object admittedly signified an +apple; the Golden Apple of the Hesperides: a well known phallic symbol. +Whenever a round object unsurmounted by anything is to be seen in the +hand of either the Sun-God Hercules or Venus the Goddess of Love, it +admittedly may have been, for it admittedly often was, a +representation, not of the world, but of the Golden Apple. And not only +does it so occur upon a very large number of coins, but in some +instances we see the Victory surmounting it; recalling to our minds the +fact that victory, as signifying the triumph of Life over Death, had a +phallic as well as a martial meaning, and is achieved every time that a +man is born into the world as a result of the tasting of the fruit of +the Tree of Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + +Moreover, though the fact is now for some reason or other ignored, the +so-called Coronation Orb of Christian Monarchs was itself once known as +the Golden Apple. It is so referred to in important Latin documents of +the Middle Ages; for instance in the famous Bull of Charles IV. +regarding the Imperial elections, wherein we read of the right of the +Counts Palatine of the Rhine to carry the symbol in question at the +coronation of their Emperor. And to this very day the so-called +Coronation Orb is known throughout Germany and Austria as +_Reichsapfel_, the Imperial Apple. + +It is therefore by no means certain that the round portion of the +Coronation Orb which thus caused the name of "the Golden Apple" to be +given to this compound Christian symbol, is not, like the cross above +it, to some extent a phallic symbol. + +Every one should know the classic story of the Golden Apple; how the +tree which bore the Golden Apples grew up in the Garden of the +Hesperides in honour of the wedding of Hera, a goddess who more or less +personified the female sex; how the Golden Apples are variously said to +have been dedicated to the Sun (Hellos), to the Sun-God (Dionysos), and +to the Goddess of Love (Aphrodite); how the Sun-God Hercules as one of +the twelve labours which represented the months, slew the Serpent which +guarded the tree, and plucked the fruit; and how the Goddess Eris, who +alone of all the deities was not invited to the nuptials of Peleus and +Thetis, revenged herself by throwing among the guests a Golden Apple +inscribed "To the fairest," and Paris awarded it to the Goddess of +Love, Aphrodite or Venus. + +The story of the Garden of the Hesperides is at heart one with that of +the Garden of Eden; for it is obvious that the same phallic meaning +underlies each, and that they are but different versions of the same +allegory. + +It may here be called to mind that it has this century been discovered +from the cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia, that Eden was the name +given by Babylonians in days of old to the plain outside Babylon, +whereupon, according to the legends of that city, the creation of +living beings took place. Also that much evidence has accrued which, +impartially weighed in the balance, leads clearly to the conclusion +that the all-important commencement of Genesis, which forms as it were +the very basis of both the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, was +borrowed by the Jews from Babylon. And that it was in reality a +_Babylonian_ tradition or series of traditions of far older date than +any writing of purely Jewish origin, has not only been amply proved by +recent discoveries, but might indeed have been guessed from its +reference to the Tower of Babel or Babylon. + +Nor is this all, for among the age-old relics discovered in Western +Asia is a pictorial representation of the allegorical Temptation and +Fall. + +Upon this noteworthy piece of evidence the Tree of Knowledge or Life, +with which the figure of the cross was identified by the early +Christians; the Serpent, which in all countries and every age has been +more or less identified with the sexual powers; the Man; the Woman; and +the Apple; are all represented. And it is important to note that, +according to the cuneiform inscription upon another time-worn relic in +the British Museum, the Babylonians of old, at a time when the +descendants of Jacob or Israel were without scriptures of their own, +had a tradition to the effect that the fate of our first parents--who, +thanks to a wicked Serpent of Darkness, tasted of the forbidden fruit +which grew in the "Garden of the Gods"--was placed in the hands of +"their Redeemer." + +It should also be pointed out that this voice from the dim and distant +past distinctly states that the Redeemer in question was--the Sun-God. + +In ancient days the so-called forbidden fruit or apple seems to have +borne somewhat the same symbolic meaning that the egg did. But while +the apple not only represented Life, but also, and primarily, that +union between two sexes or principles which produces life, the egg more +or less lacked the latter meaning, and, on the other hand, signified +Existence in a wider sense than the apple did. + +The _Cosmos_ itself was an egg according to the conceptions of many of +the ancients; and few ideas were more widely spread, or can be traced +further back, than the one that the whole visible creation emerged from +the original Chaos or Darkness in the shape of an egg. + +The egg also, and above all, signified the Sun-God, as the acknowledged +Giver of Life and Saviour of Life. Hence the prominent part which it +played in the various religious mysteries of the ancients, and also the +fact that the Egyptians represented the Sun-God Ra as giving forth such +utterances as "I am the Creative Soul of the celestial abyss. None sees +my nest, and none can break my egg." The egg referred to, was of course +the Sun itself. + +Even our Christian custom of exchanging eggs at Easter is more or less +derived from Sun-God worship, being a survival from customs practised +long before our era at that particular period of the year, the time of +the Vernal Equinox or Pass-over of the Sun, when the Orient Light +crosses the Equator to rise once more in the Northern Hemisphere. + +Nor are these the only facts connecting the egg with Sun-God worship, +for the Sun-God Apollo was of old represented as born from the egg of +Leda, and the Sun-God Osiris was also said to have been born from an +egg. + +Moreover the Chinese believe that the first man was born from an egg, +the Orphic hymns speak of the "First-Begotten One" as "egg-born," and +the Greeks fabled that their Sun-God Dionysos sprang from the cosmic +egg. + +As to the origin of the Coronation Orb, it is noteworthy that no finer +or more natural symbol of Power could have been fixed upon than a +representation of that ball of fire which was so frequently spoken of +in bygone ages as "the Orb," and from which all earthly life and power +may be said to proceed. + +However the available evidence certainly seems to show that the round +object we are considering is more likely to have signified the cosmic +egg than the solar orb. + +In any case the object in question cannot be shown to have represented +the world upon which we dwell and that alone; and nothing is more +likely than that so famous a symbol should, like the cross which now +adorns it, have more or less signified Life. + +It should also be pointed out that this symbol of Power may have +signified, not so much that the Ruler who used it laid claim to +world-wide dominion, as that he held in his hand power over the lives +of others; and, possibly, also that he claimed to be, as the vicegerent +of the Sun-God and Giver of Life, the only legitimate Saviour of his +country. + +The facts that the symbol was used in clays of old by others than the +Emperors whose sway extended over the whole of the Roman Empire, and is +nowadays considered the rightful symbol of every Christian Monarch +however limited the area over which his power is felt, should also be +borne in mind; though not of much value as evidence, as even petty +rulers have been known to boast that they held the world in their +grasp. + +It should however be remembered that though the ancients, struck by the +dome-like appearance of the sky and the circular movements of the +constellations, conceived the cosmos or universe to be spherical, and +in some instances even constructed celestial globes upon which to +record the movements of Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars, it is doubtful +if a single one of them considered the world upon which we dwell to be +spherical. Also, that many a Christian Monarch has used the Coronation +Orb as a symbol of power, and yet believed the earth to be otherwise +than a globe in shape. + +In this connection it should be pointed out that the round object which +the ancients represented Atlas as supporting upon his shoulders, +usually in the presence of Jupiter, was not as is vulgarly supposed the +earth, but the heavens; Hesiod telling us that Atlas bore heaven with +his head and hands, Ovid that upon Atlas rested heaven and all the +stars, and other writers of bygone ages that Atlas was a king who first +taught men that heaven had the shape of a globe. + +It is of course possible that the ancients may have conceived the earth +to be otherwise than spherical, and yet, because the horizon which +appears to limit its extent seems to be circular, or for some other +reason, have considered a round object to be a representation of it. + +Even where, however, the ball-like symbol we are considering may have +represented something other than the Golden Apple, the probability is +that it seldom if ever represented the earth. + +For as, though the ancients may have conceived and spoken of the world +we live upon as being "round" in the same sense as a circular coin is +round, they did not think of it as being a globe, it is obvious that +the ball-like symbol in question is much less likely to have signified +the--in their belief--non-globular earth, than it is to have been a +representation of something which they did consider to be globular. + +Such is the nature of the evidence which tends to show that we +Christians may be mistaken in supposing that our famous symbol the +Coronation Orb represents the round world upon which we dwell, +surmounted by the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died. + +Although, however, most points have now been touched upon, including +the important fact that the so-called Coronation Orb of Christian +Monarchs used to be called, even by Christians, the Golden Apple, the +idea that it may have been the _crux ansata_, or Egyptian symbol of +Life (an upright oval, perhaps signifying the female principle, set +upon the top of the _tau_, or {image "t.gif"} cross, and thus turning +into a complete cross what is really an incomplete one, and may be +supposed to have signified the male principle), _reversed_ (_e.g., +Archaeological Journal_ xlii. 164), should at least be mentioned. It +ought, however to be pointed out that the Orb is even more like the +ancient symbol of the planet sacred to Venus, the Goddess of Love, +reversed. + +Even this point does not exhaust the subject in hand; for the fact that +in days of old we used to represent the Christ as the Pagans +represented the Sun-God, _viz._, as standing by the Tree of Life and +holding a round object meant for the phallic apple, has not yet been +dealt with in any way. + +It is however desirable that before discussing the matter further we +should ascertain the nature of the evidence, regarding this and kindred +subjects, derivable from the coins of the Roman Empire. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE. + +Bearing in mind the matters mentioned in the two last chapters, let us +now pass in review the coins struck by the Romans, and make a note of +such features as may, directly or indirectly, bear upon the history of +the cross. + +The first cross we meet with on the coins in question, is upon one of +Julius Caesar; who was appointed _Flamen Dialis_ B.C. 87, _Pontiff_ +B.C. 74, Military Tribune B.C. 73, Quaestor B.C. 68, _Pontifex Maximus_ +B.C. 63, and Dictator B.C. 49. + +The cross in question consists of the name _C. Cossutius Maridianus_ +arranged as a cross of four equal arms. And it should be noted that it +is admitted, even by such well-known authorities as Mr. C. W. King, +M.A., that the name was so arranged out of compliment to the official +in question _because his name had reference to the meridian sun_.[46] + +Upon a coin struck by Caesar's heir, the almost equally famous Augustus +(Consul B.C. 43, Emperor B.C. 29--A.C. 14), about twenty years before +our era, we see a head of the Sun-God Bacchus upon one side; and on the +reverse a man presenting a military standard, the banner of which is +ornamented with a St. Andrew's cross. + +Two other coins of the same reign and about the same date, have upon +them representations of military standards bearing the same symbol. + +Upon another coin struck by Augustus we see a crescent with a star or +radiate sun within its horns, the ancient phallic symbol adopted by the +followers of the prophet Muhammad centuries later. + +A similar symbol occurs upon the coins of Hadrian (A.C. 117-138). + +Upon two coins of Antoninus Pius (A.C. 138-161) we see the Sun-God +Hercules plucking the Golden Apple from a tree around which the +traditional serpent is coiled. + +On another coin of the same reign the Sun-God Hercules can be seen +holding a round object which admittedly represents the Golden Apple; +that symbol both of the Sun-God as (1) the bi-sexual Giver of Life and +(2) the personification of the Male Principle, and of the Goddess who +represented (1) the Love of the two sexes and (2) the Female Principle. + +Upon another coin Jove holds a similar looking object. + +Many coins issued in the name of Annia Galeria Faustina the wife of +Antoninus Pius, and by Marcus Aurelius (A.C. 161-180), and in the name +of his wife Annia Faustina, have upon them representations of Venus the +Goddess of Love holding a round object which is admittedly meant for +the Golden Apple. The favourite legends are _Venus Victrix_, _Venus +Felix_, and _Venus Genetrix_, and of phallic import; and in one +instance the Goddess of Love holds an infant wrapped in swaddling +clothes as well as the phallic apple. + +Other coins of Marcus Aurelius or his wife have upon them +representations of Eternity as a female figure holding a round object. +In some cases the round object is surmounted by a Phoenix. + +Upon a coin struck by Lucius Aurelius Verus (A.C. 160-169) that ruler +is to be seen holding a round object surmounted by a Victory. + +On the coins of Commodus (A.C. 180-192) sometimes Jove and sometimes +the Emperor holds a small round object. A Victory in some cases +surmounts it. + +Venus holding the Golden Apple--that is, a round object which in such +instances is admitted to have represented the Golden Apple--is to be +seen upon many coins issued in the name of Lucilla, the sister of +Commodus. + +Upon coins issued by Caius Pescennius Niger a small round object +surmounted by a Victory is to be seen in the hand of Jove. On a coin +struck by Septimus Severus (A.C. 193-211) we see Rome represented as a +female figure with a shield at her side marked with a cross. + +Upon another coin we see the Goddess of Love holding a round object +admittedly meant for the Golden Apple, while a child is stationed at +her feet. The legend is _Venus Genetrix_. Among the coins issued in the +name of Julia Domna, the wife of the last named Emperor, are nearly a +dozen varieties upon which Venus is represented as holding a round +object. A crescent occurs upon the reverse in some instances. + +Upon several coins of Caracalla (A.C. 211-217) we see that Emperor +holding a small round object surmounted by a Victory; upon others he is +to be seen holding a Victory only. + +Various coins issued in the name of Fulvia Plantilla the wife of +Caracalla, show us the Goddess of Love holding a round object. The +legends are _Venus Felix_ and _Venus Victrix_. + +In the reign of Elagabalus or Heliogabalus (A.C. 218-222) a coin was +struck on which we see the Goddess Astarte, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or +Venus, holding a cross. + +Venus holding a round object is to be seen upon many coins issued in +the names of Soaemias the mother of Elagabalus, his wife Julia Aquilia +Severa, Julia Mamma the mother of Alexander Severus, and his wife +Orbiana. + +On a coin of the Emperor Decius (A.C. 249-251) struck at Maeonia, we +meet with the so-called "Monogram of Christ" upon a Roman coin in the +form {image "monogram3.gif"} for the first time. + +Upon a coin of Trebonianus Gallus (A.C. 251-254) Eternity is +represented as a female holding a small round object. + +On another coin of this reign we see a Phoenix instead of a Victory +upon the round object held by the Emperor. + +Many of the coins of ancient Rome acclaim the Sun-God as the Saviour, +and upon a coin issued by Gallienus (A.C. 254-268) we see the Sun-God +Apollo holding a cross. + +Upon a coin issued by the younger Valerian we see the Sun-God holding a +small round object. + +A coin struck by Tetricus (A.C. 267-264) has upon its reverse a +representation of the Sun-God holding a round object, while in the +field near the Sun-God is a cross. + +On a coin issued by Claudius II. we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a +round object admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + +Upon a coin issued by Aurelianus we see the Sun-God holding a round +object surmounted by a crescent. + +On a coin issued by Vabalathus we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a +round object admittedly representing the Golden Apple. + +Upon a coin of Numerianus (A.C. 283-284) we see the Goddess of Love +holding a round object surmounted by a Victory. Such instances as this +should be specially noted, as nothing distinguishes the round objects +so surmounted from those held by Venus which admittedly represent the +Golden Apple, and the present fashion of our symbol the Coronation Orb +or Imperial Apple is due to the fact that a century later Theodosius +II. Emperor of Constantinople started the idea of substituting a cross +for the Victory. + +Upon several coins of Carinus (A.C. 282-284) we see the Sun-God holding +a small round object. + +On other coins of this reign Eternity appears as a female holding a +small round object surmounted by a Phoenix. + +Upon the coins issued in the name of Magnia Urbica, wife of Carinus, on +which we see Venus holding a small round object which admittedly +represented the Golden Apple, the Crescent frequently accompanies the +representations of the Goddess of Love. + +On coins issued by Diocletian (A.C. 284-305) we see both Jove and the +Sun-God holding a small round object; like the Emperor himself. A +Victory in some cases surmounts it. + +The Sun-God Hercules holding a round object which admittedly signified +the Golden Apple is to be seen on other coins issued during this reign. + +Among the coins issued by Diocletian's co-Emperor Maximian, is one +bearing a representation of the Sun-God Hercules in the Garden of the +Hesperides near the Tree encircled by the Serpent he slew. The Sun-God +holds a round object representing a Golden Apple plucked from the Tree +in question. + +On the reverse of another coin bearing the names both of Jove the +All-Father and Hercules the Sun-God, we see the latter represented as +holding a round object, admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + +In some cases where Hercules holds the Golden Apple-for instance, upon +a coin bearing the legend _Herculi invicto Aug_.--the Golden Apple is +surmounted by a Victory. + +A coin issued by Constantius Chlorus, the ruler of Gaul and father of +Constantine the Great, represents the Sun-God Hercules in the act of +plucking a Golden Apple from the famous Tree. + +A coin issued in the joint names of Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, +bearing the legend _Genio Populi Romani_, has in the field on the +reverse side a cross, which takes the place occupied upon otherwise +similar coins by a star-like object not improbably representing the +sun. + +Such are the more striking features of the evidence which can be +obtained from the Roman coins issued prior to the accession of +Constantine to the throne of Gaul. + +The reader will have seen that the symbol of the cross occurs several +times upon the coins in question, and in almost if not quite every +instance in connection with the Sun-God. + +The fact that upon a coin of Julius Caesar, and therefore before our +era, a cross admittedly occurs as a symbol of the sun, will also have +been remarked. + +It will also have been noticed in how very large a number of cases the +round symbol which was a precursor of our Coronation Orb admittedly +signified the Golden Apple, and therefore was of phallic import. + +Another point which the reader cannot very well fail to bear in mind, +is that where the Goddess of Love, as the representative of the sex +whose felicity lies in motherhood or the victorious production of life, +is seen carrying the symbol in question, the surrounding legend is +Venus _Genetrix_, or _Victrix_, or _Felix_, or some variation or other +of the same; and that the said legends are obviously phallic in +signification. + +If we also keep before us the fact that the Golden Apple whether held +by the Sun-God or his complement the Goddess of Love, was at times +surmounted by the figure of Victory for which Christian Emperors +gradually and only gradually substituted the figure of the cross, it is +curious to note that in early Christian representations of the Christ +he is often to be seen with the Apple or forbidden fruit of the Tree of +Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + +When the Christ is in such cases depicted as a youth, the phallic apple +is usually to be seen lying near him; but when the Christ is +represented as a man, it is placed in his hand. + +For instance a good example of the Christ holding the fruit of the Tree +of Life is reproduced for us in the well known work on the likeness of +Jesus by the late Thomas Heaphy.[47] Here we see, in a picture which +occurs upon a glass ornament found in the Catacombs of Rome in the tomb +of a Christian named Eutychia, an illustration of the Christ standing +by the side of the Tree of Life. The rays of the Sun surround the head +of the Christ, and in his hand is the phallic Apple. + +It will have been remarked that the round object to be seen upon +innumerable Roman coins in the hand of this or that ruler or deity, and +popularly supposed to have always represented the round world upon +which we dwell although it is at the same time believed that the world +was not then considered to be round, frequently occurs in the hand of a +female figure representing Eternity. It is self-evident that a +representation of the world we live on is less likely to have been so +placed than a symbol of Life. + +A still more striking fact, which cannot fail to have been noticed by +the reader of the evidence from the coins of ancient Rome quoted in the +earlier part of this chapter, is that in several instances a Phoenix +and not a Victory surmounts the so-called orb. For the story of the +Phoenix was derived from the Egyptian City of the Sun.[48] And the +fabulous bird in question was, according to Tacitus as well as +Herodotus, specially connected with the temple of the Sun-God at +Heliopolis. + +Upon this point it may be added that the famous story of the Phoenix +seems to have been known to the writer of _Job_; the Septuagint version +of _Job_ xxix. 18, being "I shall die in my nest and shall multiply my +days as the Phoenix" according to some of the best authorities. + +The various ages allotted to this allegorical bird had reference to the +calendar; as indeed we learn from Pliny, who tells us that + + "The revolution of the Great Year in which the seasons + and stars return to their former places, agrees with the + life of this bird."[49] + +This is borne out by the periods spoken of as the lifetime of the +Phoenix; as among them are one of 600 years, the Great Year referred to +by Josephus and others, and one of 1,461 years, which was the Sothic +period of the Egyptians. + +It is also clear that, like the Victory and the Golden Apple it +surmounted, the Phoenix and its wonderful egg were not only connected +with the Sun-God, but also had a phallic signification. + +The problem as to whether bird or egg first existed scarcely applies to +the fabulous Phoenix and its equally fabulous egg, and need not be +discussed here. Suffice it to say that the round object from which that +Christian symbol the Coronation Orb is descended, though it may at +times have more or less represented the world upon which we dwell, +seems to have primarily signified, as associated with each other in +idea, both the Golden Apple of Love and the Phoenix-like life principle +enshrined in the Egg, both the egg-like _Cosmos_ or Universe and +Eternity; but in all, and through all, and above all, the basis of all +power whether finite or infinite, _viz._, Life. + +It is therefore not surprising to find that the monarchs of ancient +days claimed to rule by divine right as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, to +whose favouring influence all earthly life is traceable; and caused +themselves to be represented, upon Roman coins as receiving the Golden +Apple, and upon Egyptian monuments as receiving the Cross, from the +Sun-God, as the symbol of their authority. + +Yet another point to be borne in mind, is that we Christians are +expressly taught that God the Father and God the Son are as nearly +identical as the ancients considered the Central Fire, which they +deemed the Parent of all things, and the Warmth and Light issuing +therefrom to be; or the Sun's disc and the emanations therefrom; the +Christ being represented as saying "I and My Father are one" and "He +that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." For though we describe ours as +a _co-equal_ Trinity, no such identity with either God the Father or +God the Son is affirmed of God the Holy Ghost, and it is remarkable +that in our ancient illustrations of the Three Persons, both the First +and the Second are represented as holding the so-called globe and +Cross, while the Third, even where depicted as of human shape like the +other two, is not. + +The fact is that the co-equality of the Holy Spirit of a God who is +Himself, as Jesus declared, a Spirit, is an idea which did not find +much acceptance among Christians till a comparatively late date and is +the outcome of confused thought. And the separate personality of this +Spirit of a Spirit being entirely a Christian conception, and without a +counterpart in the theology of the ancients, few if any Pagan symbols +such as the so-called globe and the cross would have been associated +with it in any case. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE. + +We are more or less in the habit of assuming that just as Paul, the +founder of the catholic faith, was converted, not altogether by reason +but as it were by force and with the rapidity of a flash of lightning, +under the rays of a meridian sun ("About _noon_ suddenly there shone +from heaven a great light round about me," _Acts_ xxii. 6; "At +_mid-day_," _Acts_ xxvi. 13), so Constantine, the establisher of that +faith as the State Religion of the empire in which Paul was so proud of +his rights as a citizen, was in similarly rapid fashion converted by +the appearance of a miraculous "cross" of light and an accompanying +legend above a meridian sun ("At _mid-day_," Eusebius, _Vit. Const. +I._). + +But, as has already been pointed out, this alleged vision of +Constantine is said to have taken place during his march upon Rome in +the year A.C. 312; and during the remaining twenty-five years of his +life he acted rather as if he were converting Christianity into what he +thought most likely to be accepted by his subjects as a catholic +religion, than as if he had been converted to the teachings of Jesus +the Nazarene. + +The fact is that Constantine was favourable to our religion out of +policy rather than conviction; and if after refusing so long he did +indeed, a quarter of a century after the alleged vision, consent to be +baptised when ill and dying, policy doubtless swayed him even then. +Anyway, as has already been stated and will now be seen, the evidence +of his coins conclusively shows that the God to whom Constantine from +first to last attributed his victories, was--the Sun-God. + +Upon one coin issued by Constantine we see upon the reverse a nude +figure crowned with rays, with the right hand elevated toward the east, +and a round object in the left hand. In the field is a cross widened at +the extremities, and the surrounding legend is a significant one, _Soli +Invicto Comiti_. This coin was struck years after the alleged +conversion of Constantine, and the combined reference to the Sun-God +and use of the cross are worthy of special notice. + +Upon two somewhat similar coins of Constantine the cross is placed +within a circular wreath of bay or laurel. + +On another coin with the same legend we see the same nude figure +crowned with rays, representing the Sun-God and carrying a round +object; while in the field we see the Gaulish symbol, sometimes called +a cross, which by the addition of a loop was, as we shall see later on, +turned into the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +Upon a coin with the anything but Christian legend _Marti +Conservatori_, is a cross with four equal arms. + +On a somewhat similar coin with the same legend, the helmet on the +reverse is ornamented with the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +Upon another coin we see Mars leaning on a shield adorned with the +so-called Monogram of Christ, the legend being _Marti Patri +Conservator_. + +On a coin issued in the name of his son Crispus during the reign of +Constantine, we see two Victories holding a shield upon a pedestal +marked with a cross of four equal arms. + +A similar cross appears upon a coin issued during this reign in the +name of another son of Constantine. + +Upon a coin bearing the inscription _Constantinus Max. Aug._ we see +upon the reverse a cross of four equal arms. + +On an otherwise similar coin a compound _tau_ cross of four equal arms, +{image "taucross.gif"}, appears. + +Upon a well-known engraving of a coin in the _Annales Ecclesiastici_ of +Baronius, the {image "monogram3.gif"} form of the so-called Monogram of +Christ appears upon the helmet of Constantine. Some authorities, +however, state that this is copied as the familiar {image +"monogram3.gif"} in error; what appeared on the helmet being the +Gaulish symbol {image "asterisk.gif"} with a dot representing a star +near the top of the vertical bar. Such a dot can be seen in a similar +place upon two or three coins bearing the legend _Virtus Exercit_. + +On another coin the legend _Gloria Exercitus_ surrounds two soldiers +holding military standards, between which is the symbol of the cross. + +On a somewhat similar coin the compound tan cross, of which we have +already noted an example, occurs between the standards. + +A cross of four equal arms appears upon a coin bearing the legend _Pax +Publica_. + +A coin issued during the reign of Constantine the Great in the name of +his son Constantine, has upon its reverse a cross of four equal arms, +the extremities of which are rounded. + +On an otherwise similar coin the compound tau cross appears. + +Upon a coin bearing the inscription _Constantinus Max. Aug._ a cross of +four equal arms occurs near a soldier armed with spear and shield. + +On the reverse of one coin we see two soldiers holding military +standards, and between the standards the so-called Monogram of Christ +appears. + +A coin of similar type was issued during the reign of Constantine the +Great in the name of his son Constantine. + +Upon a coin which on the obverse bears the inscription _Constantinus +Max. Aug._, we see upon the reverse Victory carrying a palm. In the +field is the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}. The surrounding motto is +_Victoria constantini Aug._ + +Several coins with the legend _Gloria Exercitus_ have upon the same +side two soldiers with a labarum or military standard between them, +upon the banner of which is the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}. + +On a coin with the legend _Victoria Caesar NN_ we see Victory carrying +a palm. In the field is the Gaulish symbol {image "asterisk.gif"}. + +The reverse of another coin has the legend _Constantinus Aug._, and +represents Constantine as holding a labarum or military standard +terminating in a round object. Upon the banner is the symbol {image +"monogram4.gif"}. + +On a coin bearing upon its obverse the inscription _Constantinopolis_, +we see upon the other side a figure of Victory and a cross of four +equal arms. + +On another coin bearing the same legend we see upon the reverse Victory +standing upon a ship, and to the left the so-called monogram. + +Upon another coin we see the same symbol above the wolf and twins of +the city of Rome. + +A rare coin bears upon the obverse the inscription _Constantinus Max. +Aug._, and on the reverse, surrounded by the legend _Spes Publica_, a +labarum or military standard the handle or base of which transfixes a +serpent. Upon the banner three globules are embroidered, and the symbol +{image "monogram3.gif"} appears above the cross-bar from which the +banner hangs. + +Upon one medal or coin of Constantine we see the significant legend +_Soli Invicto Aeterno Aug._ inscribed around the quadriga of the +Sun-God Phoebus. + +On another piece struck by Constantine the Great, the Sun-God is given +the title _Comes Aug._; Companion, Guardian, or Saviour, of the +Emperor. + +Upon several coins we see the legend _Comiti Aug. NN_, and, surrounded +by the same, the Sun-God holding a small round object. + +On numerous other coins also, the Sun-God is represented as holding a +small round object. + +Other significant Sun-God legends to be met upon the coins of this +alleged Christian Emperor, are _Comis Constantini Aug., Soli Invicto, +Soli Comiti Augg. NN, Soli Invicto Com. D.N._ and the like. + +Upon a coin bearing the legend _Soli Comiti Aug. N._ we see the Sun-God +presenting Constantine with a small round object surmounted by a +Victory. + +On a coin with the legend _Pax Augustorum_, Constantine holds a +standard ornamented with a cross. + +Upon another coin Constantine is to be seen holding what is said to be +a representation of the Zodiac. + +On a coin issued in his own name, as upon others already mentioned as +issued in the names of his sons, we see two Victories supporting a +shield upon an altar ornamented with a cross. + +Upon a somewhat similar coin the altar is ornamented with the star-like +object which in days of old so often stood for the radiate sun. + +A coin with the inscription _Divo Constantino_, and on the reverse the +legend _Aeterna Pietas_ and a representation of Constantine holding a +round object surmounted by the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}, though +usually included in the coins of that Emperor was evidently struck +after his death and deification. + +The same remark applies to a somewhat similar coin, which has an +additional symbol in a plain cross in the field to the right of the +Emperor-God. + +It should be noted that the question here arises as to how far it is +fair of us to claim this cross and so-called Monogram of Christ as +Christian and at the same time denounce as Pagan the deification of +Constantine referred to upon the same coins. + +As to the coins of Constantine the Great as a whole, it need only be +remarked once more that while upon many of the pieces struck by him +Constantine attributed his victories to the Sun-God, not upon a single +one of them did he attribute them to the Christ; while it was ever the +Sun-God and never the Christ whom he alluded to on his coins as his +Companion, Partner, Guardian, or Saviour. + +This being so, how can we honestly claim that the so-called Monogram of +Christ, and other forms of the cross, were ever placed upon his coins +by Constantine as symbols of the Christ, yet never as symbols of the +Sun-God? + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE. + +Passing on to the Christian successors of Constantine the Great, we are +at once met with the significant fact that Constantine the Second +issued many different coins bearing a representation of the Sun-God +holding a small round object; and, as the surrounding legend, _Claritas +Reipublicae_. + +Another coin of this son of Constantine the Great, and one which +deserves special attention, has upon its reverse a Cross and a Crescent +in juxtaposition, as if the cross signified the sun. + +A very similar coin has the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the +military standards. + +Upon another coin we see on the reverse both this Christian Emperor and +the Sun-God; the former holding a small round object, and the latter +crowning him. The surrounding legend is _Soli Invicto Comiti_. + +The reverse of another coin bears the same Sun-God legend, and +represents the Sun-God as holding a small round object. + +Upon another coin we see Constantine holding a small round object +surmounted by a Victory. On the reverse is the symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"}. + +Constans I., another son of Constantine the Great, issued a coin on +which he is represented as holding in one hand a simply formed labarum +or military standard consisting of a straight pole terminating at the +top in a crossbar, from which hangs a banner bearing the symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"}; while in the other hand he holds a small round object +surmounted by a _Phoenix_. + +Constantius II., yet another son of Constantine the Great, issued a +coin on which is the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the letters +{alpha} and {omega} (? APX{omega}); the legend being _Salus Aug +Nostri_. + +On another coin is Constantius II. as the Sun, upon one side; and upon +the other the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the letters alpha +and omega once again. + +Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine the Great who took Rome in A.C. 350 +but was killed as an usurper the same year, issued a coin on the +reverse of which, surrounded by the legend _Urbs Roma_, is a female +figure representing Rome and holding in her hand a round object +surmounted by the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"}. + +The symbol {image "monogram4.gif"} frequently occurs upon the coins of +Valeus (A.C. 364-378). And upon one coin of this Emperor we see the +letter P surmounting a cross; surrounded by the legend _Gloria +Romanorum_. + +Upon a coin of Valentinianus II. we see Victory holding a round object +surmounted by a cross, the legend being _Victoria Augustorum_. + +On the coins of Theodosius I. (A.C. 378-395) we find representations of +the Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Phoenix, and of the +Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Victory; as also of +Victory holding a round object surmounted by a cross. + +This Emperor Theodosius I., better known as Theodosius the Great, after +securing sole control of the Roman Empire brought about the final +disruption of the world-wide dominions of Rome by bequeathing them in +two portions to his sons Arcadius and Honorius; the elder, Arcadius, +becoming Emperor of Constantinople and the East, while the younger, +Honorius, became Emperor of Rome and the West: A.C. 395. + +Less than a century later, _viz._, between the years A.C. 475 and 480, +the Western Empire was finally extinguished by Odoacer; the Eastern +Empire surviving it nearly a thousand years, lasting as the latter did +from the partition in A.C. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by +Mahomet II. in A.C. 1453. + +It was, as stated in a previous chapter, upon the coins of an Emperor +of the East, _viz._, Theodosius II., that the first example occurs of a +representation of an Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a +cross; though, as has been noted, instances of Victory carrying an +object so surmounted had previously occurred. And it need only be added +that the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"}, +often the centre of a circle or surrounded by a circular wreath of bay +or laurel, continually occur upon the coins of the Eastern Empire, the +symbol {image "asterisk.gif"} frequently, and the undisguised solar +wheel, {image "solarwheel1.gif"} upon the coins of Eudoxia, Theodosius +II., Leo I., and others. + +The evidence of the coins of the Roman Empire given in this and the two +preceding chapters, coupled with the too-often forgotten fact that the +only form of cross which could possibly be a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed was the very last +form of cross to be adopted as a Christian symbol, cannot, it will be +seen, lead the unprejudiced enquirer to any other conclusion than that +the cross became the symbol of Christendom because the advent of +Constantine and his Gauls made it a prominent symbol of the Roman +Empire. And that the symbol in question was not altogether unconnected +with Sun-God worship, should be equally clear to the reader. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST. + +The so-called "Monogram of Christ "--a term which has at one time or +another been applied to each of the symbols {image "solarwheel1.gif"} +or {image "asterisk.gif"}, {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram3.gif"}, and {image "monogram2.gif"} or {image +"monogram4.gif"}, as but variations of one and the same +symbol--deserves a chapter to itself. + +Though not first placed upon the coins of the Roman Empire by +Constantine any more than was the right-angled cross of four equal arms +or the so-called St. Andrew's cross, the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} +was, like the {image "x.gif"} cross and the many varieties of +right-angled crosses of four equal arms, first brought into prominence +as a Roman symbol by the Emperor in question. + +From the evidence at our disposal it would appear that Decius was the +first Roman ruler to make use of this form of the so-called Monogram of +Christ. Anyhow, as has already been remarked, this symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"} occurs upon a coin of the Emperor Decius struck at +Maeonia about A.C. 250; and therefore more than half a century before +the days of Constantine. And it is noteworthy that it was as a Pagan +symbol that the {image "monogram3.gif"} thus first appeared upon the +Roman coinage. + +The coin in question is a bronze one, and the "Monogram of Christ" +occurs in the centre of a Greek inscription surrounding a +representation of the Sun-God Bacchus; and, apparently, as an +amalgamation or contraction of the two Greek letters equivalent to our +R and CH, _viz._: the Greek letters P and X.[50] + +Why these particular letters should have been contracted, is, however, +uncertain; and the question arises as to whether the {image +"monogram3.gif"} first arose as a contraction of such Greek letters, or +as an amalgamation of the Roman letters P and X, or as the cross {image +"x.gif"} _plus_ the Greek P (our R) as the initial letter of the Greek +name for Rome. + +Moreover if it be decided that the symbol first arose as a contraction +of certain letters, yet further questions arise; _viz._; in what order +those letters were first read, and what word they first represented. + +Before going into such matters as these, however, it is important that +we should fully realise how certain it is that the so-called Monogram +of Christ was originally a _Pagan_ symbol. For even if this be not +considered demonstrated by its occurrence upon a Roman coin long +before, according to our Church, the Christ caused Constantine to use +it as the military standard of the Gauls, it is clearly shown by its +occurrence upon many relics of pre-Christian date. + +The so-called "Monogram of Christ" can be seen, for instance, upon a +monument of Isis, the Virgin Mother of the Sun-God, which dates from +the second century before our era.[51] Also upon the coins of +Ptolemaeus; on one of which is a head of Zeus Ammon upon one side, and +an eagle bearing the {image "monogram3.gif"} in its claws upon the +other.[52] The symbol in question also appears upon Greek money struck +long before the birth of Jesus; for instance upon certain varieties of +the Attic tetradrachma. And the {image "monogram4.gif"} occurs upon +many different coins of the first Herod, struck thirty years or more +B.C. + +Whether the Pagan {image "monogram3.gif"} and the Pagan {image +"monogram4.gif"} originally had the same signification or not, is +uncertain. + +Almost equally uncertain is the date at which we Christians first +adopted these Pagan symbols as Christian symbols because they could be +interpreted as formed of the two first letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma}, _Christos_, Christ. + +The probability is that Christians had at least drawn attention to this +possible interpretation of the symbols in question before the days of +Constantine. But this scarcely renders less noteworthy the fact, shown +further on, that the favourite symbol of the Gaulish warriors, the +solar wheel {image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, was +sooner or later altered by their leader into {image "monogram1.gif"} or +{image "monogram2.gif"} to please the Christians; while the symbols +{image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"} were also made use +of by Constantine. + +Which form of solar wheel, monogram, or cross, was that actually +carried by the Gauls in triumph within the walls of Rome and set up by +their leader in the heart of the Eternal City, is not quite certain. +But it is clear that as both the {image "monogram3.gif"} and the {image +"monogram4.gif"} appeared upon coins struck before our era, Constantine +cannot very well have been ignorant of the fact that these were +originally Pagan symbols, when he favoured the addition of a loop to +the top of the vertical bar of the Gaulish solar symbols {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "asterisk.gif"} and {image +"solarwheel2.gif"} or {image "plus.gif"} in order that what his Gaulish +army venerated as triumphal tokens might be accepted as symbols of +victory by his Christian supporters also. + +That this Gaulish monarch did so alter, and for the reason named, the +symbol or symbols venerated by his troops, is admitted by, amongst +others, that well known writer the Reverend S. Baring Gould, M.A. For, +referring to the solar wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God venerated by +the ancient Gauls, this author tells us that Constantine + + "Adopted and adapted the sign for his standards, and the + _Labarum_ of Constantine became a common Christian + symbol. That there was policy in his conduct we can + hardly doubt; the symbol he set up gratified the + Christians in his army on one side and the Gauls on the + other. For the former it was a sign compounded of the + initial letters of Christ, to the latter it was the + token of the favour of the solar deity."[53] + +As the fact that both the {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} were in use as symbols before the commencement of our +era thoroughly disposes of our contention as Christians that the +so-called "Monogram of Christ" had its origin in the formation of a +monogram out of the two first letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma} (_Christos_, Christ), it is clear that these +symbols must have had some other origin. + +Assuming that the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} had the same origin, and the same signification, and +that if the {image "monogram4.gif"} was a combination of two letters +the Greek or Latin T (instead of X) was not one of them; or rather, as +these would be very considerable assumptions, more or less confining +our attention to the {image "monogram3.gif"} as the more likely of the +two to have arisen as a combination of the Greek letters P and X; let +us in passing briefly enquire into the origin of the so-called Monogram +of Christ as a Pagan symbol. + +If we seek for that origin as a combination of the first two letters of +some other Greek word than Christos, _Christ_, and for the moment +assume the letters P and X to have occurred in the same order as in +that word, we see at once that the monogram may have been derived +either from the word Chrestos, _Good_, or the word Chronos, _Time_, or +the word Chrusos, _Gold_. + +There is, by the way, another curious connection between the three +Greek words in question. For the name of the famous god Kronos or +Cronos was often spelt XPONO{sigma} _i.e._, Chronos.[54] And this god +Chronos--the father of Zeus; and more or less a personification of +Time, the Old Father from whom we are all descended--was identical with +Saturn, while the Saturnian Age was, as in Virgil's fourth eclogue, +ever that spoken of as the Golden age when the ancients were referring +to what they pictured as the good old times. + +It will not do, however, to assume that if the symbol we are +considering first arose as a combination of the Greek letters P and X, +they were of necessity taken from, and representative of, a word in +which they occur in the same order as in _Christos_. And the fact that +in the {image "monogram4.gif"}, if not also in the {image +"monogram3.gif"}, the P is the leading feature, gives emphasis to the +point in question. + +If we suppose that the so-called monogram arose as a combination of the +Greek letters in question occurring in the order P X, the student of +such matters can scarcely fail to note that the letters in question +occur in that order as the centre both of the word APXH, the _Head_, +_Chief_, or _First_; and also as the centre of the kindred word +APX{omega}, _to be first_, the only remaining letters of which, and +therefore the first and the last of this word as of the old Greek +alphabet, are, as will be seen, Alpha and Omega, the letters so +continually placed on either side of the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} +in Christian times. + +In this connection it should be pointed out that according to some of +the best authorities the first {image "monogram3.gif"} which occurs +upon any Roman coin, coming as it does after the letter _alpha_ in a +Greek inscription, should be taken with that letter as forming the PX +of APX, the latter being an abbreviation of some form or other of the +title _Archon_. This title was that given to the dignitary who was at +one and the same time the chief magistrate of the state and its chief +priest, and it may be worth remark that as Bacchus was the deity +worshipped in Lydia, the Archon in question would therefore have been +the chief priest of the Sun-God. + +Several writers have, in their zeal for our religion, outrun their +discretion, and gone so far as to assume that the existence of the +so-called monogram of Christ upon this coin of the Emperor Decius is +due to some Christian having been employed in turning out the coin in +question, and having in _his_ zeal surreptitiously introduced a symbol +of his faith. But though gravely supported by more than one great +authority, this is obviously an absurd position to take up. And in any +case the facts remain that it was in this instance placed over a +representation of the Sun-God, and had for centuries been in use as a +Pagan symbol. + +Passing on, however, we have next to note that, as before hinted, even +if the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} arose as a combination of two +letters, though we know that symbol to have been often used as a +contraction of the Greek letters P and X (our R and CH), there is no +proof that it arose as a combination of two Greek letters; and the +symbol may have arisen as a combination of the Roman letters P and X. + +It should therefore be pointed out that in the inscriptions which have +come down to us from the Gaulish Christians of the sixth, seventh, and +eighth centuries after Christ, the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and +{image "monogram4.gif"} are continually used as contractions of the +Latin word PAX, _Peace_. For though the fact that the Monogram was +often so interpreted by Christians centuries A.C. can by no means be +considered evidence that it was thus that it first arose as a Pagan +symbol centuries B.C., such a possibility should be kept before us. + +But did the so-called Monogram of Christ first come into being as a +combination of two letters; Greek, Roman, or otherwise? + +Even this is not certain, for this pre-Christian symbol may originally +have been a cross, as a symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, _plus_ the +Greek letter P as the initial character of the word "Rome" in what may +be called the court language of the time. + +Such an explanation would more or less account for the variations +{image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"}; these being +obviously the natural ways of adding the letter P, signifying Rome, to +the crosses {image "x.gif"} and {image "plus.gif"} respectively. + +All the foregoing references to the origin of the so-called monogram as +a Pagan symbol of pre-Christian date, are but speculations however. Its +origin cannot be ascertained for certain. + +The revival of this pre-Christian symbol, and the prominence given to +it upon the coins of the Roman Empire, _are_, however, traceable. And, +as has been shown, they are traceable to Constantine; who induced the +Christians to accept as the Monogram of the Christ, and therefore as a +Christian as well as a Gaulish symbol of victory, the Solar Wheel +venerated by the Gaulish conquerors of Rome. + +Nowadays the so-called Monogram of Christ is almost always reproduced +for us as {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}; but the +fact that Constantine sometimes so used it should not blind us to the +facts that it was at first usually the centre of a circle, like the +spokes of a wheel; and that the undisguised solar wheel {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} appears upon not a few of the coins issued by the +Christian successors of Constantine, while since his reign the solar +wheel {image "solarwheel2.gif"} and many an artistic variation of the +same have been Christian symbols, and when in our ornamentation of +ecclesiastical properties we omit the circle we as often as not make +the cross itself wheel-like by rounding the extremities and widening +them till they nearly meet. + +Moreover it should not be forgotten that it was evidently one form or +other of the solar wheel of the Gauls, _plus_ the politic loop to one +of its spokes, which Constantine and his Gaulish warriors are said to +have seen above the meridian sun, with the divinely written legend EN +TOYT{omega} NIKA, _By this conquer_, attached. For though that +miraculous symbol is referred to as a "cross," the Monogram itself was +so referred to; and Eusebius, after telling us that the Christ appeared +to Constantine and commanded him to make a military standard for the +Sun-God worshipping Gauls, "With the same sign which he had seen in the +heavens," expressly describes this as composed of "Two letters +indicating the name of the Christ, the letter P being intersected with +X at the centre." And on this particular Labarum of Constantine, as on +the majority of the Labara represented upon his coins, the {image +"monogram3.gif"} was the centre of a circle or circular wreath, like +the spokes of a wheel.[55] + +In any case the fact that the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} was a +Pagan one centuries before the Christ is said to have made it a +Christian one for the Sun-God worshipping Gauls to follow on to +victory, coupled with the facts that they are said to have seen it +above the mid-day sun, and that it was admittedly a politic adaptation +of the Solar Wheel, show us how much Eusebius and other Christian +chroniclers both invented and suppressed, and also how largely the +influence of Sun-God worship permeated and moulded our religion. + +In this connection it may be noted, as a curious fact rather than as +evidence, that according to some authorities the so-called Monograms of +Christ were in earlier ages Monograms of the Sun-God Osiris.[56] Also +that both Socrates and Sozomen tell us that when the temple of the +Sun-God Serapis at Alexandria was pulled down, the symbol of the Christ +was discovered upon its foundations and the Christians made many +converts in consequence a somewhat significant statement. + +Moreover we are told that upon every _Dies Solis_, or in other words +upon that day of the week which throughout the Roman Empire was held +sacred to the Sun-God and throughout Christendom is called Sun-day, +Constantine made his troops, assembled under what was admittedly a +solar symbol, recite at a given time, which was probably dawn or +mid-day, a prayer commencing "We acknowledge thee to be God alone, and +own that our victories are due to thy favour."[57] Who could this God +have been but the Sun-God, seeing that it was to the Sun-God that +Constantine upon his coins ever attributed his victories? And what is +more likely than that, wishing to take a friendly view of the deity +worshipped by their supporters the Christians, it was as conceiving the +Christ to be but the latest addition to the many conceptions of the +Sun-God, that Constantine altered the solar symbols of his troops into +the so-called Monograms of Christ, and that his troops accepted the +alterations? + +And, passing from the symbol to the deity represented, let us remember +that it is recorded that various Christian paintings of ancient times +bore upon them the dedicatory words _DEO SOLI_. For this remarkable +legend means both "To God alone" and "To the Sun-God," both "To the +Sole God" and "To the God Sol;" and forcibly reminds us, not only of +the prayer which Constantine caused his troops to repeat, but also of +that fine address to the "universally adored" Sun-God commencing + + "Latium calls thee Sol because in honour thou + art Solitary, + After the Father."[58] + +Now, as will be shown further on, a cross of some description or other +was in every land accepted as the symbol of the universally adored +Sun-God. And while not a single one of the many books forming the New +Testament states that Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument, and the _first_ crosses Christians used as signs or symbols +bore every form but that which a cross-shaped instrument of execution +would have borne, the Christians of the fourth century, as we have +seen, went out of their way to claim even the so-called Monogram of +Christ as a cross; Eusebius so carefully speaking of it as such even +where he relates that Constantine and his soldiers saw it above the +meridian sun, that one might not unreasonably imagine him to be +claiming it as Christian because it was more or less cruciform and +therefore more or less like the world-wide symbol of the Sun-God. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS. + +Having made clear the part played by Constantine in the prominence +given in his lifetime to the cross as a symbol of the Roman Empire and +therefore of what he made its State Religion, and having also shown +that while the Christian chroniclers of those days are silent +concerning the various forms of crosses placed by Constantine upon his +coins they went out of their way to allude to the so-called Monogram of +Christ as a cross, to claim it as such, and even to associate it with +the sun, let us now turn our attention again to the pre-Christian +cross. + +So great was the veneration in which that phallic and solar symbol the +cross was held in the ages which preceded the birth and death of Jesus, +that the philosophers of those days even went so far as to declare that +the cross was the figure of the Life or Soul of the Universe. + +Though it is a matter of very considerable importance, we Christians +for some reason or other ignore the fact that long before our era +commenced philosophers thus conceived the figure of the cross to be the +symbol of the _Logos_ of God. + +Now although, following the Gospel of St. John, we have made it a main +article of our belief that the Logos, really the Thought _plus_ Speech, +of God, became about the year B.C. 4 specially incarnate in the person +of Jesus the Nazarene, we ought not to forget that, being the one Power +by which all that ever came into existence was created and all that +exists is sustained, the Logos in any case ever was, is, and will be, +incarnate in every sentient being. + +As the Logos of God (or, as the Authorised Version of the Bible into +English most inadequately renders it in the first chapter of St. John's +Gospel, the _Word_ of God) was by the philosophers called the +"Intellectual Sun" and the "Light of the World",[59] being, as a +personification of the _Thought_ and _Speech_ of the All-Father, a +personification of Wisdom and Reason (which, in an even more real sense +than the emanations of the physical sun, form the "Light of the World," +or, as the original text of the New Testament puts it, the "Light of +the _Cosmos_"), the fact that pre-Christian philosophers affirmed that +the cross was the symbol of the said "Light of the Cosmos," is +obviously one which every writer concerning the cross as a Christian +symbol ought in common honesty to deal with. + +That pre-Christian philosophers did so affirm, can be seen by turning +to the _Timaeus_ of Plato, where, referring to the begetting of the +Universal Soul (whom Philo, another pre-Christian philosopher, speaks +of as the "Second God"; and as God's "Beloved Son," "Image," +"Ambassador," "Mediator," and "First-Begotten"), Plato says + + "Such was the whole plan of the Eternal God about the + God that was to be:--and in the centre he put the soul + which he diffused throughout the body:--and he made the + Universe a circle moving in a circle. Having these + purposes in view he created the world a blessed God:--he + made the soul on this wise--joined--at the centre like + the letter X."[60] + +Concerning this pronouncement of the great Teacher he so revered, +Proclus wrote as follows + + "Two circles will be formed, of which one is interior + but the other is exterior. One of these is called the + circle of the Same and one the circle of the Different, + or of the Fixed and of the Variable, or rather of the + Equinoctial Circle and of the Zodiac. The circle of the + Different revolves about the Zodiac, but the circle of + the Same about the Equinoctial. Hence we conceive that + the right lines are not to be applied to each other at + right angles but like the letter X, as Plato says, so as + to cause the angles to be equal only at the summit but + those on each side and the successive angles to be + unequal. For the Equinoctial Circle does not cut the + Zodiac at right angles. Such therefore in short is the + mathematical discussion of the figure of the (Universal) + Soul."[61] + +Even the Fathers of the Christian Church admitted that their ideas of +the Son of God and of the cross being his symbol, were more or less +derived from pre-Christian philosophers. For we find Justin Martyr +remarking that Plato declared that + + "The Power next to the Supreme God was figured in + the shape of the letter X upon the universe."[62] + +And in another place this famous Father states that + + "Whereas Plato, philosophising about the Son of God, + says God expressed him upon the universe in the shape + of the letter X, he evidently took the hint from Moses, + who took brass and made the sign of the cross and + placed it by the holy tabernacle, and declared that if + people would look upon that cross and believe they would + be saved."[63] + +The value of all this evidence is so obvious that its mere parade is +almost sufficient. + +It should however be pointed out that this cross {image "x.gif"}, being +avowedly adopted by the pre-Christian philosophers as the symbol of the +"Logos" or "First-begotten" of God in preference to the {image +"plus.gif"} because the zodiac or pathway of the Sun does not "cross" +the equator at right angles, was clearly a solar symbol. And it may be +added that though Justin Martyr is careful to claim this particular +solar cross as a symbol of the Christ, no one claims that Jesus was +executed upon an instrument so shaped; while the story that St. Andrew +was affixed to an instrument of execution so shaped, is admittedly a +worthless legend. + +This claim of Justin Martyr that the solar cross of the philosophers +was a pre-Christian symbol of the Christ, is, when considered in +connection with the fact that nearly all the Fathers allude to the +figure of the cross, _any_ kind of cross, as a life-giving symbol from +time immemorial, significant of much. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE. + +That the symbol of the cross was widely venerated in Europe long before +our era, is well known to archaeologists. Of Britain in those days we +know next to nothing, history being almost silent upon the subject and +relics conspicuous by their absence. The cross is however a conspicuous +feature upon certain funeral urns which are said to date back to the +period in question. And it is noteworthy that both it and the solar +wheel occur upon several of the earliest British coins; which whether +issued as some say before, or as others aver after, the advent of +Julius Caesar, were admittedly of pre-Christian date. Evidences of the +veneration of the cross in France before our era are so numerous and +easily ascertainable, that it will only be necessary to refer the +reader to the _Collection Roujou_, the pages of the _Revue de +Numismatique_, and the writings of Messieurs De la Saussaye, Lenormant, +De Saulcy, E. Lambert, and other French authorities. + +If, continuing our journey eastwards, we pass over the border into the +northern provinces of Italy, we find equally striking evidence of the +pre-Christian veneration of the symbol in question. + +Let us take for example the evidence furnished by the remarkable +discoveries made in the pre-Christian cemetery unearthed at Gola-Secca. +For upon a very large proportion of the articles discovered in the +ancient tombs of the cemetery in question, a cross of some kind is the +prominent feature. + +Particulars of these articles can be found recorded in the literary and +scientific journals of France. And the conclusion arrived at by the +authorities upon such matters cannot be better put than in the revised +edition in book form of an article in the _Revue Archeologque_ by +Monsieur G. de Mortillet. + +After referring to the relics of so much of ancient Gaul as is +comprised in modern France, a subject he takes leave of in the words-- + + "But the pre-Christian cult of the cross was not + confined to Savoy and the environs of Lyons. A glance at + the coins of ancient Gaul is sufficient to show that it + existed in nearly every part"-- + +M. de Mortillet, crossing the frontier and dealing +with the said tombs of Gola-Secca near Milan +in Italy, sums up as follows + + "One sees that there can be no doubt whatever concerning + the use of the cross as a religious sign for a very long + time before Christianity. The cult of the cross was well + spread over Gaul before its conquest and already existed + in Emilia in the Bronze Age, more than a thousand years + before Jesus Christ." + +Let us pass on to yet another country, Switzerland. Here also we find +unexceptional evidence of the general recognition of the cross before +our era as a symbol which should above all others be venerated. + +The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland may be said to have been brought to +light by the extraordinary drought experienced in the years A.C. +1853-4; for though piles and ancient remains were found upon the shores +of various lakes before that date, no great heed was paid to them till +the drought in question lowered the waters of the lake of Zurich and of +other lakes to an unprecedented extent, and certain discoveries due +thereto led to the matter being thoroughly investigated by +antiquarians. + +The result was that many relics of the Lake Dwellers were found. And, +placed upon those relics by this forgotten race of hoary antiquity as +the sign they venerated, was the symbol of the cross. + +These relics, preserved for us by the sediment carried into the lakes +by various rivers, cannot be less than 3,000 years old, are not +improbably 4,000 years old, and may quite possibly be 5,000 years old; +some authorities--Monsieur Morlot for instance--estimating their age at +from 6,000 to 7,000 years. Suffice it to record the fact that these +relics are admittedly pre-Christian. + +Upon the articles in question, as on those discovered in the +pre-Christian tombs of Gola-Secca, the cross is stamped as a symbol of +life, of good omen, and of salvation. Even dies for stamping articles +with the cross have been discovered among the remains of the Lake +Dwellers. And the crosses are of three kinds; (1) the right-angled +cross of four equal arms, of which so many variations, some enclosed in +circles and some with the extremities widened and rounded, are used as +Christian symbols; (2) the other cross of four equal arms, known as the +St. Andrew's cross or _Chi_ cross; and (3) the Fylfot or Svastika +cross. + +The last named cross is a peculiar one of quite unmistakeable design; +and there are two varieties, {image "svastika1.gif"}, and {image +"svastika2.gif"}, of which one is obviously an impression or reverse +view of the other. + +The names _Fylfot_ and _Svastika_ are very generally applied to both +these symbols. The term _Svastika_, an Indian one, is however applied +by the inhabitants of Hindostan to one only; they calling the other +_Sauvastika_. And it is curious to note that the meanings attached to +these names, though, like the symbols allied in nature, are, also like +them, the reverse or negative or complement of each other. + +For instance we are told by Sir G. Birdwood that the right handed +Svastika signifies the Male Principle, the Sun on its daily journey +from East to West, Light and Life; and that the left-handed Svastika +signifies the Female Principle, the Sun in Hades or the Underworld on +its journey from West to East, Darkness and Death.[64] + +This more or less official pronouncement may be taken as a fairly +accurate one, although it is obvious that the annual as well as the +diurnal movement of the Sun should have been referred to; the half year +between the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox representing Light and +Life, and that between the Autumnal Equinox and Vernal Equinox Darkness +and Death, just as clearly as do the half days between sunrise and +sunset, sunset and sunrise. But it is to be feared that even those who +remember how often Death and Darkness are referred to as periods of +Gestation, will have some difficulty in seeing how a sign or symbol of +the Female Power of Generation can have signified Death. + +The fact of course is that the symbol in question represented both Life +and Death, and represented the latter only in a minor sense and owing +to the fact that the Female Principle of Life was regarded as the +necessary reverse, negative, or complement of the Male Principle; which +latter, having of the two the better claim to be considered the starter +of life, was the one more particularly identified with Life and +therefore with the vernal Sun-God. + +It would also appear that the two symbols in question to some extent +signified Fire and Water; Fire being of course the Male Principle, Day, +Summer, Light, and Life; and Water the Female Principle. This still +further illustrates the point dealt with above; for though Water is the +negative of Fire, yet Fire cannot produce Life without the aid of +Water. + +Returning however to our consideration of the cross as a symbol of Life +of pre-Christian date and origin, and having already dealt with the +lands now known as Britain, France, Italy, and Switzerland, let us now +consider the evidence of Greece. + +At Mycenae and elsewhere Dr. Schliemann discovered, among other relics +of a bygone age, not only articles marked with the Svastika cross and +the cross of four equal arms, but even seals and dies giving +impressions of such crosses; thus demonstrating how large and prominent +a part the symbol of the cross played in pre-Christian times among +those in whose classic tongue the earliest known copies of the +Christian Scriptures were written centuries later. + +It is also remarkable that Dr. Schliemann found golden crosses in the +previously unopened tombs he discovered and explored at Mycenae; as +many as five such crosses having in some instances been placed with a +single body by those who sealed up the vaults in question thousands of +years ago and many centuries before the commencement of our era. + +As few if any unrifled tombs of so ancient a date have been discovered +in Greece and first explored by a trustworthy investigator, and as, +moreover, it would only have been with the bodies of important +personages that crosses of so valuable a material as gold would have +been buried, these discoveries, coupled with the self-evident fact that +crosses of more perishable material may have been buried with the +bodies of less distinguished people, and by this time, like both the +bodies and the tombs which enclosed them, have gone to dust, are most +remarkable. And they entirely corroborate the testimony borne by the +coins of ancient Gaul, the contents of the tombs of Gola-Secca, and the +remains of the Lake Dwellers of Switzerland, to the veneration paid +long before our era by the inhabitants of Europe to the cross as the +recognised symbol of Life. Nor as the symbol only of the life which +ends in the grave, but also of the glorious hope that as the Sun, from +whom we derive that life, whether considered from a daily or yearly +point of view sinks but to rise again, even so we who owe our brief +lives to the Sun-God, may, like the Giver of Life and only Saviour, +rise from one life to another. + +For whether the ancients were or were not unphilosophic enough to +believe in the resurrection of bodies whose constituent atoms are +continually changing and in time form part of other bodies, it is +absurd to assume that they did not at times like ourselves conceive and +dwell upon a hoped-for, if unexpected and improbable, Life-to-come. + +Moreover it is with us, as it was with them, a _hope_; and it is +disingenuous to label as Christian what was pre-Christian, and to claim +as ours what has been common to the reasoning minds of suffering men +and women of all eras. + +It is equally disingenuous on the part of us Christians to keep in the +background the noteworthy fact that even in pre-Christian ages the +symbol of that hope was--the cross. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA. + +If, leaving Europe, we pass on into Asia, we find that not only have +the two varieties of Svastika crosses for thousands of years played a +prominent part as a religious symbol in Hindostan, Thibet, and China, +but that other kinds of crosses also were in bygone ages venerated by +their inhabitants. + +For instance our Eastern Empire is strewn with the remains of ancient +temples built, like those of Christendom in later days, in the shape of +a cross; and we are told that the oldest of its rock-hewn caves were +planned after the same figure. It is also well-known that isolated +stone crosses of pre-historic date are to be seen in various parts of +India. + +The evidence of Hindostan is however outweighed by that obtainable from +the antiquities of Western Asia, concerning some of which Sir A. H. +Layard wrote: + + "The crux ansata, the tau or sign of life, is found in + the sculptures of Khorsabad, on the ivories of + Nimroud--which as I have shown are of the same + age--carried too by an Assyrian King."[65] + +We have also to note the equally significant facts that the recognised +symbol of the Phoenician Goddess of Love--Astarte, Ashtoreth, or +Ishtar, the Bride of the Sun-God--was a cross; that a cross was also +associated with the Phoenician Baal or Sun-God; and that the circle and +cross, now the symbol of the planet held sacred to the Goddess of Love, +frequently occurs upon the ancient coins of Western Asia and was not +improbably more or less akin in signification to the crux ansata of +Egypt. The fact that upon very ancient remains still existing the Baal +is represented as crowned with a wheel-like nimbus of rays should also +be mentioned. + +The cross more especially connected with the Phoenician "Bride of the +Sun-God" in ancient days, was, as can easily be seen upon reference to +ancient coins, where it occurs in the hand of the goddess in question, +a long handled cross such as is frequently to be seen in our pictorial +representations of John the Baptist. + +As John the Baptist was an Asiatic and to some extent a pre-Christian +Asiatic, we can here, without wandering very far from the matter in +hand, pause to consider the question why we Christians represent John +the Baptist, who had nothing to do with a cross, as holding a cross; if +it be not that while Jesus was supposed to represent the Sun in its +annual ascension, John was supposed to represent the Sun in its annual +declension? What other rational explanation have we of the facts, (1) +that John is represented as saying that he baptised with water but that +Jesus would baptise with _fire_ (where the rains of winter and the heat +of summer may be referred to); and (2) that the Christian Church in +framing its calendar fixed upon what we call Midsummer day as the +birthday of John the Baptist, and upon the clay which bears the same +relation to the other solstice as the birthday of Christ, as if wishing +to illustrate that other remarkable pronouncement of John, thus placed +at the point where the days begin to shorten, concerning Jesus, thus +placed where the days begin to lengthen, "He must increase but I must +decrease"? + +The probability that to its original signification of Life, that of +Salvation was added to the cross as a recognition of the fact that the +salvation of Earth-Life in general and of Mankind in particular is due +to the fact that at the Vernal Equinox the Sun-God "crosses" to save, +summer and the fruits of the earth and therefore salvation and increase +being due to the fact that the Sun then crosses the Equator, is +supported by evidence from all quarters. And if we refuse to admit that +Christianity is permeated with the ideas of Sun-God worship, we not +only have no rational explanation to offer of the prophecies put by the +Evangelists in the mouth of John the Baptist to the effect that Jesus +would baptise with _fire_ and would _increase_, but also none to offer +of many another prominent feature of our religion; such as, for +instance, the fact that while pretending to reverence all the Ten +Commandments we deliberately make a point of breaking one of them in +order to keep as a day of rest not the seventh day but the first, the +day which from time immemorial was held sacred throughout the Roman +Empire as _Dies Solis_, the Day of the Sun. For to aver as we do that +Jesus was not made the subject of a Sun-God allegory, but purposely +rose from the underworld on the Day of the Sun, at the time of the +Vernal Equinox, in order to annul a commandment previously laid down by +God and substitute a new one in silence, is only to make ourselves +ridiculous. + +Returning however to the matter more particularly in hand, it should be +pointed out that the crux ansata mentioned by Layard is not the only +kind of cross to be found upon the relics of ancient Babylonia and +Assyria. For the cross of four equal arms and the solar wheel are also +to be met with. + +Moreover, as all visitors to our museums should be aware, the monarchs +are represented as wearing in the place of honour round their neck and +on their breast, a Maltese cross. And this cross, worn by the kings +centuries before our era as the symbol which should above all others be +venerated, or as best signifying their power over the lives of their +subjects and their position as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, is admitted +by all the best authorities to have been the sign and symbol of the +Sun-God.[66] + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA. + +Passing on to Africa and a consideration of the _crux ansata_ or +so-called 'Key of the Nile,' we find that this variety of cross had +much the same significance attached to it by the ancients as had the +more widely accepted varieties. + +As a matter of fact no one acquainted with Egyptian antiquities who +enquires into the matter in thorough going fashion, can in the end fail +to be convinced that the Egyptian cross was a phallic symbol having +reference to the sexual powers of generation and to the Sun, and being +therefore a symbol both of Life and of the Giver of Life. + +The connection between the crux ansata and the Sun-God in the minds of +the inhabitants of the Land of the Nile in pre-Christian days, is very +clearly set forth by an illustration of Khuenaten in the act of +distributing gifts to his courtiers which faces page 40, volume I., of +Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's "_Manners and Customs of the Ancient +Egyptians_." For this monarch--also known as Amenophis IV.--and his +wife are both represented as receiving the crux ansata from the +Sun-God, and the Sun is marked with the crux ansata as its peculiar +symbol. + +Upon Plate IV. facing page 43 of the same famous work, we see Seti I. +surmounted by the Sun; two crosses adorning the latter. The crosses +are, moreover, attached to two serpents issuing from the sun; and these +were in ancient days phallic signs representing the sexual powers. + +On page 405 is a representation of the Egyptian god Khem, or Amen-Ra +Generator; the Egyptian Priapus, or god of Generation. The names of +this phallic deity show his connection with the Sun. + +It is noteworthy that this particular conception of the Sun-God is +accompanied by emblems of the sexual organs of reproduction, and that +he bears a St. Andrew's cross upon his breast. + +Upon page 24 of volume III. of the same work is another representation +of Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator. In this case also he is accompanied by +phallic and solar emblems and wears a St. Andrew's cross upon his +breast. + +On page 26 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson tells us that + + "Khem was considered the generating influence of the + sun, whence perhaps the reason of his being connected + with Amen-Ra: and in one of the hieroglyphic legends + accompanying his name he is styled the sun; that is the + pro-creating power of the only source of warmth, which + assists in the continuation of the various created + species." + +Upon Plate XXII., facing page 44 of volume III., are three different +instances of the crux ansata being attached to the sun as the symbol of +the Sun-God. + +Upon page 46 is another instance of the crux ansata being attached to +the solar serpent issuing from the sun's disc. + +On Plate XXIII., facing page 52, is another illustration of the +reception of the crux ansata from the Sun-God. + +Upon page 82 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson rightly observes that it is +absurd to speak of the crux ansata or Egyptian cross as the _Key of the +Nile_, inasmuch as this cross "is less frequently seen in the hand of +the God Nilus than any deity of the Egyptian pantheon." + +Upon the remarkable Plate XXXI., facing page 136, we see inscriptions +describing the reigning Pharaoh as the "Vice-gerent of the Giver of +Eternal Life"; or, in other words, of the Sun-God. Other expressions +applied to the Pharaoh are "Giver of Life and Strength like the Sun"; +"Who gives all Life, Stability, and Health like the Sun"; and "Approved +of the Sun and Giver of Life like the Sun." + +It is thus clear that ages before our era the cross was venerated in +Egypt as in other lands as the symbol both of Life and of the Giver of +Life; and that the deity worshipped as the Giver of Life, and ever +associated with that salutary symbol the cross, was the Sun-God. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +EVIDENCE OF TROY. + +Dr. Schliemann has told us that in his researches upon the site of Troy +he found that in pre-Christian if not indeed pre-historic times the +cross was, in that classic locality as elsewhere, a phallic emblem and +the symbol of life; as well as a solar emblem and the symbol of the +holy fire with which life was more or less identified. For instance on +page 337 of his _Ilios_ (1880 edition) Dr. Schliemann describes a +leaden idol discovered by him and of great antiquity. He tells us that +it was female in character and had the vulva marked with the triangle, +a symbol of the Feminine Principle. And he points out that within the +triangle was the Svastika cross. + +On page 521 Dr. Schliemann describes an ancient terra cotta vase, with +the characteristics of a woman upon it, and on the vulva a St. Andrew's +cross. + +Upon page 523 is a reference to another vase of similar design. Here +also a cross appears to mark the vulva. + +On page 353 Dr. Schliemann admits that the Svastika cross drawn within +the triangle marking the vulva, shows that this cross was a sign of +generation in ancient and pre-historic times. This remark should +evidently have been applied by him to the St. Andrew's cross as well, +for he shows that also to have been used as a sign of the organ of +generation, as has been shown above. + +We are here reminded of the fact, already noted, that the Egyptians +represented their God of Generation, Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator, as +wearing a conspicuous St. Andrew's cross. And as Khem was the Egyptian +Priapus it ought also to be pointed out that it was in ancient times +the practice to erect wooden crosses to this conception of the Sun-God. + +An illustration of one example of the crosses erected to Priapus can be +seen in figure XI. of plate XXIX. of that well-known work, _Antique +Gems and Rings_.[67] And the phallic nature of such crosses cannot be +denied. + +Returning, however, to the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann upon the site +of Troy, we find on page 350 of _Ilios_ that both varieties of the +Svastika cross are extraordinarily common upon the articles he +discovered. + +As an Indian symbol the Svastika cross can only be traced back as far +as the fourth or fifth century B.C.; and its occurrence upon these and +other relics of earlier ages and other lands, shows us that it is +inaccurate and misleading to speak of it as "Indian." + +The origin of the Svastika cross, whether the {image "svastika1.gif"}, +or the {image "svastika2.gif"}, is unknown; but Dr. Schliemann quotes +with approval Professor Max Muller's remarks to the effect that Mr. +Thomas our distinguished Oriental numismatist + + "Has clearly proved that on some of the Andra coins and + likewise on some punched coins depicted on Sir W. + Elliot's plate ix. _Madras Jour. Lit. and Science_, vol. + III., the place of the more definite figure of the sun + is often taken by the Svastika, and that the Svastika + has been inserted within the rings or normal circles + representing the four suns of the Ujjain pattern on + coins. He has also called attention to the fact that in + the long list of the recognised devices of the + twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the sun is absent; but + that while the eighth Tirthankara has the sign of the + half-moon the seventh Tirthankara is marked with the + _Svastika, i.e._, the sun. Here then, I think, we have + very clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands + pointing in the right direction, was originally a symbol + of the Sun, perhaps of the vernal sun as opposed to the + autumnal sun, the _Sauvastika_, and therefore a natural + symbol of light, life, health, and wealth. That in + ancient mythology the sun was frequently represented as + a wheel is well known. Grimm identifies the Old Norse + _hjol_ or hvel, the A.-S. _hvehol_, English 'wheel,' + with {kappa|upsilon with + tonos|kappa|lambda|omicron|rho}, Sk. Kakra, wheel; and + derives jol, 'yule-tide,' the time of the winter + solstice, from hjol, 'the (solar) wheel.'" + +Both the {image "svastika1.gif"} and the {image "svastika2.gif"} occur +upon the famous footprints of Buddha carved upon the Amaravati Tope, +and Dr. Schliemann remarks that we find the Svastika or Sauvastika +cross + + "In Ezekiel ix. 4, 6, where--in the form of the old + Hebrew letter Tau--it is written as the sign of life on + the forehead, like the corresponding Indian symbol. We + find it twice on a large piece of ornamental leather + contained in the celebrated Corneto treasure preserved + in the Royal Museum at Berlin; also on ancient pottery + found at Konigsberg in the Neumark and preserved in the + Markisches Museum in Berlin; and on a Bowl from Yucatan + in the Berlin Ethnological Museum. We also see it on + coins of Gaza, as well as on an Imperial coin of Asido; + also on the drums of the Lapland priests." + +It is noteworthy that in the neighbourhood of Troy, as in Cyprus and +other places, a cross of four equal arms, like our sign of addition, in +days of old shared with the Svastika crosses the veneration of the +people and was evidently more or less akin to those crosses in +signification. Dr. Schliemann tells us that this cross of four equal +arms "occurs innumerable times on the whorls of the three upper +pre-historic cities of Hissarlik," and that if, as Burnouf and others +suggest, the {image "svastika2.gif"} and {image "svastika1.gif"} +represented primitive fire machines, this other cross "might also claim +the honour of representing the two pieces of wood for producing the +holy fire by friction." + +Elsewhere in the same work Dr. Schliemann quotes with approval the +opinion of Professor Sayce that the Svastika cross, {image +"svastika2.gif"} or {image "svastika1.gif"}, "was a symbol of +generation." + +As phallic worship and Sun-God worship were admittedly always closely +connected, it is not surprising to find that Dr. Schliemann also very +highly commends a dissertation on the {image "svastika2.gif"} and +{image "svastika1.gif"} by Mr. Edward Thomas, whose conclusion is that + + "As far as I have been able to trace or connect the + various manifestations of this emblem, they one and all + resolve themselves into the primitive conception of + solar motion, which was intuitively associated with the + rolling or wheel-like projection of the sun through the + upper or visible arc of the heavens." + +It may therefore be considered proven that the inhabitants of classic +Troy like those of the Land of the Nile and other countries, recognised +a close affinity between the productive forces and the sun, and were +one in accepting a cross of some description as the natural symbol +whether of Life or of the Giver of Life. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS. + +Although now, owing to the march of events, the island of Cyprus is out +of the way and seldom visited, it was once otherwise. For in days of +old it occupied a favoured position between the countries then foremost +in the arts of civilisation. + +In those days Cyprus was a centre of Phoenician enterprise. And, as we +are told in that fine work _'Kypros, the Bible, and Homer: Oriental +Civilisation, Art and Religion in ancient times,'_ "The oldest extant +Phoenician inscriptions, _themselves the earliest examples of letters +properly so called_, come from Cyprus." + +As, moreover, when face to face with the relics of the Phoenicians we +are, as Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter also remarks, "In the very midst of +ancient Canaanitish civilisation as depicted in the Old Testament," it +will be seen that a study of the antiquities of Cyprus should have a +special interest for us Christians. + +Let us therefore see what the ancient remains found in the island in +question, and others referred to in the work mentioned as illustrative +of the same, can tell us regarding phallic worship in general and the +pre-Christian cross in particular. + +One of the first points to be noted in the illustrations supplied by +Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter is in a cut of an ancient Cyprian coin on +Plate X.; upon which coin we see over a temple gateway the phallic +symbol since adopted by the Moslems, and commonly spoken of as the +'_star_ and crescent' although, as already shown, it originality +represented the radiate Sun or Male Principle in conjunction with the +Crescent moon or Female Principle. + +Upon Plate XIX. we see several examples of the Svastika cross occurring +upon an ancient Cyprian vase. + +On Plate XXV. we are shown a gold leaf taken from an ancient grave, +upon which the Svastika cross occurs. + +Figure 10 upon the same plate shows us a gold leaf discovered at +Amathus upon which we see the Sun and Moon in conjunction, the Sun in +this instance being represented as a disc in the horns of the crescent. + +Upon Plate XXVI. we have representations of stone pillars at Atheniaon, +upon the capitals of which are phallic emblems, including that of the +Sun as a disc within the horns of the Crescent moon. + +On Plate XXX. we have in figure 7 a cut of an important cylinder now +stored in the Berlin Museum, upon which are represented both the Sacred +Tree and the Ashera. The winged Sun-disc appears over the former and +the Crescent moon over the latter. + +Figure 11 upon the same plate shows us a Masseba representing the Male +Principle, surmounted by the star-like form which represented the +radiate Sun; and an Ashera, representing the Female Principle, +surmounted by the Crescent moon. + +Just as in modern Christianity we make a distinction without alleging +much difference between the Father and the Son, even so in ancient +times a distinction of a similarly vague kind was made between the +All-Father _Fire_ and His Image and First-begotten Son _Light_. The +disc of the Sun seems to have represented the former and the Sun-star +or radiate Sun the latter where both were represented in one +illustration, as for instance in figure 12 on the plate last mentioned. + +The illustration in question is an important one. On the left is an +Ashera under a Crescent moon; in the centre is a Masseba under the +Sun-star or radiate Sun; and on the right is an altar under a sun disc. + +The phallic meaning of all this is evident; and a kind of Trinity is +presented to us, _viz._ (1) The Female Principle and perhaps the +primeval Darkness, needing impregnation or illumination ere the same +can cause aught to be; (2) the Male Principle and Light, the First-born +Son of Fire; and (3) Fire itself, the one origin of all things and +Father of Spirits, made manifest unto mortals by His First-born Son, +and best symbolled, as is Light, by the Solar Orb. + +On Plate XXXI. we have in figure 4 a representation of the goddess +Ishtar, the bride of the Sun-God. Over her we see the phallic symbol of +the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + +On Plate XXXII. we see in figure 23 the Svastika cross under a tree, in +a representation of a scarab from Ialysos. This cross coupled with the +presence of two bulls, one on either side of the tree, seem to show +that the Male Principle is referred to. + +On Plate XL. we have a cut of a votive arm, holding in its hand that +phallic symbol the apple, and obtained from the sanctuary of Apollo at +Voni. + +On Plate LVIII. in representations of the stone capitals of two votive +pillars from the shrine of Aphrodite at Idalion, we see various phallic +emblems; including the familiar Sun disc and Crescent moon in +conjunction. + +The same remark applies to Plate LIX., where two more such pillars are +illustrated. + +Upon Plate LXIX. are given no less than 134 illustrations of ancient +religious symbols, and the phallic character of nearly if not quite all +is plainly apparent. + +In twelve of these the presence of the Sun or the Crescent Moon as the +case may be, points out that in the former event the Male Principle of +Life, and in the latter the Female Principle of Life, is referred to. +In six other cases the presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in +juxtaposition shows that both those Principles are referred to. And in +four other examples the presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in +conjunction shows that the union of those Principles is referred to. + +Besides the numerous Masseboth and Asheroth, respectively representing +the Male and Female Principles, we see numerous examples of the +triangle which represented the female _vulva_ and of the diamond shaped +symbol which represented the female _pudendum_. + +Among the remaining symbols is the cross of four equal arms. + +Upon Plate LXXV. is an illustration of a vase painting in red figures +from a Stamnos from Vulci Panofka. The representation is one of the +Sun-God Dionysos upon a cross. + +The said cross, which like various Christian crosses of the Dark and +Middle Ages has projecting branches and foliage, seems to have been +more or less connected with the Tree worship of ancient times. + +On Plate LXXVI. we are given thirteen examples of Sacred Trees +discovered in the groves of Astarte-Aphrodite and Tanit-Artemis-Cybele, +being clay copies of the Sacred Trees erected at the entrances to the +temples. As Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter states, these evidently phallic +symbols undoubtedly played a part in the worship of the Sun-God +Tammuz-Adonis and his bride Astarte-Aphrodite. + +Upon Plate LXXVII. we have a cut of an important Phoenician seal, where +we see (1) a man kneeling in adoration to a Divine Trinity connected +with the winged disc of the sun, and (2) a priest worshipping three +symbols. The three sacred symbols in question are (1) the Ashera or +symbol of the Female Life Principle; (2) the Masseba or symbol of the +Male Life Principle; and (3) a combination of the Ashera and Masseba +symbols representing the two Life Principles in conjunction. + +On Plate LXXIX. we have in figure 14 a representation both of the +Sacred Tree and of the combined Ashera and Masseba. Over the latter we +naturally see the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + +In figure 16 on the same plate are representations of an Ashera and a +Masseba, respectively surmounted by a Crescent moon and a radiate Sun. + +A similar remark applies to figure 17. A sacrificing priest can be seen +in this and the last named instances. + +On Plate LXXX. we have in figure 1 a representation of a holy pillar, +the volute capital of which has on it a Crescent moon within the horns +of which is a disc plainly marked with a cross. This is taken from an +ancient cylinder of Hittite origin. + +On the same plate we see in figure 7 a Sun column from Tyre, upon which +we see the Crescent and disc in conjunction as in the last case, but +without the cross. + +On Plate CXVIII. we have in figure 8 a cut of a fine vase from Melos +ornamented with a Svastika cross. + +Upon Plate CXXXIII. we have, in figures I to 4, representations of a +sacred Boeotian chest or ark. On the front are seven Svastika crosses +(some of each variety) and one ordinary cross like our sign of +addition. On the lid we see two serpents surrounded by eight Svastika +crosses (some of each variety) and eight crosses formed of tau crosses, +{image "taucross.gif"}; besides two other crosses. + +On the back are eight Svastika crosses (some of each variety) and eight +other crosses. + +In figure 6 we have a cut of a chest from Athiaenon upon which two +Svastika crosses will be noticed. + +In figure 8 of the same plate is an illustration of one side of another +sacred chest or ark from Athiaenon, on which two Svastika crosses of +the other variety can be seen. + +Upon Plate CLV. we have in figure 9 a cut of an important Cyprian +Graeco-Phoenician Amphora discovered in an ancient grave at Kition and +now stored in the British Museum. The object represented upon it is a +Sacred Tree marked at the bottom with a St. Andrew's cross and +surrounded with Svastika crosses. + +On Plate CLXXIII. we see in group 19 various objects discovered in +ancient graves; one bearing several ordinary crosses and also several +Svastika crosses, one bearing a Svastika cross of the other variety, +and a third bearing Svastika crosses of both kinds. + +Upon Plate CXCII. are cuts of various Cyprian coins, the phallic symbol +of the circle and cross occurring upon Nos. 1, 9, and 10. + +Leaving the Book of Plates and turning to the illustrations given with +the Text of the valuable work we are considering, we discover upon page +62 a cut showing the impression of a chalcedony cylinder from the +collection of the Due de Luynes, where the Sun is represented by a +Cross of four equal arms. + +Upon page 85 we have in figure 117 an illustration of an inscribed +cylinder, now belonging to the Bibliotheque Nationale of France, in +which, as Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter remarks, the priest or king +represented is raising his arm + + "In adoration in the direction of the Cross suspended in + the air before him, a holy object we often meet on + Assyrian and Babylonian monuments." + +This cross, like that last named, is more like a Greek cross than a +Maltese cross. + +On page 148 we have in figure 150 an illustration of a coloured image +of Aphrodite or Astarte discovered in an early Graeco-Phoenician tomb +at Kurion. This representation of the Goddess of Love and Bride of the +Sun-God is marked with several Svastika crosses, and is yet further +evidence of the phallic and solar character of that symbol. + +Such is the evidence of the phallic worship and Sun-God worship of the +Phoenicians and their neighbours, of the close relationship between +such phallic worship and Sun-God worship, and of the part played in +connection with the same by the pre-Christian cross, borne by a work of +research so free from bias against the views of the Christian Church +that it has prefixed to it a letter of warm commendation from that +veteran statesman and theologian, the author of the ultra-orthodox +"_Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture_." + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE. + +The most noteworthy features of the available evidence illustrative of +the real origin and history of the symbol of the cross have now been +placed before the reader, but a number of more or less miscellaneous +facts directly or indirectly throwing additional light upon the subject +have still to be drawn attention to. + +For instance, no mention has yet been made of the _Hermae_ of bygone +ages. And although their origin may have had no connection with the +symbol in question, it is noteworthy that some at least of the early +Christians discovered in the more or less cruciform outline of the +Hermae a reason or excuse for paying them homage, while very similar +figures are to be seen illustrated upon Christian antiquities, such as +the mosaic of which the great cross of the Lateran forms the principal +feature. + +The Hermae venerated by the ancient Greeks were pillars, usually of +stone and quadrangular, surmounted in most instances with a head of +either Hermes or Dionysos; and with a peculiar transverse rail just +below the head, much used for hanging garlands upon, which made the +whole look more or less like a cross. + +These pillars were erected in front of temples, tombs, and houses; but +more especially as sign posts at cross roads; and whether the head at +the top was that of Hermes the Messenger of the Gods, or, as was very +often the case, that of Dionysos the Sun-God, a phallus was always a +prominent feature. + +Moreover these phallic and often solar erections called Hermae, +undoubtedly more or less cross-shaped owing to the transverse rail, +were worshipped as conducive to fecundity. + +It is also worthy of notice that the cross is well known to have been +venerated in America before even the Norsemen who preceded Columbus set +foot upon that afterwards rediscovered continent. + +For instance a cross surrounded by a circle was in use among the +ancient Mexicans as a solar sign, another cross was a solar symbol of +the natives of Peru from time immemorial, and we are also told by the +authorities that a cross of four equal arms with a disc or circle at +the centre was the age-old Moqui symbol of the Sun.[68] + +Other noteworthy points are that the cross occurs upon Runic monuments +in Europe long before Christianity was introduced into the regions +containing them; that ancient altars to the Sun-God Mithras bearing the +sacred symbol of the cross have been discovered even in England; and +that the Laplanders of old when sacrificing marked their idols with the +symbol of the cross, using the life blood of their victims for that +purpose.[69] + +It should also be pointed out that on a coin of Thasos bearing +representations of a phallic character connected with the worship of +the Thracian Bacchus, a Svastika cross is a prominent symbol; that upon +ancient vases the headgear of Bacchus is sometimes ornamented with the +cross of four equal arms; that upon a Greek vase at Lentini, Sicily, an +ancient representation of the Sun-God Hercules is accompanied by no +less than three different kinds of crosses as symbols; and that upon an +archaic Greek vase in the British Museum, the Svastika cross, the St. +Andrew's cross, and the other and right angled cross of four equal +arms, appear under the rays of the Sun. Nor should it be forgotten that +though the Svastika cross has almost died out as a Christian symbol and +was perhaps never thoroughly acclimatised as such, it often appeared +upon Christian ecclesiastical properties of the Middle Ages, and, +either as a Pagan or Christian symbol, continually occurs in the +catacombs of Rome. + +We are told that circular wafers or cakes were used in the mysteries of +the Sun-God Bacchus, and, being marked with a cross, resembled the +disc-like wafers of the Christian Mass. Whether this was so or not, it +is noteworthy that a cross is said to appear upon the representation of +a circular wafer used in the mysteries of Mithras which occurs upon an +ancient fresco at Rome. + +In this connection it may be mentioned, as a series of curious +coincidences, that in the Zoroastrian religion long before our era the +Sun-God Mithras bore much the same relation to the All-Father that the +Christ does in ours, and is referred to in the Zend Avesta as the +_Incarnate Word_; that Mithras is said, like the Christ, to have been +born in a cave; that the Fathers admitted that the new-born Sun had +been worshipped in the cave at Bethlehem to which the story of the +birth of Jesus referred; and that in framing its calendar our Church +fixed upon the recognised birthday of Mithras, the _Natalis Invicti_ of +the Roman Brumalia, as the birthday of the Christ. + +It is also noteworthy that the Christ is thus said to have been born as +well as to have risen again the third _or fourth_ ("_After_ three +days," _Matt_, xxvii. 63; _after_ "Three days and three nights," Matt, +xii. 40) day. For the birthday of Mithras and afterwards of the Christ, +known to us as Christmas day, seems to have been fixed upon as the +third or fourth day after the winter solstice, and as that upon which +the sun's resurrection from the south was first discernible after its +apparent cessation of movement or death. + +In this connection it should be added that Lucian records the fact that +the Sun-God referred to by the Fathers as worshipped at Bethlehem was +lamented as dead once a year and always acclaimed as alive again the +third day; that in several places in the Zend Avesta we meet with +passages which show that the Mithras worshippers of old believed that +at the death of a man his spirit sits at the head of the corpse for +three days and three nights, and then, at dawn, rises free from all +earthly attachments; and that we say that the execution of Jesus took +place at the time of the Passover or Vernal Equinox, while instead of +the prophesied "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" +(_Matt_. xii. 40) the period between the death and burial on Good +Friday evening and the resurrection before dawn on Easter Sunday is +just about that during which the Sun's disc is at the Vernal Equinox +transfixed by the Equator, _viz._, 32 2/3 hours. + +The question why the Cock so often, like the Cross, surmounts the +steeples wherewith we adorn our Christian churches, is brought before +us by the fact that it was in ancient days a well-known symbol both of +the generative powers and of the Sun-God; often appearing as such upon +the top of a sacred pillar in Assyrian and Babylonian representations +of priests in the act of sacrificing or worshipping. It was probably as +the "herald of the dawn" that this bird became a symbol of the Sun-God, +and it would seem that we place its effigy aloft with the same idea in +view. + +Another point to be noted is that in the Kunthistorisches Museum at +Vienna is an ancient vase upon which is a representation of the Sun-God +Apollo bearing upon his breast as his one ornament and symbol a +Svastika cross. + +We are reminded of the facts that we Christians were once in the habit +of alluding to the cross as the Tree of Life, and that the ancients +dressed up the trunks of trees and worshipped them as symbols of life +and growth, by an Attic vase of the fifth century B.C. Upon this is a +red coloured painting of a tree so dressed, on which is to be seen near +the top a head of the Sun-God Dionysos, and surrounding the trunk a +shirt or garment covered with crosses. + +As to the evidence obtained from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, +it is said that much which is of a phallic character has been, from +quite worthy motives, kept in the background. An important fact has +however been mentioned by Mr. C. W. King, M.A., in his well known work +on the _Gnostics and, their Remains_, and this at least can be +commented upon. He tells us that the Cross and the Phallus were found +placed in juxtaposition upon the walls as meaning one and the same +thing, and he goes on to add that + + "This cross seems to be the Egyptian Tau, that ancient + symbol of the generative power and therefore transferred + into the Bacchic mysteries." + +The foregoing are the last of the evidences throwing light upon the +origin and history of the symbol adopted by our religion as its own, +which the author thinks it necessary to bring forward in support of his +contention. And however much of the evidence sought out by the author +and in this work marshalled by him into something like order may seem +by itself to be untrustworthy or worthless, no reader can reasonably +deny that it has been proved that the cross was a well known symbol of +Life long before our era, and that as a whole the evidence tends to +show that it became such as a phallic symbol, and therefore as a symbol +of the Sun-God. + +And what is the moral of the real, as distinguished from the imaginary, +history of the symbol of the cross but this: that from the beginning +nought has caused the beliefs of men to assume an appearance of radical +difference, save the difference in the name or dress with which this or +that set of men have clothed similar ideas? + +For, as has already been hinted, Humanity has ever had but one God and +but one Religion. And as from one point of view Life is but another +term for the Real Presence, and Death but another term for the +withdrawal of Deity, it may be said that that God is Life, and that +Religion the desire for Life, more Life, and fuller Life. Moreover, as +has been said before, this universal worship of Life is discernible +even in the willingness of some to sacrifice what remains to them of +mortal life in the hope of thus being enabled to lay hold of a life +immortal which is not for all. + +The worship of Life is natural, and must of necessity continue. Let us +however render it nobler by recognising its catholicity; and by +contemptuously refusing to either seek or accept a life of bliss +hereafter which any of our brothers and sisters are, either in our +imagination or in reality, to be debarred from sharing. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +SUMMARY. + +At the commencement of this work it was shown that, as the Greek text +of the writings forming the New Testament testifies, not one of the +Apostles or Evangelists ever stated that Jesus was executed upon a +cross-shaped instrument of execution. The circumstances under which the +figure of the cross became the symbol of our religion, were then made +clear. And, having since demonstrated the existence in pre-Christian +ages of a widespread veneration of the figure of the cross as the +symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, which may have given rise to the +desire to associate Jesus therewith, little remains for the author to +do save draw the notice of the reader to the admissions of other +writers concerning the rise of the cross as the symbol of Christianity; +for the sake of brevity more or less confining his attention to two +well known works upon the history of religious art. + +It should first however be pointed out that though we Christians affirm +that crucifixion was a form of capital punishment made use of in days +of old, and abolished the fourth century after Christ by Constantine +because Jesus was so executed, we cannot exactly prove that the +_staurosis_ thus abolished was crucifixion, or even that it included +crucifixion. For various as are the different forms of 'death by the +stauros' of which descriptions have come down to us from pre-Christian +ages and the first three centuries of our era, no relic of that date +bears a representation of an instrument of execution such as we cause +to appear in our sacred pictures, and even if, regardless of the more +exact meaning of the word stauros, we suppose the term staurosis to +have included every form of carrying out the extreme penalty by means +of affixion or suspension, we meet with no description of such an +instrument of execution as we picture. Therefore even if we were to +exclude from the staurosis abolished by Constantine all forms of +transfixion by a stauros, we could not, upon the evidence before us, +fairly say that what that astute Emperor abolished was what is usually +understood by the term crucifixion. + +It will not be necessary to quote again the admission of the Reverend +S. Baring-Gould, M.A., to the effect that the so-called Cross of +Constantine or monogram of Christ was but the symbol of the Sun-God of +the Gauls with a loop added by their crafty leader to please the +Christians, but it may be pointed out that this fact is also admitted +in _Chambers's Encyclopaedia_; where we read that + + "The so-called cross of Constantine was not really a + cross but a circle containing the X P I, the first three + letters of the name of Christ in Greek; and was merely + an adaptation of a symbol of a Gaulish solar deity." + +And it may be added that the fact that the Monogram of Christ and the +ordinary cross so frequently used as symbols by Constantine upon his +coins and elsewhere, and thus made symbols of the Roman Empire in the +first half of the fourth century, were at first Pagan rather than +Christian symbols, also seems to be borne out by Dean Burgon in his +_Letters from Rome_, where he states + + "I question whether a cross occurs on any Christian + monument of the first four centuries."[70] + +Passing on however to the representative works on Christian Art already +referred to, we first come to Mrs. Jameson's famous _History of Our +Lord as exemplified in works of art_. + +Upon page 315 of Volume II. the gifted authoress, after confessing that +the cross was venerated by the heathen as a symbol of Life before the +period of Christianity and referring to St. Chrysostom, who flourished +half a century after Constantine, admits that + + "It must be owned that ancient objects of Art, as + far as hitherto known, afford no corroboration of the use + of the cross in the simple transverse form familiar to + us at any period preceding or even closely succeeding + the words of St. Chrysostom." + +That is to say, although Constantine introduced the Monogram of Christ +and the cross of four equal arms before St. Chrysostom was born, and, +making them symbols of the Roman Empire, would, whether a Sun-God +worshipper or a Christian, in any case have imposed them upon what he +established as his State Religion, it was not till after these solar +symbols of the Gauls were accepted as Christian that such a cross as +could possibly have been a representation of an instrument of execution +was introduced. + +As to the crucifix, we are told that though this is said by some to be +referred to in the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa--a Bishop of Tours who +lived in the sixth century, and also in the injunctions of the often +quoted council of Greek bishops A.C. 692 called the "Quini-sextum" or +"in Trullo," the evidence is + + "Insufficient to convince most modern archaeologists + that a crucifix in any sense now accepted was meant." + +In other words, not only is it clear that the cross as a representation +of the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died was not introduced +till after the days of Constantine, but it is also evident that the +crucifix, the earliest known representation of that execution, was not +introduced till centuries later. + +Other noteworthy admissions are made in the work above quoted from, but +we must pass on to the Dean of Canterbury's comparatively recent work +upon the same subject. + +Dean Farrar states upon page 11 of his _Life of Christ as represented +in Art_ that "Of all early Christian symbols the _Fish_ was the most +frequent and the favourite." + +The Fish; and not the Cross. + +Moreover the Dean significantly adds upon the next page, that the Fish + + "Continued to be a common symbol down to the + days of Constantine." + +And the significance lies in the fact that the introduction by +Constantine of the solar symbols venerated by the Gauls, may account +for the displacement of the symbol of the Fish from favour. + +Upon page 19 Dr. Farrar goes on to say that + + "Two symbols continued for ages to be especially common, + of which I have not yet spoken. They were not generally + adopted, even if they appeared at all, until after the + Peace of the Church at the beginning of the fourth + century. I mean the cross and the monogram of Christ." + +Here again, it will be seen, the Dean admits that the cross, as the +symbol of our religion, came in with Constantine. + +Directly after the passage last quoted Dean Farrar very misleadingly +remarks: "It must be remembered that the cross was in itself an object +of utter horror even to the Pagans." For the exact reverse is the +truth, inasmuch as in almost every land a cross of some description had +been for ages venerated as a symbol of Life. + +The fact of course is that the Dean here and elsewhere, like other +Christian writers, does not take the trouble to distinguish between the +symbol of the cross and the death caused by execution upon a stauros; +which instrument, by the way, was, as has been shown, not necessarily +in the shape of a cross, and appears to have been in most cases a stake +without a transverse rail. What the Pagans held in utter horror was the +awful death caused by transfixion by or affixion to a stauros, whatever +its shape; the symbol of the cross was, upon the contrary, an object of +veneration among them from time immemorial. + +On page 23 Dr. Farrar, alluding to the use of the transient sign of the +cross by the Christians of early days, makes the admission + + "That it did _not_ remind them of the Crucifixion only + or even mainly is proved alike by their literature and + other relics." + +Exactly so: for the non-material sign traced by them (and by us) upon +the forehead in the _non-Mosaic_ initiatory rite of baptism and perhaps +also upon the breast or in the air at other times, seems to have been +the survival of a Pagan and pre-Christian custom. + +Upon page 24 Dean Farrar admits that + + "The cross was only introduced among the Christian + symbols tentatively and timidly. It may be doubted + whether it once occurs till after the vision of + Constantine in 312 and his accession to the Empire of + the East and West in 324." + +Further on upon the same page the Dean of Canterbury, passing without +notice from symbols to instruments of execution and making no +distinction whatever, states that + + "Crosses were of two kinds. The _Crux Simplex_, 'of + one single piece without transom,' was a mere stake, + used sometimes to impale, sometimes to hang the victim + by the hands." + +Exactly so. + +But, to bring this work to a conclusion with what is the crux of the +whole matter, is it not disingenuous in the extreme upon the part of +those of us Christians who know better, to hide the fact that it may +have been upon some such cross as the Dean here refers to, that is, +upon no cross at all, that Jesus was executed? Is it not dishonest of +us to place before the masses Bibles and Lexicons wherein we ever +carefully translate as "cross" a word which at the time the ancient +classics and our sacred writings were penned did not necessarily, if +indeed ever, signify something cross-shaped? Is it not gross disloyalty +to Truth to insist, as we do in our versions of the Christian +Scriptures, upon translating as "crucify" or "crucified" four different +words, not one of which referred to anything necessarily in the shape +of a cross? + +Another point which should be mentioned, though such matters cannot be +discussed here, is that the questions whether Jesus did not prophesy +that the final Day of judgment would come before those whom he +addressed should die, and did not solemnly declare that his mission was +to the descendants of Jacob or Israel and to them alone, undoubtedly +affect our story. + +As to the Gospel of the Cross, have not we Christians by, in our +imaginations, limiting its saving effects to the few who are able to +believe in it, all the centuries that we have re-echoed the cry "the +Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" _forced_ upon the same the unutterably +selfish meaning that the kingdom at hand for the many who simply cannot +believe is that of Hell? Was _that_ what Jesus meant, and all that the +so-called cross effected? + +Moreover, whether the message of Jesus which we proclaim and variously +interpret was or was not a gospel--that is, "glad tidings "--to all +men, and from an unselfish point of view, what possible good purpose +can be served by insisting upon supplementing the simple story of his +stressful life, his magnificent love for the afflicted and suffering, +his equally magnificent hatred of qualities not altogether dissimilar +from that which enables some of us to claim to be not only admirers but +also genuine followers of a Communist who declared that those who would +follow him must first sell all their possessions and give the proceeds +to the poor;--what good purpose can be served by supplementing this, +and the account of the final conflict of Jesus with the officials of +his native land and his subsequent execution upon a stauros or stake +not stated to have had a cross-bar attached, by the adoption and +culture of a partisan and misleading fiction regarding the origin and +history of the symbol of the cross? + + + +THE END. + + + +--------------------- +FOOTNOTES +[1] _e.g._, _Iliad_, xxiv. 453; _Odyssey_, xiv. 11 +[2] _e.g._, Thuc. iv. 90; Xen. _An._ v. 2, 21. +[3] _Gal._ iii. 13; I _Pet._ ii. 24; _Acts_ v. 30; _Acts_ x. 39; + _Acts_ xiii. 29. +[4] _e.g._, Hdt. iii. 125. +[5] _e.g._, Thuc. vii. 25. +[6] Livy, xxviii. 29. +[7] Minucius Felix, _Oct._ xxix. +[8] _De Praescrip_. xl. +[9] _Oct._ xxix. +[10] _Ad Nationes_, xiv. +[11] Poed iii. II, 59. +[12] _Nicodemus_ i. +[13] _Nicodemus_ vii. +[14] _Nicodemus_ viii. +[15] _Apol_, i. 55. +[16] _Dial. cum Trypho_, lxxxvi. +[17] _Dial. cum Trypho_, xcvii. +[18] _Against Marcion_, iv. 20. +[19] _Against Marcion_, iii. 18. +[20] _Scorpiace_, i. +[21] _De Corolla_, iii. +[22] _De Proescrip_, xl. +[23] _Apologiticus_, xvi. +[24] _Ad Nationes_, xii. +[25] xxxvi. +[26] _Testimonies against the Jews_, ii. 21. +[27] _Testimonies against the Jews_, ii. 22. +[28] _Apud Gretserum_, ii. +[29] _Epist. ad Romanos_, Lib. vi. +[30] _Christ in Art_, p. 23. +[31] _Against Heresies_, i. xxiv. +[32] _Against Heresies_, II., xxii. 4-5. +[33] _Vit. Const. I._ +[34] _Vit. Const. I._, 28, 29, 30. +[35] _Vit. Const. I._, 29. +[36] _De Mart. Pers._, c. 44. +[37] _Vit. Const. I._, 31. +[38] _Vit. Const. I._, 37. +[39] _Vit. Const. I._, 40. +[40] _Vit. Const. II._ 7-9. +[41] _Vit. Const. III._ 3. +[42] _Vit. Const. III._ 49. +[43] _Opera S. Cyrilli_ cura Ant. Touttee 351 Menaeum Graecum + ad diem 7 Maii. +[44] zosimus ii. +[45] Both Zonaras and Cedrenus bear testimony to this effect. +[46] _Early Christian Numismatics_. +[47] _The Likeness of Christ_, p. 20. +[48] Herodotus II., 73. +[49] Pliny, x., 2. +[ ] 2 Tacitus, _Annal_. Vi., 28. Editorial note: There is no reference + in the text to this footnote #2 at the bottom of page 130 +[50] An engraving of the coin can be seen in Duruy's _Histoire + des Romains_, Torn. vii. +[51] Bockh, C.I.G. n. 4713 b. +[52] Berlin Collection 428. +[53] _Strange Survivals_, 286. +[54] _e.g._, Arist. _Mundi_. +[55] Bar. _Ann_. A.C. 312. +[56] Basnage, iii., 23. +[57] Eusebius, _Vit. Const._ iv. +[58] Martianus Capella. +[59] _e.g._ Philo, _De Somniis_, i. +[60] _Timaeus_, 34-36. +[61] _Theol. Plat._ +[62] _Apol._ +[63] _Apol._ +[64] _Report on the Old Records of the India Office_, London, + 1891, x., xi. +[65] _Nineveh_, ii. 213. +[66] _e.g._, C. W. King, M.A. _Early Christian Numismatics_; + Professor Rawlinson; &c., &c. +[67] C. W. King, M.A. +[68] _First Annual Report U. S. Bureau of Ethnology._ +[69] Ol. Varelli, _Scandage Runic;_ Ans. Rudbeckins, _Atlant.: + e.g._ an altar discovered ac Rudchester, Northumberland: Sheffer, + _Lapponic_. +[70] _Letters from Rome_, 1862, p. 210. + +------ +For those who do not have access to the images used in the above text, +here are some crude representations of them.--(Editor) + + + +x.gif + +X X + X X + X X + X + X X + X X +X X + + + +t.gif + +XXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + X + X + X + + + +plus.gif + + X + X + X +XXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + + + +asterisk.gif + +X X X + X X X + X X X + X + X X X + X X X +X X X + + + +solarwheel1.gif + + o ooooo o + o X o + o X X X o +o X X X o +o X X X o +o X o +o X X X o + o X X X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + + +solarwheel2.gif + + o ooooo o + o X o + o X o +o X o +o X o +oXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXo +o X o + o X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + + +monogram1.gif + + o ooooo o + o XXX o + o X X X X o +o X XXX X o +o X X X o +o X o +o X X X o + o X X X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + +monogram2.gif + + o ooooo o + o XXX o + o X X o +o XXX o +o X o +oXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXo +o X o + o X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + +monogram3.gif + + xxx +X x x X + X xxx X + X x X + x + X x X + X x X + X x X + + +monogram4.gif + + XXX + X X + XXX + X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + + + +svastika1.gif + + X XXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXX X + + + +svastika2.gif + + XXXXXXXXX X + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + X XXXXXXXXXX + + + +taucross.gif + + XXXXXXX + X + X X X + X X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X X + X X X + X + XXXXXXX + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Non-Christian Cross<br /> + An Enquiry Into the Origin and History of the Symbol Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: John Denham Parsons</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October, 2005 [eBook #9071]<br /> +[Most recently updated: November 28, 2022]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: An Anonymous Volunteer and David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS ***</div> + + <h3> + THE + </h3> + <h1> + NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS + </h1> + <h3> + AN ENQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF + </h3> + <h3> + THE SYMBOL EVENTUALLY ADOPTED AS + </h3> + <h3> + THAT OF OUR RELIGION + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h4> + BY + </h4> + <h3> + JOHN DENHAM PARSONS + </h3> + <p> + <br /> 1896 <br /><br /><br /> + <!-- Page 5 --> + </p> + <table> + <tr> + <td> + “O CRUX, SPLENDIDIOR CUNCTIS ASTRIS, MUNDO<br /> CELEBRIS, + HOMINIBUS MULTUM AMABILIS, SANCTIOR<br /> UNIVERSIS.” + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="right"> + [<i>BREVIARIUM ROMANUM,<br /> Festival of the Invention of the Holy + Cross.</i><br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <!-- Page 6 --> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /> + <!-- Page 7 --> PREFACE. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The history of the symbol of the cross has had an attraction for the + author ever since, as an enquiring youth, he found himself unable to + obtain satisfactory answers to four questions concerning the same which + presented themselves to his mind. + </p> + <p> + The first of those questions was why John the Baptist, who was beheaded + before Jesus was executed, and so far as we are told never had anything to + do with a cross, is represented in our religious pictures as holding a + cross. + </p> + <p> + The second question was whether this curious but perhaps in itself easily + explained practice + <!-- Page 8 --> had in its inception any connection with the non-Mosaic + initiatory rite of baptism; which Jesus accepted as a matter of course at + the hands of his cousin John, and in which the sign of the cross has for + ages been the all-important feature. And it was the wonder whether there + was or was not some association between the facts that the New Testament + writers give no explanation whatever of the origin of baptism as an + initiatory rite, that this non-Mosaic initiatory rite was in use among + Sun-God worshippers long before our era, and that the Fathers admitted + that the followers of the Persian conception of the Sun-God marked their + initiates upon the forehead like the followers of the Christ, which + finally induced the author to start a systematic enquiry into the history + of the cross as a symbol. + </p> + <p> + The third question was why, despite the fact that the instrument of + execution to which + <!-- Page 9 --> Jesus was affixed can have had but one shape, almost any + kind of cross is accepted as a symbol of our faith. + </p> + <p> + The last of the four questions was why many varieties of the cross of four + equal arms, which certainly was not a representation of an instrument of + execution, were accepted by Christians as symbols of the Christ before any + cross which could possibly have been a representation of an instrument of + execution was given a place among the symbols of Christianity; while even + nowadays one variety of the cross of four equal arms is the favourite + symbol of the Greek Church, and both it and the other varieties enter into + the ornamentation of our sacred properties and dispute the supremacy with + the cross which has one of its arms longer than the other three. + </p> + <p> + Pursuing these matters for himself, the author eventually found that even + before our era the cross was venerated by many as the symbol + <!-- Page 10 --> of Life; though our works of reference seldom mention + this fact, and never do it justice. + </p> + <p> + He moreover discovered that no one has ever written a complete history of + the symbol, showing the possibility that the <i>stauros</i> or post to + which Jesus was affixed was not cross-shaped, and the certainty that, in + any case, what eventually became the symbol of our faith owed some of its + prestige as a Christian symbol of Victory and Life to the position it + occupied in pre-Christian days. + </p> + <p> + The author has therefore, in the hope of drawing attention to the subject, + incorporated the results of his researches in the present essay. <br /><br /> + 14, ST. DUNSTAN'S HILL,<br /> LONDON, E.C.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 11 --> + </p> + <table> + <tr> + <th colspan="2" align="center"> + C O N T E N T S . + </th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + <hr /> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="right"> + PAGE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER I. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH1">WAS THE <i>STAUROS</i> OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED?</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH1">13</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER II. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH2">THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH2">31</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER III. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH3">THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH3">41</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER IV. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH4">CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENÆUS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH4">52</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER V. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH5">ORIGIN OF THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH5">57</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER VI. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH6">ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH6">65</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER VII. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH7">THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH7">82</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER VIII. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH8">CROSS AND CRESCENT</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH8">92</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER IX. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH9">THE CORONATION ORB</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH9">104</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER X. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH10">ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH10">119</a> + </td> + </tr> + <!-- Page 12 --> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XI. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH11">THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH11">133</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XII. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH12">ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH12">142</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XIII. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH13">THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH13">147</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XIV. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH14">THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH14">163</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XV. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH15">THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH15">169</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XVI. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH16">THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH16">178</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XVII. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH17">THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH17">183</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XVIII. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH18">EVIDENCE OF TROY</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH18">187</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XIX. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH19">EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH19">193</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XX. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH20">MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH20">204</a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td colspan="2" align="center"> + CHAPTER XI. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td align="left"> + <a href="#CH21">SUMMARY</a> + </td> + <td align="right"> + <a href="#CH21">214</a> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 13 --> + </p> + <h1> + THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS. + </h1> + <hr /> + <h2> + <a name="CH1">CHAPTER I.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + WAS THE <i>STAUROS</i> OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED? + </h4> + <p> + In the thousand and one works supplied for our information upon matters + connected with the history of our race, we are told that Alexander the + Great, Titus, and various Greek, Roman, and Oriental rulers of ancient + days, "crucified" this or that person; or that they "crucified" so many at + once, or during their reign. And the instrument of execution is called a + "cross." + </p> + <p> + The natural result is that we imagine that all the people said to have + been "crucified" were executed by being nailed or otherwise affixed to a + cross-shaped instrument set in the ground, like that to be seen in our + fanciful illustrations of the execution of Jesus. + <!-- Page 14 --> This was, however, by no means necessarily the case. + </p> + <p> + For instance, the death spoken of, death by the <i>stauros</i>, included + transfixion by a pointed stauros or stake, as well as affixion to an + unpointed stauros or stake; and the latter punishment was not always that + referred to. + </p> + <p> + It is also probable that in most of the many cases where we have no clue + as to which kind of stauros was used, the cause of the condemned one's + death was transfixion by a pointed stauros. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, even if we could prove that this very common mode of capital + punishment was in no case that referred to by the historians who lived in + bygone ages, and that death was in each instance caused by affixion to, + instead of transfixion by, a stauros, we should still have to prove that + each stauros had a cross-bar before we could correctly describe the death + caused by it as death by crucifixion. + </p> + <p> + It is also, upon the face of it, somewhat unlikely that the ancients would + in every instance in which they despatched a man by affixing him to a post + set in the ground, have gone out of their way to provide the artistic but + quite unnecessary cross-bar of our imaginations. + <!-- Page 15 --> + </p> + <p> + As it is, in any case, well known that the Romans very often despatched + those condemned to death by affixing them to a stake or post which had no + cross-bar, the question arises as to what proof we have that a cross-bar + was used in the case of Jesus. + </p> + <p> + Nor is the question an unimportant one. For, as we shall see in the + chapters to come, there was a pre-Christian cross, which was, like ours, a + symbol of Life. And it must be obvious to all that if the cross was a + symbol of Life before our era, it is possible that it was originally fixed + upon as a symbol of the Christ because it was a symbol of Life; the + assumption that it became a symbol of Life because it was a symbol of the + Christ, being in that case neither more nor less than a very natural + instance of putting the cart before the horse. + </p> + <p> + Now the Greek word which in Latin versions of the New Testament is + translated as <i>crux</i>, and in English versions is rendered as <i>cross, + i.e.</i>, the word <i>stauros</i>, seems to have, at the beginning of our + era, no more meant a cross than the English word stick means a crutch. + </p> + <p> + It is true that a stick may be in the shape of a crutch, and that the + stauros to which Jesus + <!-- Page 16 --> was affixed may have been in the shape of a cross. But + just as the former is not necessarily a crutch, so the latter was not + necessarily a cross. + </p> + <p> + What the ancients used to signify when they used the word <i>stauros</i>, + can easily be seen by referring to either the Iliad or the Odyssey.<a + name="S1" href="#R1"><sup>1</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + It will there be found to clearly signify an ordinary pole or stake + without any cross-bar. And it is as thus signifying a single piece of wood + that the word in question is used throughout the old Greek classics.<a + name="S2" href="#R2"><sup>2</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + The stauros used as an instrument of execution was (1) a small pointed + pole or stake used for thrusting through the body, so as to pin the latter + to the earth, or otherwise render death inevitable; (2) a similar pole or + stake fixed in the ground point upwards, upon which the condemned one was + forced down till incapable of escaping; (3) a much longer and stouter pole + or stake fixed point upwards, upon which the victim, with his hands tied + behind him, was lodged in such a way that the point should enter his + breast and the weight of the + <!-- Page 17 --> body cause every movement to hasten the end; and (4) a + stout unpointed pole or stake set upright in the earth, from which the + victim was suspended by a rope round his wrists, which were first tied + behind him so that the position might become an agonising one; or to which + the doomed one was bound, or, as in the case of Jesus, nailed. + </p> + <p> + That this last named kind of stauros, which was admittedly that to which + Jesus was affixed, had in every case a cross-bar attached, is untrue; that + it had in most cases, is unlikely; that it had in the case of Jesus, is + unproven. + </p> + <p> + Even as late as the Middle Ages, the word stauros seems to have primarily + signified a straight piece of wood without a cross-bar. For the famous + Greek lexicographer, Suidas, expressly states, "Stauroi; ortha xula perpégota," + and both Eustathius and Hesychius affirm that it meant a <i>straight</i> + stake or pole. + </p> + <p> + The side light thrown upon the question by Lucian is also worth noting. + This writer, referring to Jesus, alludes to "That sophist of theirs who + was fastened to a <i>skolops;</i>" which word signified a single piece of + wood, and not two pieces joined together. + <!-- Page 18 --> + </p> + <p> + Only a passing notice need be given to the fact that in some of the + Epistles of the New Testament, which seem to have been written before the + Gospels, though, like the other Epistles, misleadingly placed after the + Gospels, Jesus is said to have been <i>hanged</i> upon a <i>tree</i>.<a + name="S3" href="#R3"><sup>3</sup></a> For in the first place the Greek + word translated "hanged" did not necessarily refer to hanging by the neck, + and simply meant suspended in some way or other. And in the second place + the word translated "tree," though that always used in referring to what + is translated as the "<i>Tree of Life</i>," signified not only "tree" but + also "wood." + </p> + <p> + It should be noted, however, that these five references of the Bible to + the execution of Jesus as having been carried out by his suspension upon + either a tree or a piece of timber set in the ground, in no wise convey + the impression that two pieces of wood nailed together in the form of a + cross is what is referred to. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, there is not, even in the Greek text of the Gospels, a single + intimation in the Bible to the effect that the instrument + <!-- Page 19 --> actually used in the case of Jesus was cross-shaped. + </p> + <p> + Had there been any such intimation in the twenty-seven Greek works + referring to Jesus, which our Church selected out of a very large number + and called the "New Testament," the Greek letter <i>chi</i>, which was + cross-shaped, would in the ordinary course have been referred to; and some + such term as <i>Katà chiasmon</i>, "like a chi," made use of. + </p> + <p> + It should also be borne in mind that though the Christians of the first + three centuries certainly made use of a transient sign of the cross in the + non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism and at other times, it is, as will + be shown in the next two chapters, admitted that they did not use or + venerate it as a representation of the instrument of execution upon which + Jesus died. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, if in reply to the foregoing it should be argued that as it is + well known that cross-shaped figures of wood, and other lasting + representations of the sign or figure of the cross, were not venerated by + Christians until after the fateful day when Constantine set out at the + head of the soldiers of Gaul in his famous march against Rome; and that + the Christian crosses + <!-- Page 20 --> of the remainder of the fourth century were + representations of the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died; a + dozen other objections present themselves if we are honest enough to face + the fact that we have to show that they were so from the first. For the + Gauls, and therefore the soldiers of Gaul, venerated as symbols of the + Sun-God and Giver of Life and Victory the cross of four equal arms, <img + src="images/plus.gif" alt="Plus" /> , or <img src="images/x.gif" + alt="X" /> , and the solar wheel, <img src="images/solarwheel1.gif" + alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> or <img src="images/solarwheel2.gif" + alt="Solar Wheel 2" /> ; while the so-called cross which Constantine + and his troops are said to have seen above the midday sun was admittedly + the monogram of Christ, <img src="images/monogram1.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> or <img src="images/monogram2.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> , which was admittedly an adaptation of + the solar wheel, as will be shown further on; and it was as tokens of the + conquest of Rome by his Gaulish troops, that Constantine, as their leader, + erected one of these symbols in the centre of the Eternal City, and + afterwards placed upon his coins the crosses <img + src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> , <img + src="images/solarwheel2.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 2" /> , <img + src="images/monogram1.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> , <img + src="images/monogram2.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> , <img + src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> , <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> , <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> , the cross + of four equal arms <img src="images/x.gif" alt="X" /> , and several + variations of that other cross of four equal arms, the right-angled <img + src="images/plus.gif" alt="Plus" /> . And it was not till long after + these crosses were accepted as Christian, + <!-- Page 21 --> and Constantine was dead and buried, that the cross + with one of its arms longer than the other three (or two), which alone + could be a representation of an instrument of execution, was made use of + by Christians. + </p> + <p> + Another point to be remembered is that when Constantine, apparently + conceiving ours, as the only non-national religion with ramifications + throughout his world-wide dominions, to be the only one that could weld + together the many nations which acknowledged his sway, established + Christianity as the State Religion of the Roman Empire, the Church to + which we belong would naturally have had to accept as its own the symbols + which Constantine had caused to be those of the State in question. And it + should be added that the cross of later days with one of its arms longer + than the others, if not also the assumption that the stauros to which + Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar, may have been merely the outcome of a + wish to associate with the story of Jesus these Gaulish symbols of victory + which had become symbols of the Roman State, and therefore of its State + Church. + </p> + <p> + Anyway, the first kind of cross venerated by + <!-- Page 22 --> Christians was not a representation of an instrument of + execution; and the fact that we hold sacred many different kinds of + crosses, although even if we could prove that the stauros to which Jesus + was affixed had a cross-bar but one kind could be a representation of that + instrument of execution, has to be accounted for. + </p> + <p> + Our only plausible explanation of the fact that we hold sacred almost any + species of cross is that, as we do not know what kind of cross Jesus died + upon, opinions have always differed as to which was the real cross. + </p> + <p> + This difference of opinion among Christians as to the shape of the + instrument upon which Jesus was executed, has certainly existed for many + centuries. But as an explanation of the many different kinds of crosses + accepted by us as symbols of the Christ, it only lands us in a greater + difficulty. For if we did not know what kind of cross Jesus died upon when + we accepted the cross as our symbol, the chances obviously are that we + accepted the cross as our symbol for some other reason than that we + assert. + </p> + <p> + As a matter of fact our position regarding + <!-- Page 23 --> the whole matter is illogical and unsatisfactory, and + we ought to alter it by honestly facing the facts that we cannot + satisfactorily prove that our symbol was adopted as a representation of + the instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed, and that we do not + even know for certain that the instrument in question was cross-shaped. + </p> + <p> + It need only be added that there is not a single sentence in any of the + numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, + bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used in the + case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect + that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two pieces nailed + together in the form of a cross. + </p> + <p> + Taking the whole of the foregoing facts into consideration, it will be + seen that it is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers to + translate the word stauros as "cross" when rendering the Greek documents + of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that action by + putting "cross" in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros without + carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the + <!-- Page 24 --> primary meaning of the word in the days of the + Apostles, did not become its primary signification till long afterwards, + and became so then, if at all, only because, despite the absence of + corroborative evidence, it was for some reason or other assumed that the + particular stauros upon which Jesus was executed had that particular + shape. + </p> + <p> + But—the reader may object—how about the Greek word which in + our Bibles is translated as "crucify" or "crucified?" Does not that mean + "fix to a cross" or "fixed to a cross?" And what is this but the strongest + possible corroboration of our assertion as Christians that Jesus was + executed upon a cross-shaped instrument? + </p> + <p> + The answer is that no less than four different Greek words are translated + in our Bibles as meaning "crucify" or "crucified," and that not one of the + four meant "crucify" or "crucified." + </p> + <p> + The four words in question are the words <i>prospēgnumi, anastauroo, + sustauroō,</i> and <i>stauroō</i>. + </p> + <p> + The word prospēgnumi, though translated in our Bibles as "crucify" or + "crucified," meant to "fix" to or upon, and meant that only. It had no + special reference to the affixing of + <!-- Page 25 --> condemned persons either to a stake, pale, or post, or + to a tree, or to a cross; and had no more reference to a cross than the + English word "fix" has. + </p> + <p> + The word <i>anastauroo</i> was never used by the old Greek writers as + meaning other than to impale upon or with a single piece of timber.<a + name="S4" href="#R4"><sup>4</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + The word <i>sustauroō</i> does not occur in pre-Christian writings, + and only five times in the Bible against the forty-four times of the word + next to be dealt with. Being obviously derived in part from the word + stauros, which primarily signified a stake or pale which was a single + piece of wood and had no cross-bar, <i>sustauroō</i> evidently meant + affixion to such a stake or pale. Anyhow there is nothing whatever either + in the derivation of the word, or in the context in either of the five + instances in which it occurs, to show that what is referred to is affixion + to something that was cross-shaped. + </p> + <p> + The word <i>stauroō</i> occurs, as has been said, forty-four times; + and of the four words in question by far the most frequently. The meaning + of this word is therefore of special + <!-- Page 26 --> importance. It is consequently most significant to + find, as we do upon due investigation, that wherever it occurs in the + pre-Christian classics it is used as meaning to impalisade, or stake, or + affix to a pale or stake; and has reference, not to crosses, but to single + pieces of wood.<a name="S5" href="#R5"><sup>5</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + It therefore seems tolerably clear (1) that the sacred writings forming + the New Testament, to the statements of which—as translated for us—we + bow down in reverence, do not tell us that Jesus was affixed to a + cross-shaped instrument of execution; (2) that the balance of evidence is + against the truth of our statements to the effect that the instrument in + question was cross-shaped, and our sacred symbol originally a + representation of the same; and (3) that we Christians have in bygone days + acted, and, alas! still act, anything but ingenuously in regard to the + symbol of the cross. + </p> + <p> + This is not all, however. For if the unfortunate fact that we have in our + zeal almost manufactured evidence in favour of the theory that <i>our</i> + cross or crosses had its or their origin + <!-- Page 27 --> in the shape of the instrument of execution to which + Jesus was affixed proves anything at all, it proves the need for a work + which, like the present one, sets in array the evidence available + regarding both the pre-Christian cross and the adoption in later times of + a similar symbol as that of the catholic faith. + </p> + <p> + Nor should it be forgotten that the triumph of Christianity was due to the + fact that it <i>was</i> a "catholic" faith, and not, like the other faiths + followed by the subjects of Rome, and like what Jesus seems to have + intended the results of His mission to have been inasmuch as He solemnly + declared that he was sent to the lost sheep of the House of Israel and to + them alone, the monopoly of a single nation or race. + </p> + <p> + For if Paul, taking his and other visions of Jesus as the long-needed + proofs of a future life, had not disregarded the very plain intimations of + Jesus to the effect that His mission was to the descendants of Jacob or + Israel, and to them alone; if Paul had not withstood Christ's + representative, Peter, to the face, and, with unsurpassed zeal, carried + out his grand project of proclaiming a non-national and universal religion + founded upon appearances of + <!-- Page 28 --> the spirit-form of Jesus, what we call Christianity + would not have come into existence. + </p> + <p> + The fact that but for Paul there would have been no catholic faith with + followers in every land ruled by Constantine when sole emperor, for that + astute monarch to establish as the State Religion of his loosely knit + empire, because, on account of its catholicity, that best fitted to hold + power as the official faith of a government with world-wide dominions, is + worthy of a lasting place in our memory. + </p> + <p> + Nor is the noteworthy fact last mentioned unconnected with the symbol of + the cross. For, as will be shown, it is clear that it was because + Constantine caused the figure of the cross to become a recognized symbol + of his catholic empire, that it became recognized as a symbol of the + catholic faith. + </p> + <p> + Not till after Constantine and his Gaulish warriors planted what Eusebius + the Bishop of Cæsarea and other Christians of the century in question + describe as a cross, within the walls of the Eternal City as the symbol of + their victory, did Christians ever set on high a cross-shaped trophy of + any description. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, but for the fact that, as it happened, + <!-- Page 29 --> the triumph of Constantine resulted in that of the + Christian Church, we should probably have deemed the cross, if to our + minds a representation of the instrument of execution to which Jesus was + affixed, as anything but the symbol of Victory we now deem it. + </p> + <p> + This is evident from the fact that the so-called cross of Jesus admittedly + fulfilled the purpose for which it was erected at the request of those who + sought the death of Jesus. And even according to our Gospels the darkness + of defeat o'ershadowed the scene at Calvary. + </p> + <p> + To put the matter plainly, the victory of Jesus was not a victory over the + cross; for He did not come down from the cross. Nor was it a victory over + His enemies; for what they sought was to get rid of a man whom they deemed + an agitator, and their wish was gratified, inasmuch as, thanks to the + cross, He troubled them no more. + </p> + <p> + In other words the victory which we ascribe to Jesus did not occur during + the gloom which hung like a pall over his native land at the time of His + execution, but upon the then approaching Sun-day of the Vernal Equinox, at + the coming of the glory of the dawn. + </p> + <p> + For the victory in question, from whatever + <!-- Page 30 --> point of view we may look at it, was not the avoidance + of defeat, but its retrieval. And its story is an illustration of the + old-world promise, hoary with antiquity and founded upon the coming, + ushered in every year by the Pass-over or cross-over of the equator by the + sun at the Vernal Equinox, of the bounteous harvests of summer after the + dearth of devastating winter; bidding us ever hope, not indeed for the + avoidance of death and therefore of defeat, but for such victory as may + happen to lay in survival or resurrection. + </p> + <p> + It is therefore clear that even if we <i>could</i> prove that the + instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed was cross-shaped, it + would not necessarily follow that it was as the representation of the + cause of His death which we now deem it, that the figure of the cross + became our symbol of Life and Victory. + </p> + <p> + In any case honesty demands that we should no longer translate as "cross" + a word which at the time our Gospels were written did not necessarily + signify something cross-shaped. And it is equally incumbent upon us, from + a moral point of view, that we should cease to render as "crucify" or + "crucified" words which never bore any such meaning. <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH2">CHAPTER II.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX. + </h4> + <p> + The Fathers who wrote in Latin, used the word <i>crux</i> as a translation + of the Greek word <i>stauros</i>. It is therefore noteworthy that even + this Latin word "crux," from which we derive our words "cross" and + "crucify," did not in ancient days necessarily mean something + cross-shaped, and seems to have had quite another signification as its + original meaning. + </p> + <p> + A reference, for instance, to the writings of Livy, will show that in his + time the word crux, whatever else it may have meant, signified a single + piece of wood or timber; he using it in that sense.<a name="S6" href="#R6"><sup>6</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + This however is a curious rather than an important point, for even the + assumption that the word <i>crux</i> always and invariably meant + <!-- Page 32 --> something cross-shaped, would not affect the + demonstration already made that the word <i>stauros</i> did not. + </p> + <p> + As our Scriptures were written in Greek and were written in the first + century A.C., the vital question is what the word stauros then meant, when + used, as in the New Testament, without any qualifying expression or hint + that other than an ordinary stauros was signified. What the Fathers chose + to consider the meaning of that word to be, or chose to give as its Latin + translation, would, even if they had written the same century, in no wise + affect that issue. And, as a matter of fact, even the earliest of the + Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to us, did not write till + the middle of the second century. + </p> + <p> + Granting, however, as all must, that most if not all of the earlier of the + Fathers, and certainly all the later ones, rightly or wrongly interpreted + the word stauros as meaning something cross-shaped, let us, remembering + that this does not dispose of the question whether they rightly or wrongly + so interpreted it, in this and the next two chapters pass in review the + references to the cross made by the Fathers + <!-- Page 33 --> who lived before Constantine's march upon Rome at the + head of his Gaulish army. + </p> + <p> + Commencing, on account of its importance, with the evidence of Minucius + Felix, we find that this Father wrote <br /><br /> "We assuredly see the + sign of a cross naturally, in the ship when it is carried along with + swelling sails, when it glides forward with expanded oars; and when the + military yoke is lifted up it is the sign of a cross; and when a man + adores God with a pure mind, with arms outstretched. Thus the sign of the + cross either is sustained by a natural reason or your own religion is + formed with respect to it."<a name="S7" href="#R7"><sup>7</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Various other pronouncements to a similar effect are to be found in the + writings of other Christian Fathers, and such passages are often quoted as + conclusive evidence of the Christian origin of what is now our symbol. In + reality, however, it is somewhat doubtful if we can fairly claim them as + such; for the question arises whether, if the writers in their hearts + believed their cross to be a representation of the instrument of execution + to which Jesus was affixed, they would have omitted, as they did in every + instance, to mention that as the right + <!-- Page 34 --> and proper and all-sufficient reason for venerating the + figure of the cross. + </p> + <p> + Moreover it is quite clear that while, as will be shown hereafter, the + symbol of the cross had for ages been a Pagan symbol of Life, it can, as + already stated, scarcely be said to have become a Christian <i>symbol</i> + before the days of Constantine. No cross-shaped symbol of wood or of any + other material had any part in the Christianity of the second and third + centuries; and the only cross which had any part in the Christianity of + those days was the immaterial one traced upon the forehead in the + non-Mosaic and originally Pagan initiatory rite of Baptism, and at other + times also according to some of the Fathers, apparently as a charm against + the machinations of evil spirits. + </p> + <p> + This "sign" or "signal" rather than "symbol" of the cross, referred to as + theirs by the Christian writers of the second and third centuries, is said + to have had a place before our era in the rites of those who worshipped + Mithras, if not also of those who worshipped certain other conceptions of + the Sun-God; and it should be noted that the Fathers insist upon it that a + similar mark is what the prophet + <!-- Page 35 --> Ezekiel referred to as that to be placed upon the + foreheads of certain men as a sign of life and salvation; the original + Hebrew reading "Set a <i>tau</i> upon the foreheads of the men" (<i>Ezek</i>. + ix. 4), and the tau having been in the days of the prophet in question—as + we know from relics of the past—the figure of a cross. Nor should it + be forgotten that Tertullian admits that those admitted into the rites of + the Sun-God Mithras were so marked, trying to explain this away by stating + that this was done in imitation of the then despised Christians!<a + name="S8" href="#R8"><sup>8</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + That it was this immaterial sign or signal, rather than any material + symbol of the cross, which Minucius Felix considered Christian, is + demonstrated by the fact that the passage already quoted is accompanied by + the remark that <br /><br /> "Crosses, moreover, we Christians neither + venerate nor wish for. You indeed who consecrate gods of wood venerate + wooden crosses, perhaps as parts of your gods. For your very standards, as + well as your banners, and flags of your camps, what are they but crosses + gilded and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate the + appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man affixed to it."<a + name="S9" href="#R9"><sup>9</sup></a> + <!-- Page 36 --> + </p> + <p> + This remarkable denunciation of the Cross as a Pagan symbol by a Christian + Father who lived as late as the third century after Christ, is worthy of + special attention; and can scarcely be said to bear out the orthodox + account of the origin of the cross as a Christian symbol. It is at any + rate clear that the cross was not our recognised symbol at that date; and + that it is more likely to have been gradually adopted by us from Sun-God + worshippers, than by the worshippers of Mithras and other pre-Christian + conceptions of the Sun-God from us. + </p> + <p> + As our era was six or seven centuries old before the crucifix was + introduced, and the earliest pictorial representation of the execution of + Jesus still existing or referred to in any work as having existed was of + even later date, much stress has been laid by us upon what we allege to be + a caricature of the crucifixion of Jesus and of much earlier date. The + drawing in question was discovered in 1856 to be scrawled upon a wall of + the Gelotian House under the Palatine at Rome; and as no Christian + representations of the alleged execution upon a cross-shaped instrument of + even a reasonably early date exist, it would of course be greatly to our + <!-- Page 37 --> interest to be able to quote this alleged caricature, + which is said to be as old as the third and perhaps even as old as the + second century, as independent evidence of the truth of our story. But can + we fairly do so? + </p> + <p> + The drawing in question is a very roughly executed representation of a + figure with human arms, legs, and feet; but with an animal's head. The + arms are extended, and two lines, which are said to represent a cross but + appear in front of the figure instead of behind it, traverse the arms and + trunk. In the foreground is a man looking at this grotesque figure; and an + accompanying inscription is to the effect that "Alexamenos adores his + God." + </p> + <p> + Tertullian relates that a certain Jew "carried about in public a + caricature of us with this label, <i>An ass of a priest</i>. This figure + had an ass's ears, and was dressed in a toga with a book; having a hoof on + one of his feet."<a name="S10" href="#R10"><sup>10</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + It is upon the strength of this passage and the two lines traversing the + figure, that we, ignoring the fact that the figure is standing, claim this + much-quoted <i>graffito</i> as conclusive evidence + <!-- Page 38 --> of the historical accuracy of our story. But it may be + pointed out that even if this was a caricature of the execution of Jesus + made at the date mentioned, a caricature, made certainly not less than two + hundred years after the event, is not altogether trustworthy evidence as + to the details. + </p> + <p> + And, was it a caricature of the execution of Jesus? It would appear not. + </p> + <p> + To commence with, the two lines or scratches—for they are little + more—which we call a cross, need not necessarily have formed a part + of the original <i>graffito;</i> and, even if they did, of themselves + prove nothing. There is no reference to a cross in the inscription, nor is + there anything to show that an execution of any kind is what is + illustrated. Moreover, the hoof upon one foot, mentioned by Tertullian, is + not to be seen; a remark which also applies to the toga and the book he + mentions. And even what Tertullian referred to was not a caricature of the + execution of Jesus. + </p> + <p> + It should also be noted that the head of the figure in this famous + graffito, is more like that of a jackal than that of an ass; and appears + to have been a representation of the Egyptian god Anubis, who is so often + to be seen upon relics + <!-- Page 39 --> of the past as a figure with a jackal's head, with + human arms extended, and with human legs and feet, as in this drawing. + </p> + <p> + Upon all points, therefore, our claim concerning the graffito is an + ill-founded one; and it cannot be considered evidence regarding either + cross or crucifixion. + </p> + <p> + There thus being no opposing evidence of any weight, it is quite clear + from the fact that as late as the third century after Christ we find a + Christian Father who venerated the sign or figure of the cross denouncing + it as a symbol, that no material representations of that sign or figure + were recognised as Christian till an even later date. And such a + conclusion is borne out by the striking fact that when Clement of + Alexandria at the beginning of the third century made out a list of the + symbols which Christians were permitted to use, he mentioned the Fish and + the Dove but said nothing regarding the Cross.<a name="S11" href="#R11"><sup>11</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + As to the sign or figure of the cross referred to by the Fathers of the + second and third centuries, even so high an authority as the Dean of + Canterbury admits, as we shall see in the next + <!-- Page 40 --> chapter, that it was not "mainly" as reminding them of + the death of Jesus that the Christians of the second and third centuries + venerated it. If, therefore, not in the main, and, it would follow, not + originally as a representation of the instrument of execution upon which + Jesus died, what more likely than that the early Christians venerated the + sign and figure of the cross as the age-old and widely accepted symbol of + Life and of the Sun-God we know it to have been? + </p> + <p> + Anyway Minucius Felix may be said to stand alone in denouncing the symbol + of the cross as non-Christian. And as even he expresses veneration for the + figure of the cross, and must have approved of the sign of the cross in + the initiatory rite of baptism, that denunciation evidently applied only + to material representations of the cross. + </p> + <p> + Moreover the denunciation in question was clearly due to the fear that + such objects might degenerate amongst Christians, as they afterwards did, + into little better than idols. And if the sign or figure of the cross did + not mainly remind the early Christians of the death of Jesus, it must have + mainly reminded them of something else. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 41 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH3">CHAPTER III.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS. + </h4> + <p> + The works which have come down to us from the Fathers who lived before the + days of Constantine make up over ten thousand pages of closely printed + matter; and the first point which strikes those who examine that mass of + literature with a view to seeing what the Christians of the first three + centuries thought and wrote concerning the execution of Jesus and the + symbol of the cross, is that the execution of Jesus was hardly so much as + mentioned by them, and no such thing as a representation of the instrument + of execution once referred to. + </p> + <p> + Another fact worthy of special note is that, whether the Fathers wrote in + Greek and used the word <i>stauros</i>, or wrote in Latin and translated + that word as <i>crux</i>, they often seem to + <!-- Page 42 --> have had in their mind's eye a tree; a tree which + moreover was closely connected in meaning with the forbidden tree of the + Garden of Eden, an allegorical figure of undoubtedly phallic signification + which had its counterpart in the Tree of the Hesperides, from which the + Sun-God Hercules after killing the Serpent was fabled to have picked the + Golden Apples of Love, one of which became the symbol of Venus, the + Goddess of Love. Nor was this the only such counterpart, for almost every + race seems in days of old to have had an allegorical Tree of Knowledge or + Life whose fruit was Love; the ancients perceiving that it was love which + produced life, and that but for the sexual passion and its indulgence + mankind would cease to be. + </p> + <p> + Starting upon an examination of the early Christian writings in question, + we read in the <i>Gospel of Nicodemus</i> that when the Chief Priests + interviewed certain men whom Jesus had raised from the dead, those men + made upon their faces "the sign of the stauros."<a name="S12" href="#R12"><sup>12</sup></a> + The sign of the cross is presumably meant; and + <!-- Page 43 --> all that need be said is that if the men whom Jesus + raised from the dead were acquainted with the sign of the cross, it would + appear that it must have been as a pre-Christian sign. + </p> + <p> + Further on in the same Gospel, Satan is represented as being told that + "All that thou hast gained through the Tree of Knowledge, all hast thou + lost through the Tree of the Stauros."<a name="S13" href="#R13"><sup>13</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Elsewhere we read that "The King of Glory stretched out his right hand, + and took hold of our forefather Adam, and raised him: then, turning also + to the rest, he said, + <!-- original missing opening quote here --> 'Come with me as many as + have died through the Tree which he touched, for behold I again raise you + all up through the Tree of the Stauros.'"<a name="S14" href="#R14"><sup>14</sup></a> + Some see in this peculiar pronouncement a reference to the doctrine of + re-incarnation. In the <i>Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Andrew</i> + we are told that those who executed Andrew "lifted him up on the stauros," + but "did not sever his joints, having received this order from the + pro-consul, for he wished him + <!-- Page 44 --> to be in distress while hanging, and in the nighttime + as he was suspended to be eaten by dogs." There is nothing to show that + the stauros used was other than an ordinary stauros. + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Epistle of Barnabas</i> are various references to the stauros; + mixed up with various passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, quoted—without + any justification—as referring to the initiatory rite of baptism; a + rite, be it noted, that was admittedly of Gentile rather than Israelitish + origin, and not unconnected with the Sun-God worship of the Persians and + other Orientals of non-Hebrew race. + </p> + <p> + The references in question commence with the enquiry, "Let us further ask + whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the Water and the Stauros?" + </p> + <p> + Afterwards we have a quotation of <i>Psalm</i> i. 3-6—which likens + the good man to a tree planted by the side of a river and yielding his + fruit in due season—and the pronouncement, "Mark how he has + described at once both the Water and the Stauros. For these words imply, + Blessed are they who, placing their trust in the Stauros, have gone down + into the Water." + </p> + <p> + This further reference to the non-Mosaic + <!-- Page 45 --> initiatory rite of baptism is followed by a quotation + of <i>Ezekiel</i> xlvii. 12, which speaks of a river by whose side grow + trees those who cat the fruit of which grow for ever. + </p> + <p> + Further on is a declaration that when Moses stretched out his hands (in a + direction not specified) that victory might rest with the forces he + commanded, he stretched them out in the figure of a stauros, as a prophecy + that Jesus "would be the author of life." + </p> + <p> + A reference is then made to the Brazen Serpent, and to the pole upon which + it was placed; and it is stated that this lifeless imitation of a serpent + was a type of Jesus. + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians</i> we read that the + stauros of the Christ is indeed a stumbling block to those who do not + believe. The evidence of Irenæus, as that of one who was through his + acquaintance with the aged Polycarp almost in touch as it were with the + apostles, will on account of his importance as a witness be specially + dealt with in the next chapter. + </p> + <p> + Justin Martyr, arguing that the figure of the cross is impressed upon the + whole of nature, asks men to<br /><br /> "Consider all things in the world, + whether without + <!-- Page 46 --> this form they could be administered or have any + certainty. For the sea is not traversed except that trophy which is called + a sail abide safe in the ship; and the earth is not ploughed without it: + diggers and mechanics do not their work except with tools which have this + shape. And the human form differs from that of the irrational animals in + nothing else than in its being erect and having the hands extended and + having on the face extending from the forehead what is called the nose, + through which there is respiration for the living creature; and this shows + no other form than that of the cross. And so it was said by the prophet <i>The + breath before our face is the Lord Christ</i>. And the power of this form + is shown by your own symbols on what are called standards and trophies; + with which all your processions are made, using these as insignia of your + power and government."<a name="S15" href="#R15"><sup>15</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Elsewhere Justin Martyr declares that the Christ<br /><br /> "Was symbolised + both by the Tree of Life which was said to have been planted in Paradise, + and by those events which should happen to all the just. Moses was sent + with a <i>rod</i> to effect the redemption of the people; and with this in + his hands at the head of the people he divided the sea. By this he saw the + water gushing out of the rock; and when he cast a <i>tree</i> into the + waters of Marah, which were bitter, he made them sweet. Jacob by putting + <i>rods</i> into the water troughs caused the sheep + <!-- Page 47 --> of his uncle to conceive . . . . Aaron's <i>rod</i> + which blossomed declared him to be the High Priest. Isaiah prophesied that + a rod would come forth from the root of Jesse, and this was the Christ."<a + name="S16" href="#R16"><sup>16</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Further on in the same work, Justin Martyr, alluding to the statement in + the Israelitish Law "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," states + that<br /><br /> "It was not without design that the prophet Moses when Hur + and Aaron upheld his hands, remained in this form until evening. For + indeed the Lord remained upon the tree almost until evening."<a name="S17" + href="#R17"><sup>17</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Tertullian writes concerning the Christ "With the last enemy Death did he + fight, and through the trophy of the cross he triumphed"<a name="S18" + href="#R18"><sup>18</sup></a>; and elsewhere tells us that "Cursed is + every one who hangeth on a tree" was a prediction of his death.<a + name="S19" href="#R19"><sup>19</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + There is also in existence a long essay by Tertullian which starts by + discussing the efficacy of "the sign" as an antidote. The sign of the + cross as traced upon the forehead in the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of + baptism seems + <!-- Page 48 --> to be what is referred to; and no representation of an + instrument of execution, or cross-shaped symbol of wood or any material, + is once mentioned.<a name="S20" href="#R20"><sup>20</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + In another of Tertullian's works we come across the passage "In all the + actions of daily life we trace upon the forehead the sign."<a name="S21" + href="#R21"><sup>21</sup></a> His famous reference to the Sun-God Mithras + reads as follows:—<br /><br /> "The devil in the mystic rites of his + idols competes even with the essential portions of the sacraments of God. + He, like God, baptizes some, that is, his own believing and faithful + followers, and promises the putting away of sins by baptism; and if I + remember rightly Mithras there signs his soldiers upon their foreheads, + celebrates the oblation of bread, introduces a representation of the + resurrection, and places the crown beyond the sword."<a name="S22" + href="#R22"><sup>22</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Elsewhere Tertullian writes:—<br /><br /> "If any of you think we + render superstitious adoration to the cross, in that adoration he is + sharer with us . . You worship <i>victories</i>, for in your trophies the + cross is the heart of the trophy. The camp religion of the Romans is all + through a worship of the standards . . . I praise your zeal: you would not + worship crosses unclothed and unadorned."<a name="S23" href="#R23"><sup>23</sup></a> + <!-- Page 49 --> + </p> + <p> + In another of Tertullian's works we read:—<br /><br /> "As for him who + affirms that we are the priesthood of a cross, we shall claim him as a + co-religionist . . . Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in + an erect position is part of a cross, and indeed the greater part of its + mass. But an entire cross is attributed to us . . . . The truth however is + that <i>your</i> religion is <i>all</i> cross . . . You are ashamed, I + suppose, to worship unadorned and simple crosses."<a name="S24" href="#R24"><sup>24</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + In the <i>Instructions of Commodianus</i> we read "The first law was in + the tree, and so, too, was the second."<a name="S25" href="#R25"><sup>25</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Cyprian contends that "By the sign of the cross, also, Amalek was + conquered by Moses."<a name="S26" href="#R26"><sup>26</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Elsewhere Cyprian tells us that "In this sign of the cross is salvation + for all people who are marked on their foreheads"; quoting as proof of + this, from the Apocalypse, "They had his name and the name of his Father + written on their foreheads," and "Blessed are they that do his + commandments that they may have power over the Tree of Life."<a name="S27" + href="#R27"><sup>27</sup></a> Methodius tells us that "He overcame, as has + <!-- Page 50 --> been said, the powers that enslaved us by the figure of + the cross; and shadowed forth man, who had been oppressed by corruption as + by a tyrant power, to be free with unfettered hands. For the cross, if you + wish to define it, is the confirmation of victory."<a name="S28" + href="#R28"><sup>28</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Passing on to Origen, we find in one of his works the noteworthy passage:—<br /><br /> + "It is possible to avoid it if we do what the Apostle saith 'Mortify your + members which are upon earth,' and if we always carry about in our bodies + the death of Christ. For it is certain that where the death of Christ is + carried about, sin cannot reign. For the power of the <i>stauros</i> of + Christ is so great that if it be set before a man's eyes and kept + faithfully in his mind so that he look with steadfast eyes of the mind + upon that same death of Christ, no concupiscence, no sensuality, no + natural passion, and no envious desire, is able to overcome him."<a + name="S29" href="#R29"><sup>29</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Whether however this reference to the "<i>stauros</i> of Christ" is or is + not a reference to the figure of the cross, is doubtful. + </p> + <p> + Such is the evidence regarding the cross, whether considered as immaterial + sign or material symbol, obtainable from the writings of the + <!-- Page 51 --> Christians who lived between the days of the Apostles + and those of Constantine; other of course than the <i>Octavius</i> of + Minucius Felix, which was dealt with in the last chapter, and the writings + of Irenæus, which will be dealt with in the next. + </p> + <p> + Among the noteworthy features of the evidence in question prominently + stands out the smallness of its volume. + </p> + <p> + This is but a negative point, however; and what should be carefully borne + in mind is that the evidence as a whole leads to the conclusion that the + Christians of the second and third centuries made use of the sign and + venerated the figure of the cross without, as Dean Farrar admits, it "only + or even mainly," reminding them of the death of Jesus; and therefore + otherwise than as a representation of the instrument of execution upon + which Jesus died.<a name="S30" href="#R30"><sup>30</sup></a> <br /> <br /> + <br /> + <!-- Page 52 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH4">CHAPTER IV.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENÆUS. + </h4> + <p> + The special importance of the evidence of Irenæus, is due to the fact + that of all the Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to us he is + the only one who can be considered to have been anything like in touch + with the Apostles. As an acquaintance of the aged Polycarp, who is said to + have been in his youth a pupil of the aged Evangelist and Apostle St. John + and to have met yet other Apostles, Irenæus had opportunities for + ascertaining facts concerning the life and death of Jesus which the other + Fathers upon whose works we rely did not possess. + </p> + <p> + What, then, does this important witness have to say, which bears upon the + points at issue? As a matter of fact, very little. + <!-- Page 53 --> + </p> + <p> + There are, however, two passages in the works of Irenæus which it + would not be right to altogether ignore. + </p> + <p> + In the first of these passages Irenæus mentions that some Christians + believed that Simon of Cyrene was executed instead of Jesus, owing to the + power of Jesus to metamorphose himself and others having been exercised + with that object in view.<a name="S31" href="#R31"><sup>31</sup></a> This + power is referred to more than once in our Gospels, for instance in the + account of the so-called "Transfiguration" upon the Mount; the Greek word + rendered in our Bibles as "transfigured" being the word which in + translations of the older Greek classics is rendered "metamorphosed." + </p> + <p> + Even if we pass by this belief of certain of the early Christians that + Jesus was never executed, a question here arises which should at least be + stated, and that is the question how, if Jesus was metamorphosed upon the + Mount, as the Gospels tell us, he can be said to have died as a man at + Calvary? For if upon the Mount of Transfiguration, or at any other time + previous to the scene at Calvary, Jesus was + <!-- Page 54 --> metamorphosed, the form which was the result of the + process of re-metamorphosis necessary to make him recognisable again + cannot be said to have been born of the Virgin Mary, and can have been + human only in appearance. + </p> + <p> + The other passage in the writings of Irenæus which deserves our + notice, is neither more nor less than an emphatic declaration, by Irenæus + himself, that Jesus was not executed when a little over thirty years of + age, but lived to be an old man. Explain it away how we will, the fact + remains; and it certainly ought not to be ignored. + </p> + <p> + At first sight this statement of Irenæus would decidedly seem to + support the theory advanced by some, that, as the Roman Procurator Pontius + Pilate admittedly did not want to carry out the extreme penalty in the + case of Jesus, though he reluctantly consented to do so in order to pacify + the Jews and allowed Jesus to be fixed to a stauros and suspended in + public view, he took care to manage things so that Jesus should only + appear to die. The idea of course is that if Pilate wished to preserve the + life of Jesus he could easily have had him taken down while in a drugged + condition, have had the farce of burial + <!-- Page 55 --> carried out at the earliest possible moment, and then + have had him resuscitated and removed to some region where he could dwell + in safety. + </p> + <p> + What Irenæus says concerning Jesus is that<br /><br /> "He passed + through every age, becoming an infant for infants. . . . So likewise he + was an old man for old men, that he might be a perfect Master for all, not + merely as regards the setting forth of the truth but also as regards age, + sanctifying at the same time the aged also and becoming an example to them + likewise. Then, at last, he came on to death itself. . . . From the + fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline towards old age, which + our Lord possessed while he still fulfilled the office of a Teacher; even + as the Gospel and all the elders testify, those who were conversant in + Asia with John the disciple of the Lord affirming that John conveyed to + them that information. And he remained among them up to the times of + Trajan. Some of them moreover saw not only John but the other apostles + also, and heard the very same account from them, and bear testimony as to + the statement. Whom, then, should we rather believe? Whether such men as + these, or Ptolemæus, who never saw the apostles and who never even in + his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an apostle?"<a name="S32" + href="#R32"><sup>32</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + The reader must decide for himself or herself whether Irenæus + believed that Jesus was never executed; or that he was executed but + <!-- Page 56 --> survived; or that he was born when we suppose, but + executed thirty years or so later than we suppose; or that, though + executed when we suppose, he was then an old man, and was born, not at the + commencement or middle or end of the year A.C. 1, or B.C. 4, or whenever + the orthodox date is, but thirty years or more before what we call our era + began. Anyhow he mentions neither cross nor execution, and here seems to + assume that Jesus died a natural death. And in any case the fact remains + that, however mistaken he may have been, Irenæus stated that Jesus + lived to be an old man; and stated so emphatically. + </p> + <p> + Even granting that Irenæus must have been mistaken, his evidence none + the less affects one of the most important points debated in this work. + For it is clear that if even he knew so little about the execution of + Jesus, the details of that execution cannot have been particularly well + known; and the affirmation that the stauros to which Jesus was affixed had + a transverse bar attached may have had no foundation in fact, and may have + arisen from a wish to connect Jesus with that well-known and + widely-venerated Symbol of Life, the pre-Christian cross. <br /> <br /> + <br /> + <!-- Page 57 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH5">CHAPTER V.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + ORIGIN OF THIS PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS. + </h4> + <p> + Having in the foregoing chapters demonstrated that it is possible, if not + indeed probable, that the instrument of execution to which Jesus was + affixed was otherwise than cross-shaped; and having also shown that it was + not mainly, if indeed even partially, that the early Christians signified + that instrument by the sign of the cross; it is now desirable that, as a + preliminary to an enquiry into the circumstances under which the cross + became the symbol of Christianity, we should enquire into the origin of + the <i>pre</i>-Christian cross. + </p> + <p> + That there was a pre-Christian cross, and that it was, like ours, a Symbol + of Life, is generally admitted. + </p> + <p> + The authorities upon such subjects, however, unfortunately differ as to + the reason why the + <!-- Page 58 --> Cross came to be selected by the ancients as the Symbol + of Life. And not one of their suggestions seems to go to the root of the + matter. + </p> + <p> + Let us therefore in thought go back tens of thousands of years, and + conceive the genus Homo as a race gradually awakening to reason but as yet + unfettered by inherited traditions and creeds. Let us imagine Man ere he + began to make gods in his own image. Let us remember that what would + strike him as the greatest of all marvels would of necessity be Life + itself, and that far and away the next greatest marvel must have been the + glorious Sun; the obvious source of earth life, and Lord of the Hosts of + Heaven. + </p> + <p> + Let us bear in mind, too, that though the Nature Worship of our remote + ancestors had other striking features, the facts mentioned would lead to + the predominance of the phallic idea, and to its association with Sun-God + worship. And as Life, the greatest marvel of all, must have had a symbol + allotted to it at a very early date, let us ask ourselves what the + untutored mind of Man would be most likely to select as its symbol. + <!-- Page 59 --> + </p> + <p> + To this question there is, so far as the author can see, but one + reasonable answer:—the figure of the cross. + </p> + <p> + And the author conceives this to be the real solution of the difficulty + for this reason:—because the figure of the cross is the simplest + possible representation of that union of two bodies or two sexes or two + powers or two principles, which alone produces life. + </p> + <p> + For the ancients cannot fail to have perceived that all life more + immediately proceeds from the <i>union</i> of <i>two</i> principles; and + the first, readiest, simplest, and most natural symbol of Life, was + consequently one straight line superimposed upon another at such an angle + that both could be seen; in other words, a cross of some description or + other. + </p> + <p> + It is evidently probable that this was the real reason why the figure of + the cross originally came to be adopted as the Symbol of Life. But, of + course, whatever the original reason, as time rolled on other reasons for + the veneration of the cross were pointed out; nothing being more natural + than that primitive Man should, or more certain than that he did, find + pleasure in connecting with other objects of his regard than + <!-- Page 60 --> Life itself, that which as the Symbol of Life was + pre-eminently a symbol of good omen. + </p> + <p> + The most notable instance of this is the way in which, or rather the + different ways in which, the figure of the cross was connected with the + Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + A good example of the last named fact, is the declaration of the + philosophers of ancient Greece that the figure of the cross was the figure + of the "Second God" or "Universal Soul," the <i>Ratio</i> as well as the + <i>Oratio</i> of the All-Father, which they called the <i>Logos</i> of + God; a term badly translated in our versions of the Gospel of St. John as + the <i>Word</i> of God, as if it signified the <i>Oratio</i> only. + </p> + <p> + It was this Logos or "Second God" whom Philo, who was born before the + commencement of our era, described as the "Intellectual Sun," and even as + God's "First Begotten" and "Beloved" offspring, and the "Light of the + World"; terms afterwards made use of by the writers of our Gospels in + describing the Christ. And, as will be shown in a chapter upon the + subject, the reason the philosophers, among whom was Plato, gave for + declaring the cross to be the figure of the Logos, was that the Sun + creates this figure by crossing the Equator. + <!-- Page 61 --> + </p> + <p> + An even better illustration can be seen in the fact that in days of old + almost every civilised race held feasts at the time of the Vernal Equinox, + in honour of the Passover or <i>Cross</i>-over of the Sun. + </p> + <p> + The fact that the ancients were thus at special pains to connect the + symbol of Life with the Sun-God, and also, as we know, spoke of him as the + "Giver of Life" and the only "Saviour," was doubtless due to their + perceiving, not only that life is the result of the union of the two + principles distinguished by the titles male and female, but also that the + salvation of life is due to the action of the sun in preserving the body + from cold and in producing and ripening for its use the fruits of the + earth. + </p> + <p> + As the Giver of Life, the Sun-God was of course considered to be + bi-sexual. But when the two great lights of heaven, the Sun and the Moon, + were associated with each other, as was often and naturally the ease, the + Sun was considered to be more especially a personification of the Male + Principle, and the waxing and waning moon, as represented by the Crescent, + a personification of the Female Principle. Hence the worship of the God + associated with the + <!-- Page 62 --> radiate sun, as of that of the Goddess associated with + the crescent moon and called the Sun-God's mother or bride, was phallic in + character; and their connection is repeatedly symbolised upon the relics + which have come down to us from antiquity by the sign of the crescent + containing within its horns either a disc or what we should consider a + star-like object, which latter was almost as favourite a mode with the + ancients of representing the sun as it is with us of representing a star + or planet, as will be shown further on. + </p> + <p> + Returning, however, to the symbol of the cross, as the first and simplest + representation of that union of the Male and Female Principles which alone + produces what we mortals call life, it is extremely curious that the + selection of the figure of the cross in comparatively modern times as the + simplest and most natural symbol both of addition and of multiplication, + should have led no one to perceive that, being for these very reasons also + the simplest and most natural symbol of Life, a probable solution of the + mystery surrounding the origin of the pre-Christian cross as a symbol of + Life, as it were stared them in the face. + <!-- Page 63 --> As to the contention of not a few authorities, + apparently founded upon the mistaken assumption that the <i>Svastika</i> + was the earliest form of cross to acquire importance as a symbol, that the + pre-Christian cross was originally a representation of the wheel-like + motion of the sun or a reference to the wheel of the Sun-God's chariot; it + need only be remarked that evidence exists to show that the cross was a + symbol of Life from a period so early, that it is doubtful if the Sun-God + had then been likened to a charioteer, and not certain that either + chariots or wheels had been invented. It is true that the Solar Wheel + became a recognized symbol of the Sun-God, and that additional veneration + was paid to it because the figure of the symbol of Life was more or less + discoverable in the spokes allotted to the Solar Wheel; but it is putting + the cart before the horse to suppose that the cross became the symbol of + Life because its form was so discoverable. + </p> + <p> + It only remains to be added that there undoubtedly was a connection, + however slight, between the pre-Christian Cross as the Symbol of Life, the + Solar Wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God, and the Cross as the symbol of the + <!-- Page 64 --> Christ. And whatever the date at which the cross was + first adopted as a Christian symbol, or whatever the reason for that + adoption, there is no doubt that, as will be shown further on, our + religion was considerably influenced by the facts that the Gaulish + soldiers whose victories enabled Constantine to become Sole Emperor + venerated the Solar Wheel, <img src="images/solarwheel1.gif" + alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> or <img src="images/solarwheel2.gif" + alt="Solar Wheel 2" /> , and that their leader, who was anxious to + obtain the support of the Christians, allowed a loop to be added to the + top of the vertical spoke so that the Christians might be able to + interpret the victorious symbol as <img src="images/monogram1.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> or <img src="images/monogram2.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> , <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> or <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> ; <i>i.e.</i>, <span lang="gr">ΧΡ</span> + or <span lang="gr">ΧΡΙ</span>, the first two or three + letters of the Greek word <span lang="gr">ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ</span>, + <i>Christos</i>, Christ. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 65 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH6">CHAPTER VI.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS. + </h4> + <p> + As has already been to some extent pointed out, it is evident that our + beloved Christendom more or less owes its existence to the fact that + Constantine the Great when only ruler of Gaul, himself a Sun-God + worshipper at the head of an army of Sun-God worshippers, seeing how + greatly the small but enthusiastic bodies of Christians everywhere to be + met with could aid him in his designs upon the attainment of supreme + power, bid for their support. For to this politic move, its success, and + Constantine's perception that only a non-national religion whose followers + sought to convert the whole world and make their faith a catholic one, + could really weld together different races of men, we owe the fact that + when he became Sole Emperor + <!-- Page 66 --> he made Christianity the State Religion of the + world-wide Roman Empire. + </p> + <p> + This act and its far-reaching effects, are not all we owe to Constantine, + however. It should be remembered that even our creed was to some extent + decided by him. For it was this Sun-God worshipper—who, though he + advised others to enter what he wished should become a catholic and + all-embracing religion, refused to do so himself till he was dying—who + called together our bishops, and, presiding over them in council at Nicæa, + demanded that they should determine the controversy in the ranks of the + Christians as to whether the Christ was or was not God, by subscribing to + a declaration of his Deity. It is even recorded that he forced the + unwilling ones to sign under penalty off deprivation and banishment. + </p> + <p> + From these and other incidents in his career it would appear that, either + from policy or conviction, Constantine acted as if he thought the Sun-God + and the Christ were one and the same deity. + </p> + <p> + The probability of this is more or less apparent from what we are told + concerning the part he played in connection with what, thanks, as we + <!-- Page 67 --> are about to see, to him, became our recognised symbol. + </p> + <p> + Our knowledge of the part played by Constantine in connection with the + symbol of the cross, except so far as we can gather it from a study of + ancient coins and other relics, unfortunately comes to us solely through + Christian sources. And the first that famous bishop and ecclesiastical + historian Eusebius of Cæsarea, to whom we owe so large a proportion + of our real or supposed knowledge of the early days of Christianity, tells + us about Constantine and the cross, is that in the year A.C. 312—a + quarter of a century before his admission into the Christian Church—Constantine + and the Gaulish soldiers he was leading saw at noon <i>over the Sun</i> a + cross of Light in the heavens, bearing upon it or having attached to it + the inscription <span lang="gr">ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ + ΝΙΝΑ</span>, <i>By this conquer</i>. + </p> + <p> + The words of the Bishop, who is reporting what he states the Emperor in + question to have told him personally, are:—<br /><br /> "He said that + at mid-day when the sun was beginning to decline he saw with his own eyes + the trophy of a cross of light in the heavens, above the Sun, bearing the + inscription <span lang="gr">ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ + ΝΙΝΑ</span>; he himself, and his + <!-- Page 68 --> whole army also, being struck with amazement at this + sight."<a name="S33" href="#R33"><sup>33</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Though this marvellous cross, declared by Christian writers of that + century to have been the so-called Monogram of Christ <img + src="images/monogram1.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> or <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> or <img + src="images/monogram2.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> or <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> , appeared to + an army of Sun-God worshippers, Constantine himself—as can be seen + from his coins—remaining one for many years afterwards if not till + his death, it is put before us as a Christian cross. + </p> + <p> + It is also noteworthy that no material representation of a cross of any + description was ever held aloft by adherents of the Christian Church, + until after Constantine is said to have had this more or less solar cross + so represented as the standard of his Gaulish army. + </p> + <p> + Mention should therefore be made of the fact that, upon the coins he + struck, the symbol <img src="images/monogram1.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> is perhaps the one which occurs the most + frequently upon representations of the famous <i>Labarum</i> or Military + Standard of Constantine; but that the symbol <img + src="images/monogram1.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> , the <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> without the + circle, and the <img src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> + and <img src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> , are also to be + seen. + <!-- Page 69 --> + </p> + <p> + Now the Gauls led by Constantine specially venerated the Solar Wheel. This + had sometimes six and sometimes four spokes, <img + src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> or <img + src="images/solarwheel2.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 2" /> , and the warriors + of their native land had long been in the habit of wearing a + representation of the same upon their helmets. It is therefore not + improbable that even before the date of the alleged vision when marching + upon Rome, some such symbol formed the standard of Constantine's army. + </p> + <p> + Anyhow, that the worthy Bishop Eusebius was, like other enthusiasts, + liable to be at times carried by his enthusiasm beyond the limits of + veracity, or else was the victim of imperial mendacity, is evident. For + Eusebius tells us in the <i>Life of Constantine</i> he wrote after the + death of his patron, that the night after this miraculous "cross" and + motto were seen in the sky above the Sun, the Christ appeared to + Constantine, and, showing the Gaulish general the same sign that had been + seen in the sky, directed him to have a similar symbol made, under which + his army—an army, be it remembered, of Sun-God worshippers—should + march conquering and to conquer!<a name="S34" href="#R34"><sup>34</sup></a> + <!-- Page 70 --> + </p> + <p> + All that is really likely to have happened is that Constantine, wishing to + encourage his troops, bade them rally round a standard on which was + represented the sacred Solar Wheel venerated by the Gauls; and that as + with this as a rallying point Constantine and his Gauls became masters of + Rome, the symbol we are discussing became a Roman—and therefore, + later on, upon the establishment of our faith as the State Religion of the + Roman Empire, also a <i>Christian</i>—symbol. And a loop seems to + have been sooner or later added to the top of the vertical spoke of the + Gaulish symbol, so that Christians could accept it as a Monogram of + Christ; as has already been hinted, and as will be demonstrated further + on. + </p> + <p> + A noteworthy point is that we have two accounts of Constantine's alleged + vision of the Christ, and that they do not quite agree. The Bishop of Cæsarea's + account is, that the night after the Emperor—then only ruler of Gaul—and + all his soldiers saw the "cross" and motto above the meridian sun, the + Christ appeared to Constantine<br /><br /> "With the same sign which he had + seen in the + <!-- Page 71 --> heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that + sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all + engagements with his enemies."<a name="S35" href="#R35"><sup>35</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + But the author of <i>De Mortibus Persecutorem</i>, a work said to have + been written during the reign of Constantine, and attributed to + Lactantius, refers to the alleged vision as follows:—<br /><br /> + "Constantine was admonished in his sleep to mark the celestial sign of God + on the shields, and thus engage in battle. He did as he was commanded, and + marked the name of the Christ on the shields by the letter <span lang="gr">Χ</span> + drawn across them with the top circumflexed. Armed with this sign his + troops—"<a name="S36" href="#R36"><sup>36</sup></a> <br /><br /> and + the differences between these two accounts are greater than would at first + sight appear. + </p> + <p> + Let us however return to the story of the Bishop of Cæsarea, who + tells us that the morning after the Christ appeared to Constantine, the + Emperor told this second marvel to his friends, and, sending for the + workers in gold and precious stones who are assumed to have accompanied + the Gaulish army, directed them to overlay with gold a long spear<br /><br /> + <!-- Page 72 --> "On the top of the whole of which was fixed a wreath of + gold and precious stones, and within this the symbol of the Saviour's + name, two letters indicating the name of the Christ by means of its + initial characters, the letter <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> being + intersected with the letter <span lang="gr">Χ</span> in its centre."<a + name="S37" href="#R37"><sup>37</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Several questions naturally arise at this point of our enquiry, and it is + not easy—nay, it is impossible—for us Christians to honestly + dispose of all of them and yet retain our cherished opinions upon this + matter. Only one such question need be stated, and it is this: Is it + likely that the Infinite Ruler of the universe, either at mid-day or at + mid-night, went out of his way to induce a Sun-God worshipper who would + not enter the Christian Church till a quarter of a century later and ere + then was to become a murderer of innocent persons like the boy-Cæsar + Licinius, to adopt a symbol which he warranted would enable Constantine to + lead on the Gauls to victory? + </p> + <p> + Pursuing the narrative of Eusebius we find that he, alluding to the symbol + which he describes as a monogram but calls a cross, states that, setting + this "victorious trophy and salutary symbol" in front of his soldiers, + Constantine + <!-- Page 73 --> continued his march against Maxentius; and, with his + forces thus "divinely aided," overthrew the Emperor just outside the + Imperial City, entered Rome in triumph, and thanked God that He had + enabled him to defeat and slay its ruler and assume the purple in that + ruler's stead.<a name="S38" href="#R38"><sup>38</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Eusebius then tells us that Constantine, who did not dispose of all his + rivals and become sole emperor till some twelve years later, as victor in + the fight with Maxentius and master of Rome though not as yet of the whole + empire, at once <br /><br /> "By loud proclamation and monumental + inscriptions made known to all men the salutary symbol, setting up this + great trophy of victory over his enemies, and expressly causing it to be + engraven in indelible characters that the salutary symbol was the + safeguard of the Roman Government and entire people. Accordingly he + immediately ordered a lofty spear in the figure of a cross to be placed + beneath the hand of a statue representing himself in the most frequented + part of Rome, and the following inscription engraven on it in the Latin + tongue:—'By virtue of this salutary sign which is the true test of + valour, I have preserved and liberated your city from the yoke of tyranny, + and I have also set at liberty the Roman Senate and People, and have + restored to them their ancient distinction and splendour.'"<a name="S39" + href="#R39"><sup>39</sup></a> + <!-- Page 74 --> + </p> + <p> + Now, as we have already seen, what Eusebius referred to as the "cross" + observed above the mid-day sun (and accompanied by a miraculous + inscription in, presumably, to agree with the monogram, the Greek + language; which was, well, "Greek" to the Gaulish soldiers) was the + so-called Monogram of Christ <img src="images/monogram1.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> or <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> or <img src="images/monogram2.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> or <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> . That, too, was what Eusebius tells us + the Christ afterwards told the Gaulish leader Constantine to model his + military standard after. That, therefore, was the "salutary symbol" and + "trophy of victory" referred to in the above passage from the same + authority. + </p> + <p> + It is therefore clear that this "lofty spear in the figure of a cross" + which Eusebius tells us was placed under the hand of the statue of + Constantine in the central place of honour in Rome, was referred to by + Eusebius as a "cross" because it was shaped like or in some way connected + with some form or other of the so-called Monogram of Christ. And such a + conclusion is borne out by the fact that spears with cross-bars had been + in use among both Gauls and Romans for centuries, whereas this one is + referred to as something out of the common. + </p> + <p> + It should also be noted that it was as a + <!-- Page 75 --> victorious military standard, and not as either a + monogram of the Christ or a representation of the <i>stauros</i> upon + which Jesus was executed, that Constantine caused this <img + src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> or <img + src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> , or <img + src="images/monogram1.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> or <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> , or <img + src="images/monogram2.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> or <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> (all which + variations occur upon the coins of Constantine and his successors), to + become a symbol of the Roman Empire. + </p> + <p> + Further on in his history of the Emperor, Eusebius tells us that whenever + Constantine saw his troops hard pressed, he gave orders that the "salutary + trophy" should be moved in that direction, and that victory always + resulted. + </p> + <p> + The Bishop of Cæsarea then goes on to relate that Constantine + selected fifty men of his bodyguard, the most distinguished for piety, + valour, and strength, whose sole duty it was to defend this famous + standard; and that, of the elect fifty, those who fled were always slain, + and those who stood their ground were always miraculously preserved.<a + name="S40" href="#R40"><sup>40</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + One would imagine from all this that there was only one labarum. Many + different kinds are, however, represented upon the coins of + <!-- Page 76 --> Constantine; as also almost every variety of ordinary + cross, except, perhaps, such as might conceivably have been a + representation of an instrument of execution, like that which has since + come into vogue among us. + </p> + <p> + Eusebius also tells us that Constantine caused to be erected in front of + his palace a lofty tablet, on which was painted a representation of + himself with the "salutary sign" over his head and a dragon or serpent + under his feet.<a name="S41" href="#R41"><sup>41</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + He also informs us that inside the palace and in the principal apartment, + on a vast tablet in the ceiling, Constantine caused "the symbol of our + Saviour's passion to be fixed, composed of a variety of precious stones + inwrought with gold."<a name="S42" href="#R42"><sup>42</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Which of all the "salutary" signs that appear upon the coins of + Constantine these particular crosses were, we do not know; but it is, at + any rate, obviously unlikely that a worshipper of Apollo who refused to + enter the Christian Church till he was dying, and on his coins always + attributed his victories to the Sun-God, elevated either as a + representation of an instrument of execution. + <!-- Page 77 --> + </p> + <p> + As to the alleged finding at Jerusalem, by Helena the mother of + Constantine, of three stakes with transverse bars attached, all of which + were ancient instruments of execution and one of which was shown by the + occurrence of a miracle to have been a cross to which Jesus was affixed + three centuries before, it is clear that this is a fairy tale. The story + cannot be traced further back than to St. Cyril of Jerusalem about A.C. + 350; and Eusebius, who gives an account of Helena's visit to Jerusalem, + does not mention any such occurrence as that in question; a sure sign that + it was an invention of later date. + </p> + <p> + The Christian Church, however, in a weak moment vouched for the truth of + this ridiculous story; and while what was suffered to remain in Jerusalem + of the true cross became the treasure of that city and a trophy captured + by its foes but afterwards secured from them and once more placed in its + holiest shrine, what was broken up into relics for the faithful throughout + Christendom multiplied into a thousand fragments; one of which forms the + centre of the Vatican Cross, and such few others of which as survive would + not if examined, 'tis said, even + <!-- Page 78 --> prove to be all of the same kind of wood, or even + limited to the two kinds for the presence of which a supposed cross-bar of + another kind of timber might be held accountable. + </p> + <p> + The same Christian Bishop to whom this fairy tale can be traced, in a + letter to one of the Emperors that succeeded Constantine declared that on + the seventh of May A.C. 351 he and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem saw a + brilliant cross in the heavens, stretching from Mount Golgotha to the + Mount of Olives, and <i>shining like the Sun for several hours</i>.<a + name="S43" href="#R43"><sup>43</sup></a> And this marvellous vision is + vouched for by St. Jerome, Socrates, Matins, and the Alexandrine + Chronicle, as well as by St. Cyril; and is still kept in memory by the + Greek Church, a solemn festival being held upon anniversaries of the day + in question. But which particular "salutary sign" thus shone in the sky + like the Sun for hours, is uncertain. + </p> + <p> + These painfully obvious inventions cannot but incline broad-minded + Christians to the belief that our Church went to great lengths in order to + induce people to believe that the cross was + <!-- Page 79 --> essentially a <i>Christian</i> symbol; which tends to + show that there was a danger of their thinking otherwise. + </p> + <p> + It is also clear from the evidence already quoted concerning the adoption + by Christians in the fourth century of a symbol they denounced in the + third, that whether Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped instrument or + not, that was not the chief reason why the phallic symbol of Life became + recognised as the symbol of the Christ. + </p> + <p> + The striking fact that though, as will be shown, the cross of four equal + arms (a cross which, as we have seen, preceded the Latin cross as a + Christian symbol, and one form of which is still the favourite symbol of + the Greek Church; while even in the other two great divisions of + Christendom its numerous variations, wheel-like and otherwise, as a whole + dispute the supremacy with the Latin cross) occurs many times upon the + coins of Constantine, yet it was the so-called Monogram of Christ or + adapted solar wheel of the Gauls which the Christians of the fourth + century were most careful to claim as a Christian symbol, should also be + noted. For though the cross of four equal arms was also put by + <!-- Page 80 --> Constantine upon his coins as a solar symbol, yet that, + being then, as for ages previously, a symbol of the Sun-God of world-wide + acceptation, and one which as we shall see had already appeared as such + upon Roman coins, it was not so much a Gaulish symbol as the other; and it + was evidently because that other was the symbol followed by the triumphant + leader of the Gauls and his victorious army, that the Christians wished to + specially identify it with the Christ. + </p> + <p> + In any case, whether the so-called Monogram of Christ was more or less + forced upon Christianity when Constantine made our faith the State + Religion of his empire, or whether it was adopted by Christians of their + own volition, it was a politic move (than which few possible moves could + have done more to secure the triumph of our faith) to accept as the symbol + of the Christian Church what was at one and the same time the symbol of + Constantine, of the Roman State, and of the universally adored Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + That the more generally accepted symbol of the Sun-God, the cross of four + equal arms, should in time supplant the more local one, was of course only + to be expected; as was the + <!-- Page 81 --> adoption of a cross with one arm longer than the + others, as being the only kind which could possibly be connected with the + story of Jesus as the Christ incarnate. + </p> + <p> + As to the possible objection that what has been dealt with in this chapter + has been rather the origin of the Christian custom of manufacturing and + venerating material representations of the sign or figure of the cross + than the origin of the Christian cross itself, the answer is obvious. And + the answer is that the first cross which can <i>justly</i> be called + "Christian," was the one which was the first to be considered, to use Dean + Farrar's expressions, "mainly," if not "only," a representation of an + instrument of execution; which cross was undoubtedly not a transient sign + or gesture but a material representation of the cross with one arm longer + than the others and was introduced after such representations of the cross + of four equal arms and of the so-called Monogram of Christ had come into + vogue among Christians as a consequence of the influence of Constantine. + <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 82 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH7">CHAPTER VII.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH. + </h4> + <p> + Having already shown not a little cause for believing that the adoption of + the cross as our symbol is due to the fact that we Christians helped to + secure the triumph of the ambitious ruler of the Gauls, and after + receiving numberless smaller favours from Constantine during the years he + was ruler of Rome but not as yet sole emperor eventually obtained from him + the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the Roman + Empire, adapting the victorious trophy of the Gauls and the various + crosses venerated by them and other Sun-God worshippers to our faith as + best we could, it is desirable that we should pause to trace the career of + the man we hail as the first Christian Emperor. + <!-- Page 83 --> + </p> + <p> + To do this properly we must commence by referring to Constantine's father, + Constantius Chlorus; and to the favour shown to Constantius Chlorus by his + patron the Emperor Diocletian. + </p> + <p> + Finding the supreme rule of the almost worldwide Roman Empire too much for + one man in ill-health to undertake successfully, Diocletian in the year + A.C. 286 made Maximian co-emperor. And in A.C. 292 Diocletian followed + this up by conferring the inferior position and title of Cæsar upon + Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. + </p> + <p> + In A.C. 305 Diocletian relinquished power altogether, forcing Maximian to + abdicate with him; Galerius and Constantius Chlorus thus obtaining the + coveted title of Augustus, and sharing the supreme power. + </p> + <p> + Galerius now ranked first, however; for it was to the ruler of Illyricum + and not to that of Gaul that Diocletian gave the power of appointing Cæsars + to govern Italy and the East. + </p> + <p> + Constantius Chlorus died in Britain A.C. 306, the year after Diocletian + abdicated; and Galerius, who had married a daughter of Diocletian, + naturally thought that under the circumstances he ought to become sole + emperor. + </p> + <p> + The legions of Gaul, however, proclaimed + <!-- Page 84 --> the son of Constantius Chlorus as Augustus in his + stead; and as Constantine thus became ruler of Gaul and a power to be + reckoned with, Galerius thought it best to give way so far as to grant + Constantine the inferior title of Cæsar. + </p> + <p> + Soon afterwards Galerius conferred the title of Augustus upon Severus; and + a little while after that the Eternal City was lost to Galerius through + the revolt of his son-in-law Maxentius, the son of Maximian. + </p> + <p> + The Senate of Rome then asked Maximian to re-assume the purple, and he and + Maxentius shared the power between them, both taking the title of + Augustus. + </p> + <p> + Upon this Severus at the request of Galerius marched upon Rome. He was, + however, defeated and slain. + </p> + <p> + After being more or less expelled by his son Maxentius, Maximian in the + year A.C. 308 marched to Gaul and married his daughter Fausta to + Constantine; at the same time conferring upon him the title of Augustus. + About this time Galerius made his friend Licinius an Augustus in the place + of Severus; whereupon Maximin, the Governor of Syria and + <!-- Page 85 --> Egypt, demanded and was granted that title also. + </p> + <p> + There were thus in the year A.C. 308 some half-a-dozen Roman Emperors + instead of one; there being Constantine and Maximian in the west, + Maxentius at Rome, and Galerius, Licinius, and Maximin elsewhere; not to + mention Diocletian, who was content to remain in retirement. + </p> + <p> + This decided break-up of the Roman Empire was Constantine's opportunity; + and he was favourably placed, for he had a warlike and faithful people + under him. + </p> + <p> + Moreover by reversing so far as lay in his power as ruler of Gaul the + traditional policy of Rome towards Christianity, and setting himself + forward as a champion of a non-national religion which had been persecuted + because it was non-national, Constantine was secure of the enthusiastic + backing of all the Christians to be found in the dominions of his various + rivals. + </p> + <p> + In A.C. 310 Constantine either executed his father-in-law the Emperor + Maximian, or caused him to commit suicide; and the first of his five + rivals was disposed of. + </p> + <p> + In A.C. 311 the Emperor Galerius died from + <!-- Page 86 --> disease, and Constantine's most formidable competitor, + and one who undoubtedly had a better claim than himself to the position of + sole emperor, thus opportunely made way for the ruler of Gaul. + </p> + <p> + In A.C. 312 Constantine marched at the head of the Gauls against the + Emperor Maxentius, defeated him near the Milvian Bridge outside Rome, and + entered the Eternal City in triumph. Maxentius is said to have been + drowned in the Tiber; and the Senate decreed that Constantine should rank + as the first of the three remaining Augusti. + </p> + <p> + In A.C. 313 the Emperor Maximin fought the Emperor Licinius; but his + forces were defeated, and he soon afterwards died. + </p> + <p> + Some ten years or so later Constantine went to war with his only remaining + rival, Licinius, defeated him, and became sole emperor, A.C. 324. + </p> + <p> + That despite his great qualities as a ruler the character of Constantine + was not perfect, can be easily seen from the fact that, not content with + executing the Emperor Licinius after accepting his submission, he murdered + the young Licinius; a boy certainly not over twelve years of age, and + according to some authorities + <!-- Page 87 --> two or three years younger than that. He also put his + own son Crispus to death, and other relations as well. + </p> + <p> + We are told that Constantine was so tortured by the memory of these and + other crimes that he applied to the priests of the Gods of Rome for + absolution, but that they bravely said that there was no absolution for + such sins, whereupon this worshipper of the Sun-God turned to his friends + the Christians and they gave him what he desired.<a name="S44" href="#R44"><sup>44</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + This statement seems somewhat improbable, however, as one would imagine + that the Pagan priests, when called upon by one who was Pontifex Maximus + and therefore their spiritual superior as well as the supreme emperor, + would not have scrupled to invent some purifying rite—if they had + none such—warranted to blot out the stain of every crime and + thoroughly appease offended heaven. + </p> + <p> + However this may have been, these terrible crimes of Constantine, all + committed many years after his alleged conversion to our faith, show how + badly advised we are to so needlessly go + <!-- Page 88 --> out of our way to claim as a Christian one who refused + to enter the Christian Church till he was dying and possibly no longer + master of himself. + </p> + <p> + It is said that this refusal of his to be baptised till he was weak and + dying and surrounded by Church officials who would perhaps have spread the + report that he had been baptised even if they had not then at last been + able to induce him to take the decisive step, was due, not to want of + belief, but to excess of belief; Constantine's idea being that the longer + he put off the rite in question, the more crimes would it wash out. Or, in + other words, that delay would enable him to sin with impunity a little + longer. + </p> + <p> + This may possibly have been the case, but it should at the same time be + borne in mind that whether Constantine called him Apollo or Christ, it + seems probable that it was the Sun-God to whom he referred. For everything + tends to show that this astute emperor, who so naturally wished to + establish and mould a religion which all his subjects of whatever race or + nationality might be reasonably expected to become in time willing to + accept, acted during his reign as supreme ruler of the Roman World, if not + from first to last, as if the Christ were but another + <!-- Page 89 --> conception of the Sun-God he was brought up to worship + as Apollo and all countries venerated under some name or other. + </p> + <p> + This point is not only demonstrated by the fact that upon his coins + Constantine repeatedly declared that the Sun-God was his invincible guide + and protector and the giver even of the victory foreshadowed by the + alleged vision of the cross or Monogram of Christ above the meridian sun, + but is also clearly shown by certain incidents connected with the founding + towards the end of his life of the new metropolis which in less than a + century equalled Rome in all save antiquity. + </p> + <p> + New Rome, or, as we now call it, Constantinople, the city of Constantine, + was built on the site of, and often called by the name of, Byzantium. It + was not designed till A.C. 324, and was not dedicated till A.C. 330, or, + as some think, an even later date: Constantine dying in the year A.C. 337. + </p> + <p> + We are told that Constantinople was dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God.<a + name="S45" href="#R45"><sup>45</sup></a> This should remind us of the fact + that long before our era, + <!-- Page 90 --> and right down to the time when Constantine selected + Byzantium as the site of a new capital, that place was considered + dedicated to the Virgin Queen of Heaven. + </p> + <p> + Now in the central place of honour in his new metropolis, one would + naturally expect Constantine to erect something or other to the honour of + the God to whom he attributed his victories. + </p> + <p> + Whose, then, was the statue Constantine towards the end of his life, and + about twenty years after his alleged conversion to our faith, erected in + the centre of the Forum of New Rome? + </p> + <p> + It was a statue of the Sun-God Apollo; or, as some explain it, a statue of + himself adorned with the attributes of the Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + In fact, taking the career of Constantine as a whole, there is nothing + inconsistent with the supposition that he was a Christian only in so far + as, out of policy or conviction, he acted as if he considered the Christ + to be one of many conceptions of the Sun-God. For although, as has been + mentioned and will be shown in a later chapter, Constantine, upon the many + varieties of coins he issued, repeatedly acclaimed the + <!-- Page 91 --> Sun-God as his companion and the author of his + triumphs, he never once, except in so far as he may have considered the + God we Christians worship to be the Sun-God, so attributed his victories + to the Christ. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 92 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH8">CHAPTER VIII.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + CROSS AND CRESCENT. + </h4> + <p> + Before passing in review the evidence regarding the symbol of the cross + derivable from Roman coins and other relics of antiquity, a few + introductory remarks are necessary regarding the too often forgotten fact + that the ancients naturally looked upon the Giver of Life as bi-sexual; no + life being known to them which was not a result of the conjunction of the + Male and Female Principles. + </p> + <p> + The necessarily bi-sexual character of the creator of both the Male and + Female Principles, was, it should be remembered, borne in mind by the + thinkers of old all the while they accommodatingly spoke of the Sun-God or + Giver of Life as being a personification of the Male Principle and gave + him a Bride or Virgin Mother to represent the Female Principle. + <!-- Page 93 --> + </p> + <p> + Moreover, just as the disc of the Sun, or the star-like form which the + ancients often used to signify the radiate or impregnating Sun, naturally + came to be recognised as the symbol of the Male Principle, so the + Crescent, as signifying the increasing Moon and the lesser of the two + great lights of heaven, in like manner came to be adopted as the natural + symbol of the Female Principle. + </p> + <p> + In this connection it will not be amiss to draw attention to the symbol of + the conquerors of the city founded by Constantine. For though misleadingly + called "the Crescent," that symbol is, as the reader cannot very well fail + to be aware, not a mere crescent; but one which has within its horns what + we consider to be a star-like form and therefore call a star. And though + it is possible that it was not knowingly adopted as such by the Moslems, + this dual symbol was a combination of the ancient symbols of the Male and + Female Principles. + </p> + <p> + An erroneous account of the origin of this symbol as a Moslem symbol is + given in all our works of reference which deal with the matter, as if + their compilers copied one from another without troubling to consider the + evidence for themselves. + <!-- Page 94 --> + </p> + <p> + The incorrect but widely accepted explanation in question, is to the + effect that the so-called <i>star</i> and crescent had its origin as a + Moslem symbol in the capture of Byzantium or Constantinople by the Turks + in A.C. 1453; our works of reference stating that it was then adopted by + Mahomet II., as the symbol of the famous city he had taken from the + Christians. + </p> + <p> + But was the "star and crescent" the symbol of the City of Constantine? It + would appear not. + </p> + <p> + Ancient Byzantium was, as stated in a previous chapter, considered, long + before our era and right up to the days of Constantine, as dedicated to + the Virgin Queen of Heaven; whose symbol was a crescent. And when + Constantine rebuilt and renamed Byzantium, he dedicated New Rome—or, + as we now call it, Constantinople—to the Virgin Mother of God and + Queen of Heaven; whose symbol, as can be seen upon reference to both + ancient and modern representations of the Virgin Mary, is also a crescent. + It would therefore appear that the symbol of the city is more likely to + have been a simple crescent than the so-called <i>star</i> and crescent. + Such a conclusion is entirely borne out by + <!-- Page 95 --> the evidence. For though the so-called star and + crescent can be seen upon three or four coins struck at Byzantium before + such a place as New Rome was thought of, this proves little if anything; + inasmuch as the symbol in question was a very common one in days of old, + and occurs frequently upon coins struck elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + Moreover the question is what the symbol of Constantinople was at the time + it was captured by the Turks. And an inspection of the coins issued by the + Christian rulers of that city during the thousand years and more it was in + their hands, will reveal to the enquirer that though the crescent with a + <i>cross</i> within its horns appears occasionally upon the coins of the + Emperors of the East, and in one or two instances we see a cross of four + equal arms with each extremity piercing a crescent, it is doubtful if a + single example of the so-called "<i>star</i> and crescent" symbol can be + found upon them. + </p> + <p> + We learn from other sources also that the symbol of the imperial Christian + Metropolis captured by the Turks nearly five hundred years ago and ever + since retained by them, was a simple crescent. And there is no doubt + whatever that the dual symbol of the Moslems was + <!-- Page 96 --> adopted by them, not when they brought about the + downfall of Constantinople as a Christian city, but centuries before, as a + result of the conquest of Persia. + </p> + <p> + It was in the year A.C. 641 that the battle of Nehavend, ever after called + by the Moslems the <i>Victory of Victories</i>, laid at the feet of the + followers of the Prophet the kingdom of Iran or Persia, and brought to an + end the Sassanian Monarchy. + </p> + <p> + Now the coins of the Sassanian kings then and for the previous two + centuries bore upon them, with scarcely an exception, the so-called "<i>star</i> + and crescent"; and it was as the symbol of this Zoroastrian dynasty and of + the fair land of Iran, that the Moslems adopted it as their own. What the + star-like object (star-like, that is, in <i>our</i> opinion) represented + upon the coins of Iran or Persia when placed within the horns of a + crescent, was, of course, the Sun. The supposition of certain writers that + the dual symbol represented the two crescent-presenting orbs, Venus and + the Moon, is entirely mistaken. For though the conjunction of the two + crescent-shaped and feminine lights of heaven, was of + <!-- Page 97 --> old, like the combination of the symbol of the Sun—as + representing the Male Principle—with that ever feminine symbol the + Crescent, held to signify Increase and Life, we are dealing with what was + admittedly a Mithraic symbol. And not only was the star-like object in + question the symbol of the Sun-God Mithras, but it was, as any student of + the coins of the Sassanian dynasty can see, substituted for the disc. + </p> + <p> + Upon the Sassanian coins the so-called star, in reality a representation + neither of a star nor of a planet but of the radiate Sun, seems to have + been first substituted for the round disc as a representation of the Sun, + by Perozes, about A.C. 457; the disc in the horns of a crescent being the + symbol on the coins of his father Isdigerd II. and other predecessors. But + the dual symbol miscalled the "star and crescent" was one even then of + great antiquity, as will be shown in a later chapter dealing with Phœnician + relics discovered in Cyprus and elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + The primary signification of the dual symbol in question, often + accompanied on the Sassanian coins by a prayer that the monarch might + "increase," or flourish generally, was undoubtedly <i>Life</i>. And it is + clear that the conjunction of + <!-- Page 98 --> the Crescent as the symbol of the Female Principle of + Life with the star-like figure which represented the radiate, life-giving, + or impregnating Sun, must have not only signified Life, but also the + necessarily bi-sexual Giver of Life. + </p> + <p> + We are thus brought to the conclusion that the Cross and the so-called + Crescent are more or less allied in signification. + </p> + <p> + Nor is this noteworthy fact to be wondered at. For only words and forms + divide the faiths of Mankind, and at heart the one object of our desires + is Life. Even those who piously lay down their lives for others here, do + so in the hope of being rewarded with longer life and more blissful life + hereafter. + </p> + <p> + Another point which is too often overlooked, is that if the followers of + the so-called Crescent have, as would appear to be the case, forgotten the + meaning of their symbol and the fact that it alludes to the bi-sexual + nature of the Creator, we followers of the Cross may all unconsciously be + in a very similar position regarding our symbol. And as the Cross as the + recognised symbol of the Christ is not of older date than the conquest of + Rome by the Gauls, and more or less resulted therefrom, it is clear that + the + <!-- Page 99 --> same remark applies if we consider the Moslems to have + adopted their symbol as that of the land they conquered from the Sassanian + kings, rather than as one with the primal and natural interpretation of + which they were content. + </p> + <p> + Anyway the cross as well as the "star and crescent" is more or less a + bi-sexual symbol, as will be clear to those who understand how the cross + came to be recognised ages before our era as the natural symbol of Life. + And a good illustration of the fact in question still exists in the + Caroccio crucifix of Milan; in which relic we see, under the usual + inscription, an androgynous Christ upon a cross, with a man's head but + half the body of female form, and with, instead of a cloth or fig-leaf, + the phallic <i>crux ansata</i>, or Egyptian cross or symbol of Life, + placed sideways, and as if the oval represented the female organ of + reproduction, and the <i>tau</i> or incomplete cross that of the other + sex. + </p> + <p> + Like the Red Cross of to-day, the Carocco bi-sexual crucifix, once so + common in Italy, was a symbol of Life and Salvation in two senses; it not + only being considered so in itself, but being also used on the battlefield + as a rallying point for wounded soldiers, signalling to them + <!-- Page 100 --> that bandages, drugs, and surgical aid, could be + obtained where it towered aloft. + </p> + <p> + These references to the fact that in days of old many very naturally came + to the conclusion that the Creator and Giver of Life and only Saviour must + be bi-sexual, should remind us Christians that our assertion that the + Infinite Spirit is "Our Father" is not from all points of view an + improvement upon the ideas of the ancients. For they also, and rightly, + conceived what we wrongly ignore, <i>viz.,</i> that the Infinite Author of + all existence must also be "Our Mother." + </p> + <p> + In this respect Protestants have if possible gone even further astray than + members of the Greek and Roman Churches. For in the veneration paid by the + latter to Mary of Nazareth as the Bride of God, the Mother of God, the + Star of the Sea, and the Queen of Heaven, can be seen a survival, however + toned down or distorted, of the old idea that the Deity must necessarily + be of both sexes. + </p> + <p> + Even the plainly evident fact that, while in pre-Christian days the symbol + of the cross represented the two sexual powers in conjunction, it has in + Christian times come to be considered + <!-- Page 101 --> the symbol of Life as being the symbol of the <span + class="smallcaps">Son</span> of God, should, moreover, lead us to note + that our religion scarcely does justice to the part played in the economy + of Nature by the fair sex. This is doubtless due to the fact that the + moulding of our creed and the interpretation of things hard to be + understood has for the most part been in the hands of the sex which, as + the author belongs to it, may by way of contrast be called unfair. + </p> + <p> + What, for instance, can be more unfair than the assumption that God, if + incarnated as one of the genus Homo, must have been born a male? Yet that + assumption is at the very basis of modern Christianity. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, even granting that the Deity was specially incarnated in Jesus + the Nazarene and therefore as a male, why should we, as if supposing that + a passing form could stamp its sex upon an Infinite Spirit, speak of "God + the Son" yet never of "God the Daughter?" + </p> + <p> + The fact is that the natural disabilities and disadvantages of the + childbearing sex have from the first resulted in the power of the male sex + to rule the roast, and one result of the predominance thus ensured to the + male sex by the + <!-- Page 102 --> laws of Nature has of course been a similar + predominance for the opinion that the Creator is of the male sex. + </p> + <p> + Some enthusiastic champion of her sex, alluding to the fact that the + opposing sex now has a monopoly of the priesthood, may even go so far as + to ask with a special meaning, Has not Man from the beginning made God in + his own image? + </p> + <p> + The male sex did not always have a monopoly of the priesthood, however; + and in few if any instances did the priests of old go so far as to teach + that the Creator, whom out of compliment to the Deity—or themselves—they + naturally spoke of as belonging to the stronger sex, was a male and <i>only</i> + a male. Nor did they even assume such a thing. Though the different gods + and goddesses were spoken of as belonging to this or that sex, more than + one were regarded as in reality androgynous; and the fact that the Creator + and Giver of Life must of necessity be so was very generally recognised. + </p> + <p> + As a matter of fact it is by no means certain that the Creator is not + represented as being androgynous even in our Bible. For in the account of + the Creation which the Jews brought + <!-- Page 103 --> with them from Babylon, the Creator is represented as + saying "Let <i>us</i> make man in <i>our</i> image"; and a race which like + the Jews solemnly declared that there was but one God, could only, it + would seem, have accepted such a declaration as a divine revelation if + they conceived the God supposed to be speaking to be androgynous, and + addressing the other part of himself. This would account for the emphasis + laid upon the statement that man was created "male <i>and</i> female," + like, or in the image of, the Creator. + </p> + <p> + In any case it is clear that if God be not female as well as male, Man was + <i>not</i> created in the likeness of God. + </p> + <p> + The theory of the ancients that Man himself was created an androgynous + being, capable, like the Creator, of creating life in himself, but was + afterwards divided into halves, one of which is ever seeking to find the + other, need only be mentioned. + </p> + <p> + Suffice it to add that it can scarcely be said to have been altogether + progress in the right direction, which has led us mortals to call the + Author of all Life "Our Father," to the utter obscuration of the equally + important fact that the Deity in whom we live and move and have our being + must also be "Our Mother." <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 104 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH9">CHAPTER IX.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE CORONATION ORB. + </h4> + <p> + The fact that though we Christians fail to do the matter justice, the + ancients upon the contrary recognised that the Creator and the Giver of + Life cannot be rightly spoken of as belonging to one sex and one alone, is + not the only fact which those who examine relics of antiquity, such as the + coins of the Roman Empire, with a view to ascertaining what evidence is + derivable from them that bears upon the history of the symbol of the + cross, should ever bear in mind. Another point to be kept in view is the + evolution of the Christian symbol now known as the Coronation Orb. + </p> + <p> + This compound symbol, which plays so prominent a part in the regalia of a + Christian Monarch, also crowns the topmost height of many a Christian + Temple including both St. + <!-- Page 105 --> Peter's at Rome and St. Paul's at London. And it is + noteworthy that it bears a certain resemblance to the representation of + the Apex, once worn by the Salian priests and afterwards by the Pontifex + Maximus and the Flamens generally, which appears upon ancient coins of the + <i>Fabia</i> gens; the office of <i>Flamen Quirinalis</i> having been + hereditary in the Fabia family. + </p> + <p> + Upon other coins also, what is said to be meant for the pontifical apex + occurs as a round ball surmounted by something very like a cross, in the + hand of a female figure representing Rome; exactly as the so-called + Coronation Orb is to be seen upon coins of later date in the hand of this + or that Christian Emperor. + </p> + <p> + The evidence as a whole, however, favours the supposition that the + Coronation Orb, instead of having been derived from the Apex of the Pagan + priests and thus signifying the claim to priesthood or headship of the + church so often made by monarchs, is a development of the round object, + frequently unsurmounted by anything, so continually to be met with upon + ancient coins of Rome in the hand of this or that God, Goddess, or Ruler. + </p> + <p> + This being the case, it is a matter of very + <!-- Page 106 --> considerable importance that we should be quite sure + what the round object in question used to signify, and should base our + assurance upon the results of personal investigation rather than upon the + assumption that the popular explanation is necessarily the correct one. + </p> + <p> + Though the round object in question was, as stated, in days of old often + used as a symbol by itself, it was sometimes, and, as time rolled on, more + and more frequently, surmounted by a small female figure with wings; which + figure was a representation of Victory. This figure was, after the + establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the Roman Empire, + gradually, and only gradually, supplanted by the figure of the cross. + </p> + <p> + Although several writers of note assume that the initiative in this + direction was taken by Constantine himself, the first step seems to have + been taken upon the death of Constantine, when a coin or medal was issued + on which the deceased monarch is called a God and is represented as + holding a round object surmounted by the so-called Monogram of Christ; a + symbol continually referred to by Eusebius and other writers of the fourth + century as a cross. + <!-- Page 107 --> + </p> + <p> + Later on an instance occurs of the Monogram surmounting a round object + held by a female figure representing Rome. This is upon a coin issued by + Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine. + </p> + <p> + Passing on to the reign of Valentinianus II., we find that that Emperor + issued a coin upon which a round object surmounted by a cross is to be + seen in the hand of Victory herself. This would appear to have been the + first instance in which what we should call a cross, supplanted the + representation of Victory as a small female figure with wings, as a symbol + surmounting the round object which we are considering. + </p> + <p> + A similar coin was issued by Theodosius I., surnamed the Great; the last + of the Emperors of Rome whose rule extended throughout the whole of the + Roman world. + </p> + <p> + The instances named are, it will be understood, the exceptions to the + general rule during a considerable period. And upon many of the coins of + the Emperors mentioned, as well as upon those of the intervening Emperors, + the round object held by those rulers is surmounted by either a Victory or + a Phœnix; usually by the former, but in several instances by the + latter. + </p> + <p> + The first ruler who caused <i>himself</i> to be + <!-- Page 108 --> represented as holding a round object surmounted by an + ordinary cross, was Theodosius II., Emperor of the East. + </p> + <p> + The fact that for a long time the Victory, the Phœnix, and the Cross, + were made use of as symbols which might be substituted one for another, is + worthy of special note. For the facts that the round object held by + Theodosius II. is as often surmounted by a Victory as by a Cross, and that + a Victory instead of a Cross was often used by succeeding Christian + Emperors, tend to show that the Victory, the Phœnix, and the Cross + were allied in signification, and equally connected with the round object + the nature and meaning of which we are about to enquire into. + </p> + <p> + The reader may possibly object that no case has been made out for such + enquiry, inasmuch as not only did the cross in course of time entirely + supplant the Victory, but the round object from first to last, and whether + unsurmounted by anything or surmounted by a Victory or a Phœnix or a + Cross, signified the world upon which we dwell, the round world, and + nothing but the world. + </p> + <p> + Such is, of course, the popular assumption; + <!-- Page 109 --> based upon what we are taught in school books and in + standard works of reference. But, as a matter of fact, in many cases the + round object admittedly signified an apple; the Golden Apple of the + Hesperides: a well known phallic symbol. Whenever a round object + unsurmounted by anything is to be seen in the hand of either the Sun-God + Hercules or Venus the Goddess of Love, it admittedly may have been, for it + admittedly often was, a representation, not of the world, but of the + Golden Apple. And not only does it so occur upon a very large number of + coins, but in some instances we see the Victory surmounting it; recalling + to our minds the fact that victory, as signifying the triumph of Life over + Death, had a phallic as well as a martial meaning, and is achieved every + time that a man is born into the world as a result of the tasting of the + fruit of the Tree of Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, though the fact is now for some reason or other ignored, the + so-called Coronation Orb of Christian Monarchs was itself once known as + the Golden Apple. It is so referred to in important Latin documents of the + Middle Ages; for instance in the famous + <!-- Page 110 --> Bull of Charles IV. regarding the Imperial elections, + wherein we read of the right of the Counts Palatine of the Rhine to carry + the symbol in question at the coronation of their Emperor. And to this + very day the so-called Coronation Orb is known throughout Germany and + Austria as <i>Reichsapfel</i>, the Imperial Apple. + </p> + <p> + It is therefore by no means certain that the round portion of the + Coronation Orb which thus caused the name of "the Golden Apple" to be + given to this compound Christian symbol, is not, like the cross above it, + to some extent a phallic symbol. + </p> + <p> + Every one should know the classic story of the Golden Apple; how the tree + which bore the Golden Apples grew up in the Garden of the Hesperides in + honour of the wedding of Hera, a goddess who more or less personified the + female sex; how the Golden Apples are variously said to have been + dedicated to the Sun (Hellos), to the Sun-God (Dionysos), and to the + Goddess of Love (Aphrodite); how the Sun-God Hercules as one of the twelve + labours which represented the months, slew the Serpent which guarded the + tree, and plucked the fruit; and how the Goddess Eris, who alone of all + <!-- Page 111 --> the deities was not invited to the nuptials of Peleus + and Thetis, revenged herself by throwing among the guests a Golden Apple + inscribed "To the fairest," and Paris awarded it to the Goddess of Love, + Aphrodite or Venus. + </p> + <p> + The story of the Garden of the Hesperides is at heart one with that of the + Garden of Eden; for it is obvious that the same phallic meaning underlies + each, and that they are but different versions of the same allegory. + </p> + <p> + It may here be called to mind that it has this century been discovered + from the cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia, that Eden was the name + given by Babylonians in days of old to the plain outside Babylon, + whereupon, according to the legends of that city, the creation of living + beings took place. Also that much evidence has accrued which, impartially + weighed in the balance, leads clearly to the conclusion that the + all-important commencement of Genesis, which forms as it were the very + basis of both the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, was borrowed by the + Jews from Babylon. And that it was in reality a <i>Babylonian</i> + tradition or series of traditions of far older date than any writing of + purely Jewish origin, has not only been amply + <!-- Page 112 --> proved by recent discoveries, but might indeed have + been guessed from its reference to the Tower of Babel or Babylon. + </p> + <p> + Nor is this all, for among the age-old relics discovered in Western Asia + is a pictorial representation of the allegorical Temptation and Fall. + </p> + <p> + Upon this noteworthy piece of evidence the Tree of Knowledge or Life, with + which the figure of the cross was identified by the early Christians; the + Serpent, which in all countries and every age has been more or less + identified with the sexual powers; the Man; the Woman; and the Apple; are + all represented. And it is important to note that, according to the + cuneiform inscription upon another time-worn relic in the British Museum, + the Babylonians of old, at a time when the descendants of Jacob or Israel + were without scriptures of their own, had a tradition to the effect that + the fate of our first parents—who, thanks to a wicked Serpent of + Darkness, tasted of the forbidden fruit which grew in the "Garden of the + Gods"—was placed in the hands of "their Redeemer." + </p> + <p> + It should also be pointed out that this voice from the dim and distant + past distinctly states that the Redeemer in question was—the + Sun-God. + <!-- Page 113 --> + </p> + <p> + In ancient days the so-called forbidden fruit or apple seems to have borne + somewhat the same symbolic meaning that the egg did. But while the apple + not only represented Life, but also, and primarily, that union between two + sexes or principles which produces life, the egg more or less lacked the + latter meaning, and, on the other hand, signified Existence in a wider + sense than the apple did. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Cosmos</i> itself was an egg according to the conceptions of many + of the ancients; and few ideas were more widely spread, or can be traced + further back, than the one that the whole visible creation emerged from + the original Chaos or Darkness in the shape of an egg. + </p> + <p> + The egg also, and above all, signified the Sun-God, as the acknowledged + Giver of Life and Saviour of Life. Hence the prominent part which it + played in the various religious mysteries of the ancients, and also the + fact that the Egyptians represented the Sun-God Ra as giving forth such + utterances as "I am the Creative Soul of the celestial abyss. None sees my + nest, and none can break my egg." The egg referred to, was of course the + Sun itself. + </p> + <p> + Even our Christian custom of exchanging + <!-- Page 114 --> eggs at Easter is more or less derived from Sun-God + worship, being a survival from customs practised long before our era at + that particular period of the year, the time of the Vernal Equinox or + Pass-over of the Sun, when the Orient Light crosses the Equator to rise + once more in the Northern Hemisphere. + </p> + <p> + Nor are these the only facts connecting the egg with Sun-God worship, for + the Sun-God Apollo was of old represented as born from the egg of Leda, + and the Sun-God Osiris was also said to have been born from an egg. + </p> + <p> + Moreover the Chinese believe that the first man was born from an egg, the + Orphic hymns speak of the "First-Begotten One" as "egg-born," and the + Greeks fabled that their Sun-God Dionysos sprang from the cosmic egg. + </p> + <p> + As to the origin of the Coronation Orb, it is noteworthy that no finer or + more natural symbol of Power could have been fixed upon than a + representation of that ball of fire which was so frequently spoken of in + bygone ages as "the Orb," and from which all earthly life and power may be + said to proceed. + </p> + <p> + However the available evidence certainly seems to show that the round + object we are considering + <!-- Page 115 --> is more likely to have signified the cosmic egg than + the solar orb. + </p> + <p> + In any case the object in question cannot be shown to have represented the + world upon which we dwell and that alone; and nothing is more likely than + that so famous a symbol should, like the cross which now adorns it, have + more or less signified Life. + </p> + <p> + It should also be pointed out that this symbol of Power may have + signified, not so much that the Ruler who used it laid claim to world-wide + dominion, as that he held in his hand power over the lives of others; and, + possibly, also that he claimed to be, as the vicegerent of the Sun-God and + Giver of Life, the only legitimate Saviour of his country. + </p> + <p> + The facts that the symbol was used in clays of old by others than the + Emperors whose sway extended over the whole of the Roman Empire, and is + nowadays considered the rightful symbol of every Christian Monarch however + limited the area over which his power is felt, should also be borne in + mind; though not of much value as evidence, as even petty rulers have been + known to boast that they held the world in their grasp. + </p> + <p> + It should however be remembered that though + <!-- Page 116 --> the ancients, struck by the dome-like appearance of + the sky and the circular movements of the constellations, conceived the + cosmos or universe to be spherical, and in some instances even constructed + celestial globes upon which to record the movements of Sun, Moon, Planets, + and Stars, it is doubtful if a single one of them considered the world + upon which we dwell to be spherical. Also, that many a Christian Monarch + has used the Coronation Orb as a symbol of power, and yet believed the + earth to be otherwise than a globe in shape. + </p> + <p> + In this connection it should be pointed out that the round object which + the ancients represented Atlas as supporting upon his shoulders, usually + in the presence of Jupiter, was not as is vulgarly supposed the earth, but + the heavens; Hesiod telling us that Atlas bore heaven with his head and + hands, Ovid that upon Atlas rested heaven and all the stars, and other + writers of bygone ages that Atlas was a king who first taught men that + heaven had the shape of a globe. + </p> + <p> + It is of course possible that the ancients may have conceived the earth to + be otherwise than spherical, and yet, because the horizon which + <!-- Page 117 --> appears to limit its extent seems to be circular, or + for some other reason, have considered a round object to be a + representation of it. + </p> + <p> + Even where, however, the ball-like symbol we are considering may have + represented something other than the Golden Apple, the probability is that + it seldom if ever represented the earth. + </p> + <p> + For as, though the ancients may have conceived and spoken of the world we + live upon as being "round" in the same sense as a circular coin is round, + they did not think of it as being a globe, it is obvious that the + ball-like symbol in question is much less likely to have signified the—in + their belief—non-globular earth, than it is to have been a + representation of something which they did consider to be globular. + </p> + <p> + Such is the nature of the evidence which tends to show that we Christians + may be mistaken in supposing that our famous symbol the Coronation Orb + represents the round world upon which we dwell, surmounted by the + instrument of execution upon which Jesus died. + </p> + <p> + Although, however, most points have now been touched upon, including the + important fact that the so-called Coronation Orb of Christian Monarchs + used to be called, even by Christians, + <!-- Page 118 --> the Golden Apple, the idea that it may have been the + <i>crux ansata</i>, or Egyptian symbol of Life (an upright oval, perhaps + signifying the female principle, set upon the top of the <i>tau</i>, or + <img src="images/t.gif" alt="T" /> cross, and thus turning into a complete + cross what is really an incomplete one, and may be supposed to have + signified the male principle), <i>reversed</i> (<i>e.g., Archæological + Journal</i> xlii. 164), should at least be mentioned. It ought, however to + be pointed out that the Orb is even more like the ancient symbol of the + planet sacred to Venus, the Goddess of Love, reversed. + </p> + <p> + Even this point does not exhaust the subject in hand; for the fact that in + days of old we used to represent the Christ as the Pagans represented the + Sun-God, <i>viz.,</i> as standing by the Tree of Life and holding a round + object meant for the phallic apple, has not yet been dealt with in any + way. + </p> + <p> + It is however desirable that before discussing the matter further we + should ascertain the nature of the evidence, regarding this and kindred + subjects, derivable from the coins of the Roman Empire. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 119 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH10">CHAPTER X.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE. + </h4> + <p> + Bearing in mind the matters mentioned in the two last chapters, let us now + pass in review the coins struck by the Romans, and make a note of such + features as may, directly or indirectly, bear upon the history of the + cross. + </p> + <p> + The first cross we meet with on the coins in question, is upon one of + Julius Cæsar; who was appointed <i>Flamen Dialis</i> B.C. 87, <i>Pontiff</i> + B.C. 74, Military Tribune B.C. 73, Quæstor B.C. 68, <i>Pontifex + Maximus</i> B.C. 63, and Dictator B.C. 49. + </p> + <p> + The cross in question consists of the name <i>C. Cossutius Maridianus</i> + arranged as a cross of four equal arms. And it should be noted that it is + admitted, even by such well-known authorities as Mr. C. W. King, M.A., + that the name was so arranged out of compliment to the official + <!-- Page 120 --> in question <i>because his name had reference to the + meridian sun</i>.<a name="S46" href="#R46"><sup>46</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin struck by Cæsar's heir, the almost equally famous + Augustus (Consul B.C. 43, Emperor B.C. 29—A.C. 14), about twenty + years before our era, we see a head of the Sun-God Bacchus upon one side; + and on the reverse a man presenting a military standard, the banner of + which is ornamented with a St. Andrew's cross. + </p> + <p> + Two other coins of the same reign and about the same date, have upon them + representations of military standards bearing the same symbol. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin struck by Augustus we see a crescent with a star or + radiate sun within its horns, the ancient phallic symbol adopted by the + followers of the prophet Muhammad centuries later. + </p> + <p> + A similar symbol occurs upon the coins of Hadrian (A.C. 117—138). + </p> + <p> + Upon two coins of Antoninus Pius (A.C. 138—161) we see the Sun-God + Hercules plucking the Golden Apple from a tree around which the + traditional serpent is coiled. + <!-- Page 121 --> + </p> + <p> + On another coin of the same reign the Sun-God Hercules can be seen holding + a round object which admittedly represents the Golden Apple; that symbol + both of the Sun-God as (1) the bi-sexual Giver of Life and (2) the + personification of the Male Principle, and of the Goddess who represented + (1) the Love of the two sexes and (2) the Female Principle. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin Jove holds a similar looking object. + </p> + <p> + Many coins issued in the name of Annia Galeria Faustina the wife of + Antoninus Pius, and by Marcus Aurelius (A.C. 161—180), and in the + name of his wife Annia Faustina, have upon them representations of Venus + the Goddess of Love holding a round object which is admittedly meant for + the Golden Apple. The favourite legends are <i>Venus Victrix</i>, <i>Venus + Felix</i>, and <i>Venus Genetrix</i>, and of phallic import; and in one + instance the Goddess of Love holds an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes + as well as the phallic apple. + </p> + <p> + Other coins of Marcus Aurelius or his wife have upon them representations + of Eternity as a female figure holding a round object. In some cases the + round object is surmounted by a Phœnix. + <!-- Page 122 --> + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin struck by Lucius Aurelius Verus (A.C. 160—169) that + ruler is to be seen holding a round object surmounted by a Victory. + </p> + <p> + On the coins of Commodus (A.C. 180—192) sometimes Jove and sometimes + the Emperor holds a small round object. A Victory in some cases surmounts + it. + </p> + <p> + Venus holding the Golden Apple—that is, a round object which in such + instances is admitted to have represented the Golden Apple—is to be + seen upon many coins issued in the name of Lucilla, the sister of + Commodus. + </p> + <p> + Upon coins issued by Caius Pescennius Niger a small round object + surmounted by a Victory is to be seen in the hand of Jove. On a coin + struck by Septimus Severus (A.C. 193—211) we see Rome represented as + a female figure with a shield at her side marked with a cross. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin we see the Goddess of Love holding a round object + admittedly meant for the Golden Apple, while a child is stationed at her + feet. The legend is <i>Venus Genetrix.</i> Among the coins issued in the + name of Julia Domna, the wife of the last named Emperor, are nearly a + dozen varieties upon which Venus + <!-- Page 123 --> is represented as holding a round object. A crescent + occurs upon the reverse in some instances. + </p> + <p> + Upon several coins of Caracalla (A.C. 211—217) we see that Emperor + holding a small round object surmounted by a Victory; upon others he is to + be seen holding a Victory only. + </p> + <p> + Various coins issued in the name of Fulvia Plantilla the wife of + Caracalla, show us the Goddess of Love holding a round object. The legends + are <i>Venus Felix</i> and <i>Venus Victrix</i>. + </p> + <p> + In the reign of Elagabalus or Heliogabalus (A.C. 218—222) a coin was + struck on which we see the Goddess Astarte, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or Venus, + holding a cross. + </p> + <p> + Venus holding a round object is to be seen upon many coins issued in the + names of Soæmias the mother of Elagabalus, his wife Julia Aquilia + Severa, Julia Mamma the mother of Alexander Severus, and his wife Orbiana. + </p> + <p> + On a coin of the Emperor Decius (A.C. 249—251) struck at Mæonia, + we meet with the so-called "Monogram of Christ" upon a Roman coin in the + form <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> for the + first time. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin of Trebonianus Gallus (A.C. 251—254) + <!-- Page 124 --> Eternity is represented as a female holding a small + round object. + </p> + <p> + On another coin of this reign we see a Phœnix instead of a Victory + upon the round object held by the Emperor. + </p> + <p> + Many of the coins of ancient Rome acclaim the Sun-God as the Saviour, and + upon a coin issued by Gallienus (A.C. 254—268) we see the Sun-God + Apollo holding a cross. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin issued by the younger Valerian we see the Sun-God holding a + small round object. + </p> + <p> + A coin struck by Tetricus (A.C. 267—264) has upon its reverse a + representation of the Sun-God holding a round object, while in the field + near the Sun-God is a cross. + </p> + <p> + On a coin issued by Claudius II. we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a + round object admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin issued by Aurelianus we see the Sun-God holding a round object + surmounted by a crescent. + </p> + <p> + On a coin issued by Vabalathus we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a round + object admittedly representing the Golden Apple. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin of Numerianus (A.C. 283—284) we see the Goddess of Love + holding a round + <!-- Page 125 --> object surmounted by a Victory. Such instances as this + should be specially noted, as nothing distinguishes the round objects so + surmounted from those held by Venus which admittedly represent the Golden + Apple, and the present fashion of our symbol the Coronation Orb or + Imperial Apple is due to the fact that a century later Theodosius II. + Emperor of Constantinople started the idea of substituting a cross for the + Victory. + </p> + <p> + Upon several coins of Carinus (A.C. 282—284) we see the Sun-God + holding a small round object. + </p> + <p> + On other coins of this reign Eternity appears as a female holding a small + round object surmounted by a Phœnix. + </p> + <p> + Upon the coins issued in the name of Magnia Urbica, wife of Carinus, on + which we see Venus holding a small round object which admittedly + represented the Golden Apple, the Crescent frequently accompanies the + representations of the Goddess of Love. + </p> + <p> + On coins issued by Diocletian (A.C. 284-305) we see both Jove and the + Sun-God holding a small round object; like the Emperor himself. A Victory + in some cases surmounts it. + <!-- Page 126 --> + </p> + <p> + The Sun-God Hercules holding a round object which admittedly signified the + Golden Apple is to be seen on other coins issued during this reign. + </p> + <p> + Among the coins issued by Diocletian's co-Emperor Maximian, is one bearing + a representation of the Sun-God Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides + near the Tree encircled by the Serpent he slew. The Sun-God holds a round + object representing a Golden Apple plucked from the Tree in question. + </p> + <p> + On the reverse of another coin bearing the names both of Jove the + All-Father and Hercules the Sun-God, we see the latter represented as + holding a round object, admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + </p> + <p> + In some cases where Hercules holds the Golden Apple-for instance, upon a + coin bearing the legend <i>Herculi invicto Aug</i>.—the Golden Apple + is surmounted by a Victory. + </p> + <p> + A coin issued by Constantius Chlorus, the ruler of Gaul and father of + Constantine the Great, represents the Sun-God Hercules in the act of + plucking a Golden Apple from the famous Tree. + </p> + <p> + A coin issued in the joint names of Galerius + <!-- Page 127 --> and Constantius Chlorus, bearing the legend <i>Genio + Populi Romani</i>, has in the field on the reverse side a cross, which + takes the place occupied upon otherwise similar coins by a star-like + object not improbably representing the sun. + </p> + <p> + Such are the more striking features of the evidence which can be obtained + from the Roman coins issued prior to the accession of Constantine to the + throne of Gaul. + </p> + <p> + The reader will have seen that the symbol of the cross occurs several + times upon the coins in question, and in almost if not quite every + instance in connection with the Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + The fact that upon a coin of Julius Cæsar, and therefore before our + era, a cross admittedly occurs as a symbol of the sun, will also have been + remarked. + </p> + <p> + It will also have been noticed in how very large a number of cases the + round symbol which was a precursor of our Coronation Orb admittedly + signified the Golden Apple, and therefore was of phallic import. + </p> + <p> + Another point which the reader cannot very well fail to bear in mind, is + that where the Goddess of Love, as the representative of the sex whose + felicity lies in motherhood or the + <!-- Page 128 --> victorious production of life, is seen carrying the + symbol in question, the surrounding legend is Venus <i>Genetrix</i>, or <i>Victrix</i>, + or <i>Felix</i>, or some variation or other of the same; and that the said + legends are obviously phallic in signification. + </p> + <p> + If we also keep before us the fact that the Golden Apple whether held by + the Sun-God or his complement the Goddess of Love, was at times surmounted + by the figure of Victory for which Christian Emperors gradually and only + gradually substituted the figure of the cross, it is curious to note that + in early Christian representations of the Christ he is often to be seen + with the Apple or forbidden fruit of the Tree of Life or of the knowledge + of good and evil. + </p> + <p> + When the Christ is in such cases depicted as a youth, the phallic apple is + usually to be seen lying near him; but when the Christ is represented as a + man, it is placed in his hand. + </p> + <p> + For instance a good example of the Christ holding the fruit of the Tree of + Life is reproduced for us in the well known work on the likeness of Jesus + by the late Thomas Heaphy.<a name="S47" href="#R47"><sup>47</sup></a> Here + we see, in a picture which occurs upon a + <!-- Page 129 --> glass ornament found in the Catacombs of Rome in the + tomb of a Christian named Eutychia, an illustration of the Christ standing + by the side of the Tree of Life. The rays of the Sun surround the head of + the Christ, and in his hand is the phallic Apple. + </p> + <p> + It will have been remarked that the round object to be seen upon + innumerable Roman coins in the hand of this or that ruler or deity, and + popularly supposed to have always represented the round world upon which + we dwell although it is at the same time believed that the world was not + then considered to be round, frequently occurs in the hand of a female + figure representing Eternity. It is self-evident that a representation of + the world we live on is less likely to have been so placed than a symbol + of Life. + </p> + <p> + A still more striking fact, which cannot fail to have been noticed by the + reader of the evidence from the coins of ancient Rome quoted in the + earlier part of this chapter, is that in several instances a Phœnix + and not a Victory surmounts the so-called orb. For the story of the Phœnix + was derived from the Egyptian City of the Sun.<a name="S48" href="#R48"><sup>48</sup></a> + And the fabulous bird in question was, + <!-- Page 130 --> according to Tacitus as well as Herodotus, specially + connected with the temple of the Sun-God at Heliopolis. + </p> + <p> + Upon this point it may be added that the famous story of the Phœnix + seems to have been known to the writer of <i>Job</i>; the Septuagint + version of <i>Job</i> xxix. 18, being "I shall die in my nest and shall + multiply my days as the Phœnix" according to some of the best + authorities. + </p> + <p> + The various ages allotted to this allegorical bird had reference to the + calendar; as indeed we learn from Pliny, who tells us that<br /><br /> "The + revolution of the Great Year in which the seasons and stars return to + their former places, agrees with the life of this bird."<a name="S49" + href="#R49"><sup>49</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + This is borne out by the periods spoken of as the lifetime of the Phœnix; + as among them are one of 600 years, the Great Year referred to by Josephus + and others, and one of 1,461 years, which was the Sothic period of the + Egyptians. + </p> + <p> + It is also clear that, like the Victory and the Golden Apple it + surmounted, the Phœnix and its wonderful egg were not only connected + with the Sun-God, but also had a phallic signification. + <!-- Page 131 --> + </p> + <p> + The problem as to whether bird or egg first existed scarcely applies to + the fabulous Phœnix and its equally fabulous egg, and need not be + discussed here. Suffice it to say that the round object from which that + Christian symbol the Coronation Orb is descended, though it may at times + have more or less represented the world upon which we dwell, seems to have + primarily signified, as associated with each other in idea, both the + Golden Apple of Love and the Phœnix-like life principle enshrined in + the Egg, both the egg-like <i>Cosmos</i> or Universe and Eternity; but in + all, and through all, and above all, the basis of all power whether finite + or infinite, <i>viz.,</i> Life. + </p> + <p> + It is therefore not surprising to find that the monarchs of ancient days + claimed to rule by divine right as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, to whose + favouring influence all earthly life is traceable; and caused themselves + to be represented, upon Roman coins as receiving the Golden Apple, and + upon Egyptian monuments as receiving the Cross, from the Sun-God, as the + symbol of their authority. + </p> + <p> + Yet another point to be borne in mind, is that we Christians are expressly + taught that God the Father and God the Son are as nearly identical + <!-- Page 132 --> as the ancients considered the Central Fire, which + they deemed the Parent of all things, and the Warmth and Light issuing + therefrom to be; or the Sun's disc and the emanations therefrom; the + Christ being represented as saying "I and My Father are one" and "He that + hath seen Me hath seen the Father." For though we describe ours as a <i>co-equal</i> + Trinity, no such identity with either God the Father or God the Son is + affirmed of God the Holy Ghost, and it is remarkable that in our ancient + illustrations of the Three Persons, both the First and the Second are + represented as holding the so-called globe and Cross, while the Third, + even where depicted as of human shape like the other two, is not. + </p> + <p> + The fact is that the co-equality of the Holy Spirit of a God who is + Himself, as Jesus declared, a Spirit, is an idea which did not find much + acceptance among Christians till a comparatively late date and is the + outcome of confused thought. And the separate personality of this Spirit + of a Spirit being entirely a Christian conception, and without a + counterpart in the theology of the ancients, few if any Pagan symbols such + as the so-called globe and the cross would have been associated with it in + any case. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 133 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH11">CHAPTER XI.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE. + </h4> + <p> + We are more or less in the habit of assuming that just as Paul, the + founder of the catholic faith, was converted, not altogether by reason but + as it were by force and with the rapidity of a flash of lightning, under + the rays of a meridian sun ("About <i>noon</i> suddenly there shone from + heaven a great light round about me," <i>Acts</i> xxii. 6; "At <i>mid-day</i>," + <i>Acts</i> xxvi. 13), so Constantine, the establisher of that faith as + the State Religion of the empire in which Paul was so proud of his rights + as a citizen, was in similarly rapid fashion converted by the appearance + of a miraculous "cross" of light and an accompanying legend above a + meridian sun ("At <i>mid-day</i>," Eusebius, <i>Vit. Const. I.</i>). + </p> + <p> + But, as has already been pointed out, this alleged vision of Constantine + is said to have + <!-- Page 134 --> taken place during his march upon Rome in the year + A.C. 312; and during the remaining twenty-five years of his life he acted + rather as if he were converting Christianity into what he thought most + likely to be accepted by his subjects as a catholic religion, than as if + he had been converted to the teachings of Jesus the Nazarene. + </p> + <p> + The fact is that Constantine was favourable to our religion out of policy + rather than conviction; and if after refusing so long he did indeed, a + quarter of a century after the alleged vision, consent to be baptised when + ill and dying, policy doubtless swayed him even then. Anyway, as has + already been stated and will now be seen, the evidence of his coins + conclusively shows that the God to whom Constantine from first to last + attributed his victories, was—the Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + Upon one coin issued by Constantine we see upon the reverse a nude figure + crowned with rays, with the right hand elevated toward the east, and a + round object in the left hand. In the field is a cross widened at the + extremities, and the surrounding legend is a significant one, <i>Soli + Invicto Comiti</i>. This coin was struck years after the alleged + conversion of Constantine, and + <!-- Page 135 --> the combined reference to the Sun-God and use of the + cross are worthy of special notice. + </p> + <p> + Upon two somewhat similar coins of Constantine the cross is placed within + a circular wreath of bay or laurel. + </p> + <p> + On another coin with the same legend we see the same nude figure crowned + with rays, representing the Sun-God and carrying a round object; while in + the field we see the Gaulish symbol, sometimes called a cross, which by + the addition of a loop was, as we shall see later on, turned into the + so-called Monogram of Christ. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin with the anything but Christian legend <i>Marti Conservatori</i>, + is a cross with four equal arms. + </p> + <p> + On a somewhat similar coin with the same legend, the helmet on the reverse + is ornamented with the so-called Monogram of Christ. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin we see Mars leaning on a shield adorned with the + so-called Monogram of Christ, the legend being <i>Marti Patri Conservator</i>. + </p> + <p> + On a coin issued in the name of his son Crispus during the reign of + Constantine, we see two Victories holding a shield upon a pedestal marked + with a cross of four equal arms. + <!-- Page 136 --> + </p> + <p> + A similar cross appears upon a coin issued during this reign in the name + of another son of Constantine. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin bearing the inscription <i>Constantinus Max. Aug.</i> we see + upon the reverse a cross of four equal arms. + </p> + <p> + On an otherwise similar coin a compound <i>tau</i> cross of four equal + arms, <img src="images/taucross.gif" alt="tau cross" /> , appears. + </p> + <p> + Upon a well-known engraving of a coin in the <i>Annales Ecclesiastici</i> + of Baronius, the <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> + form of the so-called Monogram of Christ appears upon the helmet of + Constantine. Some authorities, however, state that this is copied as the + familiar <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> in + error; what appeared on the helmet being the Gaulish symbol <img + src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> with a dot representing a star + near the top of the vertical bar. Such a dot can be seen in a similar + place upon two or three coins bearing the legend <i>Virtus Exercit</i>. + </p> + <p> + On another coin the legend <i>Gloria Exercitus</i> surrounds two soldiers + holding military standards, between which is the symbol of the cross. + </p> + <p> + On a somewhat similar coin the compound tan cross, of which we have + already noted an example, occurs between the standards. + <!-- Page 137 --> + </p> + <p> + A cross of four equal arms appears upon a coin bearing the legend <i>Pax + Publica</i>. + </p> + <p> + A coin issued during the reign of Constantine the Great in the name of his + son Constantine, has upon its reverse a cross of four equal arms, the + extremities of which are rounded. + </p> + <p> + On an otherwise similar coin the compound tau cross appears. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin bearing the inscription <i>Constantinus Max. Aug.</i> a cross + of four equal arms occurs near a soldier armed with spear and shield. + </p> + <p> + On the reverse of one coin we see two soldiers holding military standards, + and between the standards the so-called Monogram of Christ appears. + </p> + <p> + A coin of similar type was issued during the reign of Constantine the + Great in the name of his son Constantine. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin which on the obverse bears the inscription <i>Constantinus + Max. Aug.</i>, we see upon the reverse Victory carrying a palm. In the + field is the symbol <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> . The surrounding motto is <i>Victoria + constantini Aug.</i> + </p> + <p> + Several coins with the legend <i>Gloria Exercitus</i> have upon the same + side two soldiers with a + <!-- Page 138 --> labarum or military standard between them, upon the + banner of which is the symbol <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> . + </p> + <p> + On a coin with the legend <i>Victoria Cæsar NN</i> we see Victory + carrying a palm. In the field is the Gaulish symbol <img + src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> . + </p> + <p> + The reverse of another coin has the legend <i>Constantinus Aug.</i>, and + represents Constantine as holding a labarum or military standard + terminating in a round object. Upon the banner is the symbol <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> . + </p> + <p> + On a coin bearing upon its obverse the inscription <i>Constantinopolis</i>, + we see upon the other side a figure of Victory and a cross of four equal + arms. + </p> + <p> + On another coin bearing the same legend we see upon the reverse Victory + standing upon a ship, and to the left the so-called monogram. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin we see the same symbol above the wolf and twins of the + city of Rome. + </p> + <p> + A rare coin bears upon the obverse the inscription <i>Constantinus Max. + Aug.</i>, and on the reverse, surrounded by the legend <i>Spes Publica</i>, + a labarum or military standard the handle or base of which transfixes a + serpent. Upon the banner three globules are embroidered, and the + <!-- Page 139 --> symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> appears above the cross-bar from which the + banner hangs. + </p> + <p> + Upon one medal or coin of Constantine we see the significant legend <i>Soli + Invicto Aeterno Aug.</i> inscribed around the quadriga of the Sun-God Phœbus. + </p> + <p> + On another piece struck by Constantine the Great, the Sun-God is given the + title <i>Comes Aug.;</i> Companion, Guardian, or Saviour, of the Emperor. + </p> + <p> + Upon several coins we see the legend <i>Comiti Aug. NN,</i> and, + surrounded by the same, the Sun-God holding a small round object. + </p> + <p> + On numerous other coins also, the Sun-God is represented as holding a + small round object. + </p> + <p> + Other significant Sun-God legends to be met upon the coins of this alleged + Christian Emperor, are <i>Comis Constantini Aug., Soli Invicto, Soli + Comiti Augg. NN, Soli Invicto Com. D.N.</i> and the like. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin bearing the legend <i>Soli Comiti Aug. N.</i> we see the + Sun-God presenting Constantine with a small round object surmounted by a + Victory. + </p> + <p> + On a coin with the legend <i>Pax Augustorum</i>, + <!-- Page 140 --> Constantine holds a standard ornamented with a cross. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin Constantine is to be seen holding what is said to be a + representation of the Zodiac. + </p> + <p> + On a coin issued in his own name, as upon others already mentioned as + issued in the names of his sons, we see two Victories supporting a shield + upon an altar ornamented with a cross. + </p> + <p> + Upon a somewhat similar coin the altar is ornamented with the star-like + object which in days of old so often stood for the radiate sun. + </p> + <p> + A coin with the inscription <i>Divo Constantino</i>, and on the reverse + the legend <i>Aeterna Pietas</i> and a representation of Constantine + holding a round object surmounted by the symbol <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> , though + usually included in the coins of that Emperor was evidently struck after + his death and deification. + </p> + <p> + The same remark applies to a somewhat similar coin, which has an + additional symbol in a plain cross in the field to the right of the + Emperor-God. + </p> + <p> + It should be noted that the question here arises as to how far it is fair + of us to claim this cross and so-called Monogram of Christ as + <!-- Page 141 --> Christian and at the same time denounce as Pagan the + deification of Constantine referred to upon the same coins. + </p> + <p> + As to the coins of Constantine the Great as a whole, it need only be + remarked once more that while upon many of the pieces struck by him + Constantine attributed his victories to the Sun-God, not upon a single one + of them did he attribute them to the Christ; while it was ever the Sun-God + and never the Christ whom he alluded to on his coins as his Companion, + Partner, Guardian, or Saviour. + </p> + <p> + This being so, how can we honestly claim that the so-called Monogram of + Christ, and other forms of the cross, were ever placed upon his coins by + Constantine as symbols of the Christ, yet never as symbols of the Sun-God? + <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 142 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH12">CHAPTER XII.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE. + </h4> + <p> + Passing on to the Christian successors of Constantine the Great, we are at + once met with the significant fact that Constantine the Second issued many + different coins bearing a representation of the Sun-God holding a small + round object; and, as the surrounding legend, <i>Claritas Reipublicae</i>. + </p> + <p> + Another coin of this son of Constantine the Great, and one which deserves + special attention, has upon its reverse a Cross and a Crescent in + juxtaposition, as if the cross signified the sun. + </p> + <p> + A very similar coin has the symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> between the military standards. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin we see on the reverse both this Christian Emperor and + the Sun-God; the former holding a small round object, and + <!-- Page 143 --> the latter crowning him. The surrounding legend is <i>Soli + Invicto Comiti</i>. + </p> + <p> + The reverse of another coin bears the same Sun-God legend, and represents + the Sun-God as holding a small round object. + </p> + <p> + Upon another coin we see Constantine holding a small round object + surmounted by a Victory. On the reverse is the symbol <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> . + </p> + <p> + Constans I., another son of Constantine the Great, issued a coin on which + he is represented as holding in one hand a simply formed labarum or + military standard consisting of a straight pole terminating at the top in + a crossbar, from which hangs a banner bearing the symbol <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> ; while in + the other hand he holds a small round object surmounted by a <i>Phœnix</i>. + </p> + <p> + Constantius II., yet another son of Constantine the Great, issued a coin + on which is the symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> between the letters <span lang="gr">Α</span> + and <span lang="gr">Ω</span> (? <span lang="gr">ΑΡΧΩ</span>); + the legend being <i>Salus Aug Nostri</i>. + </p> + <p> + On another coin is Constantius II. as the Sun, upon one side; and upon the + other the symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> + between the letters alpha and omega once again. + </p> + <p> + Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine the + <!-- Page 144 --> Great who took Rome in A.C. 350 but was killed as an + usurper the same year, issued a coin on the reverse of which, surrounded + by the legend <i>Urbs Roma</i>, is a female figure representing Rome and + holding in her hand a round object surmounted by the symbol <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> . + </p> + <p> + The symbol <img src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> + frequently occurs upon the coins of Valeus (A.C. 364—378). And upon + one coin of this Emperor we see the letter <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> + surmounting a cross; surrounded by the legend <i>Gloria Romanorum</i>. + </p> + <p> + Upon a coin of Valentinianus II. we see Victory holding a round object + surmounted by a cross, the legend being <i>Victoria Augustorum</i>. + </p> + <p> + On the coins of Theodosius I. (A.C. 378—395) we find representations + of the Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Phœnix, and of + the Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Victory; as also of + Victory holding a round object surmounted by a cross. + </p> + <p> + This Emperor Theodosius I., better known as Theodosius the Great, after + securing sole control of the Roman Empire brought about the final + disruption of the world-wide dominions of Rome by bequeathing them in two + portions + <!-- Page 145 --> to his sons Arcadius and Honorius; the elder, + Arcadius, becoming Emperor of Constantinople and the East, while the + younger, Honorius, became Emperor of Rome and the West: A.C. 395. + </p> + <p> + Less than a century later, <i>viz.,</i> between the years A.C. 475 and + 480, the Western Empire was finally extinguished by Odoacer; the Eastern + Empire surviving it nearly a thousand years, lasting as the latter did + from the partition in A.C. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by Mahomet + II. in A.C. 1453. + </p> + <p> + It was, as stated in a previous chapter, upon the coins of an Emperor of + the East, <i>viz.,</i> Theodosius II., that the first example occurs of a + representation of an Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a cross; + though, as has been noted, instances of Victory carrying an object so + surmounted had previously occurred. And it need only be added that the + symbols <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and + <img src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> , often + the centre of a circle or surrounded by a circular wreath of bay or + laurel, continually occur upon the coins of the Eastern Empire, the symbol + <img src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> frequently, and the + undisguised solar wheel, <img src="images/solarwheel1.gif" + alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> upon the coins of Eudoxia, Theodosius II., Leo I., + and others. + <!-- Page 146 --> + </p> + <p> + The evidence of the coins of the Roman Empire given in this and the two + preceding chapters, coupled with the too-often forgotten fact that the + only form of cross which could possibly be a representation of the + instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed was the very last form + of cross to be adopted as a Christian symbol, cannot, it will be seen, + lead the unprejudiced enquirer to any other conclusion than that the cross + became the symbol of Christendom because the advent of Constantine and his + Gauls made it a prominent symbol of the Roman Empire. And that the symbol + in question was not altogether unconnected with Sun-God worship, should be + equally clear to the reader. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 147 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH13">CHAPTER XIII.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST. + </h4> + <p> + The so-called "Monogram of Christ "—a term which has at one time or + another been applied to each of the symbols <img + src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> or <img + src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> , <img + src="images/monogram1.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> or <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> , and <img + src="images/monogram2.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> or <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> , as but + variations of one and the same symbol—deserves a chapter to itself. + </p> + <p> + Though not first placed upon the coins of the Roman Empire by Constantine + any more than was the right-angled cross of four equal arms or the + so-called St. Andrew's cross, the symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> was, like the <img src="images/x.gif" alt="X" /> + cross and the many varieties of right-angled crosses of four equal arms, + first brought into prominence as a Roman symbol by the Emperor in + question. + </p> + <p> + From the evidence at our disposal it would appear that Decius was the + first Roman ruler + <!-- Page 148 --> to make use of this form of the so-called Monogram of + Christ. Anyhow, as has already been remarked, this symbol <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> occurs upon a coin + of the Emperor Decius struck at Mæonia about A.C. 250; and therefore + more than half a century before the days of Constantine. And it is + noteworthy that it was as a Pagan symbol that the <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> thus first + appeared upon the Roman coinage. + </p> + <p> + The coin in question is a bronze one, and the "Monogram of Christ" occurs + in the centre of a Greek inscription surrounding a representation of the + Sun-God Bacchus; and, apparently, as an amalgamation or contraction of the + two Greek letters equivalent to our R and CH, <i>viz.:</i> the Greek + letters <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> and <span lang="gr">Χ</span>.<a + name="S50" href="#R50"><sup>50</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Why these particular letters should have been contracted, is, however, + uncertain; and the question arises as to whether the <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> first arose as a + contraction of such Greek letters, or as an amalgamation of the Roman + letters <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> and <span lang="gr">Χ</span>, + or as the cross <img src="images/x.gif" alt="X" /> <i>plus</i> the Greek + <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> (our R) as the initial letter of the Greek + name for Rome. + </p> + <p> + Moreover if it be decided that the symbol + <!-- Page 149 --> first arose as a contraction of certain letters, yet + further questions arise; <i>viz.;</i> in what order those letters were + first read, and what word they first represented. + </p> + <p> + Before going into such matters as these, however, it is important that we + should fully realise how certain it is that the so-called Monogram of + Christ was originally a <i>Pagan</i> symbol. For even if this be not + considered demonstrated by its occurrence upon a Roman coin long before, + according to our Church, the Christ caused Constantine to use it as the + military standard of the Gauls, it is clearly shown by its occurrence upon + many relics of pre-Christian date. + </p> + <p> + The so-called "Monogram of Christ" can be seen, for instance, upon a + monument of Isis, the Virgin Mother of the Sun-God, which dates from the + second century before our era.<a name="S51" href="#R51"><sup>51</sup></a> + Also upon the coins of Ptolemaeus; on one of which is a head of Zeus Ammon + upon one side, and an eagle bearing the <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> in its claws upon the other.<a name="S52" + href="#R52"><sup>52</sup></a> The symbol in question also appears upon + Greek money struck long before the birth of Jesus; for instance upon + certain varieties of + <!-- Page 150 --> the Attic tetradrachma. And the <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> occurs upon many + different coins of the first Herod, struck thirty years or more B.C. + </p> + <p> + Whether the Pagan <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and the Pagan <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> originally had the same signification or not, + is uncertain. + </p> + <p> + Almost equally uncertain is the date at which we Christians first adopted + these Pagan symbols as Christian symbols because they could be interpreted + as formed of the two first letters of the Greek word <span lang="gr">ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ</span>, + <i>Christos</i>, Christ. + </p> + <p> + The probability is that Christians had at least drawn attention to this + possible interpretation of the symbols in question before the days of + Constantine. But this scarcely renders less noteworthy the fact, shown + further on, that the favourite symbol of the Gaulish warriors, the solar + wheel <img src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> or <img + src="images/solarwheel2.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 2" /> , was sooner or + later altered by their leader into <img src="images/monogram1.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 1" /> or <img src="images/monogram2.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 2" /> to please the Christians; while the symbols + <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> were also made use + of by Constantine. + </p> + <p> + Which form of solar wheel, monogram, or cross, was that actually carried + by the Gauls in triumph within the walls of Rome and set up by their + leader in the heart of the Eternal City, is not quite certain. But it is + clear that as + <!-- Page 151 --> both the <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and the <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> appeared upon coins struck before our era, + Constantine cannot very well have been ignorant of the fact that these + were originally Pagan symbols, when he favoured the addition of a loop to + the top of the vertical bar of the Gaulish solar symbols <img + src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> or <img + src="images/asterisk.gif" alt="asterisk" /> and <img + src="images/solarwheel2.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 2" /> or <img + src="images/plus.gif" alt="Plus" /> in order that what his Gaulish army + venerated as triumphal tokens might be accepted as symbols of victory by + his Christian supporters also. + </p> + <p> + That this Gaulish monarch did so alter, and for the reason named, the + symbol or symbols venerated by his troops, is admitted by, amongst others, + that well known writer the Reverend S. Baring Gould, M.A. For, referring + to the solar wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God venerated by the ancient + Gauls, this author tells us that Constantine<br /><br /> "Adopted and + adapted the sign for his standards, and the <i>Labarum</i> of Constantine + became a common Christian symbol. That there was policy in his conduct we + can hardly doubt; the symbol he set up gratified the Christians in his + army on one side and the Gauls on the other. For the former it was a sign + compounded of the initial letters of Christ, to the latter it was the + token of the favour of the solar deity."<a name="S53" href="#R53"><sup>53</sup></a> + <!-- Page 152 --> + </p> + <p> + As the fact that both the <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> were in use as symbols before the + commencement of our era thoroughly disposes of our contention as + Christians that the so-called "Monogram of Christ" had its origin in the + formation of a monogram out of the two first letters of the Greek word + <span lang="gr">ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ</span> (<i>Christos</i>, + Christ), it is clear that these symbols must have had some other origin. + </p> + <p> + Assuming that the symbols <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> had the same origin, and the same + signification, and that if the <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> was a combination of two letters the Greek or + Latin T (instead of X) was not one of them; or rather, as these would be + very considerable assumptions, more or less confining our attention to the + <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> as the more + likely of the two to have arisen as a combination of the Greek letters P + and X; let us in passing briefly enquire into the origin of the so-called + Monogram of Christ as a Pagan symbol. + </p> + <p> + If we seek for that origin as a combination of the first two letters of + some other Greek word than Christos, <i>Christ</i>, and for the moment + assume the letters <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> and <span lang="gr">Χ</span> + to have occurred in the same order as in that word, we see at once that + the monogram may have been derived + <!-- Page 153 --> either from the word Chrestos, <i>Good</i>, or the + word Chronos, <i>Time</i>, or the word Chrusos, <i>Gold</i>. + </p> + <p> + There is, by the way, another curious connection between the three Greek + words in question. For the name of the famous god Kronos or Cronos was + often spelt <span lang="gr">ΧΡΟΝΟΣ</span> <i>i.e.</i>, + Chronos.<a name="S54" href="#R54"><sup>54</sup></a> And this god Chronos—the + father of Zeus; and more or less a personification of Time, the Old Father + from whom we are all descended—was identical with Saturn, while the + Saturnian Age was, as in Virgil's fourth eclogue, ever that spoken of as + the Golden age when the ancients were referring to what they pictured as + the good old times. + </p> + <p> + It will not do, however, to assume that if the symbol we are considering + first arose as a combination of the Greek letters <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> + and <span lang="gr">Χ</span>, they were of necessity taken from, and + representative of, a word in which they occur in the same order as in <i>Christos</i>. + And the fact that in the <img src="images/monogram4.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> , if not also in the <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> , the <span + lang="gr">Ρ</span> is the leading feature, gives emphasis to the + point in question. + </p> + <p> + If we suppose that the so-called monogram + <!-- Page 154 --> arose as a combination of the Greek letters in + question occurring in the order <span lang="gr">Ρ Χ</span>, the + student of such matters can scarcely fail to note that the letters in + question occur in that order as the centre both of the word <span lang="gr">ΑΡΧΗ</span>, + the <i>Head, Chief,</i> or <i>First;</i> and also as the centre of the + kindred word <span lang="gr">ΑΡΧΩ</span>, <i>to be + first</i>, the only remaining letters of which, and therefore the first + and the last of this word as of the old Greek alphabet, are, as will be + seen, Alpha and Omega, the letters so continually placed on either side of + the symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> in + Christian times. + </p> + <p> + In this connection it should be pointed out that according to some of the + best authorities the first <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> which occurs upon any Roman coin, coming as + it does after the letter <i>alpha</i> in a Greek inscription, should be + taken with that letter as forming the <span lang="gr">ΡΧ</span> + of <span lang="gr">ΑΡΧ</span>, the latter being an + abbreviation of some form or other of the title <i>Archon</i>. This title + was that given to the dignitary who was at one and the same time the chief + magistrate of the state and its chief priest, and it may be worth remark + that as Bacchus was the deity worshipped in Lydia, the Archon in question + would therefore have been the chief priest of the Sun-God. + <!-- Page 155 --> + </p> + <p> + Several writers have, in their zeal for our religion, outrun their + discretion, and gone so far as to assume that the existence of the + so-called monogram of Christ upon this coin of the Emperor Decius is due + to some Christian having been employed in turning out the coin in + question, and having in <i>his</i> zeal surreptitiously introduced a + symbol of his faith. But though gravely supported by more than one great + authority, this is obviously an absurd position to take up. And in any + case the facts remain that it was in this instance placed over a + representation of the Sun-God, and had for centuries been in use as a + Pagan symbol. + </p> + <p> + Passing on, however, we have next to note that, as before hinted, even if + the symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> + arose as a combination of two letters, though we know that symbol to have + been often used as a contraction of the Greek letters <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> + and <span lang="gr">Χ</span> (our R and CH), there is no proof that + it arose as a combination of two Greek letters; and the symbol may have + arisen as a combination of the Roman letters P and X. + </p> + <p> + It should therefore be pointed out that in the inscriptions which have + come down to us from the Gaulish Christians of the sixth, seventh, and + <!-- Page 156 --> eighth centuries after Christ, the symbols <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> are continually + used as contractions of the Latin word PAX, <i>Peace</i>. For though the + fact that the Monogram was often so interpreted by Christians centuries + A.C. can by no means be considered evidence that it was thus that it first + arose as a Pagan symbol centuries B.C., such a possibility should be kept + before us. + </p> + <p> + But did the so-called Monogram of Christ first come into being as a + combination of two letters; Greek, Roman, or otherwise? + </p> + <p> + Even this is not certain, for this pre-Christian symbol may originally + have been a cross, as a symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, <i>plus</i> the + Greek letter <span lang="gr">Ρ</span> as the initial character of the + word "Rome" in what may be called the court language of the time. + </p> + <p> + Such an explanation would more or less account for the variations <img + src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> and <img + src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> ; these being + obviously the natural ways of adding the letter <span lang="gr">Ρ</span>, + signifying Rome, to the crosses <img src="images/x.gif" alt="X" /> and + <img src="images/plus.gif" alt="Plus" /> respectively. + </p> + <p> + All the foregoing references to the origin of the so-called monogram as a + Pagan symbol of pre-Christian date, are but speculations however. Its + origin cannot be ascertained for certain. + <!-- Page 157 --> + </p> + <p> + The revival of this pre-Christian symbol, and the prominence given to it + upon the coins of the Roman Empire, <i>are</i>, however, traceable. And, + as has been shown, they are traceable to Constantine; who induced the + Christians to accept as the Monogram of the Christ, and therefore as a + Christian as well as a Gaulish symbol of victory, the Solar Wheel + venerated by the Gaulish conquerors of Rome. + </p> + <p> + Nowadays the so-called Monogram of Christ is almost always reproduced for + us as <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> or + <img src="images/monogram4.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 4" /> ; but + the fact that Constantine sometimes so used it should not blind us to the + facts that it was at first usually the centre of a circle, like the spokes + of a wheel; and that the undisguised solar wheel <img + src="images/solarwheel1.gif" alt="Solar Wheel 1" /> appears upon not a few + of the coins issued by the Christian successors of Constantine, while + since his reign the solar wheel <img src="images/solarwheel2.gif" + alt="Solar Wheel 2" /> and many an artistic variation of the same have been + Christian symbols, and when in our ornamentation of ecclesiastical + properties we omit the circle we as often as not make the cross itself + wheel-like by rounding the extremities and widening them till they nearly + meet. + </p> + <p> + Moreover it should not be forgotten that it + <!-- Page 158 --> was evidently one form or other of the solar wheel of + the Gauls, <i>plus</i> the politic loop to one of its spokes, which + Constantine and his Gaulish warriors are said to have seen above the + meridian sun, with the divinely written legend <span lang="gr">ΕΝ + ΤΟΥΤΩ ΝΙΚΑ</span>, <i>By this + conquer</i>, attached. For though that miraculous symbol is referred to as + a "cross," the Monogram itself was so referred to; and Eusebius, after + telling us that the Christ appeared to Constantine and commanded him to + make a military standard for the Sun-God worshipping Gauls, "With the same + sign which he had seen in the heavens," expressly describes this as + composed of "Two letters indicating the name of the Christ, the letter P + being intersected with X at the centre." And on this particular Labarum of + Constantine, as on the majority of the Labara represented upon his coins, + the <img src="images/monogram3.gif" alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> was the + centre of a circle or circular wreath, like the spokes of a wheel.<a + name="S55" href="#R55"><sup>55</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + In any case the fact that the symbol <img src="images/monogram3.gif" + alt="Monogram of Christ 3" /> was a Pagan one centuries before the Christ + is said to have made it a Christian one for the Sun-God + <!-- Page 159 --> worshipping Gauls to follow on to victory, coupled + with the facts that they are said to have seen it above the mid-day sun, + and that it was admittedly a politic adaptation of the Solar Wheel, show + us how much Eusebius and other Christian chroniclers both invented and + suppressed, and also how largely the influence of Sun-God worship + permeated and moulded our religion. + </p> + <p> + In this connection it may be noted, as a curious fact rather than as + evidence, that according to some authorities the so-called Monograms of + Christ were in earlier ages Monograms of the Sun-God Osiris.<a name="S56" + href="#R56"><sup>56</sup></a> Also that both Socrates and Sozomen tell us + that when the temple of the Sun-God Serapis at Alexandria was pulled down, + the symbol of the Christ was discovered upon its foundations and the + Christians made many converts in consequence a somewhat significant + statement. + </p> + <p> + Moreover we are told that upon every <i>Dies Solis</i>, or in other words + upon that day of the week which throughout the Roman Empire was held + sacred to the Sun-God and throughout + <!-- Page 160 --> Christendom is called Sun-day, Constantine made his + troops, assembled under what was admittedly a solar symbol, recite at a + given time, which was probably dawn or mid-day, a prayer commencing "We + acknowledge thee to be God alone, and own that our victories are due to + thy favour."<a name="S57" href="#R57"><sup>57</sup></a> Who could this God + have been but the Sun-God, seeing that it was to the Sun-God that + Constantine upon his coins ever attributed his victories? And what is more + likely than that, wishing to take a friendly view of the deity worshipped + by their supporters the Christians, it was as conceiving the Christ to be + but the latest addition to the many conceptions of the Sun-God, that + Constantine altered the solar symbols of his troops into the so-called + Monograms of Christ, and that his troops accepted the alterations? + </p> + <p> + And, passing from the symbol to the deity represented, let us remember + that it is recorded that various Christian paintings of ancient times bore + upon them the dedicatory words <i>DEO SOLI</i>. For this remarkable legend + means both "To God alone" and "To the Sun-God," both + <!-- Page 161 --> "To the Sole God" and "To the God Sol;" and forcibly + reminds us, not only of the prayer which Constantine caused his troops to + repeat, but also of that fine address to the "universally adored" Sun-God + commencing<br /><br /> "Latium calls thee Sol because in honour thou<br /> + art Solitary,<br /> + After the Father."<a name="S58" href="#R58"><sup>58</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Now, as will be shown further on, a cross of some description or other was + in every land accepted as the symbol of the universally adored Sun-God. + And while not a single one of the many books forming the New Testament + states that Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped instrument, and the <i>first</i> + crosses Christians used as signs or symbols bore every form but that which + a cross-shaped instrument of execution would have borne, the Christians of + the fourth century, as we have seen, went out of their way to claim even + the so-called Monogram of Christ as a cross; Eusebius so carefully + speaking of it as such even where he relates that Constantine and his + soldiers saw + <!-- Page 162 --> it above the meridian sun, that one might not + unreasonably imagine him to be claiming it as Christian because it was + more or less cruciform and therefore more or less like the world-wide + symbol of the Sun-God. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 163 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH14">CHAPTER XIV.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS. + </h4> + <p> + Having made clear the part played by Constantine in the prominence given + in his lifetime to the cross as a symbol of the Roman Empire and therefore + of what he made its State Religion, and having also shown that while the + Christian chroniclers of those days are silent concerning the various + forms of crosses placed by Constantine upon his coins they went out of + their way to allude to the so-called Monogram of Christ as a cross, to + claim it as such, and even to associate it with the sun, let us now turn + our attention again to the pre-Christian cross. + </p> + <p> + So great was the veneration in which that phallic and solar symbol the + cross was held in the ages which preceded the birth and death of Jesus, + that the philosophers of those days even + <!-- Page 164 --> went so far as to declare that the cross was the + figure of the Life or Soul of the Universe. + </p> + <p> + Though it is a matter of very considerable importance, we Christians for + some reason or other ignore the fact that long before our era commenced + philosophers thus conceived the figure of the cross to be the symbol of + the <i>Logos</i> of God. + </p> + <p> + Now although, following the Gospel of St. John, we have made it a main + article of our belief that the Logos, really the Thought <i>plus</i> + Speech, of God, became about the year B.C. 4 specially incarnate in the + person of Jesus the Nazarene, we ought not to forget that, being the one + Power by which all that ever came into existence was created and all that + exists is sustained, the Logos in any case ever was, is, and will be, + incarnate in every sentient being. + </p> + <p> + As the Logos of God (or, as the Authorised Version of the Bible into + English most inadequately renders it in the first chapter of St. John's + Gospel, the <i>Word</i> of God) was by the philosophers called the + "Intellectual Sun" and the "Light of the World",<a name="S59" href="#R59"><sup>59</sup></a> + being, as a personification of the <i>Thought</i> and <i>Speech</i> of the + <!-- Page 165 --> All-Father, a personification of Wisdom and Reason + (which, in an even more real sense than the emanations of the physical + sun, form the "Light of the World," or, as the original text of the New + Testament puts it, the "Light of the <i>Cosmos</i>"), the fact that + pre-Christian philosophers affirmed that the cross was the symbol of the + said "Light of the Cosmos," is obviously one which every writer concerning + the cross as a Christian symbol ought in common honesty to deal with. + </p> + <p> + That pre-Christian philosophers did so affirm, can be seen by turning to + the <i>Timæus</i> of Plato, where, referring to the begetting of the + Universal Soul (whom Philo, another pre-Christian philosopher, speaks of + as the "Second God"; and as God's "Beloved Son," "Image," "Ambassador," + "Mediator," and "First-Begotten"), Plato says<br /><br /> "Such was the + whole plan of the Eternal God about the God that was to be:—and in + the centre he put the soul which he diffused throughout the body:—and + he made the Universe a circle moving in a circle. Having these purposes in + view he created the world a blessed God:—he made the soul on this + wise—joined—at the centre like the letter <span lang="gr">Χ</span>."<a + name="S60" href="#R60"><sup>60</sup></a> + <!-- Page 166 --> + </p> + <p> + Concerning this pronouncement of the great Teacher he so revered, Proclus + wrote as follows<br /><br /> "Two circles will be formed, of which one is + interior but the other is exterior. One of these is called the circle of + the Same and one the circle of the Different, or of the Fixed and of the + Variable, or rather of the Equinoctial Circle and of the Zodiac. The + circle of the Different revolves about the Zodiac, but the circle of the + Same about the Equinoctial. Hence we conceive that the right lines are not + to be applied to each other at right angles but like the letter <span + lang="gr">Χ</span>, as Plato says, so as to cause the angles to be + equal only at the summit but those on each side and the successive angles + to be unequal. For the Equinoctial Circle does not cut the Zodiac at right + angles. Such therefore in short is the mathematical discussion of the + figure of the (Universal) Soul."<a name="S61" href="#R61"><sup>61</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Even the Fathers of the Christian Church admitted that their ideas of the + Son of God and of the cross being his symbol, were more or less derived + from pre-Christian philosophers. For we find Justin Martyr remarking that + Plato declared that<br /><br /> "The Power next to the Supreme God was + figured in the shape of the letter <span lang="gr">Χ</span> upon the + universe."<a name="S62" href="#R62"><sup>62</sup></a> <br /><br />And in + another place this famous Father states that<br /><br /> "Whereas Plato, + philosophising about the Son of God, + <!-- Page 167 --> says God expressed him upon the universe in the shape + of the letter <span lang="gr">Χ</span>, he evidently took the hint + from Moses, who took brass and made the sign of the cross and placed it by + the holy tabernacle, and declared that if people would look upon that + cross and believe they would be saved."<a name="S63" href="#R63"><sup>63</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + The value of all this evidence is so obvious that its mere parade is + almost sufficient. + </p> + <p> + It should however be pointed out that this cross <img src="images/x.gif" + alt="X" /> , being avowedly adopted by the pre-Christian philosophers + as the symbol of the "Logos" or "First-begotten" of God in preference to + the <img src="images/plus.gif" alt="Plus" /> because the zodiac or pathway + of the Sun does not "cross" the equator at right angles, was clearly a + solar symbol. And it may be added that though Justin Martyr is careful to + claim this particular solar cross as a symbol of the Christ, no one claims + that Jesus was executed upon an instrument so shaped; while the story that + St. Andrew was affixed to an instrument of execution so shaped, is + admittedly a worthless legend. + </p> + <p> + This claim of Justin Martyr that the solar cross of the philosophers was a + pre-Christian + <!-- Page 168 --> symbol of the Christ, is, when considered in + connection with the fact that nearly all the Fathers allude to the figure + of the cross, <i>any</i> kind of cross, as a life-giving symbol from time + immemorial, significant of much. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 169 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH15">CHAPTER XV.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE. + </h4> + <p> + That the symbol of the cross was widely venerated in Europe long before + our era, is well known to archæologists. Of Britain in those days we + know next to nothing, history being almost silent upon the subject and + relics conspicuous by their absence. The cross is however a conspicuous + feature upon certain funeral urns which are said to date back to the + period in question. And it is noteworthy that both it and the solar wheel + occur upon several of the earliest British coins; which whether issued as + some say before, or as others aver after, the advent of Julius Cæsar, + were admittedly of pre-Christian date. Evidences of the veneration of the + cross in France before our era are so numerous and + <!-- Page 170 --> easily ascertainable, that it will only be necessary + to refer the reader to the <i>Collection Roujou</i>, the pages of the <i>Revue + de Numismatique</i>, and the writings of Messieurs De la Saussaye, + Lenormant, De Saulcy, E. Lambert, and other French authorities. + </p> + <p> + If, continuing our journey eastwards, we pass over the border into the + northern provinces of Italy, we find equally striking evidence of the + pre-Christian veneration of the symbol in question. + </p> + <p> + Let us take for example the evidence furnished by the remarkable + discoveries made in the pre-Christian cemetery unearthed at Gola-Secca. + For upon a very large proportion of the articles discovered in the ancient + tombs of the cemetery in question, a cross of some kind is the prominent + feature. + </p> + <p> + Particulars of these articles can be found recorded in the literary and + scientific journals of France. And the conclusion arrived at by the + authorities upon such matters cannot be better put than in the revised + edition in book form of an article in the <i>Revue Archéologque</i> + by Monsieur G. de Mortillet. + </p> + <p> + After referring to the relics of so much of + <!-- Page 171 --> ancient Gaul as is comprised in modern France, a + subject he takes leave of in the words—<br /><br /> "But the + pre-Christian cult of the cross was not confined to Savoy and the environs + of Lyons. A glance at the coins of ancient Gaul is sufficient to show that + it existed in nearly every part"— <br /><br />M. de Mortillet, + crossing the frontier and dealing with the said tombs of Gola-Secca near + Milan in Italy, sums up as follows<br /><br /> "One sees that there can be + no doubt whatever concerning the use of the cross as a religious sign for + a very long time before Christianity. The cult of the cross was well + spread over Gaul before its conquest and already existed in Emilia in the + Bronze Age, more than a thousand years before Jesus Christ." + </p> + <p> + Let us pass on to yet another country, Switzerland. Here also we find + unexceptional evidence of the general recognition of the cross before our + era as a symbol which should above all others be venerated. + </p> + <p> + The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland may be said to have been brought to + light by the extraordinary drought experienced in the years A.C. 1853-4; + for though piles and ancient remains were found upon the shores of various + lakes + <!-- Page 172 --> before that date, no great heed was paid to them till + the drought in question lowered the waters of the lake of Zurich and of + other lakes to an unprecedented extent, and certain discoveries due + thereto led to the matter being thoroughly investigated by antiquarians. + </p> + <p> + The result was that many relics of the Lake Dwellers were found. And, + placed upon those relics by this forgotten race of hoary antiquity as the + sign they venerated, was the symbol of the cross. + </p> + <p> + These relics, preserved for us by the sediment carried into the lakes by + various rivers, cannot be less than 3,000 years old, are not improbably + 4,000 years old, and may quite possibly be 5,000 years old; some + authorities—Monsieur Morlot for instance—estimating their age + at from 6,000 to 7,000 years. Suffice it to record the fact that these + relics are admittedly pre-Christian. + </p> + <p> + Upon the articles in question, as on those discovered in the pre-Christian + tombs of Gola-Secca, the cross is stamped as a symbol of life, of good + omen, and of salvation. Even dies for stamping articles with the cross + have been discovered among the remains of the Lake Dwellers. And the + crosses are of three kinds; (1) the + <!-- Page 173 --> right-angled cross of four equal arms, of which so + many variations, some enclosed in circles and some with the extremities + widened and rounded, are used as Christian symbols; (2) the other cross of + four equal arms, known as the St. Andrew's cross or <i>Chi</i> cross; and + (3) the Fylfot or Svastika cross. + </p> + <p> + The last named cross is a peculiar one of quite unmistakeable design; and + there are two varieties, <img src="images/svastika1.gif" alt="Svastika1" /> , + and <img src="images/svastika2.gif" alt="Svastika2" /> , of which one + is obviously an impression or reverse view of the other. + </p> + <p> + The names <i>Fylfot</i> and <i>Svastika</i> are very generally applied to + both these symbols. The term <i>Svastika</i>, an Indian one, is however + applied by the inhabitants of Hindostan to one only; they calling the + other <i>Sauvastika</i>. And it is curious to note that the meanings + attached to these names, though, like the symbols allied in nature, are, + also like them, the reverse or negative or complement of each other. + </p> + <p> + For instance we are told by Sir G. Birdwood that the right handed Svastika + signifies the Male Principle, the Sun on its daily journey from East to + West, Light and Life; and that the left-handed Svastika signifies the + Female Principle, the Sun in Hades or the Underworld on its + <!-- Page 174 --> journey from West to East, Darkness and Death.<a + name="S64" href="#R64"><sup>64</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + This more or less official pronouncement may be taken as a fairly accurate + one, although it is obvious that the annual as well as the diurnal + movement of the Sun should have been referred to; the half year between + the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox representing Light and Life, and + that between the Autumnal Equinox and Vernal Equinox Darkness and Death, + just as clearly as do the half days between sunrise and sunset, sunset and + sunrise. But it is to be feared that even those who remember how often + Death and Darkness are referred to as periods of Gestation, will have some + difficulty in seeing how a sign or symbol of the Female Power of + Generation can have signified Death. + </p> + <p> + The fact of course is that the symbol in question represented both Life + and Death, and represented the latter only in a minor sense and owing to + the fact that the Female Principle of Life was regarded as the necessary + reverse, negative, or complement of the Male Principle; + <!-- Page 175 --> which latter, having of the two the better claim to be + considered the starter of life, was the one more particularly identified + with Life and therefore with the vernal Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + It would also appear that the two symbols in question to some extent + signified Fire and Water; Fire being of course the Male Principle, Day, + Summer, Light, and Life; and Water the Female Principle. This still + further illustrates the point dealt with above; for though Water is the + negative of Fire, yet Fire cannot produce Life without the aid of Water. + </p> + <p> + Returning however to our consideration of the cross as a symbol of Life of + pre-Christian date and origin, and having already dealt with the lands now + known as Britain, France, Italy, and Switzerland, let us now consider the + evidence of Greece. + </p> + <p> + At Mycenæ and elsewhere Dr. Schliemann discovered, among other relics + of a bygone age, not only articles marked with the Svastika cross and the + cross of four equal arms, but even seals and dies giving impressions of + such crosses; thus demonstrating how large and prominent a part the symbol + of the cross played in pre-Christian times among those in whose classic + <!-- Page 176 --> tongue the earliest known copies of the Christian + Scriptures were written centuries later. + </p> + <p> + It is also remarkable that Dr. Schliemann found golden crosses in the + previously unopened tombs he discovered and explored at Mycenæ; as + many as five such crosses having in some instances been placed with a + single body by those who sealed up the vaults in question thousands of + years ago and many centuries before the commencement of our era. + </p> + <p> + As few if any unrifled tombs of so ancient a date have been discovered in + Greece and first explored by a trustworthy investigator, and as, moreover, + it would only have been with the bodies of important personages that + crosses of so valuable a material as gold would have been buried, these + discoveries, coupled with the self-evident fact that crosses of more + perishable material may have been buried with the bodies of less + distinguished people, and by this time, like both the bodies and the tombs + which enclosed them, have gone to dust, are most remarkable. And they + entirely corroborate the testimony borne by the coins of ancient Gaul, the + contents of the tombs of Gola-Secca, and the remains of the Lake Dwellers + of Switzerland, + <!-- Page 177 --> to the veneration paid long before our era by the + inhabitants of Europe to the cross as the recognised symbol of Life. Nor + as the symbol only of the life which ends in the grave, but also of the + glorious hope that as the Sun, from whom we derive that life, whether + considered from a daily or yearly point of view sinks but to rise again, + even so we who owe our brief lives to the Sun-God, may, like the Giver of + Life and only Saviour, rise from one life to another. + </p> + <p> + For whether the ancients were or were not unphilosophic enough to believe + in the resurrection of bodies whose constituent atoms are continually + changing and in time form part of other bodies, it is absurd to assume + that they did not at times like ourselves conceive and dwell upon a + hoped-for, if unexpected and improbable, Life-to-come. + </p> + <p> + Moreover it is with us, as it was with them, a <i>hope;</i> and it is + disingenuous to label as Christian what was pre-Christian, and to claim as + ours what has been common to the reasoning minds of suffering men and + women of all eras. + </p> + <p> + It is equally disingenuous on the part of us Christians to keep in the + background the noteworthy fact that even in pre-Christian ages the symbol + of that hope was—the cross. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 178 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH16">CHAPTER XVI.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA. + </h4> + <p> + If, leaving Europe, we pass on into Asia, we find that not only have the + two varieties of Svastika crosses for thousands of years played a + prominent part as a religious symbol in Hindostan, Thibet, and China, but + that other kinds of crosses also were in bygone ages venerated by their + inhabitants. + </p> + <p> + For instance our Eastern Empire is strewn with the remains of ancient + temples built, like those of Christendom in later days, in the shape of a + cross; and we are told that the oldest of its rock-hewn caves were planned + after the same figure. It is also well-known that isolated stone crosses + of pre-historic date are to be seen in various parts of India. + </p> + <p> + The evidence of Hindostan is however outweighed by that obtainable from + the antiquities of Western Asia, concerning some of which Sir A. H. Layard + wrote:<br /><br /> + <!-- Page 179 --> "The crux ansata, the tau or sign of life, is found in + the sculptures of Khorsabad, on the ivories of Nimroud—which as I + have shown are of the same age—carried too by an Assyrian King."<a + name="S65" href="#R65"><sup>65</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + We have also to note the equally significant facts that the recognised + symbol of the Phœnician Goddess of Love—Astarte, Ashtoreth, or + Ishtar, the Bride of the Sun-God—was a cross; that a cross was also + associated with the Phœnician Baal or Sun-God; and that the circle + and cross, now the symbol of the planet held sacred to the Goddess of + Love, frequently occurs upon the ancient coins of Western Asia and was not + improbably more or less akin in signification to the crux ansata of Egypt. + The fact that upon very ancient remains still existing the Baal is + represented as crowned with a wheel-like nimbus of rays should also be + mentioned. + </p> + <p> + The cross more especially connected with the Phœnician "Bride of the + Sun-God" in ancient days, was, as can easily be seen upon reference to + ancient coins, where it occurs in the hand of the goddess in question, a + long handled cross such as is frequently to be seen in our pictorial + representations of John the Baptist. + <!-- Page 180 --> + </p> + <p> + As John the Baptist was an Asiatic and to some extent a pre-Christian + Asiatic, we can here, without wandering very far from the matter in hand, + pause to consider the question why we Christians represent John the + Baptist, who had nothing to do with a cross, as holding a cross; if it be + not that while Jesus was supposed to represent the Sun in its annual + ascension, John was supposed to represent the Sun in its annual + declension? What other rational explanation have we of the facts, (1) that + John is represented as saying that he baptised with water but that Jesus + would baptise with <i>fire</i> (where the rains of winter and the heat of + summer may be referred to); and (2) that the Christian Church in framing + its calendar fixed upon what we call Midsummer day as the birthday of John + the Baptist, and upon the clay which bears the same relation to the other + solstice as the birthday of Christ, as if wishing to illustrate that other + remarkable pronouncement of John, thus placed at the point where the days + begin to shorten, concerning Jesus, thus placed where the days begin to + lengthen, "He must increase but I must decrease"? + <!-- Page 181 --> + </p> + <p> + The probability that to its original signification of Life, that of + Salvation was added to the cross as a recognition of the fact that the + salvation of Earth-Life in general and of Mankind in particular is due to + the fact that at the Vernal Equinox the Sun-God "crosses" to save, summer + and the fruits of the earth and therefore salvation and increase being due + to the fact that the Sun then crosses the Equator, is supported by + evidence from all quarters. And if we refuse to admit that Christianity is + permeated with the ideas of Sun-God worship, we not only have no rational + explanation to offer of the prophecies put by the Evangelists in the mouth + of John the Baptist to the effect that Jesus would baptise with <i>fire</i> + and would <i>increase</i>, but also none to offer of many another + prominent feature of our religion; such as, for instance, the fact that + while pretending to reverence all the Ten Commandments we deliberately + make a point of breaking one of them in order to keep as a day of rest not + the seventh day but the first, the day which from time immemorial was held + sacred throughout the Roman Empire as <i>Dies Solis</i>, the Day of the + Sun. For to aver + <!-- Page 182 --> as we do that Jesus was not made the subject of a + Sun-God allegory, but purposely rose from the underworld on the Day of the + Sun, at the time of the Vernal Equinox, in order to annul a commandment + previously laid down by God and substitute a new one in silence, is only + to make ourselves ridiculous. + </p> + <p> + Returning however to the matter more particularly in hand, it should be + pointed out that the crux ansata mentioned by Layard is not the only kind + of cross to be found upon the relics of ancient Babylonia and Assyria. For + the cross of four equal arms and the solar wheel are also to be met with. + </p> + <p> + Moreover, as all visitors to our museums should be aware, the monarchs are + represented as wearing in the place of honour round their neck and on + their breast, a Maltese cross. And this cross, worn by the kings centuries + before our era as the symbol which should above all others be venerated, + or as best signifying their power over the lives of their subjects and + their position as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, is admitted by all the best + authorities to have been the sign and symbol of the Sun-God.<a name="S66" + href="#R66"><sup>66</sup></a> <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 183 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH17">CHAPTER XVII.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA. + </h4> + <p> + Passing on to Africa and a consideration of the <i>crux ansata</i> or + so-called 'Key of the Nile,' we find that this variety of cross had much + the same significance attached to it by the ancients as had the more + widely accepted varieties. + </p> + <p> + As a matter of fact no one acquainted with Egyptian antiquities who + enquires into the matter in thorough going fashion, can in the end fail to + be convinced that the Egyptian cross was a phallic symbol having reference + to the sexual powers of generation and to the Sun, and being therefore a + symbol both of Life and of the Giver of Life. + </p> + <p> + The connection between the crux ansata and the Sun-God in the minds of the + <!-- Page 184 --> inhabitants of the Land of the Nile in pre-Christian + days, is very clearly set forth by an illustration of Khuenaten in the act + of distributing gifts to his courtiers which faces page 40, volume I., of + Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's "<i>Manners and Customs of the Ancient + Egyptians.</i>" For this monarch—also known as Amenophis IV.—and + his wife are both represented as receiving the crux ansata from the + Sun-God, and the Sun is marked with the crux ansata as its peculiar + symbol. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate IV. facing page 43 of the same famous work, we see Seti I. + surmounted by the Sun; two crosses adorning the latter. The crosses are, + moreover, attached to two serpents issuing from the sun; and these were in + ancient days phallic signs representing the sexual powers. + </p> + <p> + On page 405 is a representation of the Egyptian god Khem, or Amen-Ra + Generator; the Egyptian Priapus, or god of Generation. The names of this + phallic deity show his connection with the Sun. + </p> + <p> + It is noteworthy that this particular conception of the Sun-God is + accompanied by emblems of the sexual organs of reproduction, + <!-- Page 185 --> and that he bears a St. Andrew's cross upon his + breast. + </p> + <p> + Upon page 24 of volume III. of the same work is another representation of + Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator. In this case also he is accompanied by phallic + and solar emblems and wears a St. Andrew's cross upon his breast. + </p> + <p> + On page 26 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson tells us that<br /><br /> "Khem was + considered the generating influence of the sun, whence perhaps the reason + of his being connected with Amen-Ra: and in one of the hieroglyphic + legends accompanying his name he is styled the sun; that is the + pro-creating power of the only source of warmth, which assists in the + continuation of the various created species." + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate XXII., facing page 44 of volume III., are three different + instances of the crux ansata being attached to the sun as the symbol of + the Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + Upon page 46 is another instance of the crux ansata being attached to the + solar serpent issuing from the sun's disc. + </p> + <p> + On Plate XXIII., facing page 52, is another illustration of the reception + of the crux ansata from the Sun-God. + <!-- Page 186 --> + </p> + <p> + Upon page 82 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson rightly observes that it is absurd + to speak of the crux ansata or Egyptian cross as the <i>Key of the Nile</i>, + inasmuch as this cross "is less frequently seen in the hand of the God + Nilus than any deity of the Egyptian pantheon." + </p> + <p> + Upon the remarkable Plate XXXI., facing page 136, we see inscriptions + describing the reigning Pharaoh as the "Vice-gerent of the Giver of + Eternal Life"; or, in other words, of the Sun-God. Other expressions + applied to the Pharaoh are "Giver of Life and Strength like the Sun"; "Who + gives all Life, Stability, and Health like the Sun"; and "Approved of the + Sun and Giver of Life like the Sun." + </p> + <p> + It is thus clear that ages before our era the cross was venerated in Egypt + as in other lands as the symbol both of Life and of the Giver of Life; and + that the deity worshipped as the Giver of Life, and ever associated with + that salutary symbol the cross, was the Sun-God. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 187 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH18">CHAPTER XVIII.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + EVIDENCE OF TROY. + </h4> + <p> + Dr. Schliemann has told us that in his researches upon the site of Troy he + found that in pre-Christian if not indeed pre-historic times the cross + was, in that classic locality as elsewhere, a phallic emblem and the + symbol of life; as well as a solar emblem and the symbol of the holy fire + with which life was more or less identified. For instance on page 337 of + his <i>Ilios</i> (1880 edition) Dr. Schliemann describes a leaden idol + discovered by him and of great antiquity. He tells us that it was female + in character and had the vulva marked with the triangle, a symbol of the + Feminine Principle. And he points out that within the triangle was the + Svastika cross. + <!-- Page 188 --> + </p> + <p> + On page 521 Dr. Schliemann describes an ancient terra cotta vase, with the + characteristics of a woman upon it, and on the vulva a St. Andrew's cross. + Upon page 523 is a reference to another vase of similar design. Here also + a cross appears to mark the vulva. + </p> + <p> + On page 353 Dr. Schliemann admits that the Svastika cross drawn within the + triangle marking the vulva, shows that this cross was a sign of generation + in ancient and pre-historic times. This remark should evidently have been + applied by him to the St. Andrew's cross as well, for he shows that also + to have been used as a sign of the organ of generation, as has been shown + above. + </p> + <p> + We are here reminded of the fact, already noted, that the Egyptians + represented their God of Generation, Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator, as + wearing a conspicuous St. Andrew's cross. And as Khem was the Egyptian + Priapus it ought also to be pointed out that it was in ancient times the + practice to erect wooden crosses to this conception of the Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + An illustration of one example of the crosses + <!-- Page 189 --> erected to Priapus can be seen in figure XI. of plate + XXIX. of that well-known work, <i>Antique Gems and Rings</i>.<a name="S67" + href="#R67"><sup>67</sup></a> And the phallic nature of such crosses + cannot be denied. + </p> + <p> + Returning, however, to the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann upon the site of + Troy, we find on page 350 of <i>Ilios</i> that both varieties of the + Svastika cross are extraordinarily common upon the articles he discovered. + </p> + <p> + As an Indian symbol the Svastika cross can only be traced back as far as + the fourth or fifth century B.C.; and its occurrence upon these and other + relics of earlier ages and other lands, shows us that it is inaccurate and + misleading to speak of it as "Indian." + </p> + <p> + The origin of the Svastika cross, whether the <img + src="images/svastika1.gif" alt="Svastika1" /> , or the <img + src="images/svastika2.gif" alt="Svastika2" /> , is unknown; but Dr. + Schliemann quotes with approval Professor Max Müller's remarks to the + effect that Mr. Thomas our distinguished Oriental numismatist<br /><br /> + "Has clearly proved that on some of the Andra coins and likewise on some + punched coins depicted on Sir W. Elliot's plate ix. <i>Madras Jour. Lit. + and Science</i>, vol. III., the place of the more definite figure of the + <!-- Page 190 --> sun is often taken by the Svastika, and that the + Svastika has been inserted within the rings or normal circles representing + the four suns of the Ujjain pattern on coins. He has also called attention + to the fact that in the long list of the recognised devices of the + twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the sun is absent; but that while the + eighth Tirthankara has the sign of the half-moon the seventh Tirthankara + is marked with the <i>Svastika, i.e.</i>, the sun. Here then, I think, we + have very clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands pointing in + the right direction, was originally a symbol of the Sun, perhaps of the + vernal sun as opposed to the autumnal sun, the <i>Sauvastika</i>, and + therefore a natural symbol of light, life, health, and wealth. That in + ancient mythology the sun was frequently represented as a wheel is well + known. Grimm identifies the Old Norse <i>hjol</i> or hvel, the A.-S. <i>hvehol</i>, + English 'wheel,' with <span lang="gr">κύκλος</span>, + Sk. Kakra, wheel; and derives jól, 'yule-tide,' the time of the + winter solstice, from hjol, 'the (solar) wheel.'" + </p> + <p> + Both the <img src="images/svastika1.gif" alt="Svastika1" /> and the <img + src="images/svastika2.gif" alt="Svastika2" /> occur upon the famous + footprints of Buddha carved upon the Amarâvati Tope, and Dr. + Schliemann remarks that we find the Svastika or Sauvastika cross<br /><br /> + "In Ezekiel ix. 4, 6, where—in the form of the old Hebrew letter Tau—it + is written as the sign of life on the forehead, like the corresponding + Indian symbol. We find it twice on a large piece of ornamental leather + contained in the celebrated Corneto treasure preserved in the Royal Museum + at Berlin; also on ancient pottery found at Konigsberg in the Neumark and + preserved in + <!-- Page 191 --> the Märkisches Museum in Berlin; and on a Bowl + from Yucatan in the Berlin Ethnological Museum. We also see it on coins of + Gaza, as well as on an Imperial coin of Asido; also on the drums of the + Lapland priests." + <!-- Original ends in single quote instead of double quote --> + </p> + <p> + It is noteworthy that in the neighbourhood of Troy, as in Cyprus and other + places, a cross of four equal arms, like our sign of addition, in days of + old shared with the Svastika crosses the veneration of the people and was + evidently more or less akin to those crosses in signification. Dr. + Schliemann tells us that this cross of four equal arms "occurs innumerable + times on the whorls of the three upper pre-historic cities of Hissarlik," + and that if, as Burnouf and others suggest, the <img + src="images/svastika2.gif" alt="Svastika2" /> and <img + src="images/svastika1.gif" alt="Svastika1" /> represented primitive fire + machines, this other cross "might also claim the honour of representing + the two pieces of wood for producing the holy fire by friction." + </p> + <p> + Elsewhere in the same work Dr. Schliemann quotes with approval the opinion + of Professor Sayce that the Svastika cross, <img src="images/svastika2.gif" + alt="Svastika2" /> or <img src="images/svastika1.gif" alt="Svastika1" /> , + "was a symbol of generation." + </p> + <p> + As phallic worship and Sun-God worship were admittedly always closely + connected, it is not surprising to find that Dr. Schliemann also very + highly commends a dissertation on + <!-- Page 192 --> the <img src="images/svastika2.gif" alt="Svastika2" /> + and <img src="images/svastika1.gif" alt="Svastika1" /> by Mr. Edward + Thomas, whose conclusion is that<br /><br /> "As far as I have been able to + trace or connect the various manifestations of this emblem, they one and + all resolve themselves into the primitive conception of solar motion, + which was intuitively associated with the rolling or wheel-like projection + of the sun through the upper or visible arc of the heavens." + </p> + <p> + It may therefore be considered proven that the inhabitants of classic Troy + like those of the Land of the Nile and other countries, recognised a close + affinity between the productive forces and the sun, and were one in + accepting a cross of some description as the natural symbol whether of + Life or of the Giver of Life. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 193 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH19">CHAPTER XIX.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS. + </h4> + <p> + Although now, owing to the march of events, the island of Cyprus is out of + the way and seldom visited, it was once otherwise. For in days of old it + occupied a favoured position between the countries then foremost in the + arts of civilisation. In those days Cyprus was a centre of Phœnician + enterprise. And, as we are told in that fine work <i>'Kypros, the Bible, + and Homer: Oriental Civilisation, Art and Religion in ancient times,'</i> + "The oldest extant Phœnician inscriptions, <i>themselves the earliest + examples of letters properly so called,</i> come from Cyprus." + </p> + <p> + As, moreover, when face to face with the relics of the Phœnicians we + are, as Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter also remarks, "In the very midst of + <!-- Page 194 --> ancient Canaanitish civilisation as depicted in the + Old Testament," it will be seen that a study of the antiquities of Cyprus + should have a special interest for us Christians. + </p> + <p> + Let us therefore see what the ancient remains found in the island in + question, and others referred to in the work mentioned as illustrative of + the same, can tell us regarding phallic worship in general and the + pre-Christian cross in particular. + </p> + <p> + One of the first points to be noted in the illustrations supplied by Dr. + Max Ohnefalsch-Richter is in a cut of an ancient Cyprian coin on Plate X.; + upon which coin we see over a temple gateway the phallic symbol since + adopted by the Moslems, and commonly spoken of as the '<i>star</i> and + crescent' although, as already shown, it originality represented the + radiate Sun or Male Principle in conjunction with the Crescent moon or + Female Principle. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate XIX. we see several examples of the Svastika cross occurring + upon an ancient Cyprian vase. + </p> + <p> + On Plate XXV. we are shown a gold leaf taken from an ancient grave, upon + which the Svastika cross occurs. + <!-- Page 195 --> + </p> + <p> + Figure 10 upon the same plate shows us a gold leaf discovered at Amathus + upon which we see the Sun and Moon in conjunction, the Sun in this + instance being represented as a disc in the horns of the crescent. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate XXVI. we have representations of stone pillars at Atheniaon, + upon the capitals of which are phallic emblems, including that of the Sun + as a disc within the horns of the Crescent moon. + </p> + <p> + On Plate XXX. we have in figure 7 a cut of an important cylinder now + stored in the Berlin Museum, upon which are represented both the Sacred + Tree and the Ashera. The winged Sun-disc appears over the former and the + Crescent moon over the latter. + </p> + <p> + Figure 11 upon the same plate shows us a Masseba representing the Male + Principle, surmounted by the star-like form which represented the radiate + Sun; and an Ashera, representing the Female Principle, surmounted by the + Crescent moon. + </p> + <p> + Just as in modern Christianity we make a distinction without alleging much + difference between the Father and the Son, even so in ancient times a + distinction of a similarly vague + <!-- Page 196 --> kind was made between the All-Father <i>Fire</i> and + His Image and First-begotten Son <i>Light</i>. The disc of the Sun seems + to have represented the former and the Sun-star or radiate Sun the latter + where both were represented in one illustration, as for instance in figure + 12 on the plate last mentioned. + </p> + <p> + The illustration in question is an important one. On the left is an Ashera + under a Crescent moon; in the centre is a Masseba under the Sun-star or + radiate Sun; and on the right is an altar under a sun disc. + </p> + <p> + The phallic meaning of all this is evident; and a kind of Trinity is + presented to us, <i>viz.</i> (1) The Female Principle and perhaps the + primeval Darkness, needing impregnation or illumination ere the same can + cause aught to be; (2) the Male Principle and Light, the First-born Son of + Fire; and (3) Fire itself, the one origin of all things and Father of + Spirits, made manifest unto mortals by His First-born Son, and best + symbolled, as is Light, by the Solar Orb. + </p> + <p> + On Plate XXXI. we have in figure 4 a representation of the goddess Ishtar, + the bride of the Sun-God. Over her we see the phallic symbol + <!-- Page 197 --> of the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + </p> + <p> + On Plate XXXII. we see in figure 23 the Svastika cross under a tree, in a + representation of a scarab from Ialysos. This cross coupled with the + presence of two bulls, one on either side of the tree, seem to show that + the Male Principle is referred to. + </p> + <p> + On Plate XL. we have a cut of a votive arm, holding in its hand that + phallic symbol the apple, and obtained from the sanctuary of Apollo at + Voni. + </p> + <p> + On Plate LVIII. in representations of the stone capitals of two votive + pillars from the shrine of Aphrodite at Idalion, we see various phallic + emblems; including the familiar Sun disc and Crescent moon in conjunction. + </p> + <p> + The same remark applies to Plate LIX., where two more such pillars are + illustrated. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate LXIX. are given no less than 134 illustrations of ancient + religious symbols, and the phallic character of nearly if not quite all is + plainly apparent. + </p> + <p> + In twelve of these the presence of the Sun or the Crescent Moon as the + case may be, points out that in the former event the Male Principle + <!-- Page 198 --> of Life, and in the latter the Female Principle of + Life, is referred to. In six other cases the presence of the Sun and + Crescent moon in juxtaposition shows that both those Principles are + referred to. And in four other examples the presence of the Sun and + Crescent moon in conjunction shows that the union of those Principles is + referred to. + </p> + <p> + Besides the numerous Masseboth and Asheroth, respectively representing the + Male and Female Principles, we see numerous examples of the triangle which + represented the female <i>vulva</i> and of the diamond shaped symbol which + represented the female <i>pudendum</i>. + </p> + <p> + Among the remaining symbols is the cross of four equal arms. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate LXXV. is an illustration of a vase painting in red figures from + a Stamnos from Vulci Panofka. The representation is one of the Sun-God + Dionysos upon a cross. + </p> + <p> + The said cross, which like various Christian crosses of the Dark and + Middle Ages has projecting branches and foliage, seems to have been more + or less connected with the Tree worship of ancient times. + </p> + <p> + On Plate LXXVI. we are given thirteen + <!-- Page 198 --> examples of Sacred Trees discovered in the groves of + Astarte-Aphrodite and Tanit-Artemis-Cybele, being clay copies of the + Sacred Trees erected at the entrances to the temples. As Dr. + Ohnefalsch-Richter states, these evidently phallic symbols undoubtedly + played a part in the worship of the Sun-God Tammuz-Adonis and his bride + Astarte-Aphrodite. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate LXXVII. we have a cut of an important Phœnician seal, + where we see (1) a man kneeling in adoration to a Divine Trinity connected + with the winged disc of the sun, and (2) a priest worshipping three + symbols. The three sacred symbols in question are (1) the Ashera or symbol + of the Female Life Principle; (2) the Masseba or symbol of the Male Life + Principle; and (3) a combination of the Ashera and Masseba symbols + representing the two Life Principles in conjunction. + </p> + <p> + On Plate LXXIX. we have in figure 14 a representation both of the Sacred + Tree and of the combined Ashera and Masseba. Over the latter we naturally + see the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + </p> + <p> + In figure 16 on the same plate are representations of an Ashera and a + Masseba, + <!-- Page 200 --> respectively surmounted by a Crescent moon and a + radiate Sun. + </p> + <p> + A similar remark applies to figure 17. A sacrificing priest can be seen in + this and the last named instances. + </p> + <p> + On Plate LXXX. we have in figure 1 a representation of a holy pillar, the + volute capital of which has on it a Crescent moon within the horns of + which is a disc plainly marked with a cross. This is taken from an ancient + cylinder of Hittite origin. + </p> + <p> + On the same plate we see in figure 7 a Sun column from Tyre, upon which we + see the Crescent and disc in conjunction as in the last case, but without + the cross. + </p> + <p> + On Plate CXVIII. we have in figure 8 a cut of a fine vase from Melos + ornamented with a Svastika cross. Upon Plate CXXXIII. we have, in figures + I to 4, representations of a sacred Bœotian chest or ark. On the + front are seven Svastika crosses (some of each variety) and one ordinary + cross like our sign of addition. On the lid we see two serpents surrounded + by eight Svastika crosses (some of each variety) and eight crosses formed + of tau crosses, <img src="images/taucross.gif" alt="tau cross" /> ; + besides two other crosses. + <!-- Page 201 --> + </p> + <p> + On the back are eight Svastika crosses (some of each variety) and eight + other crosses. + </p> + <p> + In figure 6 we have a cut of a chest from Athiaenon upon which two + Svastika crosses will be noticed. + </p> + <p> + In figure 8 of the same plate is an illustration of one side of another + sacred chest or ark from Athiaenon, on which two Svastika crosses of the + other variety can be seen. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate CLV. we have in figure 9 a cut of an important Cyprian Græco-Phœnician + Amphora discovered in an ancient grave at Kition and now stored in the + British Museum. The object represented upon it is a Sacred Tree marked at + the bottom with a St. Andrew's cross and surrounded with Svastika crosses. + </p> + <p> + On Plate CLXXIII. we see in group 19 various objects discovered in ancient + graves; one bearing several ordinary crosses and also several Svastika + crosses, one bearing a Svastika cross of the other variety, and a third + bearing Svastika crosses of both kinds. + </p> + <p> + Upon Plate CXCII. are cuts of various Cyprian coins, the phallic symbol of + the circle and cross occurring upon Nos. 1, 9, and 10. + <!-- Page 202 --> + </p> + <p> + Leaving the Book of Plates and turning to the illustrations given with the + Text of the valuable work we are considering, we discover upon page 62 a + cut showing the impression of a chalcedony cylinder from the collection of + the Due de Luynes, where the Sun is represented by a Cross of four equal + arms. + </p> + <p> + Upon page 85 we have in figure 117 an illustration of an inscribed + cylinder, now belonging to the Bibliothèque Nationale of France, in + which, as Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter remarks, the priest or king represented + is raising his arm<br /><br /> "In adoration in the direction of the Cross + suspended in the air before him, a holy object we often meet on Assyrian + and Babylonian monuments." + </p> + <p> + This cross, like that last named, is more like a Greek cross than a + Maltese cross. + </p> + <p> + On page 148 we have in figure 150 an illustration of a coloured image of + Aphrodite or Astarte discovered in an early Græco-Phœnician tomb + at Kurion. This representation of the Goddess of Love and Bride of the + Sun-God is marked with several Svastika crosses, and is yet further + evidence of the phallic and solar character of that symbol. + <!-- Page 203 --> + </p> + <p> + Such is the evidence of the phallic worship and Sun-God worship of the Phœnicians + and their neighbours, of the close relationship between such phallic + worship and Sun-God worship, and of the part played in connection with the + same by the pre-Christian cross, borne by a work of research so free from + bias against the views of the Christian Church that it has prefixed to it + a letter of warm commendation from that veteran statesman and theologian, + the author of the ultra-orthodox "<i>Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture.</i>" + <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 204 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH20">CHAPTER XX.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE. + </h4> + <p> + The most noteworthy features of the available evidence illustrative of the + real origin and history of the symbol of the cross have now been placed + before the reader, but a number of more or less miscellaneous facts + directly or indirectly throwing additional light upon the subject have + still to be drawn attention to. + </p> + <p> + For instance, no mention has yet been made of the <i>Hermæ</i> of + bygone ages. And although their origin may have had no connection with the + symbol in question, it is noteworthy that some at least of the early + Christians discovered in the more or less cruciform outline of the Hermæ + a reason or excuse for paying them homage, while very similar figures are + to be seen illustrated upon Christian antiquities, such + <!-- Page 205 --> as the mosaic of which the great cross of the Lateran + forms the principal feature. + </p> + <p> + The Hermæ venerated by the ancient Greeks were pillars, usually of + stone and quadrangular, surmounted in most instances with a head of either + Hermes or Dionysos; and with a peculiar transverse rail just below the + head, much used for hanging garlands upon, which made the whole look more + or less like a cross. + </p> + <p> + These pillars were erected in front of temples, tombs, and houses; but + more especially as sign posts at cross roads; and whether the head at the + top was that of Hermes the Messenger of the Gods, or, as was very often + the case, that of Dionysos the Sun-God, a phallus was always a prominent + feature. + </p> + <p> + Moreover these phallic and often solar erections called Hermæ, + undoubtedly more or less cross-shaped owing to the transverse rail, were + worshipped as conducive to fecundity. + </p> + <p> + It is also worthy of notice that the cross is well known to have been + venerated in America before even the Norsemen who preceded Columbus set + foot upon that afterwards rediscovered continent. + </p> + <p> + For instance a cross surrounded by a circle + <!-- Page 206 --> was in use among the ancient Mexicans as a solar sign, + another cross was a solar symbol of the natives of Peru from time + immemorial, and we are also told by the authorities that a cross of four + equal arms with a disc or circle at the centre was the age-old Moqui + symbol of the Sun.<a name="S68" href="#R68"><sup>68</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Other noteworthy points are that the cross occurs upon Runic monuments in + Europe long before Christianity was introduced into the regions containing + them; that ancient altars to the Sun-God Mithras bearing the sacred symbol + of the cross have been discovered even in England; and that the Laplanders + of old when sacrificing marked their idols with the symbol of the cross, + using the life blood of their victims for that purpose.<a name="S69" + href="#R69"><sup>69</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + It should also be pointed out that on a coin of Thasos bearing + representations of a phallic character connected with the worship of the + Thracian Bacchus, a Svastika cross is a prominent symbol; that upon + ancient vases the + <!-- Page 207 --> headgear of Bacchus is sometimes ornamented with the + cross of four equal arms; that upon a Greek vase at Lentini, Sicily, an + ancient representation of the Sun-God Hercules is accompanied by no less + than three different kinds of crosses as symbols; and that upon an archaic + Greek vase in the British Museum, the Svastika cross, the St. Andrew's + cross, and the other and right angled cross of four equal arms, appear + under the rays of the Sun. Nor should it be forgotten that though the + Svastika cross has almost died out as a Christian symbol and was perhaps + never thoroughly acclimatised as such, it often appeared upon Christian + ecclesiastical properties of the Middle Ages, and, either as a Pagan or + Christian symbol, continually occurs in the catacombs of Rome. + </p> + <p> + We are told that circular wafers or cakes were used in the mysteries of + the Sun-God Bacchus, and, being marked with a cross, resembled the + disc-like wafers of the Christian Mass. Whether this was so or not, it is + noteworthy that a cross is said to appear upon the representation of a + circular wafer used in the mysteries of Mithras which occurs upon an + ancient fresco at Rome. + <!-- Page 208 --> + </p> + <p> + In this connection it may be mentioned, as a series of curious + coincidences, that in the Zoroastrian religion long before our era the + Sun-God Mithras bore much the same relation to the All-Father that the + Christ does in ours, and is referred to in the Zend Avesta as the <i>Incarnate + Word;</i> that Mithras is said, like the Christ, to have been born in a + cave; that the Fathers admitted that the new-born Sun had been worshipped + in the cave at Bethlehem to which the story of the birth of Jesus + referred; and that in framing its calendar our Church fixed upon the + recognised birthday of Mithras, the <i>Natalis Invicti</i> of the Roman + Brumalia, as the birthday of the Christ. + </p> + <p> + It is also noteworthy that the Christ is thus said to have been born as + well as to have risen again the third <i>or fourth</i> ("<i>After</i> + three days," <i>Matt</i>, xxvii. 63; <i>after</i> "Three days and three + nights," Matt, xii. 40) day. For the birthday of Mithras and afterwards of + the Christ, known to us as Christmas day, seems to have been fixed upon as + the third or fourth day after the winter solstice, and as that upon which + the sun's resurrection from the south was first discernible after its + apparent cessation of movement or death. + <!-- Page 209 --> + </p> + <p> + In this connection it should be added that Lucian records the fact that + the Sun-God referred to by the Fathers as worshipped at Bethlehem was + lamented as dead once a year and always acclaimed as alive again the third + day; that in several places in the Zend Avesta we meet with passages which + show that the Mithras worshippers of old believed that at the death of a + man his spirit sits at the head of the corpse for three days and three + nights, and then, at dawn, rises free from all earthly attachments; and + that we say that the execution of Jesus took place at the time of the + Passover or Vernal Equinox, while instead of the prophesied "three days + and three nights in the heart of the earth" (<i>Matt</i>. xii. 40) the + period between the death and burial on Good Friday evening and the + resurrection before dawn on Easter Sunday is just about that during which + the Sun's disc is at the Vernal Equinox transfixed by the Equator, <i>viz.,</i> + 32 2/3 hours. + </p> + <p> + The question why the Cock so often, like the Cross, surmounts the steeples + wherewith we adorn our Christian churches, is brought before us by the + fact that it was in ancient days a well-known symbol both of the + generative + <!-- Page 210 --> powers and of the Sun-God; often appearing as such + upon the top of a sacred pillar in Assyrian and Babylonian representations + of priests in the act of sacrificing or worshipping. It was probably as + the "herald of the dawn" that this bird became a symbol of the Sun-God, + and it would seem that we place its effigy aloft with the same idea in + view. + </p> + <p> + Another point to be noted is that in the Kunthistorisches Museum at Vienna + is an ancient vase upon which is a representation of the Sun-God Apollo + bearing upon his breast as his one ornament and symbol a Svastika cross. + </p> + <p> + We are reminded of the facts that we Christians were once in the habit of + alluding to the cross as the Tree of Life, and that the ancients dressed + up the trunks of trees and worshipped them as symbols of life and growth, + by an Attic vase of the fifth century B.C. Upon this is a red coloured + painting of a tree so dressed, on which is to be seen near the top a head + of the Sun-God Dionysos, and surrounding the trunk a shirt or garment + covered with crosses. + </p> + <p> + As to the evidence obtained from the ruins + <!-- Page 211 --> of Herculaneum and Pompeii, it is said that much which + is of a phallic character has been, from quite worthy motives, kept in the + background. An important fact has however been mentioned by Mr. C. W. + King, M.A., in his well known work on the <i>Gnostics and, their Remains</i>, + and this at least can be commented upon. He tells us that the Cross and + the Phallus were found placed in juxtaposition upon the walls as meaning + one and the same thing, and he goes on to add that<br /><br /> "This cross + seems to be the Egyptian Tau, that ancient symbol of the generative power + and therefore transferred into the Bacchic mysteries." + </p> + <p> + The foregoing are the last of the evidences throwing light upon the origin + and history of the symbol adopted by our religion as its own, which the + author thinks it necessary to bring forward in support of his contention. + And however much of the evidence sought out by the author and in this work + marshalled by him into something like order may seem by itself to be + untrustworthy or worthless, no reader can reasonably deny that it has been + proved that the cross was a well known + <!-- Page 212 --> symbol of Life long before our era, and that as a + whole the evidence tends to show that it became such as a phallic symbol, + and therefore as a symbol of the Sun-God. + </p> + <p> + And what is the moral of the real, as distinguished from the imaginary, + history of the symbol of the cross but this: that from the beginning + nought has caused the beliefs of men to assume an appearance of radical + difference, save the difference in the name or dress with which this or + that set of men have clothed similar ideas? + </p> + <p> + For, as has already been hinted, Humanity has ever had but one God and but + one Religion. And as from one point of view Life is but another term for + the Real Presence, and Death but another term for the withdrawal of Deity, + it may be said that that God is Life, and that Religion the desire for + Life, more Life, and fuller Life. Moreover, as has been said before, this + universal worship of Life is discernible even in the willingness of some + to sacrifice what remains to them of mortal life in the hope of thus being + enabled to lay hold of a life immortal which is not for all. + <!-- Page 213 --> + </p> + <p> + The worship of Life is natural, and must of necessity continue. Let us + however render it nobler by recognising its catholicity; and by + contemptuously refusing to either seek or accept a life of bliss hereafter + which any of our brothers and sisters are, either in our imagination or in + reality, to be debarred from sharing. <br /> <br /> <br /> + <!-- Page 214 --> + </p> + <h2> + <a name="CH21">CHAPTER XXI.</a> + </h2> + <h4> + SUMMARY. + </h4> + <p> + At the commencement of this work it was shown that, as the Greek text of + the writings forming the New Testament testifies, not one of the Apostles + or Evangelists ever stated that Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped + instrument of execution. The circumstances under which the figure of the + cross became the symbol of our religion, were then made clear. And, having + since demonstrated the existence in pre-Christian ages of a widespread + veneration of the figure of the cross as the symbol of Life and of the + Sun-God, which may have given rise to the desire to associate Jesus + therewith, little remains for the author to do save draw the notice of the + reader to the admissions of other + <!-- Page 215 --> writers concerning the rise of the cross as the symbol + of Christianity; for the sake of brevity more or less confining his + attention to two well known works upon the history of religious art. + </p> + <p> + It should first however be pointed out that though we Christians affirm + that crucifixion was a form of capital punishment made use of in days of + old, and abolished the fourth century after Christ by Constantine because + Jesus was so executed, we cannot exactly prove that the <i>staurosis</i> + thus abolished was crucifixion, or even that it included crucifixion. For + various as are the different forms of 'death by the stauros' of which + descriptions have come down to us from pre-Christian ages and the first + three centuries of our era, no relic of that date bears a representation + of an instrument of execution such as we cause to appear in our sacred + pictures, and even if, regardless of the more exact meaning of the word + stauros, we suppose the term staurosis to have included every form of + carrying out the extreme penalty by means of affixion or suspension, we + meet with no description of such an instrument of execution as we picture. + <!-- Page 216 --> Therefore even if we were to exclude from the + staurosis abolished by Constantine all forms of transfixion by a stauros, + we could not, upon the evidence before us, fairly say that what that + astute Emperor abolished was what is usually understood by the term + crucifixion. + </p> + <p> + It will not be necessary to quote again the admission of the Reverend S. + Baring-Gould, M.A., to the effect that the so-called Cross of Constantine + or monogram of Christ was but the symbol of the Sun-God of the Gauls with + a loop added by their crafty leader to please the Christians, but it may + be pointed out that this fact is also admitted in <i>Chambers's Encyclopædia;</i> + where we read that<br /><br /> "The so-called cross of Constantine was not + really a cross but a circle containing the <span lang="gr">Χ Ρ + Ι</span>, the first three letters of the name of Christ in Greek; and + was merely an adaptation of a symbol of a Gaulish solar deity." + </p> + <p> + And it may be added that the fact that the Monogram of Christ and the + ordinary cross so frequently used as symbols by Constantine upon his coins + and elsewhere, and thus made symbols of the Roman Empire in the first half + of the fourth century, were at first Pagan + <!-- Page 217 --> rather than Christian symbols, also seems to be borne + out by Dean Burgon in his <i>Letters from Rome</i>, where he states<br /><br /> + "I question whether a cross occurs on any Christian monument of the first + four centuries."<a name="S70" href="#R70"><sup>70</sup></a> + </p> + <p> + Passing on however to the representative works on Christian Art already + referred to, we first come to Mrs. Jameson's famous <i>History of Our Lord + as exemplified in works of art</i>. + </p> + <p> + Upon page 315 of Volume II. the gifted authoress, after confessing that + the cross was venerated by the heathen as a symbol of Life before the + period of Christianity and referring to St. Chrysostom, who flourished + half a century after Constantine, admits that<br /><br /> "It must be owned + that ancient objects of Art, as far as hitherto known, afford no + corroboration of the use of the cross in the simple transverse form + familiar to us at any period preceding or even closely succeeding the + words of St. Chrysostom." + </p> + <p> + That is to say, although Constantine introduced the Monogram of Christ and + the cross of four equal arms before St. Chrysostom was born, and, making + them symbols of the Roman + <!-- Page 218 --> Empire, would, whether a Sun-God worshipper or a + Christian, in any case have imposed them upon what he established as his + State Religion, it was not till after these solar symbols of the Gauls + were accepted as Christian that such a cross as could possibly have been a + representation of an instrument of execution was introduced. + </p> + <p> + As to the crucifix, we are told that though this is said by some to be + referred to in the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa—a Bishop of Tours + who lived in the sixth century, and also in the injunctions of the often + quoted council of Greek bishops A.C. 692 called the "Quini-sextum" or "in + Trullo," the evidence is<br /><br /> "Insufficient to convince most modern + archæologists that a crucifix in any sense now accepted was meant." + </p> + <p> + In other words, not only is it clear that the cross as a representation of + the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died was not introduced till + after the days of Constantine, but it is also evident that the crucifix, + the earliest known representation of that execution, was not introduced + till centuries later. + <!-- Page 219 --> + </p> + <p> + Other noteworthy admissions are made in the work above quoted from, but we + must pass on to the Dean of Canterbury's comparatively recent work upon + the same subject. + </p> + <p> + Dean Farrar states upon page 11 of his <i>Life of Christ as represented in + Art</i> that "Of all early Christian symbols the <i>Fish</i> was the most + frequent and the favourite." + </p> + <p> + The Fish; and not the Cross. + </p> + <p> + Moreover the Dean significantly adds upon the next page, that the Fish<br /><br /> + "Continued to be a common symbol down to the days of Constantine." + </p> + <p> + And the significance lies in the fact that the introduction by Constantine + of the solar symbols venerated by the Gauls, may account for the + displacement of the symbol of the Fish from favour. + </p> + <p> + Upon page 19 Dr. Farrar goes on to say that<br /><br /> "Two symbols + continued for ages to be especially common, of which I have not yet + spoken. They were not generally adopted, even if they appeared at all, + until after the Peace of the Church at the beginning of the fourth + century. I mean the cross and the monogram of Christ." + <!-- Page 220 --> <br /><br />Here again, it will be seen, the Dean admits + that the cross, as the symbol of our religion, came in with Constantine. + </p> + <p> + Directly after the passage last quoted Dean Farrar very misleadingly + remarks: "It must be remembered that the cross was in itself an object of + utter horror even to the Pagans." For the exact reverse is the truth, + inasmuch as in almost every land a cross of some description had been for + ages venerated as a symbol of Life. + </p> + <p> + The fact of course is that the Dean here and elsewhere, like other + Christian writers, does not take the trouble to distinguish between the + symbol of the cross and the death caused by execution upon a stauros; + which instrument, by the way, was, as has been shown, not necessarily in + the shape of a cross, and appears to have been in most cases a stake + without a transverse rail. What the Pagans held in utter horror was the + awful death caused by transfixion by or affixion to a stauros, whatever + its shape; the symbol of the cross was, upon the contrary, an object of + veneration among them from time immemorial. + </p> + <p> + On page 23 Dr. Farrar, alluding to the use + <!-- Page 221 --> of the transient sign of the cross by the Christians + of early days, makes the admission<br /><br /> "That it did <i>not</i> + remind them of the Crucifixion only or even mainly is proved alike by + their literature and other relics." <br /><br />Exactly so: for the + non-material sign traced by them (and by us) upon the forehead in the <i>non-Mosaic</i> + initiatory rite of baptism and perhaps also upon the breast or in the air + at other times, seems to have been the survival of a Pagan and + pre-Christian custom. + </p> + <p> + Upon page 24 Dean Farrar admits that<br /><br /> "The cross was only + introduced among the Christian symbols tentatively and timidly. It may be + doubted whether it once occurs till after the vision of Constantine in 312 + and his accession to the Empire of the East and West in 324." + </p> + <p> + Further on upon the same page the Dean of Canterbury, passing without + notice from symbols to instruments of execution and making no distinction + whatever, states that<br /><br /> "Crosses were of two kinds. The <i>Crux + Simplex</i>, 'of one single piece without transom,' was a mere stake, used + sometimes to impale, sometimes to hang the victim by the hands." <br /><br />Exactly + so. + <!-- Page 222 --> + </p> + <p> + But, to bring this work to a conclusion with what is the crux of the whole + matter, is it not disingenuous in the extreme upon the part of those of us + Christians who know better, to hide the fact that it may have been upon + some such cross as the Dean here refers to, that is, upon no cross at all, + that Jesus was executed? Is it not dishonest of us to place before the + masses Bibles and Lexicons wherein we ever carefully translate as "cross" + a word which at the time the ancient classics and our sacred writings were + penned did not necessarily, if indeed ever, signify something + cross-shaped? Is it not gross disloyalty to Truth to insist, as we do in + our versions of the Christian Scriptures, upon translating as "crucify" or + "crucified" four different words, not one of which referred to anything + necessarily in the shape of a cross? + </p> + <p> + Another point which should be mentioned, though such matters cannot be + discussed here, is that the questions whether Jesus did not prophesy that + the final Day of judgment would come before those whom he addressed should + die, and did not solemnly declare that his mission was to the descendants + of Jacob + <!-- Page 223 --> or Israel and to them alone, undoubtedly affect our + story. + </p> + <p> + As to the Gospel of the Cross, have not we Christians by, in our + imaginations, limiting its saving effects to the few who are able to + believe in it, all the centuries that we have re-echoed the cry "the + Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" <i>forced</i> upon the same the unutterably + selfish meaning that the kingdom at hand for the many who simply cannot + believe is that of Hell? Was <i>that</i> what Jesus meant, and all that + the so-called cross effected? + </p> + <p> + Moreover, whether the message of Jesus which we proclaim and variously + interpret was or was not a gospel—that is, "glad tidings "—to + all men, and from an unselfish point of view, what possible good purpose + can be served by insisting upon supplementing the simple story of his + stressful life, his magnificent love for the afflicted and suffering, his + equally magnificent hatred of qualities not altogether dissimilar from + that which enables some of us to claim to be not only admirers but also + genuine followers of a Communist who declared that those who would follow + him must first sell all their possessions and give the proceeds + <!-- Page 224 --> to the poor;—what good purpose can be served by + supplementing this, and the account of the final conflict of Jesus with + the officials of his native land and his subsequent execution upon a + stauros or stake not stated to have had a cross-bar attached, by the + adoption and culture of a partisan and misleading fiction regarding the + origin and history of the symbol of the cross? <br /> <br /> <br /> THE END. + <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + FOOTNOTES <br /><a name="R1" href="#S1">[1]</a> <i>e.g.</i>, <i>Iliad</i>, + xxiv. 453; <i>Odyssey</i>, xiv. 11 <br /><a name="R2" href="#S2">[2]</a> <i>e.g.</i>, + Thuc. iv. 90; Xen. <i>An.</i> v. 2, 21. <br /><a name="R3" href="#S3">[3]</a> + <i>Gal.</i> iii. 13; I <i>Pet.</i> ii. 24; <i>Acts</i> v. 30; <i>Acts</i> + x. 39; <i>Acts</i> xiii. 29. <br /><a name="R4" href="#S4">[4]</a> <i>e.g.</i>, + Hdt. iii. 125. <br /><a name="R5" href="#S5">[5]</a> <i>e.g.</i>, Thuc. + vii. 25. <br /><a name="R6" href="#S6">[6]</a> Livy, xxviii. 29. <br /><a + name="R7" href="#S7">[7]</a> Minucius Felix, <i>Oct.</i> xxix. <br /><a + name="R8" href="#S8">[8]</a> <i>De Praescrip</i>. xl. <br /><a name="R9" + href="#S9">[9]</a> <i>Oct</i>. xxix. <br /><a name="R10" href="#S10">[10]</a> + <i>Ad Nationes</i>, xiv. <br /><a name="R11" href="#S11">[11]</a> Pœd + iii. II, 59. <br /><a name="R12" href="#S12">[12]</a> <i>Nicodemus</i> i. + <br /><a name="R13" href="#S13">[13]</a> <i>Nicodemus</i> vii. <br /><a + name="R14" href="#S14">[14]</a> <i>Nicodemus</i> viii. <br /><a name="R15" + href="#S15">[15]</a> <i>Apol</i>, i. 55. <br /><a name="R16" href="#S16">[16]</a> + <i>Dial. cum Trypho</i>, lxxxvi. <br /><a name="R17" href="#S17">[17]</a> + <i>Dial. cum Trypho</i>, xcvii. <br /><a name="R18" href="#S18">[18]</a> <i>Against + Marcion</i>, iv. 20. <br /><a name="R19" href="#S19">[19]</a> <i>Against + Marcion</i>, iii. 18. <br /><a name="R20" href="#S20">[20]</a> <i>Scorpiace</i>, + i. <br /><a name="R21" href="#S21">[21]</a> <i>De Corolla</i>, iii. <br /><a + name="R22" href="#S22">[22]</a> <i>De Prœscrip</i>, xl. <br /><a + name="R23" href="#S23">[23]</a> <i>Apologiticus</i>, xvi. <br /><a + name="R24" href="#S24">[24]</a> <i>Ad Nationes</i>, xii. <br /><a name="R25" + href="#S25">[25]</a> xxxvi. <br /><a name="R26" href="#S26">[26]</a> <i>Testimonies + against the Jews</i>, ii. 21. <br /><a name="R27" href="#S27">[27]</a> <i>Testimonies + against the Jews</i>, ii. 22. <br /><a name="R28" href="#S28">[28]</a> <i>Apud + Gretserum</i>, ii. <br /><a name="R29" href="#S29">[29]</a> <i>Epist. ad + Romanos</i>, Lib. vi. <br /><a name="R30" href="#S30">[30]</a> <i>Christ in + Art</i>, p. 23. <br /><a name="R31" href="#S31">[31]</a> <i>Against + Heresies</i>, i. xxiv. <br /><a name="R32" href="#S32">[32]</a> <i>Against + Heresies</i>, II., xxii. 4-5. <br /><a name="R33" href="#S33">[33]</a> <i>Vit. + Const. I.</i> <br /><a name="R34" href="#S34">[34]</a> <i>Vit. Const. I.,</i> + 28, 29, 30. <br /><a name="R35" href="#S35">[35]</a> <i>Vit. Const. I.,</i> + 29. <br /><a name="R36" href="#S36">[36]</a> <i>De Mart. Pers</i>., c. 44. + <br /><a name="R37" href="#S37">[37]</a> <i>Vit. Const. I</i>., 31. <br /><a + name="R38" href="#S38">[38]</a> <i>Vit. Const. I</i>., 37. <br /><a + name="R39" href="#S39">[39]</a> <i>Vit. Const. I</i>., 40. <br /><a + name="R40" href="#S40">[40]</a> <i>Vit. Const. II</i>. 7-9. <br /><a + name="R41" href="#S41">[41]</a> <i>Vit. Const. III</i>. 3. <br /><a + name="R42" href="#S42">[42]</a> <i>Vit. Const. III</i>. 49. <br /><a + name="R43" href="#S43">[43]</a> <i>Opera S. Cyrilli</i> curâ Ant. + Touttée 351 Menaeum Graecum ad diem 7 Maii. <br /><a name="R44" + href="#S44">[44]</a> zosimus ii. <br /><a name="R45" href="#S45">[45]</a> + Both Zonaras and Cedrenus bear testimony to this effect. <br /><a name="R46" + href="#S46">[46]</a> <i>Early Christian Numismatics.</i> <br /><a name="R47" + href="#S47">[47]</a> <i>The Likeness of Christ</i>, p. 20. <br /><a + name="R48" href="#S48">[48]</a> Herodotus II., 73. <br /><a name="R49" + href="#S49">[49]</a> Pliny, x., 2. + <!-- 2 Tacitus, <I>Annal</I>. Vi., 28. Editorial note: There is no + reference in the text to this footnote #2 at the bottom of page 130 --> + <br /><a name="R50" href="#S50">[50]</a> An engraving of the coin can be + seen in Duruy's <i>Histoire des Romains</i>, Torn. vii. <br /><a name="R51" + href="#S51">[51]</a> Böckh, C.I.G. n. 4713 b. <br /><a name="R52" + href="#S52">[52]</a> Berlin Collection 428. <br /><a name="R53" href="#S53">[53]</a> + <i>Strange Survivals</i>, 286. <br /><a name="R54" href="#S54">[54]</a> <i>e.g.</i>, + Arist. <i>Mundi</i>. <br /><a name="R55" href="#S55">[55]</a> Bar. <i>Ann</i>. + A.C. 312. <br /><a name="R56" href="#S56">[56]</a> Basnage, iii., 23. <br /><a + name="R57" href="#S57">[57]</a> Eusebius, <i>Vit. Const.</i> iv. <br /><a + name="R58" href="#S58">[58]</a> Martianus Capella. <br /><a name="R59" + href="#S59">[59]</a> <i>e.g.</i> Philo, <i>De Somniis</i>, i. <br /><a + name="R60" href="#S60">[60]</a> <i>Timæus</i>, 34-36. <br /><a + name="R61" href="#S61">[61]</a> <i>Theol. Plat.</i> <br /><a name="R62" + href="#S62">[62]</a> <i>Apol.</i> <br /><a name="R63" href="#S63">[63]</a> + <i>Apol.</i> <br /><a name="R64" href="#S64">[64]</a> <i>Report on the Old + Records of the India Office</i>, London, 1891, x., xi. <br /><a name="R65" + href="#S65">[65]</a> <i>Nineveh</i>, ii. 213. <br /><a name="R66" + href="#S66">[66]</a> <i>e.g.</i>, C. W. King, M.A. <i>Early + Christian Numismatics;</i> Professor Rawlinson; &c., &c. <br /><a + name="R67" href="#S67">[67]</a> C. W. King, M.A. <br /><a name="R68" + href="#S68">[68]</a> <i>First Annual Report U. S. Bureau of Ethnology.</i> + <br /><a name="R69" href="#S69">[69]</a> Ol. Varelli, <i>Scandage Runic;</i> + Ans. Rudbeckins, <i>Atlant.: e.g.</i> an altar discovered ac Rudchester, + Northumberland: Sheffer, <i>Lapponic</i>. <br /><a name="R70" href="#S70">[70]</a> + <i>Letters from Rome</i>, 1862, p. 210. + </p> + +<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS ***</div> +<div style='text-align:left'> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..799c606 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #9071 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9071) diff --git a/old/2005-10-cross10.txt b/old/2005-10-cross10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f38c4d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2005-10-cross10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5130 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Non-Christian Cross, by John Denham Parsons + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Non-Christian Cross + An Enquiry Into the Origin and History of the Symbol Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion + +Author: John Denham Parsons + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9071] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + + + + + +THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS +An Enquiry Into The Origin And History Of +The Symbol Eventually Adopted As +That Of Our Religion + +BY +JOHN DENHAM PARSONS + +LONDON + +1896 + + +"O CRUX, SPLENDIDIOR CUNCTIS ASTRIS, MUNDO +CELEBRIS, HOMINIBUS MULTUM AMABILIS, SANCTIOR +UNIVERSIS." + [_BREVIARIUM ROMANUM,_ + _Festival of the Invention of the Holy Cross._ + + + +PREFACE. +-------- + +The history of the symbol of the cross has had an attraction for the +author ever since, as an enquiring youth, he found himself unable to +obtain satisfactory answers to four questions concerning the same which +presented themselves to his mind. + +The first of those questions was why John the Baptist, who was beheaded +before Jesus was executed, and so far as we are told never had anything +to do with a cross, is represented in our religious pictures as holding +a cross. + +The second question was whether this curious but perhaps in itself +easily explained practice had in its inception any connection with the +non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism; which Jesus accepted as a matter +of course at the hands of his cousin John, and in which the sign of the +cross has for ages been the all-important feature. And it was the +wonder whether there was or was not some association between the facts +that the New Testament writers give no explanation whatever of the +origin of baptism as an initiatory rite, that this non-Mosaic +initiatory rite was in use among Sun-God worshippers long before our +era, and that the Fathers admitted that the followers of the Persian +conception of the Sun-God marked their initiates upon the forehead like +the followers of the Christ, which finally induced the author to start +a systematic enquiry into the history of the cross as a symbol. + +The third question was why, despite the fact that the instrument of +execution to which Jesus was affixed can have had but one shape, almost +any kind of cross is accepted as a symbol of our faith. + +The last of the four questions was why many varieties of the cross of +four equal arms, which certainly was not a representation of an +instrument of execution, were accepted by Christians as symbols of the +Christ before any cross which could possibly have been a representation +of an instrument of execution was given a place among the symbols of +Christianity; while even nowadays one variety of the cross of four +equal arms is the favourite symbol of the Greek Church, and both it and +the other varieties enter into the ornamentation of our sacred +properties and dispute the supremacy with the cross which has one of +its arms longer than the other three. + +Pursuing these matters for himself, the author eventually found that +even before our era the cross was venerated by many as the symbol of +Life; though our works of reference seldom mention this fact, and never +do it justice. + +He moreover discovered that no one has ever written a complete history +of the symbol, showing the possibility that the _stauros_ or post to +which Jesus was affixed was not cross-shaped, and the certainty that, +in any case, what eventually became the symbol of our faith owed some +of its prestige as a Christian symbol of Victory and Life to the +position it occupied in pre-Christian days. + +The author has therefore, in the hope of drawing attention to the +subject, incorporated the results of his researches in the present +essay. + + 14, ST. DUNSTAN'S HILL, + LONDON, E.C. + + + +C O N T E N T S . +----------------- + PAGE +CHAPTER I. + WAS THE _STAUROS_ OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED? 13 +CHAPTER II. + THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX 31 +CHAPTER III. + THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS3 41 +CHAPTER IV. + CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENAEUS 52 +CHAPTER V. + ORIGIN OF THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS 57 +CHAPTER VI. + ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS 65 +CHAPTER VII. + THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH 82 +CHAPTER VIII. + CROSS AND CRESCENT8 92 +CHAPTER IX. + THE CORONATION ORB9 104 +CHAPTER X. + ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE 119 +CHAPTER XI. + THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE 133 +CHAPTER XII. + ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE 142 +CHAPTER XIII. + THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST 147 +CHAPTER XIV. + THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS 163 +CHAPTER XV. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE 169 +CHAPTER XVI. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA 178 +CHAPTER XVII. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA 183 +CHAPTER XVIII. + EVIDENCE OF TROY 187 +CHAPTER XIX. + EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS 193 +CHAPTER XX. + MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE 204 +CHAPTER XI. + SUMMARY 214 + + + +THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS. +------------------------ + +CHAPTER I. +WAS THE _STAUROS_ OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED? + +In the thousand and one works supplied for our information upon matters +connected with the history of our race, we are told that Alexander the +Great, Titus, and various Greek, Roman, and Oriental rulers of ancient +days, "crucified" this or that person; or that they "crucified" so many +at once, or during their reign. And the instrument of execution is +called a "cross." + +The natural result is that we imagine that all the people said to have +been "crucified" were executed by being nailed or otherwise affixed to +a cross-shaped instrument set in the ground, like that to be seen in +our fanciful illustrations of the execution of Jesus. + +This was, however, by no means necessarily the case. + +For instance, the death spoken of, death by the _stauros_, included +transfixion by a pointed stauros or stake, as well as affixion to an +unpointed stauros or stake; and the latter punishment was not always +that referred to. + +It is also probable that in most of the many cases where we have no +clue as to which kind of stauros was used, the cause of the condemned +one's death was transfixion by a pointed stauros. + +Moreover, even if we could prove that this very common mode of capital +punishment was in no case that referred to by the historians who lived +in bygone ages, and that death was in each instance caused by affixion +to, instead of transfixion by, a stauros, we should still have to prove +that each stauros had a cross-bar before we could correctly describe +the death caused by it as death by crucifixion. + +It is also, upon the face of it, somewhat unlikely that the ancients +would in every instance in which they despatched a man by affixing him +to a post set in the ground, have gone out of their way to provide the +artistic but quite unnecessary cross-bar of our imaginations. + +As it is, in any case, well known that the Romans very often despatched +those condemned to death by affixing them to a stake or post which had +no cross-bar, the question arises as to what proof we have that a +cross-bar was used in the case of Jesus. + +Nor is the question an unimportant one. For, as we shall see in the +chapters to come, there was a pre-Christian cross, which was, like +ours, a symbol of Life. And it must be obvious to all that if the cross +was a symbol of Life before our era, it is possible that it was +originally fixed upon as a symbol of the Christ because it was a symbol +of Life; the assumption that it became a symbol of Life because it was +a symbol of the Christ, being in that case neither more nor less than a +very natural instance of putting the cart before the horse. + +Now the Greek word which in Latin versions of the New Testament is +translated as _crux_, and in English versions is rendered as _cross, +i.e._, the word _stauros_, seems to have, at the beginning of our era, +no more meant a cross than the English word stick means a crutch. + +It is true that a stick may be in the shape of a crutch, and that the +stauros to which Jesus was affixed may have been in the shape of a +cross. But just as the former is not necessarily a crutch, so the +latter was not necessarily a cross. + +What the ancients used to signify when they used the word _stauros_, +can easily be seen by referring to either the Iliad or the Odyssey.[1] + +It will there be found to clearly signify an ordinary pole or stake +without any cross-bar. And it is as thus signifying a single piece of +wood that the word in question is used throughout the old Greek +classics.[2] + +The stauros used as an instrument of execution was (1) a small pointed +pole or stake used for thrusting through the body, so as to pin the +latter to the earth, or otherwise render death inevitable; (2) a +similar pole or stake fixed in the ground point upwards, upon which the +condemned one was forced down till incapable of escaping; (3) a much +longer and stouter pole or stake fixed point upwards, upon which the +victim, with his hands tied behind him, was lodged in such a way that +the point should enter his breast and the weight of the body cause +every movement to hasten the end; and (4) a stout unpointed pole or +stake set upright in the earth, from which the victim was suspended by +a rope round his wrists, which were first tied behind him so that the +position might become an agonising one; or to which the doomed one was +bound, or, as in the case of Jesus, nailed. + +That this last named kind of stauros, which was admittedly that to +which Jesus was affixed, had in every case a cross-bar attached, is +untrue; that it had in most cases, is unlikely; that it had in the case +of Jesus, is unproven. + +Even as late as the Middle Ages, the word stauros seems to have +primarily signified a straight piece of wood without a cross-bar. For +the famous Greek lexicographer, Suidas, expressly states, "Stauroi; +ortha xula perpegota," and both Eustathius and Hesychius affirm that it +meant a _straight_ stake or pole. + +The side light thrown upon the question by Lucian is also worth noting. +This writer, referring to Jesus, alludes to "That sophist of theirs who +was fastened to a _skolops_;" which word signified a single piece of +wood, and not two pieces joined together. + +Only a passing notice need be given to the fact that in some of the +Epistles of the New Testament, which seem to have been written before +the Gospels, though, like the other Epistles, misleadingly placed after +the Gospels, Jesus is said to have been _hanged_ upon a _tree_.[3] For +in the first place the Greek word translated "hanged" did not +necessarily refer to hanging by the neck, and simply meant suspended in +some way or other. And in the second place the word translated "tree," +though that always used in referring to what is translated as the +"_Tree of Life_," signified not only "tree" but also "wood." + +It should be noted, however, that these five references of the Bible to +the execution of Jesus as having been carried out by his suspension +upon either a tree or a piece of timber set in the ground, in no wise +convey the impression that two pieces of wood nailed together in the +form of a cross is what is referred to. + +Moreover, there is not, even in the Greek text of the Gospels, a single +intimation in the Bible to the effect that the instrument actually used +in the case of Jesus was cross-shaped. + +Had there been any such intimation in the twenty-seven Greek works +referring to Jesus, which our Church selected out of a very large +number and called the "New Testament," the Greek letter _chi_, which +was cross-shaped, would in the ordinary course have been referred to; +and some such term as _Kata chiasmon_, "like a chi," made use of. + +It should also be borne in mind that though the Christians of the first +three centuries certainly made use of a transient sign of the cross in +the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism and at other times, it is, as +will be shown in the next two chapters, admitted that they did not use +or venerate it as a representation of the instrument of execution upon +which Jesus died. + +Moreover, if in reply to the foregoing it should be argued that as it +is well known that cross-shaped figures of wood, and other lasting +representations of the sign or figure of the cross, were not venerated +by Christians until after the fateful day when Constantine set out at +the head of the soldiers of Gaul in his famous march against Rome; and +that the Christian crosses of the remainder of the fourth century were +representations of the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died; a +dozen other objections present themselves if we are honest enough to +face the fact that we have to show that they were so from the first. +For the Gauls, and therefore the soldiers of Gaul, venerated as symbols +of the Sun-God and Giver of Life and Victory the cross of four equal +arms, {image "plus.gif"}, or {image "x.gif"}, and the solar wheel, +{image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}; while the +so-called cross which Constantine and his troops are said to have seen +above the midday sun was admittedly the monogram of Christ, {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"}, which was admittedly an +adaptation of the solar wheel, as will be shown further on; and it was +as tokens of the conquest of Rome by his Gaulish troops, that +Constantine, as their leader, erected one of these symbols in the +centre of the Eternal City, and afterwards placed upon his coins the +crosses {image "solarwheel1.gif"}, {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, {image +"monogram1.gif"}, {image "monogram2.gif"}, {image "asterisk.gif"}, +{image "monogram3.gif"}, {image "monogram4.gif"}, the cross of four +equal arms {image "x.gif"}, and several variations of that other cross +of four equal arms, the right-angled {image "plus.gif"}. And it was not +till long after these crosses were accepted as Christian, and +Constantine was dead and buried, that the cross with one of its arms +longer than the other three (or two), which alone could be a +representation of an instrument of execution, was made use of by +Christians. + +Another point to be remembered is that when Constantine, apparently +conceiving ours, as the only non-national religion with ramifications +throughout his world-wide dominions, to be the only one that could weld +together the many nations which acknowledged his sway, established +Christianity as the State Religion of the Roman Empire, the Church to +which we belong would naturally have had to accept as its own the +symbols which Constantine had caused to be those of the State in +question. And it should be added that the cross of later days with one +of its arms longer than the others, if not also the assumption that the +stauros to which Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar, may have been +merely the outcome of a wish to associate with the story of Jesus these +Gaulish symbols of victory which had become symbols of the Roman State, +and therefore of its State Church. + +Anyway, the first kind of cross venerated by Christians was not a +representation of an instrument of execution; and the fact that we hold +sacred many different kinds of crosses, although even if we could prove +that the stauros to which Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar but one +kind could be a representation of that instrument of execution, has to +be accounted for. + +Our only plausible explanation of the fact that we hold sacred almost +any species of cross is that, as we do not know what kind of cross +Jesus died upon, opinions have always differed as to which was the real +cross. + +This difference of opinion among Christians as to the shape of the +instrument upon which Jesus was executed, has certainly existed for +many centuries. But as an explanation of the many different kinds of +crosses accepted by us as symbols of the Christ, it only lands us in a +greater difficulty. For if we did not know what kind of cross Jesus +died upon when we accepted the cross as our symbol, the chances +obviously are that we accepted the cross as our symbol for some other +reason than that we assert. + +As a matter of fact our position regarding the whole matter is +illogical and unsatisfactory, and we ought to alter it by honestly +facing the facts that we cannot satisfactorily prove that our symbol +was adopted as a representation of the instrument of execution to which +Jesus was affixed, and that we do not even know for certain that the +instrument in question was cross-shaped. + +It need only be added that there is not a single sentence in any of the +numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original +Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used +in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to +the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two +pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. + +Taking the whole of the foregoing facts into consideration, it will be +seen that it is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers +to translate the word stauros as "cross" when rendering the Greek +documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that +action by putting "cross" in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros +without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary +meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its +primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at +all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it +was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon +which Jesus was executed had that particular shape. + +But--the reader may object--how about the Greek word which in our +Bibles is translated as "crucify" or "crucified?" Does not that mean +"fix to a cross" or "fixed to a cross?" And what is this but the +strongest possible corroboration of our assertion as Christians that +Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped instrument? + +The answer is that no less than four different Greek words are +translated in our Bibles as meaning "crucify" or "crucified," and that +not one of the four meant "crucify" or "crucified." + +The four words in question are the words _prospegnumi, anastauroo, +sustauroo_, and _stauroo_. + +The word prospegnumi, though translated in our Bibles as "crucify" or +"crucified," meant to "fix" to or upon, and meant that only. It had no +special reference to the affixing of condemned persons either to a +stake, pale, or post, or to a tree, or to a cross; and had no more +reference to a cross than the English word "fix" has. + +The word _anastauroo_ was never used by the old Greek writers as +meaning other than to impale upon or with a single piece of timber.[4] + +The word _sustauroo_ does not occur in pre-Christian writings, and only +five times in the Bible against the forty-four times of the word next +to be dealt with. Being obviously derived in part from the word +stauros, which primarily signified a stake or pale which was a single +piece of wood and had no cross-bar, _sustauroo_ evidently meant +affixion to such a stake or pale. Anyhow there is nothing whatever +either in the derivation of the word, or in the context in either of +the five instances in which it occurs, to show that what is referred to +is affixion to something that was cross-shaped. + +The word _stauroo_ occurs, as has been said, forty-four times; and of +the four words in question by far the most frequently. The meaning of +this word is therefore of special importance. It is consequently most +significant to find, as we do upon due investigation, that wherever it +occurs in the pre-Christian classics it is used as meaning to +impalisade, or stake, or affix to a pale or stake; and has reference, +not to crosses, but to single pieces of wood.[5] + +It therefore seems tolerably clear (1) that the sacred writings forming +the New Testament, to the statements of which--as translated for us--we +bow down in reverence, do not tell us that Jesus was affixed to a +cross-shaped instrument of execution; (2) that the balance of evidence +is against the truth of our statements to the effect that the +instrument in question was cross-shaped, and our sacred symbol +originally a representation of the same; and (3) that we Christians +have in bygone days acted, and, alas! still act, anything but +ingenuously in regard to the symbol of the cross. + +This is not all, however. For if the unfortunate fact that we have in +our zeal almost manufactured evidence in favour of the theory that +_our_ cross or crosses had its or their origin in the shape of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed proves anything at +all, it proves the need for a work which, like the present one, sets in +array the evidence available regarding both the pre-Christian cross and +the adoption in later times of a similar symbol as that of the catholic +faith. + +Nor should it be forgotten that the triumph of Christianity was due to +the fact that it _was_ a "catholic" faith, and not, like the other +faiths followed by the subjects of Rome, and like what Jesus seems to +have intended the results of His mission to have been inasmuch as He +solemnly declared that he was sent to the lost sheep of the House of +Israel and to them alone, the monopoly of a single nation or race. + +For if Paul, taking his and other visions of Jesus as the long-needed +proofs of a future life, had not disregarded the very plain intimations +of Jesus to the effect that His mission was to the descendants of Jacob +or Israel, and to them alone; if Paul had not withstood Christ's +representative, Peter, to the face, and, with unsurpassed zeal, carried +out his grand project of proclaiming a non-national and universal +religion founded upon appearances of the spirit-form of Jesus, what we +call Christianity would not have come into existence. + +The fact that but for Paul there would have been no catholic faith with +followers in every land ruled by Constantine when sole emperor, for +that astute monarch to establish as the State Religion of his loosely +knit empire, because, on account of its catholicity, that best fitted +to hold power as the official faith of a government with world-wide +dominions, is worthy of a lasting place in our memory. + +Nor is the noteworthy fact last mentioned unconnected with the symbol +of the cross. For, as will be shown, it is clear that it was because +Constantine caused the figure of the cross to become a recognized +symbol of his catholic empire, that it became recognized as a symbol of +the catholic faith. + +Not till after Constantine and his Gaulish warriors planted what +Eusebius the Bishop of Caesarea and other Christians of the century in +question describe as a cross, within the walls of the Eternal City as +the symbol of their victory, did Christians ever set on high a +cross-shaped trophy of any description. + +Moreover, but for the fact that, as it happened, the triumph of +Constantine resulted in that of the Christian Church, we should +probably have deemed the cross, if to our minds a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed, as anything but the +symbol of Victory we now deem it. + +This is evident from the fact that the so-called cross of Jesus +admittedly fulfilled the purpose for which it was erected at the +request of those who sought the death of Jesus. And even according to +our Gospels the darkness of defeat o'ershadowed the scene at Calvary. + +To put the matter plainly, the victory of Jesus was not a victory over +the cross; for He did not come down from the cross. Nor was it a +victory over His enemies; for what they sought was to get rid of a man +whom they deemed an agitator, and their wish was gratified, inasmuch +as, thanks to the cross, He troubled them no more. + +In other words the victory which we ascribe to Jesus did not occur +during the gloom which hung like a pall over his native land at the +time of His execution, but upon the then approaching Sun-day of the +Vernal Equinox, at the coming of the glory of the dawn. + +For the victory in question, from whatever point of view we may look at +it, was not the avoidance of defeat, but its retrieval. And its story +is an illustration of the old-world promise, hoary with antiquity and +founded upon the coming, ushered in every year by the Pass-over or +cross-over of the equator by the sun at the Vernal Equinox, of the +bounteous harvests of summer after the dearth of devastating winter; +bidding us ever hope, not indeed for the avoidance of death and +therefore of defeat, but for such victory as may happen to lay in +survival or resurrection. + +It is therefore clear that even if we _could_ prove that the instrument +of execution to which Jesus was affixed was cross-shaped, it would not +necessarily follow that it was as the representation of the cause of +His death which we now deem it, that the figure of the cross became our +symbol of Life and Victory. + +In any case honesty demands that we should no longer translate as +"cross" a word which at the time our Gospels were written did not +necessarily signify something cross-shaped. And it is equally incumbent +upon us, from a moral point of view, that we should cease to render as +"crucify" or "crucified" words which never bore any such meaning. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX. + +The Fathers who wrote in Latin, used the word _crux_ as a translation +of the Greek word _stauros_. It is therefore noteworthy that even this +Latin word "crux," from which we derive our words "cross" and +"crucify," did not in ancient days necessarily mean something +cross-shaped, and seems to have had quite another signification as its +original meaning. + +A reference, for instance, to the writings of Livy, will show that in +his time the word crux, whatever else it may have meant, signified a +single piece of wood or timber; he using it in that sense.[6] + +This however is a curious rather than an important point, for even the +assumption that the word _crux_ always and invariably meant something +cross-shaped, would not affect the demonstration already made that the +word _stauros_ did not. + +As our Scriptures were written in Greek and were written in the first +century A.C., the vital question is what the word stauros then meant, +when used, as in the New Testament, without any qualifying expression +or hint that other than an ordinary stauros was signified. What the +Fathers chose to consider the meaning of that word to be, or chose to +give as its Latin translation, would, even if they had written the same +century, in no wise affect that issue. And, as a matter of fact, even +the earliest of the Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to +us, did not write till the middle of the second century. + +Granting, however, as all must, that most if not all of the earlier of +the Fathers, and certainly all the later ones, rightly or wrongly +interpreted the word stauros as meaning something cross-shaped, let us, +remembering that this does not dispose of the question whether they +rightly or wrongly so interpreted it, in this and the next two chapters +pass in review the references to the cross made by the Fathers who +lived before Constantine's march upon Rome at the head of his Gaulish +army. + +Commencing, on account of its importance, with the evidence of Minucius +Felix, we find that this Father wrote + + "We assuredly see the sign of a cross naturally, in the + ship when it is carried along with swelling sails, when + it glides forward with expanded oars; and when the + military yoke is lifted up it is the sign of a cross; + and when a man adores God with a pure mind, with arms + outstretched. Thus the sign of the cross either is + sustained by a natural reason or your own religion is + formed with respect to it."[7] + + +Various other pronouncements to a similar effect are to be found in the +writings of other Christian Fathers, and such passages are often quoted +as conclusive evidence of the Christian origin of what is now our +symbol. In reality, however, it is somewhat doubtful if we can fairly +claim them as such; for the question arises whether, if the writers in +their hearts believed their cross to be a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed, they would have +omitted, as they did in every instance, to mention that as the right +and proper and all-sufficient reason for venerating the figure of the +cross. + +Moreover it is quite clear that while, as will be shown hereafter, the +symbol of the cross had for ages been a Pagan symbol of Life, it can, +as already stated, scarcely be said to have become a Christian _symbol_ +before the days of Constantine. No cross-shaped symbol of wood or of +any other material had any part in the Christianity of the second and +third centuries; and the only cross which had any part in the +Christianity of those days was the immaterial one traced upon the +forehead in the non-Mosaic and originally Pagan initiatory rite of +Baptism, and at other times also according to some of the Fathers, +apparently as a charm against the machinations of evil spirits. + +This "sign" or "signal" rather than "symbol" of the cross, referred to +as theirs by the Christian writers of the second and third centuries, +is said to have had a place before our era in the rites of those who +worshipped Mithras, if not also of those who worshipped certain other +conceptions of the Sun-God; and it should be noted that the Fathers +insist upon it that a similar mark is what the prophet Ezekiel referred +to as that to be placed upon the foreheads of certain men as a sign of +life and salvation; the original Hebrew reading "Set a _tau_ upon the +foreheads of the men" (_Ezek_. ix. 4), and the tau having been in the +days of the prophet in question--as we know from relics of the +past--the figure of a cross. Nor should it be forgotten that Tertullian +admits that those admitted into the rites of the Sun-God Mithras were +so marked, trying to explain this away by stating that this was done in +imitation of the then despised Christians![8] + +That it was this immaterial sign or signal, rather than any material +symbol of the cross, which Minucius Felix considered Christian, is +demonstrated by the fact that the passage already quoted is accompanied +by the remark that + + + "Crosses, moreover, we Christians neither venerate nor + wish for. You indeed who consecrate gods of wood + venerate wooden crosses, perhaps as parts of your gods. + For your very standards, as well as your banners, and + flags of your camps, what are they but crosses gilded + and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate + the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man + affixed to it."[9] + +This remarkable denunciation of the Cross as a Pagan symbol by a +Christian Father who lived as late as the third century after Christ, +is worthy of special attention; and can scarcely be said to bear out +the orthodox account of the origin of the cross as a Christian symbol. +It is at any rate clear that the cross was not our recognised symbol at +that date; and that it is more likely to have been gradually adopted by +us from Sun-God worshippers, than by the worshippers of Mithras and +other pre-Christian conceptions of the Sun-God from us. + +As our era was six or seven centuries old before the crucifix was +introduced, and the earliest pictorial representation of the execution +of Jesus still existing or referred to in any work as having existed +was of even later date, much stress has been laid by us upon what we +allege to be a caricature of the crucifixion of Jesus and of much +earlier date. The drawing in question was discovered in 1856 to be +scrawled upon a wall of the Gelotian House under the Palatine at Rome; +and as no Christian representations of the alleged execution upon a +cross-shaped instrument of even a reasonably early date exist, it would +of course be greatly to our interest to be able to quote this alleged +caricature, which is said to be as old as the third and perhaps even as +old as the second century, as independent evidence of the truth of our +story. But can we fairly do so? + +The drawing in question is a very roughly executed representation of a +figure with human arms, legs, and feet; but with an animal's head. The +arms are extended, and two lines, which are said to represent a cross +but appear in front of the figure instead of behind it, traverse the +arms and trunk. In the foreground is a man looking at this grotesque +figure; and an accompanying inscription is to the effect that +"Alexamenos adores his God." + +Tertullian relates that a certain Jew "carried about in public a +caricature of us with this label, _An ass of a priest_. This figure had +an ass's ears, and was dressed in a toga with a book; having a hoof on +one of his feet."[10] + +It is upon the strength of this passage and the two lines traversing +the figure, that we, ignoring the fact that the figure is standing, +claim this much-quoted _graffito_ as conclusive evidence of the +historical accuracy of our story. But it may be pointed out that even +if this was a caricature of the execution of Jesus made at the date +mentioned, a caricature, made certainly not less than two hundred years +after the event, is not altogether trustworthy evidence as to the +details. + +And, was it a caricature of the execution of Jesus? It would appear +not. + +To commence with, the two lines or scratches--for they are little +more--which we call a cross, need not necessarily have formed a part of +the original _graffito_; and, even if they did, of themselves prove +nothing. There is no reference to a cross in the inscription, nor is +there anything to show that an execution of any kind is what is +illustrated. Moreover, the hoof upon one foot, mentioned by Tertullian, +is not to be seen; a remark which also applies to the toga and the book +he mentions. And even what Tertullian referred to was not a caricature +of the execution of Jesus. + +It should also be noted that the head of the figure in this famous +graffito, is more like that of a jackal than that of an ass; and +appears to have been a representation of the Egyptian god Anubis, who +is so often to be seen upon relics of the past as a figure with a +jackal's head, with human arms extended, and with human legs and feet, +as in this drawing. + +Upon all points, therefore, our claim concerning the graffito is an +ill-founded one; and it cannot be considered evidence regarding either +cross or crucifixion. + +There thus being no opposing evidence of any weight, it is quite clear +from the fact that as late as the third century after Christ we find a +Christian Father who venerated the sign or figure of the cross +denouncing it as a symbol, that no material representations of that +sign or figure were recognised as Christian till an even later date. +And such a conclusion is borne out by the striking fact that when +Clement of Alexandria at the beginning of the third century made out a +list of the symbols which Christians were permitted to use, he +mentioned the Fish and the Dove but said nothing regarding the +Cross.[11] + +As to the sign or figure of the cross referred to by the Fathers of the +second and third centuries, even so high an authority as the Dean of +Canterbury admits, as we shall see in the next chapter, that it was not +"mainly" as reminding them of the death of Jesus that the Christians of +the second and third centuries venerated it. If, therefore, not in the +main, and, it would follow, not originally as a representation of the +instrument of execution upon which Jesus died, what more likely than +that the early Christians venerated the sign and figure of the cross as +the age-old and widely accepted symbol of Life and of the Sun-God we +know it to have been? + +Anyway Minucius Felix may be said to stand alone in denouncing the +symbol of the cross as non-Christian. And as even he expresses +veneration for the figure of the cross, and must have approved of the +sign of the cross in the initiatory rite of baptism, that denunciation +evidently applied only to material representations of the cross. + +Moreover the denunciation in question was clearly due to the fear that +such objects might degenerate amongst Christians, as they afterwards +did, into little better than idols. And if the sign or figure of the +cross did not mainly remind the early Christians of the death of Jesus, +it must have mainly reminded them of something else. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS. + +The works which have come down to us from the Fathers who lived before +the days of Constantine make up over ten thousand pages of closely +printed matter; and the first point which strikes those who examine +that mass of literature with a view to seeing what the Christians of +the first three centuries thought and wrote concerning the execution of +Jesus and the symbol of the cross, is that the execution of Jesus was +hardly so much as mentioned by them, and no such thing as a +representation of the instrument of execution once referred to. + +Another fact worthy of special note is that, whether the Fathers wrote +in Greek and used the word _stauros_, or wrote in Latin and translated +that word as _crux_, they often seem to have had in their mind's eye a +tree; a tree which moreover was closely connected in meaning with the +forbidden tree of the Garden of Eden, an allegorical figure of +undoubtedly phallic signification which had its counterpart in the Tree +of the Hesperides, from which the Sun-God Hercules after killing the +Serpent was fabled to have picked the Golden Apples of Love, one of +which became the symbol of Venus, the Goddess of Love. Nor was this the +only such counterpart, for almost every race seems in days of old to +have had an allegorical Tree of Knowledge or Life whose fruit was Love; +the ancients perceiving that it was love which produced life, and that +but for the sexual passion and its indulgence mankind would cease to +be. + +Starting upon an examination of the early Christian writings in +question, we read in the _Gospel of Nicodemus_ that when the Chief +Priests interviewed certain men whom Jesus had raised from the dead, +those men made upon their faces "the sign of the stauros."[12] The sign +of the cross is presumably meant; and all that need be said is that if +the men whom Jesus raised from the dead were acquainted with the sign +of the cross, it would appear that it must have been as a pre-Christian +sign. + +Further on in the same Gospel, Satan is represented as being told that +"All that thou hast gained through the Tree of Knowledge, all hast thou +lost through the Tree of the Stauros."[13] + +Elsewhere we read that "The King of Glory stretched out his right hand, +and took hold of our forefather Adam, and raised him: then, turning +also to the rest, he said, 'Come with me as many as have died through +the Tree which he touched, for behold I again raise you all up through +the Tree of the Stauros.'"[14] Some see in this peculiar pronouncement a +reference to the doctrine of re-incarnation. + +In the _Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Andrew_ we are told that +those who executed Andrew "lifted him up on the stauros," but "did not +sever his joints, having received this order from the pro-consul, for +he wished him to be in distress while hanging, and in the nighttime as +he was suspended to be eaten by dogs." There is nothing to show that +the stauros used was other than an ordinary stauros. + +In the _Epistle of Barnabas_ are various references to the stauros; +mixed up with various passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, +quoted--without any justification--as referring to the initiatory rite +of baptism; a rite, be it noted, that was admittedly of Gentile rather +than Israelitish origin, and not unconnected with the Sun-God worship +of the Persians and other Orientals of non-Hebrew race. + +The references in question commence with the enquiry, "Let us further +ask whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the Water and the +Stauros?" + +Afterwards we have a quotation of _Psalm_ i. 3-6--which likens the good +man to a tree planted by the side of a river and yielding his fruit in +due season--and the pronouncement, "Mark how he has described at once +both the Water and the Stauros. For these words imply, Blessed are they +who, placing their trust in the Stauros, have gone down into the +Water." + +This further reference to the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism is +followed by a quotation of _Ezekiel_ xlvii. 12, which speaks of a river +by whose side grow trees those who cat the fruit of which grow for +ever. + +Further on is a declaration that when Moses stretched out his hands (in +a direction not specified) that victory might rest with the forces he +commanded, he stretched them out in the figure of a stauros, as a +prophecy that Jesus "would be the author of life." + +A reference is then made to the Brazen Serpent, and to the pole upon +which it was placed; and it is stated that this lifeless imitation of a +serpent was a type of Jesus. + +In the _Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians_ we read that the stauros +of the Christ is indeed a stumbling block to those who do not believe. +The evidence of Irenaeus, as that of one who was through his +acquaintance with the aged Polycarp almost in touch as it were with the +apostles, will on account of his importance as a witness be specially +dealt with in the next chapter. + +Justin Martyr, arguing that the figure of the cross is impressed upon +the whole of nature, asks men to + + + "Consider all things in the world, whether without this + form they could be administered or have any certainty. + For the sea is not traversed except that trophy which is + called a sail abide safe in the ship; and the earth is + not ploughed without it: diggers and mechanics do not + their work except with tools which have this shape. And + the human form differs from that of the irrational + animals in nothing else than in its being erect and + having the hands extended and having on the face + extending from the forehead what is called the nose, + through which there is respiration for the living + creature; and this shows no other form than that of the + cross. And so it was said by the prophet _The breath + before our face is the Lord Christ_. And the power of + this form is shown by your own symbols on what are + called standards and trophies; with which all your + processions are made, using these as insignia of your + power and government."[15] + +Elsewhere Justin Martyr declares that the Christ + + "Was symbolised both by the Tree of Life which was said + to have been planted in Paradise, and by those events + which should happen to all the just. Moses was sent with + a _rod_ to effect the redemption of the people; and with + this in his hands at the head of the people he divided + the sea. By this he saw the water gushing out of the + rock; and when he cast a _tree_ into the waters of + Marah, which were bitter, he made them sweet. Jacob by + putting _rods_ into the water troughs caused the sheep + of his uncle to conceive . . . . Aaron's _rod_ which + blossomed declared him to be the High Priest. Isaiah + prophesied that a rod would come forth from the root of + Jesse, and this was the Christ."[16] + +Further on in the same work, Justin Martyr, alluding to the statement +in the Israelitish Law "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," +states that + + + "It was not without design that the prophet Moses + when Hur and Aaron upheld his hands, remained in this + form until evening. For indeed the Lord remained upon + the tree almost until evening."[17] + +Tertullian writes concerning the Christ "With the last enemy Death did +he fight, and through the trophy of the cross he triumphed"[18]; and +elsewhere tells us that "Cursed is every one who hangeth on a tree" was +a prediction of his death.[19] + +There is also in existence a long essay by Tertullian which starts by +discussing the efficacy of "the sign" as an antidote. The sign of the +cross as traced upon the forehead in the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of +baptism seems to be what is referred to; and no representation of an +instrument of execution, or cross-shaped symbol of wood or any +material, is once mentioned.[20] + +In another of Tertullian's works we come across the passage "In all the +actions of daily life we trace upon the forehead the sign."[21] + +His famous reference to the Sun-God Mithras reads as follows:-- + + + "The devil in the mystic rites of his idols competes + even with the essential portions of the sacraments of + God. He, like God, baptizes some, that is, his own + believing and faithful followers, and promises the putting + away of sins by baptism; and if I remember rightly + Mithras there signs his soldiers upon their foreheads, + celebrates the oblation of bread, introduces a representation + of the resurrection, and places the crown beyond + the sword."[22] + +Elsewhere Tertullian writes:-- + + "If any of you think we render superstitious adoration + to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us . . + You worship _victories_, for in your trophies the cross + is the heart of the trophy. The camp religion of the + Romans is all through a worship of the standards . . . I + praise your zeal: you would not worship crosses + unclothed and unadorned."[23] + +In another of Tertullian's works we read:-- + + + "As for him who affirms that we are the priesthood of a + cross, we shall claim him as a co-religionist . . . + Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in an + erect position is part of a cross, and indeed the + greater part of its mass. But an entire cross is + attributed to us . . . . The truth however is that + _your_ religion is _all_ cross . . . You are ashamed, I + suppose, to worship unadorned and simple crosses."[24] + +In the _Instructions of Commodianus_ we read "The first law was in the +tree, and so, too, was the second."[25] + +Cyprian contends that "By the sign of the cross, also, Amalek was +conquered by Moses."[26] + +Elsewhere Cyprian tells us that "In this sign of the cross is salvation +for all people who are marked on their foreheads"; quoting as proof of +this, from the Apocalypse, "They had his name and the name of his +Father written on their foreheads," and "Blessed are they that do his +commandments that they may have power over the Tree of Life."[27] + +Methodius tells us that "He overcame, as has been said, the powers that +enslaved us by the figure of the cross; and shadowed forth man, who had +been oppressed by corruption as by a tyrant power, to be free with +unfettered hands. For the cross, if you wish to define it, is the +confirmation of victory."[28] + +Passing on to Origen, we find in one of his works the noteworthy +passage:-- + + "It is possible to avoid it if we do what the Apostle + saith 'Mortify your members which are upon earth,' and + if we always carry about in our bodies the death of + Christ. For it is certain that where the death of Christ + is carried about, sin cannot reign. For the power of the + _stauros_ of Christ is so great that if it be set before + a man's eyes and kept faithfully in his mind so that he + look with steadfast eyes of the mind upon that same + death of Christ, no concupiscence, no sensuality, no + natural passion, and no envious desire, is able to + overcome him."[29] + +Whether however this reference to the "_stauros_ of Christ" is or is +not a reference to the figure of the cross, is doubtful. + +Such is the evidence regarding the cross, whether considered as +immaterial sign or material symbol, obtainable from the writings of the +Christians who lived between the days of the Apostles and those of +Constantine; other of course than the _Octavius_ of Minucius Felix, +which was dealt with in the last chapter, and the writings of Irenaeus, +which will be dealt with in the next. + +Among the noteworthy features of the evidence in question prominently +stands out the smallness of its volume. + +This is but a negative point, however; and what should be carefully +borne in mind is that the evidence as a whole leads to the conclusion +that the Christians of the second and third centuries made use of the +sign and venerated the figure of the cross without, as Dean Farrar +admits, it "only or even mainly," reminding them of the death of Jesus; +and therefore otherwise than as a representation of the instrument of +execution upon which Jesus died.[30] + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENAEUS. + +The special importance of the evidence of Irenaeus, is due to the fact +that of all the Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to us he +is the only one who can be considered to have been anything like in +touch with the Apostles. As an acquaintance of the aged Polycarp, who +is said to have been in his youth a pupil of the aged Evangelist and +Apostle St. John and to have met yet other Apostles, Irenaeus had +opportunities for ascertaining facts concerning the life and death of +Jesus which the other Fathers upon whose works we rely did not possess. + +What, then, does this important witness have to say, which bears upon +the points at issue? As a matter of fact, very little. + +There are, however, two passages in the works of Irenaeus which it +would not be right to altogether ignore. + +In the first of these passages Irenaeus mentions that some Christians +believed that Simon of Cyrene was executed instead of Jesus, owing to +the power of Jesus to metamorphose himself and others having been +exercised with that object in view.[31] This power is referred to more +than once in our Gospels, for instance in the account of the so-called +"Transfiguration" upon the Mount; the Greek word rendered in our Bibles +as "transfigured" being the word which in translations of the older +Greek classics is rendered "metamorphosed." + +Even if we pass by this belief of certain of the early Christians that +Jesus was never executed, a question here arises which should at least +be stated, and that is the question how, if Jesus was metamorphosed +upon the Mount, as the Gospels tell us, he can be said to have died as +a man at Calvary? For if upon the Mount of Transfiguration, or at any +other time previous to the scene at Calvary, Jesus was metamorphosed, +the form which was the result of the process of re-metamorphosis +necessary to make him recognisable again cannot be said to have been +born of the Virgin Mary, and can have been human only in appearance. + +The other passage in the writings of Irenaeus which deserves our +notice, is neither more nor less than an emphatic declaration, by +Irenaeus himself, that Jesus was not executed when a little over thirty +years of age, but lived to be an old man. Explain it away how we will, +the fact remains; and it certainly ought not to be ignored. + +At first sight this statement of Irenaeus would decidedly seem to +support the theory advanced by some, that, as the Roman Procurator +Pontius Pilate admittedly did not want to carry out the extreme penalty +in the case of Jesus, though he reluctantly consented to do so in order +to pacify the Jews and allowed Jesus to be fixed to a stauros and +suspended in public view, he took care to manage things so that Jesus +should only appear to die. The idea of course is that if Pilate wished +to preserve the life of Jesus he could easily have had him taken down +while in a drugged condition, have had the farce of burial carried out +at the earliest possible moment, and then have had him resuscitated and +removed to some region where he could dwell in safety. + +What Irenaeus says concerning Jesus is that + + + "He passed through every age, becoming an infant for + infants. . . . So likewise he was an old man for old + men, that he might be a perfect Master for all, not + merely as regards the setting forth of the truth but + also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time the + aged also and becoming an example to them likewise. + Then, at last, he came on to death itself. . . . From + the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline + towards old age, which our Lord possessed while he still + fulfilled the office of a Teacher; even as the Gospel + and all the elders testify, those who were conversant in + Asia with John the disciple of the Lord affirming that + John conveyed to them that information. And he remained + among them up to the times of Trajan. Some of them + moreover saw not only John but the other apostles also, + and heard the very same account from them, and bear + testimony as to the statement. Whom, then, should we + rather believe? Whether such men as these, or + Ptolemaeus, who never saw the apostles and who never + even in his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an + apostle?"[32] + +The reader must decide for himself or herself whether Irenaeus believed +that Jesus was never executed; or that he was executed but survived; or +that he was born when we suppose, but executed thirty years or so later +than we suppose; or that, though executed when we suppose, he was then +an old man, and was born, not at the commencement or middle or end of +the year A.C. 1, or B.C. 4, or whenever the orthodox date is, but +thirty years or more before what we call our era began. Anyhow he +mentions neither cross nor execution, and here seems to assume that +Jesus died a natural death. And in any case the fact remains that, +however mistaken he may have been, Irenaeus stated that Jesus lived to +be an old man; and stated so emphatically. + +Even granting that Irenaeus must have been mistaken, his evidence none +the less affects one of the most important points debated in this work. +For it is clear that if even he knew so little about the execution of +Jesus, the details of that execution cannot have been particularly well +known; and the affirmation that the stauros to which Jesus was affixed +had a transverse bar attached may have had no foundation in fact, and +may have arisen from a wish to connect Jesus with that well-known and +widely-venerated Symbol of Life, the pre-Christian cross. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ORIGIN OF THIS PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS. + +Having in the foregoing chapters demonstrated that it is possible, if +not indeed probable, that the instrument of execution to which Jesus +was affixed was otherwise than cross-shaped; and having also shown that +it was not mainly, if indeed even partially, that the early Christians +signified that instrument by the sign of the cross; it is now desirable +that, as a preliminary to an enquiry into the circumstances under which +the cross became the symbol of Christianity, we should enquire into the +origin of the _pre_-Christian cross. + +That there was a pre-Christian cross, and that it was, like ours, a +Symbol of Life, is generally admitted. + +The authorities upon such subjects, however, unfortunately differ as to +the reason why the Cross came to be selected by the ancients as the +Symbol of Life. And not one of their suggestions seems to go to the +root of the matter. + +Let us therefore in thought go back tens of thousands of years, and +conceive the genus Homo as a race gradually awakening to reason but as +yet unfettered by inherited traditions and creeds. Let us imagine Man +ere he began to make gods in his own image. Let us remember that what +would strike him as the greatest of all marvels would of necessity be +Life itself, and that far and away the next greatest marvel must have +been the glorious Sun; the obvious source of earth life, and Lord of +the Hosts of Heaven. + +Let us bear in mind, too, that though the Nature Worship of our remote +ancestors had other striking features, the facts mentioned would lead +to the predominance of the phallic idea, and to its association with +Sun-God worship. And as Life, the greatest marvel of all, must have had +a symbol allotted to it at a very early date, let us ask ourselves what +the untutored mind of Man would be most likely to select as its symbol. + +To this question there is, so far as the author can see, but one +reasonable answer:--the figure of the cross. + +And the author conceives this to be the real solution of the difficulty +for this reason:--because the figure of the cross is the simplest +possible representation of that union of two bodies or two sexes or two +powers or two principles, which alone produces life. + +For the ancients cannot fail to have perceived that all life more +immediately proceeds from the _union_ of _two_ principles; and the +first, readiest, simplest, and most natural symbol of Life, was +consequently one straight line superimposed upon another at such an +angle that both could be seen; in other words, a cross of some +description or other. + +It is evidently probable that this was the real reason why the figure +of the cross originally came to be adopted as the Symbol of Life. But, +of course, whatever the original reason, as time rolled on other +reasons for the veneration of the cross were pointed out; nothing being +more natural than that primitive Man should, or more certain than that +he did, find pleasure in connecting with other objects of his regard +than Life itself, that which as the Symbol of Life was pre-eminently a +symbol of good omen. + +The most notable instance of this is the way in which, or rather the +different ways in which, the figure of the cross was connected with the +Sun-God. + +A good example of the last named fact, is the declaration of the +philosophers of ancient Greece that the figure of the cross was the +figure of the "Second God" or "Universal Soul," the _Ratio_ as well as +the _Oratio_ of the All-Father, which they called the _Logos_ of God; a +term badly translated in our versions of the Gospel of St. John as the +_Word_ of God, as if it signified the _Oratio_ only. + +It was this Logos or "Second God" whom Philo, who was born before the +commencement of our era, described as the "Intellectual Sun," and even +as God's "First Begotten" and "Beloved" offspring, and the "Light of +the World"; terms afterwards made use of by the writers of our Gospels +in describing the Christ. And, as will be shown in a chapter upon the +subject, the reason the philosophers, among whom was Plato, gave for +declaring the cross to be the figure of the Logos, was that the Sun +creates this figure by crossing the Equator. + +An even better illustration can be seen in the fact that in days of old +almost every civilised race held feasts at the time of the Vernal +Equinox, in honour of the Passover or _Cross_-over of the Sun. + +The fact that the ancients were thus at special pains to connect the +symbol of Life with the Sun-God, and also, as we know, spoke of him as +the "Giver of Life" and the only "Saviour," was doubtless due to their +perceiving, not only that life is the result of the union of the two +principles distinguished by the titles male and female, but also that +the salvation of life is due to the action of the sun in preserving the +body from cold and in producing and ripening for its use the fruits of +the earth. + +As the Giver of Life, the Sun-God was of course considered to be +bi-sexual. But when the two great lights of heaven, the Sun and the +Moon, were associated with each other, as was often and naturally the +ease, the Sun was considered to be more especially a personification of +the Male Principle, and the waxing and waning moon, as represented by +the Crescent, a personification of the Female Principle. Hence the +worship of the God associated with the radiate sun, as of that of the +Goddess associated with the crescent moon and called the Sun-God's +mother or bride, was phallic in character; and their connection is +repeatedly symbolised upon the relics which have come down to us from +antiquity by the sign of the crescent containing within its horns +either a disc or what we should consider a star-like object, which +latter was almost as favourite a mode with the ancients of representing +the sun as it is with us of representing a star or planet, as will be +shown further on. + +Returning, however, to the symbol of the cross, as the first and +simplest representation of that union of the Male and Female Principles +which alone produces what we mortals call life, it is extremely curious +that the selection of the figure of the cross in comparatively modern +times as the simplest and most natural symbol both of addition and of +multiplication, should have led no one to perceive that, being for +these very reasons also the simplest and most natural symbol of Life, a +probable solution of the mystery surrounding the origin of the +pre-Christian cross as a symbol of Life, as it were stared them in the +face. As to the contention of not a few authorities, apparently founded +upon the mistaken assumption that the _Svastika_ was the earliest form +of cross to acquire importance as a symbol, that the pre-Christian +cross was originally a representation of the wheel-like motion of the +sun or a reference to the wheel of the Sun-God's chariot; it need only +be remarked that evidence exists to show that the cross was a symbol of +Life from a period so early, that it is doubtful if the Sun-God had +then been likened to a charioteer, and not certain that either chariots +or wheels had been invented. It is true that the Solar Wheel became a +recognized symbol of the Sun-God, and that additional veneration was +paid to it because the figure of the symbol of Life was more or less +discoverable in the spokes allotted to the Solar Wheel; but it is +putting the cart before the horse to suppose that the cross became the +symbol of Life because its form was so discoverable. + +It only remains to be added that there undoubtedly was a connection, +however slight, between the pre-Christian Cross as the Symbol of Life, +the Solar Wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God, and the Cross as the symbol +of the Christ. And whatever the date at which the cross was first +adopted as a Christian symbol, or whatever the reason for that +adoption, there is no doubt that, as will be shown further on, our +religion was considerably influenced by the facts that the Gaulish +soldiers whose victories enabled Constantine to become Sole Emperor +venerated the Solar Wheel, {image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image +"solarwheel2.gif"}, and that their leader, who was anxious to obtain +the support of the Christians, allowed a loop to be added to the top of +the vertical spoke so that the Christians might be able to interpret +the victorious symbol as {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram2.gif"}, {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}; +_i.e._, XP or XPI, the first two or three letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma}, _Christos_, Christ. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS. + +As has already been to some extent pointed out, it is evident that our +beloved Christendom more or less owes its existence to the fact that +Constantine the Great when only ruler of Gaul, himself a Sun-God +worshipper at the head of an army of Sun-God worshippers, seeing how +greatly the small but enthusiastic bodies of Christians everywhere to +be met with could aid him in his designs upon the attainment of supreme +power, bid for their support. For to this politic move, its success, +and Constantine's perception that only a non-national religion whose +followers sought to convert the whole world and make their faith a +catholic one, could really weld together different races of men, we owe +the fact that when he became Sole Emperor he made Christianity the +State Religion of the world-wide Roman Empire. + +This act and its far-reaching effects, are not all we owe to +Constantine, however. It should be remembered that even our creed was +to some extent decided by him. For it was this Sun-God worshipper--who, +though he advised others to enter what he wished should become a +catholic and all-embracing religion, refused to do so himself till he +was dying--who called together our bishops, and, presiding over them in +council at Nicaea, demanded that they should determine the controversy +in the ranks of the Christians as to whether the Christ was or was not +God, by subscribing to a declaration of his Deity. It is even recorded +that he forced the unwilling ones to sign under penalty off deprivation +and banishment. + +From these and other incidents in his career it would appear that, +either from policy or conviction, Constantine acted as if he thought +the Sun-God and the Christ were one and the same deity. + +The probability of this is more or less apparent from what we are told +concerning the part he played in connection with what, thanks, as we +are about to see, to him, became our recognised symbol. + +Our knowledge of the part played by Constantine in connection with the +symbol of the cross, except so far as we can gather it from a study of +ancient coins and other relics, unfortunately comes to us solely +through Christian sources. And the first that famous bishop and +ecclesiastical historian Eusebius of Caesarea, to whom we owe so large +a proportion of our real or supposed knowledge of the early days of +Christianity, tells us about Constantine and the cross, is that in the +year A.C. 312--a quarter of a century before his admission into the +Christian Church--Constantine and the Gaulish soldiers he was leading +saw at noon _over the Sun_ a cross of Light in the heavens, bearing +upon it or having attached to it the inscription EN TOYT{omega} NIKA, +_By this conquer_. + +The words of the Bishop, who is reporting what he states the Emperor in +question to have told him personally, are:-- + + "He said that at mid-day when the sun was beginning to + decline he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross + of light in the heavens, above the Sun, bearing the + inscription EN TOYT{omega} NIKA; he himself, and his + whole army also, being struck with amazement at this + sight."[33] + +Though this marvellous cross, declared by Christian writers of that +century to have been the so-called Monogram of Christ {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"} +or {image "monogram4.gif"}, appeared to an army of Sun-God worshippers, +Constantine himself--as can be seen from his coins--remaining one for +many years afterwards if not till his death, it is put before us as a +Christian cross. + +It is also noteworthy that no material representation of a cross of any +description was ever held aloft by adherents of the Christian Church, +until after Constantine is said to have had this more or less solar +cross so represented as the standard of his Gaulish army. + +Mention should therefore be made of the fact that, upon the coins he +struck, the symbol {image "monogram1.gif"} is perhaps the one which +occurs the most frequently upon representations of the famous _Labarum_ +or Military Standard of Constantine; but that the symbol {image +"monogram1.gif"}, the {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} without the circle, and the {image "solarwheel1.gif"} +and {image "asterisk.gif"}, are also to be seen. + +Now the Gauls led by Constantine specially venerated the Solar Wheel. +This had sometimes six and sometimes four spokes, {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, and the warriors of +their native land had long been in the habit of wearing a +representation of the same upon their helmets. It is therefore not +improbable that even before the date of the alleged vision when +marching upon Rome, some such symbol formed the standard of +Constantine's army. + +Anyhow, that the worthy Bishop Eusebius was, like other enthusiasts, +liable to be at times carried by his enthusiasm beyond the limits of +veracity, or else was the victim of imperial mendacity, is evident. For +Eusebius tells us in the _Life of Constantine_ he wrote after the death +of his patron, that the night after this miraculous "cross" and motto +were seen in the sky above the Sun, the Christ appeared to Constantine, +and, showing the Gaulish general the same sign that had been seen in +the sky, directed him to have a similar symbol made, under which his +army--an army, be it remembered, of Sun-God worshippers--should march +conquering and to conquer![34] + +All that is really likely to have happened is that Constantine, wishing +to encourage his troops, bade them rally round a standard on which was +represented the sacred Solar Wheel venerated by the Gauls; and that as +with this as a rallying point Constantine and his Gauls became masters +of Rome, the symbol we are discussing became a Roman--and therefore, +later on, upon the establishment of our faith as the State Religion of +the Roman Empire, also a _Christian_--symbol. And a loop seems to have +been sooner or later added to the top of the vertical spoke of the +Gaulish symbol, so that Christians could accept it as a Monogram of +Christ; as has already been hinted, and as will be demonstrated further +on. + +A noteworthy point is that we have two accounts of Constantine's +alleged vision of the Christ, and that they do not quite agree. The +Bishop of Caesarea's account is, that the night after the Emperor--then +only ruler of Gaul--and all his soldiers saw the "cross" and motto +above the meridian sun, the Christ appeared to Constantine + + "With the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, + and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which + he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard + in all engagements with his enemies."[35] + +But the author of _De Mortibus Persecutorem_, a work said to have been +written during the reign of Constantine, and attributed to Lactantius, +refers to the alleged vision as follows:-- + + "Constantine was admonished in his sleep to mark the + celestial sign of God on the shields, and thus engage in + battle. He did as he was commanded, and marked the name + of the Christ on the shields by the letter X drawn + across them with the top circumflexed. Armed with this + sign his troops--"[36] + +and the differences between these two accounts are greater than would +at first sight appear. + +Let us however return to the story of the Bishop of Caesarea, who tells +us that the morning after the Christ appeared to Constantine, the +Emperor told this second marvel to his friends, and, sending for the +workers in gold and precious stones who are assumed to have accompanied +the Gaulish army, directed them to overlay with gold a long spear + + "On the top of the whole of which was fixed a wreath of + gold and precious stones, and within this the symbol of + the Saviour's name, two letters indicating the name of + the Christ by means of its initial characters, the + letter P being intersected with the letter X in its + centre."[37] + +Several questions naturally arise at this point of our enquiry, and it +is not easy--nay, it is impossible--for us Christians to honestly +dispose of all of them and yet retain our cherished opinions upon this +matter. Only one such question need be stated, and it is this: Is it +likely that the Infinite Ruler of the universe, either at mid-day or at +mid-night, went out of his way to induce a Sun-God worshipper who would +not enter the Christian Church till a quarter of a century later and +ere then was to become a murderer of innocent persons like the +boy-Caesar Licinius, to adopt a symbol which he warranted would enable +Constantine to lead on the Gauls to victory? + +Pursuing the narrative of Eusebius we find that he, alluding to the +symbol which he describes as a monogram but calls a cross, states that, +setting this "victorious trophy and salutary symbol" in front of his +soldiers, Constantine continued his march against Maxentius; and, with +his forces thus "divinely aided," overthrew the Emperor just outside +the Imperial City, entered Rome in triumph, and thanked God that He had +enabled him to defeat and slay its ruler and assume the purple in that +ruler's stead.[38] + +Eusebius then tells us that Constantine, who did not dispose of all his +rivals and become sole emperor till some twelve years later, as victor +in the fight with Maxentius and master of Rome though not as yet of the +whole empire, at once + + "By loud proclamation and monumental inscriptions made + known to all men the salutary symbol, setting up this + great trophy of victory over his enemies, and expressly + causing it to be engraven in indelible characters that + the salutary symbol was the safeguard of the Roman + Government and entire people. Accordingly he immediately + ordered a lofty spear in the figure of a cross to be + placed beneath the hand of a statue representing himself + in the most frequented part of Rome, and the following + inscription engraven on it in the Latin tongue:--'By + virtue of this salutary sign which is the true test of + valour, I have preserved and liberated your city from + the yoke of tyranny, and I have also set at liberty the + Roman Senate and People, and have restored to them their + ancient distinction and splendour.'"[39] + +Now, as we have already seen, what Eusebius referred to as the "cross" +observed above the mid-day sun (and accompanied by a miraculous +inscription in, presumably, to agree with the monogram, the Greek +language; which was, well, "Greek" to the Gaulish soldiers) was the +so-called Monogram of Christ {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}. +That, too, was what Eusebius tells us the Christ afterwards told the +Gaulish leader Constantine to model his military standard after. That, +therefore, was the "salutary symbol" and "trophy of victory" referred +to in the above passage from the same authority. + +It is therefore clear that this "lofty spear in the figure of a cross" +which Eusebius tells us was placed under the hand of the statue of +Constantine in the central place of honour in Rome, was referred to by +Eusebius as a "cross" because it was shaped like or in some way +connected with some form or other of the so-called Monogram of Christ. +And such a conclusion is borne out by the fact that spears with +cross-bars had been in use among both Gauls and Romans for centuries, +whereas this one is referred to as something out of the common. + +It should also be noted that it was as a victorious military standard, +and not as either a monogram of the Christ or a representation of the +_stauros_ upon which Jesus was executed, that Constantine caused this +{image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "asterisk.gif"}, or {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram3.gif"}, or {image "monogram2.gif"} +or {image "monogram4.gif"} (all which variations occur upon the coins +of Constantine and his successors), to become a symbol of the Roman +Empire. + +Further on in his history of the Emperor, Eusebius tells us that +whenever Constantine saw his troops hard pressed, he gave orders that +the "salutary trophy" should be moved in that direction, and that +victory always resulted. + +The Bishop of Caesarea then goes on to relate that Constantine selected +fifty men of his bodyguard, the most distinguished for piety, valour, +and strength, whose sole duty it was to defend this famous standard; +and that, of the elect fifty, those who fled were always slain, and +those who stood their ground were always miraculously preserved.[40] + +One would imagine from all this that there was only one labarum. Many +different kinds are, however, represented upon the coins of +Constantine; as also almost every variety of ordinary cross, except, +perhaps, such as might conceivably have been a representation of an +instrument of execution, like that which has since come into vogue +among us. + +Eusebius also tells us that Constantine caused to be erected in front +of his palace a lofty tablet, on which was painted a representation of +himself with the "salutary sign" over his head and a dragon or serpent +under his feet.[41] + +He also informs us that inside the palace and in the principal +apartment, on a vast tablet in the ceiling, Constantine caused "the +symbol of our Saviour's passion to be fixed, composed of a variety of +precious stones inwrought with gold."[42] + +Which of all the "salutary" signs that appear upon the coins of +Constantine these particular crosses were, we do not know; but it is, +at any rate, obviously unlikely that a worshipper of Apollo who refused +to enter the Christian Church till he was dying, and on his coins +always attributed his victories to the Sun-God, elevated either as a +representation of an instrument of execution. + +As to the alleged finding at Jerusalem, by Helena the mother of +Constantine, of three stakes with transverse bars attached, all of +which were ancient instruments of execution and one of which was shown +by the occurrence of a miracle to have been a cross to which Jesus was +affixed three centuries before, it is clear that this is a fairy tale. +The story cannot be traced further back than to St. Cyril of Jerusalem +about A.C. 350; and Eusebius, who gives an account of Helena's visit to +Jerusalem, does not mention any such occurrence as that in question; a +sure sign that it was an invention of later date. + +The Christian Church, however, in a weak moment vouched for the truth +of this ridiculous story; and while what was suffered to remain in +Jerusalem of the true cross became the treasure of that city and a +trophy captured by its foes but afterwards secured from them and once +more placed in its holiest shrine, what was broken up into relics for +the faithful throughout Christendom multiplied into a thousand +fragments; one of which forms the centre of the Vatican Cross, and such +few others of which as survive would not if examined, 'tis said, even +prove to be all of the same kind of wood, or even limited to the two +kinds for the presence of which a supposed cross-bar of another kind of +timber might be held accountable. + +The same Christian Bishop to whom this fairy tale can be traced, in a +letter to one of the Emperors that succeeded Constantine declared that +on the seventh of May A.C. 351 he and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem +saw a brilliant cross in the heavens, stretching from Mount Golgotha to +the Mount of Olives, and _shining like the Sun for several hours_.[43] +And this marvellous vision is vouched for by St. Jerome, Socrates, +Matins, and the Alexandrine Chronicle, as well as by St. Cyril; and is +still kept in memory by the Greek Church, a solemn festival being held +upon anniversaries of the day in question. But which particular +"salutary sign" thus shone in the sky like the Sun for hours, is +uncertain. + +These painfully obvious inventions cannot but incline broad-minded +Christians to the belief that our Church went to great lengths in order +to induce people to believe that the cross was essentially a +_Christian_ symbol; which tends to show that there was a danger of +their thinking otherwise. + +It is also clear from the evidence already quoted concerning the +adoption by Christians in the fourth century of a symbol they denounced +in the third, that whether Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument or not, that was not the chief reason why the phallic symbol +of Life became recognised as the symbol of the Christ. + +The striking fact that though, as will be shown, the cross of four +equal arms (a cross which, as we have seen, preceded the Latin cross as +a Christian symbol, and one form of which is still the favourite symbol +of the Greek Church; while even in the other two great divisions of +Christendom its numerous variations, wheel-like and otherwise, as a +whole dispute the supremacy with the Latin cross) occurs many times +upon the coins of Constantine, yet it was the so-called Monogram of +Christ or adapted solar wheel of the Gauls which the Christians of the +fourth century were most careful to claim as a Christian symbol, should +also be noted. For though the cross of four equal arms was also put by +Constantine upon his coins as a solar symbol, yet that, being then, as +for ages previously, a symbol of the Sun-God of world-wide acceptation, +and one which as we shall see had already appeared as such upon Roman +coins, it was not so much a Gaulish symbol as the other; and it was +evidently because that other was the symbol followed by the triumphant +leader of the Gauls and his victorious army, that the Christians wished +to specially identify it with the Christ. + +In any case, whether the so-called Monogram of Christ was more or less +forced upon Christianity when Constantine made our faith the State +Religion of his empire, or whether it was adopted by Christians of +their own volition, it was a politic move (than which few possible +moves could have done more to secure the triumph of our faith) to +accept as the symbol of the Christian Church what was at one and the +same time the symbol of Constantine, of the Roman State, and of the +universally adored Sun-God. + +That the more generally accepted symbol of the Sun-God, the cross of +four equal arms, should in time supplant the more local one, was of +course only to be expected; as was the adoption of a cross with one arm +longer than the others, as being the only kind which could possibly be +connected with the story of Jesus as the Christ incarnate. + +As to the possible objection that what has been dealt with in this +chapter has been rather the origin of the Christian custom of +manufacturing and venerating material representations of the sign or +figure of the cross than the origin of the Christian cross itself, the +answer is obvious. And the answer is that the first cross which can +_justly_ be called "Christian," was the one which was the first to be +considered, to use Dean Farrar's expressions, "mainly," if not "only," +a representation of an instrument of execution; which cross was +undoubtedly not a transient sign or gesture but a material +representation of the cross with one arm longer than the others and was +introduced after such representations of the cross of four equal arms +and of the so-called Monogram of Christ had come into vogue among +Christians as a consequence of the influence of Constantine. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH. + +Having already shown not a little cause for believing that the adoption +of the cross as our symbol is due to the fact that we Christians helped +to secure the triumph of the ambitious ruler of the Gauls, and after +receiving numberless smaller favours from Constantine during the years +he was ruler of Rome but not as yet sole emperor eventually obtained +from him the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the +Roman Empire, adapting the victorious trophy of the Gauls and the +various crosses venerated by them and other Sun-God worshippers to our +faith as best we could, it is desirable that we should pause to trace +the career of the man we hail as the first Christian Emperor. + +To do this properly we must commence by referring to Constantine's +father, Constantius Chlorus; and to the favour shown to Constantius +Chlorus by his patron the Emperor Diocletian. + +Finding the supreme rule of the almost worldwide Roman Empire too much +for one man in ill-health to undertake successfully, Diocletian in the +year A.C. 286 made Maximian co-emperor. And in A.C. 292 Diocletian +followed this up by conferring the inferior position and title of +Caesar upon Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. + +In A.C. 305 Diocletian relinquished power altogether, forcing Maximian +to abdicate with him; Galerius and Constantius Chlorus thus obtaining +the coveted title of Augustus, and sharing the supreme power. + +Galerius now ranked first, however; for it was to the ruler of +Illyricum and not to that of Gaul that Diocletian gave the power of +appointing Caesars to govern Italy and the East. + +Constantius Chlorus died in Britain A.C. 306, the year after Diocletian +abdicated; and Galerius, who had married a daughter of Diocletian, +naturally thought that under the circumstances he ought to become sole +emperor. + +The legions of Gaul, however, proclaimed the son of Constantius Chlorus +as Augustus in his stead; and as Constantine thus became ruler of Gaul +and a power to be reckoned with, Galerius thought it best to give way +so far as to grant Constantine the inferior title of Caesar. + +Soon afterwards Galerius conferred the title of Augustus upon Severus; +and a little while after that the Eternal City was lost to Galerius +through the revolt of his son-in-law Maxentius, the son of Maximian. + +The Senate of Rome then asked Maximian to re-assume the purple, and he +and Maxentius shared the power between them, both taking the title of +Augustus. + +Upon this Severus at the request of Galerius marched upon Rome. He was, +however, defeated and slain. + +After being more or less expelled by his son Maxentius, Maximian in the +year A.C. 308 marched to Gaul and married his daughter Fausta to +Constantine; at the same time conferring upon him the title of +Augustus. About this time Galerius made his friend Licinius an Augustus +in the place of Severus; whereupon Maximin, the Governor of Syria and +Egypt, demanded and was granted that title also. + +There were thus in the year A.C. 308 some half-a-dozen Roman Emperors +instead of one; there being Constantine and Maximian in the west, +Maxentius at Rome, and Galerius, Licinius, and Maximin elsewhere; not +to mention Diocletian, who was content to remain in retirement. + +This decided break-up of the Roman Empire was Constantine's +opportunity; and he was favourably placed, for he had a warlike and +faithful people under him. + +Moreover by reversing so far as lay in his power as ruler of Gaul the +traditional policy of Rome towards Christianity, and setting himself +forward as a champion of a non-national religion which had been +persecuted because it was non-national, Constantine was secure of the +enthusiastic backing of all the Christians to be found in the dominions +of his various rivals. + +In A.C. 310 Constantine either executed his father-in-law the Emperor +Maximian, or caused him to commit suicide; and the first of his five +rivals was disposed of. + +In A.C. 311 the Emperor Galerius died from disease, and Constantine's +most formidable competitor, and one who undoubtedly had a better claim +than himself to the position of sole emperor, thus opportunely made way +for the ruler of Gaul. + +In A.C. 312 Constantine marched at the head of the Gauls against the +Emperor Maxentius, defeated him near the Milvian Bridge outside Rome, +and entered the Eternal City in triumph. Maxentius is said to have been +drowned in the Tiber; and the Senate decreed that Constantine should +rank as the first of the three remaining Augusti. + +In A.C. 313 the Emperor Maximin fought the Emperor Licinius; but his +forces were defeated, and he soon afterwards died. + +Some ten years or so later Constantine went to war with his only +remaining rival, Licinius, defeated him, and became sole emperor, A.C. +324. + +That despite his great qualities as a ruler the character of +Constantine was not perfect, can be easily seen from the fact that, not +content with executing the Emperor Licinius after accepting his +submission, he murdered the young Licinius; a boy certainly not over +twelve years of age, and according to some authorities two or three +years younger than that. He also put his own son Crispus to death, and +other relations as well. + +We are told that Constantine was so tortured by the memory of these and +other crimes that he applied to the priests of the Gods of Rome for +absolution, but that they bravely said that there was no absolution for +such sins, whereupon this worshipper of the Sun-God turned to his +friends the Christians and they gave him what he desired.[44] + +This statement seems somewhat improbable, however, as one would imagine +that the Pagan priests, when called upon by one who was Pontifex +Maximus and therefore their spiritual superior as well as the supreme +emperor, would not have scrupled to invent some purifying rite--if they +had none such--warranted to blot out the stain of every crime and +thoroughly appease offended heaven. + +However this may have been, these terrible crimes of Constantine, all +committed many years after his alleged conversion to our faith, show +how badly advised we are to so needlessly go out of our way to claim as +a Christian one who refused to enter the Christian Church till he was +dying and possibly no longer master of himself. + +It is said that this refusal of his to be baptised till he was weak and +dying and surrounded by Church officials who would perhaps have spread +the report that he had been baptised even if they had not then at last +been able to induce him to take the decisive step, was due, not to want +of belief, but to excess of belief; Constantine's idea being that the +longer he put off the rite in question, the more crimes would it wash +out. Or, in other words, that delay would enable him to sin with +impunity a little longer. + +This may possibly have been the case, but it should at the same time be +borne in mind that whether Constantine called him Apollo or Christ, it +seems probable that it was the Sun-God to whom he referred. For +everything tends to show that this astute emperor, who so naturally +wished to establish and mould a religion which all his subjects of +whatever race or nationality might be reasonably expected to become in +time willing to accept, acted during his reign as supreme ruler of the +Roman World, if not from first to last, as if the Christ were but +another conception of the Sun-God he was brought up to worship as +Apollo and all countries venerated under some name or other. + +This point is not only demonstrated by the fact that upon his coins +Constantine repeatedly declared that the Sun-God was his invincible +guide and protector and the giver even of the victory foreshadowed by +the alleged vision of the cross or Monogram of Christ above the +meridian sun, but is also clearly shown by certain incidents connected +with the founding towards the end of his life of the new metropolis +which in less than a century equalled Rome in all save antiquity. + +New Rome, or, as we now call it, Constantinople, the city of +Constantine, was built on the site of, and often called by the name of, +Byzantium. It was not designed till A.C. 324, and was not dedicated +till A.C. 330, or, as some think, an even later date: Constantine dying +in the year A.C. 337. + +We are told that Constantinople was dedicated to the Virgin Mother of +God.[45] This should remind us of the fact that long before our era, +and right down to the time when Constantine selected Byzantium as the +site of a new capital, that place was considered dedicated to the +Virgin Queen of Heaven. + +Now in the central place of honour in his new metropolis, one would +naturally expect Constantine to erect something or other to the honour +of the God to whom he attributed his victories. + +Whose, then, was the statue Constantine towards the end of his life, +and about twenty years after his alleged conversion to our faith, +erected in the centre of the Forum of New Rome? + +It was a statue of the Sun-God Apollo; or, as some explain it, a statue +of himself adorned with the attributes of the Sun-God. + +In fact, taking the career of Constantine as a whole, there is nothing +inconsistent with the supposition that he was a Christian only in so +far as, out of policy or conviction, he acted as if he considered the +Christ to be one of many conceptions of the Sun-God. For although, as +has been mentioned and will be shown in a later chapter, Constantine, +upon the many varieties of coins he issued, repeatedly acclaimed the +Sun-God as his companion and the author of his triumphs, he never once, +except in so far as he may have considered the God we Christians +worship to be the Sun-God, so attributed his victories to the Christ. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CROSS AND CRESCENT. + +Before passing in review the evidence regarding the symbol of the cross +derivable from Roman coins and other relics of antiquity, a few +introductory remarks are necessary regarding the too often forgotten +fact that the ancients naturally looked upon the Giver of Life as +bi-sexual; no life being known to them which was not a result of the +conjunction of the Male and Female Principles. + +The necessarily bi-sexual character of the creator of both the Male and +Female Principles, was, it should be remembered, borne in mind by the +thinkers of old all the while they accommodatingly spoke of the Sun-God +or Giver of Life as being a personification of the Male Principle and +gave him a Bride or Virgin Mother to represent the Female Principle. + +Moreover, just as the disc of the Sun, or the star-like form which the +ancients often used to signify the radiate or impregnating Sun, +naturally came to be recognised as the symbol of the Male Principle, so +the Crescent, as signifying the increasing Moon and the lesser of the +two great lights of heaven, in like manner came to be adopted as the +natural symbol of the Female Principle. + +In this connection it will not be amiss to draw attention to the symbol +of the conquerors of the city founded by Constantine. For though +misleadingly called "the Crescent," that symbol is, as the reader +cannot very well fail to be aware, not a mere crescent; but one which +has within its horns what we consider to be a star-like form and +therefore call a star. And though it is possible that it was not +knowingly adopted as such by the Moslems, this dual symbol was a +combination of the ancient symbols of the Male and Female Principles. + +An erroneous account of the origin of this symbol as a Moslem symbol is +given in all our works of reference which deal with the matter, as if +their compilers copied one from another without troubling to consider +the evidence for themselves. + +The incorrect but widely accepted explanation in question, is to the +effect that the so-called _star_ and crescent had its origin as a +Moslem symbol in the capture of Byzantium or Constantinople by the +Turks in A.C. 1453; our works of reference stating that it was then +adopted by Mahomet II., as the symbol of the famous city he had taken +from the Christians. + +But was the "star and crescent" the symbol of the City of Constantine? +It would appear not. + +Ancient Byzantium was, as stated in a previous chapter, considered, +long before our era and right up to the days of Constantine, as +dedicated to the Virgin Queen of Heaven; whose symbol was a crescent. +And when Constantine rebuilt and renamed Byzantium, he dedicated New +Rome--or, as we now call it, Constantinople--to the Virgin Mother of +God and Queen of Heaven; whose symbol, as can be seen upon reference to +both ancient and modern representations of the Virgin Mary, is also a +crescent. It would therefore appear that the symbol of the city is more +likely to have been a simple crescent than the so-called _star_ and +crescent. Such a conclusion is entirely borne out by the evidence. For +though the so-called star and crescent can be seen upon three or four +coins struck at Byzantium before such a place as New Rome was thought +of, this proves little if anything; inasmuch as the symbol in question +was a very common one in days of old, and occurs frequently upon coins +struck elsewhere. + +Moreover the question is what the symbol of Constantinople was at the +time it was captured by the Turks. And an inspection of the coins +issued by the Christian rulers of that city during the thousand years +and more it was in their hands, will reveal to the enquirer that though +the crescent with a _cross_ within its horns appears occasionally upon +the coins of the Emperors of the East, and in one or two instances we +see a cross of four equal arms with each extremity piercing a crescent, +it is doubtful if a single example of the so-called "_star_ and +crescent" symbol can be found upon them. + +We learn from other sources also that the symbol of the imperial +Christian Metropolis captured by the Turks nearly five hundred years +ago and ever since retained by them, was a simple crescent. And there +is no doubt whatever that the dual symbol of the Moslems was adopted by +them, not when they brought about the downfall of Constantinople as a +Christian city, but centuries before, as a result of the conquest of +Persia. + +It was in the year A.C. 641 that the battle of Nehavend, ever after +called by the Moslems the _Victory of Victories_, laid at the feet of +the followers of the Prophet the kingdom of Iran or Persia, and brought +to an end the Sassanian Monarchy. + +Now the coins of the Sassanian kings then and for the previous two +centuries bore upon them, with scarcely an exception, the so-called +"_star_ and crescent"; and it was as the symbol of this Zoroastrian +dynasty and of the fair land of Iran, that the Moslems adopted it as +their own. What the star-like object (star-like, that is, in _our_ +opinion) represented upon the coins of Iran or Persia when placed +within the horns of a crescent, was, of course, the Sun. The +supposition of certain writers that the dual symbol represented the two +crescent-presenting orbs, Venus and the Moon, is entirely mistaken. For +though the conjunction of the two crescent-shaped and feminine lights +of heaven, was of old, like the combination of the symbol of the +Sun--as representing the Male Principle--with that ever feminine symbol +the Crescent, held to signify Increase and Life, we are dealing with +what was admittedly a Mithraic symbol. And not only was the star-like +object in question the symbol of the Sun-God Mithras, but it was, as +any student of the coins of the Sassanian dynasty can see, substituted +for the disc. + +Upon the Sassanian coins the so-called star, in reality a +representation neither of a star nor of a planet but of the radiate +Sun, seems to have been first substituted for the round disc as a +representation of the Sun, by Perozes, about A.C. 457; the disc in the +horns of a crescent being the symbol on the coins of his father +Isdigerd II. and other predecessors. But the dual symbol miscalled the +"star and crescent" was one even then of great antiquity, as will be +shown in a later chapter dealing with Phoenician relics discovered in +Cyprus and elsewhere. + +The primary signification of the dual symbol in question, often +accompanied on the Sassanian coins by a prayer that the monarch might +"increase," or flourish generally, was undoubtedly _Life_. And it is +clear that the conjunction of the Crescent as the symbol of the Female +Principle of Life with the star-like figure which represented the +radiate, life-giving, or impregnating Sun, must have not only signified +Life, but also the necessarily bi-sexual Giver of Life. + +We are thus brought to the conclusion that the Cross and the so-called +Crescent are more or less allied in signification. + +Nor is this noteworthy fact to be wondered at. For only words and forms +divide the faiths of Mankind, and at heart the one object of our +desires is Life. Even those who piously lay down their lives for others +here, do so in the hope of being rewarded with longer life and more +blissful life hereafter. + +Another point which is too often overlooked, is that if the followers +of the so-called Crescent have, as would appear to be the case, +forgotten the meaning of their symbol and the fact that it alludes to +the bi-sexual nature of the Creator, we followers of the Cross may all +unconsciously be in a very similar position regarding our symbol. And +as the Cross as the recognised symbol of the Christ is not of older +date than the conquest of Rome by the Gauls, and more or less resulted +therefrom, it is clear that the same remark applies if we consider the +Moslems to have adopted their symbol as that of the land they conquered +from the Sassanian kings, rather than as one with the primal and +natural interpretation of which they were content. + +Anyway the cross as well as the "star and crescent" is more or less a +bi-sexual symbol, as will be clear to those who understand how the +cross came to be recognised ages before our era as the natural symbol +of Life. And a good illustration of the fact in question still exists +in the Caroccio crucifix of Milan; in which relic we see, under the +usual inscription, an androgynous Christ upon a cross, with a man's +head but half the body of female form, and with, instead of a cloth or +fig-leaf, the phallic _crux ansata_, or Egyptian cross or symbol of +Life, placed sideways, and as if the oval represented the female organ +of reproduction, and the _tau_ or incomplete cross that of the other +sex. + +Like the Red Cross of to-day, the Carocco bi-sexual crucifix, once so +common in Italy, was a symbol of Life and Salvation in two senses; it +not only being considered so in itself, but being also used on the +battlefield as a rallying point for wounded soldiers, signalling to +them that bandages, drugs, and surgical aid, could be obtained where it +towered aloft. + +These references to the fact that in days of old many very naturally +came to the conclusion that the Creator and Giver of Life and only +Saviour must be bi-sexual, should remind us Christians that our +assertion that the Infinite Spirit is "Our Father" is not from all +points of view an improvement upon the ideas of the ancients. For they +also, and rightly, conceived what we wrongly ignore, _viz._, that the +Infinite Author of all existence must also be "Our Mother." + +In this respect Protestants have if possible gone even further astray +than members of the Greek and Roman Churches. For in the veneration +paid by the latter to Mary of Nazareth as the Bride of God, the Mother +of God, the Star of the Sea, and the Queen of Heaven, can be seen a +survival, however toned down or distorted, of the old idea that the +Deity must necessarily be of both sexes. + +Even the plainly evident fact that, while in pre-Christian days the +symbol of the cross represented the two sexual powers in conjunction, +it has in Christian times come to be considered the symbol of Life as +being the symbol of the SON of God, should, moreover, lead us to note +that our religion scarcely does justice to the part played in the +economy of Nature by the fair sex. This is doubtless due to the fact +that the moulding of our creed and the interpretation of things hard to +be understood has for the most part been in the hands of the sex which, +as the author belongs to it, may by way of contrast be called unfair. + +What, for instance, can be more unfair than the assumption that God, if +incarnated as one of the genus Homo, must have been born a male? Yet +that assumption is at the very basis of modern Christianity. + +Moreover, even granting that the Deity was specially incarnated in +Jesus the Nazarene and therefore as a male, why should we, as if +supposing that a passing form could stamp its sex upon an Infinite +Spirit, speak of "God the Son" yet never of "God the Daughter?" + +The fact is that the natural disabilities and disadvantages of the +childbearing sex have from the first resulted in the power of the male +sex to rule the roast, and one result of the predominance thus ensured +to the male sex by the laws of Nature has of course been a similar +predominance for the opinion that the Creator is of the male sex. + +Some enthusiastic champion of her sex, alluding to the fact that the +opposing sex now has a monopoly of the priesthood, may even go so far +as to ask with a special meaning, Has not Man from the beginning made +God in his own image? + +The male sex did not always have a monopoly of the priesthood, however; +and in few if any instances did the priests of old go so far as to +teach that the Creator, whom out of compliment to the Deity--or +themselves--they naturally spoke of as belonging to the stronger sex, +was a male and _only_ a male. Nor did they even assume such a thing. +Though the different gods and goddesses were spoken of as belonging to +this or that sex, more than one were regarded as in reality +androgynous; and the fact that the Creator and Giver of Life must of +necessity be so was very generally recognised. + +As a matter of fact it is by no means certain that the Creator is not +represented as being androgynous even in our Bible. For in the account +of the Creation which the Jews brought with them from Babylon, the +Creator is represented as saying "Let _us_ make man in _our_ image"; +and a race which like the Jews solemnly declared that there was but one +God, could only, it would seem, have accepted such a declaration as a +divine revelation if they conceived the God supposed to be speaking to +be androgynous, and addressing the other part of himself. This would +account for the emphasis laid upon the statement that man was created +"male _and_ female," like, or in the image of, the Creator. + +In any case it is clear that if God be not female as well as male, Man +was _not_ created in the likeness of God. + +The theory of the ancients that Man himself was created an androgynous +being, capable, like the Creator, of creating life in himself, but was +afterwards divided into halves, one of which is ever seeking to find +the other, need only be mentioned. + +Suffice it to add that it can scarcely be said to have been altogether +progress in the right direction, which has led us mortals to call the +Author of all Life "Our Father," to the utter obscuration of the +equally important fact that the Deity in whom we live and move and have +our being must also be "Our Mother." + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE CORONATION ORB. + +The fact that though we Christians fail to do the matter justice, the +ancients upon the contrary recognised that the Creator and the Giver of +Life cannot be rightly spoken of as belonging to one sex and one alone, +is not the only fact which those who examine relics of antiquity, such +as the coins of the Roman Empire, with a view to ascertaining what +evidence is derivable from them that bears upon the history of the +symbol of the cross, should ever bear in mind. Another point to be kept +in view is the evolution of the Christian symbol now known as the +Coronation Orb. + +This compound symbol, which plays so prominent a part in the regalia of +a Christian Monarch, also crowns the topmost height of many a Christian +Temple including both St. Peter's at Rome and St. Paul's at London. And +it is noteworthy that it bears a certain resemblance to the +representation of the Apex, once worn by the Salian priests and +afterwards by the Pontifex Maximus and the Flamens generally, which +appears upon ancient coins of the _Fabia_ gens; the office of _Flamen +Quirinalis_ having been hereditary in the Fabia family. + +Upon other coins also, what is said to be meant for the pontifical apex +occurs as a round ball surmounted by something very like a cross, in +the hand of a female figure representing Rome; exactly as the so-called +Coronation Orb is to be seen upon coins of later date in the hand of +this or that Christian Emperor. + +The evidence as a whole, however, favours the supposition that the +Coronation Orb, instead of having been derived from the Apex of the +Pagan priests and thus signifying the claim to priesthood or headship +of the church so often made by monarchs, is a development of the round +object, frequently unsurmounted by anything, so continually to be met +with upon ancient coins of Rome in the hand of this or that God, +Goddess, or Ruler. + +This being the case, it is a matter of very considerable importance +that we should be quite sure what the round object in question used to +signify, and should base our assurance upon the results of personal +investigation rather than upon the assumption that the popular +explanation is necessarily the correct one. + +Though the round object in question was, as stated, in days of old +often used as a symbol by itself, it was sometimes, and, as time rolled +on, more and more frequently, surmounted by a small female figure with +wings; which figure was a representation of Victory. This figure was, +after the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the +Roman Empire, gradually, and only gradually, supplanted by the figure +of the cross. + +Although several writers of note assume that the initiative in this +direction was taken by Constantine himself, the first step seems to +have been taken upon the death of Constantine, when a coin or medal was +issued on which the deceased monarch is called a God and is represented +as holding a round object surmounted by the so-called Monogram of +Christ; a symbol continually referred to by Eusebius and other writers +of the fourth century as a cross. + +Later on an instance occurs of the Monogram surmounting a round object +held by a female figure representing Rome. This is upon a coin issued +by Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine. + +Passing on to the reign of Valentinianus II., we find that that Emperor +issued a coin upon which a round object surmounted by a cross is to be +seen in the hand of Victory herself. This would appear to have been the +first instance in which what we should call a cross, supplanted the +representation of Victory as a small female figure with wings, as a +symbol surmounting the round object which we are considering. + +A similar coin was issued by Theodosius I., surnamed the Great; the +last of the Emperors of Rome whose rule extended throughout the whole +of the Roman world. + +The instances named are, it will be understood, the exceptions to the +general rule during a considerable period. And upon many of the coins +of the Emperors mentioned, as well as upon those of the intervening +Emperors, the round object held by those rulers is surmounted by either +a Victory or a Phoenix; usually by the former, but in several instances +by the latter. + +The first ruler who caused _himself_ to be represented as holding a +round object surmounted by an ordinary cross, was Theodosius II., +Emperor of the East. + +The fact that for a long time the Victory, the Phoenix, and the Cross, +were made use of as symbols which might be substituted one for another, +is worthy of special note. For the facts that the round object held by +Theodosius II. is as often surmounted by a Victory as by a Cross, and +that a Victory instead of a Cross was often used by succeeding +Christian Emperors, tend to show that the Victory, the Phoenix, and the +Cross were allied in signification, and equally connected with the +round object the nature and meaning of which we are about to enquire +into. + +The reader may possibly object that no case has been made out for such +enquiry, inasmuch as not only did the cross in course of time entirely +supplant the Victory, but the round object from first to last, and +whether unsurmounted by anything or surmounted by a Victory or a +Phoenix or a Cross, signified the world upon which we dwell, the round +world, and nothing but the world. + +Such is, of course, the popular assumption; based upon what we are +taught in school books and in standard works of reference. But, as a +matter of fact, in many cases the round object admittedly signified an +apple; the Golden Apple of the Hesperides: a well known phallic symbol. +Whenever a round object unsurmounted by anything is to be seen in the +hand of either the Sun-God Hercules or Venus the Goddess of Love, it +admittedly may have been, for it admittedly often was, a +representation, not of the world, but of the Golden Apple. And not only +does it so occur upon a very large number of coins, but in some +instances we see the Victory surmounting it; recalling to our minds the +fact that victory, as signifying the triumph of Life over Death, had a +phallic as well as a martial meaning, and is achieved every time that a +man is born into the world as a result of the tasting of the fruit of +the Tree of Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + +Moreover, though the fact is now for some reason or other ignored, the +so-called Coronation Orb of Christian Monarchs was itself once known as +the Golden Apple. It is so referred to in important Latin documents of +the Middle Ages; for instance in the famous Bull of Charles IV. +regarding the Imperial elections, wherein we read of the right of the +Counts Palatine of the Rhine to carry the symbol in question at the +coronation of their Emperor. And to this very day the so-called +Coronation Orb is known throughout Germany and Austria as +_Reichsapfel_, the Imperial Apple. + +It is therefore by no means certain that the round portion of the +Coronation Orb which thus caused the name of "the Golden Apple" to be +given to this compound Christian symbol, is not, like the cross above +it, to some extent a phallic symbol. + +Every one should know the classic story of the Golden Apple; how the +tree which bore the Golden Apples grew up in the Garden of the +Hesperides in honour of the wedding of Hera, a goddess who more or less +personified the female sex; how the Golden Apples are variously said to +have been dedicated to the Sun (Hellos), to the Sun-God (Dionysos), and +to the Goddess of Love (Aphrodite); how the Sun-God Hercules as one of +the twelve labours which represented the months, slew the Serpent which +guarded the tree, and plucked the fruit; and how the Goddess Eris, who +alone of all the deities was not invited to the nuptials of Peleus and +Thetis, revenged herself by throwing among the guests a Golden Apple +inscribed "To the fairest," and Paris awarded it to the Goddess of +Love, Aphrodite or Venus. + +The story of the Garden of the Hesperides is at heart one with that of +the Garden of Eden; for it is obvious that the same phallic meaning +underlies each, and that they are but different versions of the same +allegory. + +It may here be called to mind that it has this century been discovered +from the cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia, that Eden was the name +given by Babylonians in days of old to the plain outside Babylon, +whereupon, according to the legends of that city, the creation of +living beings took place. Also that much evidence has accrued which, +impartially weighed in the balance, leads clearly to the conclusion +that the all-important commencement of Genesis, which forms as it were +the very basis of both the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, was +borrowed by the Jews from Babylon. And that it was in reality a +_Babylonian_ tradition or series of traditions of far older date than +any writing of purely Jewish origin, has not only been amply proved by +recent discoveries, but might indeed have been guessed from its +reference to the Tower of Babel or Babylon. + +Nor is this all, for among the age-old relics discovered in Western +Asia is a pictorial representation of the allegorical Temptation and +Fall. + +Upon this noteworthy piece of evidence the Tree of Knowledge or Life, +with which the figure of the cross was identified by the early +Christians; the Serpent, which in all countries and every age has been +more or less identified with the sexual powers; the Man; the Woman; and +the Apple; are all represented. And it is important to note that, +according to the cuneiform inscription upon another time-worn relic in +the British Museum, the Babylonians of old, at a time when the +descendants of Jacob or Israel were without scriptures of their own, +had a tradition to the effect that the fate of our first parents--who, +thanks to a wicked Serpent of Darkness, tasted of the forbidden fruit +which grew in the "Garden of the Gods"--was placed in the hands of +"their Redeemer." + +It should also be pointed out that this voice from the dim and distant +past distinctly states that the Redeemer in question was--the Sun-God. + +In ancient days the so-called forbidden fruit or apple seems to have +borne somewhat the same symbolic meaning that the egg did. But while +the apple not only represented Life, but also, and primarily, that +union between two sexes or principles which produces life, the egg more +or less lacked the latter meaning, and, on the other hand, signified +Existence in a wider sense than the apple did. + +The _Cosmos_ itself was an egg according to the conceptions of many of +the ancients; and few ideas were more widely spread, or can be traced +further back, than the one that the whole visible creation emerged from +the original Chaos or Darkness in the shape of an egg. + +The egg also, and above all, signified the Sun-God, as the acknowledged +Giver of Life and Saviour of Life. Hence the prominent part which it +played in the various religious mysteries of the ancients, and also the +fact that the Egyptians represented the Sun-God Ra as giving forth such +utterances as "I am the Creative Soul of the celestial abyss. None sees +my nest, and none can break my egg." The egg referred to, was of course +the Sun itself. + +Even our Christian custom of exchanging eggs at Easter is more or less +derived from Sun-God worship, being a survival from customs practised +long before our era at that particular period of the year, the time of +the Vernal Equinox or Pass-over of the Sun, when the Orient Light +crosses the Equator to rise once more in the Northern Hemisphere. + +Nor are these the only facts connecting the egg with Sun-God worship, +for the Sun-God Apollo was of old represented as born from the egg of +Leda, and the Sun-God Osiris was also said to have been born from an +egg. + +Moreover the Chinese believe that the first man was born from an egg, +the Orphic hymns speak of the "First-Begotten One" as "egg-born," and +the Greeks fabled that their Sun-God Dionysos sprang from the cosmic +egg. + +As to the origin of the Coronation Orb, it is noteworthy that no finer +or more natural symbol of Power could have been fixed upon than a +representation of that ball of fire which was so frequently spoken of +in bygone ages as "the Orb," and from which all earthly life and power +may be said to proceed. + +However the available evidence certainly seems to show that the round +object we are considering is more likely to have signified the cosmic +egg than the solar orb. + +In any case the object in question cannot be shown to have represented +the world upon which we dwell and that alone; and nothing is more +likely than that so famous a symbol should, like the cross which now +adorns it, have more or less signified Life. + +It should also be pointed out that this symbol of Power may have +signified, not so much that the Ruler who used it laid claim to +world-wide dominion, as that he held in his hand power over the lives +of others; and, possibly, also that he claimed to be, as the vicegerent +of the Sun-God and Giver of Life, the only legitimate Saviour of his +country. + +The facts that the symbol was used in clays of old by others than the +Emperors whose sway extended over the whole of the Roman Empire, and is +nowadays considered the rightful symbol of every Christian Monarch +however limited the area over which his power is felt, should also be +borne in mind; though not of much value as evidence, as even petty +rulers have been known to boast that they held the world in their +grasp. + +It should however be remembered that though the ancients, struck by the +dome-like appearance of the sky and the circular movements of the +constellations, conceived the cosmos or universe to be spherical, and +in some instances even constructed celestial globes upon which to +record the movements of Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars, it is doubtful +if a single one of them considered the world upon which we dwell to be +spherical. Also, that many a Christian Monarch has used the Coronation +Orb as a symbol of power, and yet believed the earth to be otherwise +than a globe in shape. + +In this connection it should be pointed out that the round object which +the ancients represented Atlas as supporting upon his shoulders, +usually in the presence of Jupiter, was not as is vulgarly supposed the +earth, but the heavens; Hesiod telling us that Atlas bore heaven with +his head and hands, Ovid that upon Atlas rested heaven and all the +stars, and other writers of bygone ages that Atlas was a king who first +taught men that heaven had the shape of a globe. + +It is of course possible that the ancients may have conceived the earth +to be otherwise than spherical, and yet, because the horizon which +appears to limit its extent seems to be circular, or for some other +reason, have considered a round object to be a representation of it. + +Even where, however, the ball-like symbol we are considering may have +represented something other than the Golden Apple, the probability is +that it seldom if ever represented the earth. + +For as, though the ancients may have conceived and spoken of the world +we live upon as being "round" in the same sense as a circular coin is +round, they did not think of it as being a globe, it is obvious that +the ball-like symbol in question is much less likely to have signified +the--in their belief--non-globular earth, than it is to have been a +representation of something which they did consider to be globular. + +Such is the nature of the evidence which tends to show that we +Christians may be mistaken in supposing that our famous symbol the +Coronation Orb represents the round world upon which we dwell, +surmounted by the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died. + +Although, however, most points have now been touched upon, including +the important fact that the so-called Coronation Orb of Christian +Monarchs used to be called, even by Christians, the Golden Apple, the +idea that it may have been the _crux ansata_, or Egyptian symbol of +Life (an upright oval, perhaps signifying the female principle, set +upon the top of the _tau_, or {image "t.gif"} cross, and thus turning +into a complete cross what is really an incomplete one, and may be +supposed to have signified the male principle), _reversed_ (_e.g., +Archaeological Journal_ xlii. 164), should at least be mentioned. It +ought, however to be pointed out that the Orb is even more like the +ancient symbol of the planet sacred to Venus, the Goddess of Love, +reversed. + +Even this point does not exhaust the subject in hand; for the fact that +in days of old we used to represent the Christ as the Pagans +represented the Sun-God, _viz._, as standing by the Tree of Life and +holding a round object meant for the phallic apple, has not yet been +dealt with in any way. + +It is however desirable that before discussing the matter further we +should ascertain the nature of the evidence, regarding this and kindred +subjects, derivable from the coins of the Roman Empire. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE. + +Bearing in mind the matters mentioned in the two last chapters, let us +now pass in review the coins struck by the Romans, and make a note of +such features as may, directly or indirectly, bear upon the history of +the cross. + +The first cross we meet with on the coins in question, is upon one of +Julius Caesar; who was appointed _Flamen Dialis_ B.C. 87, _Pontiff_ +B.C. 74, Military Tribune B.C. 73, Quaestor B.C. 68, _Pontifex Maximus_ +B.C. 63, and Dictator B.C. 49. + +The cross in question consists of the name _C. Cossutius Maridianus_ +arranged as a cross of four equal arms. And it should be noted that it +is admitted, even by such well-known authorities as Mr. C. W. King, +M.A., that the name was so arranged out of compliment to the official +in question _because his name had reference to the meridian sun_.[46] + +Upon a coin struck by Caesar's heir, the almost equally famous Augustus +(Consul B.C. 43, Emperor B.C. 29--A.C. 14), about twenty years before +our era, we see a head of the Sun-God Bacchus upon one side; and on the +reverse a man presenting a military standard, the banner of which is +ornamented with a St. Andrew's cross. + +Two other coins of the same reign and about the same date, have upon +them representations of military standards bearing the same symbol. + +Upon another coin struck by Augustus we see a crescent with a star or +radiate sun within its horns, the ancient phallic symbol adopted by the +followers of the prophet Muhammad centuries later. + +A similar symbol occurs upon the coins of Hadrian (A.C. 117-138). + +Upon two coins of Antoninus Pius (A.C. 138-161) we see the Sun-God +Hercules plucking the Golden Apple from a tree around which the +traditional serpent is coiled. + +On another coin of the same reign the Sun-God Hercules can be seen +holding a round object which admittedly represents the Golden Apple; +that symbol both of the Sun-God as (1) the bi-sexual Giver of Life and +(2) the personification of the Male Principle, and of the Goddess who +represented (1) the Love of the two sexes and (2) the Female Principle. + +Upon another coin Jove holds a similar looking object. + +Many coins issued in the name of Annia Galeria Faustina the wife of +Antoninus Pius, and by Marcus Aurelius (A.C. 161-180), and in the name +of his wife Annia Faustina, have upon them representations of Venus the +Goddess of Love holding a round object which is admittedly meant for +the Golden Apple. The favourite legends are _Venus Victrix_, _Venus +Felix_, and _Venus Genetrix_, and of phallic import; and in one +instance the Goddess of Love holds an infant wrapped in swaddling +clothes as well as the phallic apple. + +Other coins of Marcus Aurelius or his wife have upon them +representations of Eternity as a female figure holding a round object. +In some cases the round object is surmounted by a Phoenix. + +Upon a coin struck by Lucius Aurelius Verus (A.C. 160-169) that ruler +is to be seen holding a round object surmounted by a Victory. + +On the coins of Commodus (A.C. 180-192) sometimes Jove and sometimes +the Emperor holds a small round object. A Victory in some cases +surmounts it. + +Venus holding the Golden Apple--that is, a round object which in such +instances is admitted to have represented the Golden Apple--is to be +seen upon many coins issued in the name of Lucilla, the sister of +Commodus. + +Upon coins issued by Caius Pescennius Niger a small round object +surmounted by a Victory is to be seen in the hand of Jove. On a coin +struck by Septimus Severus (A.C. 193-211) we see Rome represented as a +female figure with a shield at her side marked with a cross. + +Upon another coin we see the Goddess of Love holding a round object +admittedly meant for the Golden Apple, while a child is stationed at +her feet. The legend is _Venus Genetrix_. Among the coins issued in the +name of Julia Domna, the wife of the last named Emperor, are nearly a +dozen varieties upon which Venus is represented as holding a round +object. A crescent occurs upon the reverse in some instances. + +Upon several coins of Caracalla (A.C. 211-217) we see that Emperor +holding a small round object surmounted by a Victory; upon others he is +to be seen holding a Victory only. + +Various coins issued in the name of Fulvia Plantilla the wife of +Caracalla, show us the Goddess of Love holding a round object. The +legends are _Venus Felix_ and _Venus Victrix_. + +In the reign of Elagabalus or Heliogabalus (A.C. 218-222) a coin was +struck on which we see the Goddess Astarte, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or +Venus, holding a cross. + +Venus holding a round object is to be seen upon many coins issued in +the names of Soaemias the mother of Elagabalus, his wife Julia Aquilia +Severa, Julia Mamma the mother of Alexander Severus, and his wife +Orbiana. + +On a coin of the Emperor Decius (A.C. 249-251) struck at Maeonia, we +meet with the so-called "Monogram of Christ" upon a Roman coin in the +form {image "monogram3.gif"} for the first time. + +Upon a coin of Trebonianus Gallus (A.C. 251-254) Eternity is +represented as a female holding a small round object. + +On another coin of this reign we see a Phoenix instead of a Victory +upon the round object held by the Emperor. + +Many of the coins of ancient Rome acclaim the Sun-God as the Saviour, +and upon a coin issued by Gallienus (A.C. 254-268) we see the Sun-God +Apollo holding a cross. + +Upon a coin issued by the younger Valerian we see the Sun-God holding a +small round object. + +A coin struck by Tetricus (A.C. 267-264) has upon its reverse a +representation of the Sun-God holding a round object, while in the +field near the Sun-God is a cross. + +On a coin issued by Claudius II. we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a +round object admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + +Upon a coin issued by Aurelianus we see the Sun-God holding a round +object surmounted by a crescent. + +On a coin issued by Vabalathus we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a +round object admittedly representing the Golden Apple. + +Upon a coin of Numerianus (A.C. 283-284) we see the Goddess of Love +holding a round object surmounted by a Victory. Such instances as this +should be specially noted, as nothing distinguishes the round objects +so surmounted from those held by Venus which admittedly represent the +Golden Apple, and the present fashion of our symbol the Coronation Orb +or Imperial Apple is due to the fact that a century later Theodosius +II. Emperor of Constantinople started the idea of substituting a cross +for the Victory. + +Upon several coins of Carinus (A.C. 282-284) we see the Sun-God holding +a small round object. + +On other coins of this reign Eternity appears as a female holding a +small round object surmounted by a Phoenix. + +Upon the coins issued in the name of Magnia Urbica, wife of Carinus, on +which we see Venus holding a small round object which admittedly +represented the Golden Apple, the Crescent frequently accompanies the +representations of the Goddess of Love. + +On coins issued by Diocletian (A.C. 284-305) we see both Jove and the +Sun-God holding a small round object; like the Emperor himself. A +Victory in some cases surmounts it. + +The Sun-God Hercules holding a round object which admittedly signified +the Golden Apple is to be seen on other coins issued during this reign. + +Among the coins issued by Diocletian's co-Emperor Maximian, is one +bearing a representation of the Sun-God Hercules in the Garden of the +Hesperides near the Tree encircled by the Serpent he slew. The Sun-God +holds a round object representing a Golden Apple plucked from the Tree +in question. + +On the reverse of another coin bearing the names both of Jove the +All-Father and Hercules the Sun-God, we see the latter represented as +holding a round object, admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + +In some cases where Hercules holds the Golden Apple-for instance, upon +a coin bearing the legend _Herculi invicto Aug_.--the Golden Apple is +surmounted by a Victory. + +A coin issued by Constantius Chlorus, the ruler of Gaul and father of +Constantine the Great, represents the Sun-God Hercules in the act of +plucking a Golden Apple from the famous Tree. + +A coin issued in the joint names of Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, +bearing the legend _Genio Populi Romani_, has in the field on the +reverse side a cross, which takes the place occupied upon otherwise +similar coins by a star-like object not improbably representing the +sun. + +Such are the more striking features of the evidence which can be +obtained from the Roman coins issued prior to the accession of +Constantine to the throne of Gaul. + +The reader will have seen that the symbol of the cross occurs several +times upon the coins in question, and in almost if not quite every +instance in connection with the Sun-God. + +The fact that upon a coin of Julius Caesar, and therefore before our +era, a cross admittedly occurs as a symbol of the sun, will also have +been remarked. + +It will also have been noticed in how very large a number of cases the +round symbol which was a precursor of our Coronation Orb admittedly +signified the Golden Apple, and therefore was of phallic import. + +Another point which the reader cannot very well fail to bear in mind, +is that where the Goddess of Love, as the representative of the sex +whose felicity lies in motherhood or the victorious production of life, +is seen carrying the symbol in question, the surrounding legend is +Venus _Genetrix_, or _Victrix_, or _Felix_, or some variation or other +of the same; and that the said legends are obviously phallic in +signification. + +If we also keep before us the fact that the Golden Apple whether held +by the Sun-God or his complement the Goddess of Love, was at times +surmounted by the figure of Victory for which Christian Emperors +gradually and only gradually substituted the figure of the cross, it is +curious to note that in early Christian representations of the Christ +he is often to be seen with the Apple or forbidden fruit of the Tree of +Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + +When the Christ is in such cases depicted as a youth, the phallic apple +is usually to be seen lying near him; but when the Christ is +represented as a man, it is placed in his hand. + +For instance a good example of the Christ holding the fruit of the Tree +of Life is reproduced for us in the well known work on the likeness of +Jesus by the late Thomas Heaphy.[47] Here we see, in a picture which +occurs upon a glass ornament found in the Catacombs of Rome in the tomb +of a Christian named Eutychia, an illustration of the Christ standing +by the side of the Tree of Life. The rays of the Sun surround the head +of the Christ, and in his hand is the phallic Apple. + +It will have been remarked that the round object to be seen upon +innumerable Roman coins in the hand of this or that ruler or deity, and +popularly supposed to have always represented the round world upon +which we dwell although it is at the same time believed that the world +was not then considered to be round, frequently occurs in the hand of a +female figure representing Eternity. It is self-evident that a +representation of the world we live on is less likely to have been so +placed than a symbol of Life. + +A still more striking fact, which cannot fail to have been noticed by +the reader of the evidence from the coins of ancient Rome quoted in the +earlier part of this chapter, is that in several instances a Phoenix +and not a Victory surmounts the so-called orb. For the story of the +Phoenix was derived from the Egyptian City of the Sun.[48] And the +fabulous bird in question was, according to Tacitus as well as +Herodotus, specially connected with the temple of the Sun-God at +Heliopolis. + +Upon this point it may be added that the famous story of the Phoenix +seems to have been known to the writer of _Job_; the Septuagint version +of _Job_ xxix. 18, being "I shall die in my nest and shall multiply my +days as the Phoenix" according to some of the best authorities. + +The various ages allotted to this allegorical bird had reference to the +calendar; as indeed we learn from Pliny, who tells us that + + "The revolution of the Great Year in which the seasons + and stars return to their former places, agrees with the + life of this bird."[49] + +This is borne out by the periods spoken of as the lifetime of the +Phoenix; as among them are one of 600 years, the Great Year referred to +by Josephus and others, and one of 1,461 years, which was the Sothic +period of the Egyptians. + +It is also clear that, like the Victory and the Golden Apple it +surmounted, the Phoenix and its wonderful egg were not only connected +with the Sun-God, but also had a phallic signification. + +The problem as to whether bird or egg first existed scarcely applies to +the fabulous Phoenix and its equally fabulous egg, and need not be +discussed here. Suffice it to say that the round object from which that +Christian symbol the Coronation Orb is descended, though it may at +times have more or less represented the world upon which we dwell, +seems to have primarily signified, as associated with each other in +idea, both the Golden Apple of Love and the Phoenix-like life principle +enshrined in the Egg, both the egg-like _Cosmos_ or Universe and +Eternity; but in all, and through all, and above all, the basis of all +power whether finite or infinite, _viz._, Life. + +It is therefore not surprising to find that the monarchs of ancient +days claimed to rule by divine right as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, to +whose favouring influence all earthly life is traceable; and caused +themselves to be represented, upon Roman coins as receiving the Golden +Apple, and upon Egyptian monuments as receiving the Cross, from the +Sun-God, as the symbol of their authority. + +Yet another point to be borne in mind, is that we Christians are +expressly taught that God the Father and God the Son are as nearly +identical as the ancients considered the Central Fire, which they +deemed the Parent of all things, and the Warmth and Light issuing +therefrom to be; or the Sun's disc and the emanations therefrom; the +Christ being represented as saying "I and My Father are one" and "He +that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." For though we describe ours as +a _co-equal_ Trinity, no such identity with either God the Father or +God the Son is affirmed of God the Holy Ghost, and it is remarkable +that in our ancient illustrations of the Three Persons, both the First +and the Second are represented as holding the so-called globe and +Cross, while the Third, even where depicted as of human shape like the +other two, is not. + +The fact is that the co-equality of the Holy Spirit of a God who is +Himself, as Jesus declared, a Spirit, is an idea which did not find +much acceptance among Christians till a comparatively late date and is +the outcome of confused thought. And the separate personality of this +Spirit of a Spirit being entirely a Christian conception, and without a +counterpart in the theology of the ancients, few if any Pagan symbols +such as the so-called globe and the cross would have been associated +with it in any case. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE. + +We are more or less in the habit of assuming that just as Paul, the +founder of the catholic faith, was converted, not altogether by reason +but as it were by force and with the rapidity of a flash of lightning, +under the rays of a meridian sun ("About _noon_ suddenly there shone +from heaven a great light round about me," _Acts_ xxii. 6; "At +_mid-day_," _Acts_ xxvi. 13), so Constantine, the establisher of that +faith as the State Religion of the empire in which Paul was so proud of +his rights as a citizen, was in similarly rapid fashion converted by +the appearance of a miraculous "cross" of light and an accompanying +legend above a meridian sun ("At _mid-day_," Eusebius, _Vit. Const. +I._). + +But, as has already been pointed out, this alleged vision of +Constantine is said to have taken place during his march upon Rome in +the year A.C. 312; and during the remaining twenty-five years of his +life he acted rather as if he were converting Christianity into what he +thought most likely to be accepted by his subjects as a catholic +religion, than as if he had been converted to the teachings of Jesus +the Nazarene. + +The fact is that Constantine was favourable to our religion out of +policy rather than conviction; and if after refusing so long he did +indeed, a quarter of a century after the alleged vision, consent to be +baptised when ill and dying, policy doubtless swayed him even then. +Anyway, as has already been stated and will now be seen, the evidence +of his coins conclusively shows that the God to whom Constantine from +first to last attributed his victories, was--the Sun-God. + +Upon one coin issued by Constantine we see upon the reverse a nude +figure crowned with rays, with the right hand elevated toward the east, +and a round object in the left hand. In the field is a cross widened at +the extremities, and the surrounding legend is a significant one, _Soli +Invicto Comiti_. This coin was struck years after the alleged +conversion of Constantine, and the combined reference to the Sun-God +and use of the cross are worthy of special notice. + +Upon two somewhat similar coins of Constantine the cross is placed +within a circular wreath of bay or laurel. + +On another coin with the same legend we see the same nude figure +crowned with rays, representing the Sun-God and carrying a round +object; while in the field we see the Gaulish symbol, sometimes called +a cross, which by the addition of a loop was, as we shall see later on, +turned into the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +Upon a coin with the anything but Christian legend _Marti +Conservatori_, is a cross with four equal arms. + +On a somewhat similar coin with the same legend, the helmet on the +reverse is ornamented with the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +Upon another coin we see Mars leaning on a shield adorned with the +so-called Monogram of Christ, the legend being _Marti Patri +Conservator_. + +On a coin issued in the name of his son Crispus during the reign of +Constantine, we see two Victories holding a shield upon a pedestal +marked with a cross of four equal arms. + +A similar cross appears upon a coin issued during this reign in the +name of another son of Constantine. + +Upon a coin bearing the inscription _Constantinus Max. Aug._ we see +upon the reverse a cross of four equal arms. + +On an otherwise similar coin a compound _tau_ cross of four equal arms, +{image "taucross.gif"}, appears. + +Upon a well-known engraving of a coin in the _Annales Ecclesiastici_ of +Baronius, the {image "monogram3.gif"} form of the so-called Monogram of +Christ appears upon the helmet of Constantine. Some authorities, +however, state that this is copied as the familiar {image +"monogram3.gif"} in error; what appeared on the helmet being the +Gaulish symbol {image "asterisk.gif"} with a dot representing a star +near the top of the vertical bar. Such a dot can be seen in a similar +place upon two or three coins bearing the legend _Virtus Exercit_. + +On another coin the legend _Gloria Exercitus_ surrounds two soldiers +holding military standards, between which is the symbol of the cross. + +On a somewhat similar coin the compound tan cross, of which we have +already noted an example, occurs between the standards. + +A cross of four equal arms appears upon a coin bearing the legend _Pax +Publica_. + +A coin issued during the reign of Constantine the Great in the name of +his son Constantine, has upon its reverse a cross of four equal arms, +the extremities of which are rounded. + +On an otherwise similar coin the compound tau cross appears. + +Upon a coin bearing the inscription _Constantinus Max. Aug._ a cross of +four equal arms occurs near a soldier armed with spear and shield. + +On the reverse of one coin we see two soldiers holding military +standards, and between the standards the so-called Monogram of Christ +appears. + +A coin of similar type was issued during the reign of Constantine the +Great in the name of his son Constantine. + +Upon a coin which on the obverse bears the inscription _Constantinus +Max. Aug._, we see upon the reverse Victory carrying a palm. In the +field is the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}. The surrounding motto is +_Victoria constantini Aug._ + +Several coins with the legend _Gloria Exercitus_ have upon the same +side two soldiers with a labarum or military standard between them, +upon the banner of which is the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}. + +On a coin with the legend _Victoria Caesar NN_ we see Victory carrying +a palm. In the field is the Gaulish symbol {image "asterisk.gif"}. + +The reverse of another coin has the legend _Constantinus Aug._, and +represents Constantine as holding a labarum or military standard +terminating in a round object. Upon the banner is the symbol {image +"monogram4.gif"}. + +On a coin bearing upon its obverse the inscription _Constantinopolis_, +we see upon the other side a figure of Victory and a cross of four +equal arms. + +On another coin bearing the same legend we see upon the reverse Victory +standing upon a ship, and to the left the so-called monogram. + +Upon another coin we see the same symbol above the wolf and twins of +the city of Rome. + +A rare coin bears upon the obverse the inscription _Constantinus Max. +Aug._, and on the reverse, surrounded by the legend _Spes Publica_, a +labarum or military standard the handle or base of which transfixes a +serpent. Upon the banner three globules are embroidered, and the symbol +{image "monogram3.gif"} appears above the cross-bar from which the +banner hangs. + +Upon one medal or coin of Constantine we see the significant legend +_Soli Invicto Aeterno Aug._ inscribed around the quadriga of the +Sun-God Phoebus. + +On another piece struck by Constantine the Great, the Sun-God is given +the title _Comes Aug._; Companion, Guardian, or Saviour, of the +Emperor. + +Upon several coins we see the legend _Comiti Aug. NN_, and, surrounded +by the same, the Sun-God holding a small round object. + +On numerous other coins also, the Sun-God is represented as holding a +small round object. + +Other significant Sun-God legends to be met upon the coins of this +alleged Christian Emperor, are _Comis Constantini Aug., Soli Invicto, +Soli Comiti Augg. NN, Soli Invicto Com. D.N._ and the like. + +Upon a coin bearing the legend _Soli Comiti Aug. N._ we see the Sun-God +presenting Constantine with a small round object surmounted by a +Victory. + +On a coin with the legend _Pax Augustorum_, Constantine holds a +standard ornamented with a cross. + +Upon another coin Constantine is to be seen holding what is said to be +a representation of the Zodiac. + +On a coin issued in his own name, as upon others already mentioned as +issued in the names of his sons, we see two Victories supporting a +shield upon an altar ornamented with a cross. + +Upon a somewhat similar coin the altar is ornamented with the star-like +object which in days of old so often stood for the radiate sun. + +A coin with the inscription _Divo Constantino_, and on the reverse the +legend _Aeterna Pietas_ and a representation of Constantine holding a +round object surmounted by the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}, though +usually included in the coins of that Emperor was evidently struck +after his death and deification. + +The same remark applies to a somewhat similar coin, which has an +additional symbol in a plain cross in the field to the right of the +Emperor-God. + +It should be noted that the question here arises as to how far it is +fair of us to claim this cross and so-called Monogram of Christ as +Christian and at the same time denounce as Pagan the deification of +Constantine referred to upon the same coins. + +As to the coins of Constantine the Great as a whole, it need only be +remarked once more that while upon many of the pieces struck by him +Constantine attributed his victories to the Sun-God, not upon a single +one of them did he attribute them to the Christ; while it was ever the +Sun-God and never the Christ whom he alluded to on his coins as his +Companion, Partner, Guardian, or Saviour. + +This being so, how can we honestly claim that the so-called Monogram of +Christ, and other forms of the cross, were ever placed upon his coins +by Constantine as symbols of the Christ, yet never as symbols of the +Sun-God? + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE. + +Passing on to the Christian successors of Constantine the Great, we are +at once met with the significant fact that Constantine the Second +issued many different coins bearing a representation of the Sun-God +holding a small round object; and, as the surrounding legend, _Claritas +Reipublicae_. + +Another coin of this son of Constantine the Great, and one which +deserves special attention, has upon its reverse a Cross and a Crescent +in juxtaposition, as if the cross signified the sun. + +A very similar coin has the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the +military standards. + +Upon another coin we see on the reverse both this Christian Emperor and +the Sun-God; the former holding a small round object, and the latter +crowning him. The surrounding legend is _Soli Invicto Comiti_. + +The reverse of another coin bears the same Sun-God legend, and +represents the Sun-God as holding a small round object. + +Upon another coin we see Constantine holding a small round object +surmounted by a Victory. On the reverse is the symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"}. + +Constans I., another son of Constantine the Great, issued a coin on +which he is represented as holding in one hand a simply formed labarum +or military standard consisting of a straight pole terminating at the +top in a crossbar, from which hangs a banner bearing the symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"}; while in the other hand he holds a small round object +surmounted by a _Phoenix_. + +Constantius II., yet another son of Constantine the Great, issued a +coin on which is the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the letters +{alpha} and {omega} (? APX{omega}); the legend being _Salus Aug +Nostri_. + +On another coin is Constantius II. as the Sun, upon one side; and upon +the other the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the letters alpha +and omega once again. + +Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine the Great who took Rome in A.C. 350 +but was killed as an usurper the same year, issued a coin on the +reverse of which, surrounded by the legend _Urbs Roma_, is a female +figure representing Rome and holding in her hand a round object +surmounted by the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"}. + +The symbol {image "monogram4.gif"} frequently occurs upon the coins of +Valeus (A.C. 364-378). And upon one coin of this Emperor we see the +letter P surmounting a cross; surrounded by the legend _Gloria +Romanorum_. + +Upon a coin of Valentinianus II. we see Victory holding a round object +surmounted by a cross, the legend being _Victoria Augustorum_. + +On the coins of Theodosius I. (A.C. 378-395) we find representations of +the Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Phoenix, and of the +Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Victory; as also of +Victory holding a round object surmounted by a cross. + +This Emperor Theodosius I., better known as Theodosius the Great, after +securing sole control of the Roman Empire brought about the final +disruption of the world-wide dominions of Rome by bequeathing them in +two portions to his sons Arcadius and Honorius; the elder, Arcadius, +becoming Emperor of Constantinople and the East, while the younger, +Honorius, became Emperor of Rome and the West: A.C. 395. + +Less than a century later, _viz._, between the years A.C. 475 and 480, +the Western Empire was finally extinguished by Odoacer; the Eastern +Empire surviving it nearly a thousand years, lasting as the latter did +from the partition in A.C. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by +Mahomet II. in A.C. 1453. + +It was, as stated in a previous chapter, upon the coins of an Emperor +of the East, _viz._, Theodosius II., that the first example occurs of a +representation of an Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a +cross; though, as has been noted, instances of Victory carrying an +object so surmounted had previously occurred. And it need only be added +that the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"}, +often the centre of a circle or surrounded by a circular wreath of bay +or laurel, continually occur upon the coins of the Eastern Empire, the +symbol {image "asterisk.gif"} frequently, and the undisguised solar +wheel, {image "solarwheel1.gif"} upon the coins of Eudoxia, Theodosius +II., Leo I., and others. + +The evidence of the coins of the Roman Empire given in this and the two +preceding chapters, coupled with the too-often forgotten fact that the +only form of cross which could possibly be a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed was the very last +form of cross to be adopted as a Christian symbol, cannot, it will be +seen, lead the unprejudiced enquirer to any other conclusion than that +the cross became the symbol of Christendom because the advent of +Constantine and his Gauls made it a prominent symbol of the Roman +Empire. And that the symbol in question was not altogether unconnected +with Sun-God worship, should be equally clear to the reader. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST. + +The so-called "Monogram of Christ "--a term which has at one time or +another been applied to each of the symbols {image "solarwheel1.gif"} +or {image "asterisk.gif"}, {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram3.gif"}, and {image "monogram2.gif"} or {image +"monogram4.gif"}, as but variations of one and the same +symbol--deserves a chapter to itself. + +Though not first placed upon the coins of the Roman Empire by +Constantine any more than was the right-angled cross of four equal arms +or the so-called St. Andrew's cross, the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} +was, like the {image "x.gif"} cross and the many varieties of +right-angled crosses of four equal arms, first brought into prominence +as a Roman symbol by the Emperor in question. + +From the evidence at our disposal it would appear that Decius was the +first Roman ruler to make use of this form of the so-called Monogram of +Christ. Anyhow, as has already been remarked, this symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"} occurs upon a coin of the Emperor Decius struck at +Maeonia about A.C. 250; and therefore more than half a century before +the days of Constantine. And it is noteworthy that it was as a Pagan +symbol that the {image "monogram3.gif"} thus first appeared upon the +Roman coinage. + +The coin in question is a bronze one, and the "Monogram of Christ" +occurs in the centre of a Greek inscription surrounding a +representation of the Sun-God Bacchus; and, apparently, as an +amalgamation or contraction of the two Greek letters equivalent to our +R and CH, _viz._: the Greek letters P and X.[50] + +Why these particular letters should have been contracted, is, however, +uncertain; and the question arises as to whether the {image +"monogram3.gif"} first arose as a contraction of such Greek letters, or +as an amalgamation of the Roman letters P and X, or as the cross {image +"x.gif"} _plus_ the Greek P (our R) as the initial letter of the Greek +name for Rome. + +Moreover if it be decided that the symbol first arose as a contraction +of certain letters, yet further questions arise; _viz._; in what order +those letters were first read, and what word they first represented. + +Before going into such matters as these, however, it is important that +we should fully realise how certain it is that the so-called Monogram +of Christ was originally a _Pagan_ symbol. For even if this be not +considered demonstrated by its occurrence upon a Roman coin long +before, according to our Church, the Christ caused Constantine to use +it as the military standard of the Gauls, it is clearly shown by its +occurrence upon many relics of pre-Christian date. + +The so-called "Monogram of Christ" can be seen, for instance, upon a +monument of Isis, the Virgin Mother of the Sun-God, which dates from +the second century before our era.[51] Also upon the coins of +Ptolemaeus; on one of which is a head of Zeus Ammon upon one side, and +an eagle bearing the {image "monogram3.gif"} in its claws upon the +other.[52] The symbol in question also appears upon Greek money struck +long before the birth of Jesus; for instance upon certain varieties of +the Attic tetradrachma. And the {image "monogram4.gif"} occurs upon +many different coins of the first Herod, struck thirty years or more +B.C. + +Whether the Pagan {image "monogram3.gif"} and the Pagan {image +"monogram4.gif"} originally had the same signification or not, is +uncertain. + +Almost equally uncertain is the date at which we Christians first +adopted these Pagan symbols as Christian symbols because they could be +interpreted as formed of the two first letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma}, _Christos_, Christ. + +The probability is that Christians had at least drawn attention to this +possible interpretation of the symbols in question before the days of +Constantine. But this scarcely renders less noteworthy the fact, shown +further on, that the favourite symbol of the Gaulish warriors, the +solar wheel {image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, was +sooner or later altered by their leader into {image "monogram1.gif"} or +{image "monogram2.gif"} to please the Christians; while the symbols +{image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"} were also made use +of by Constantine. + +Which form of solar wheel, monogram, or cross, was that actually +carried by the Gauls in triumph within the walls of Rome and set up by +their leader in the heart of the Eternal City, is not quite certain. +But it is clear that as both the {image "monogram3.gif"} and the {image +"monogram4.gif"} appeared upon coins struck before our era, Constantine +cannot very well have been ignorant of the fact that these were +originally Pagan symbols, when he favoured the addition of a loop to +the top of the vertical bar of the Gaulish solar symbols {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "asterisk.gif"} and {image +"solarwheel2.gif"} or {image "plus.gif"} in order that what his Gaulish +army venerated as triumphal tokens might be accepted as symbols of +victory by his Christian supporters also. + +That this Gaulish monarch did so alter, and for the reason named, the +symbol or symbols venerated by his troops, is admitted by, amongst +others, that well known writer the Reverend S. Baring Gould, M.A. For, +referring to the solar wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God venerated by +the ancient Gauls, this author tells us that Constantine + + "Adopted and adapted the sign for his standards, and the + _Labarum_ of Constantine became a common Christian + symbol. That there was policy in his conduct we can + hardly doubt; the symbol he set up gratified the + Christians in his army on one side and the Gauls on the + other. For the former it was a sign compounded of the + initial letters of Christ, to the latter it was the + token of the favour of the solar deity."[53] + +As the fact that both the {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} were in use as symbols before the commencement of our +era thoroughly disposes of our contention as Christians that the +so-called "Monogram of Christ" had its origin in the formation of a +monogram out of the two first letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma} (_Christos_, Christ), it is clear that these +symbols must have had some other origin. + +Assuming that the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} had the same origin, and the same signification, and +that if the {image "monogram4.gif"} was a combination of two letters +the Greek or Latin T (instead of X) was not one of them; or rather, as +these would be very considerable assumptions, more or less confining +our attention to the {image "monogram3.gif"} as the more likely of the +two to have arisen as a combination of the Greek letters P and X; let +us in passing briefly enquire into the origin of the so-called Monogram +of Christ as a Pagan symbol. + +If we seek for that origin as a combination of the first two letters of +some other Greek word than Christos, _Christ_, and for the moment +assume the letters P and X to have occurred in the same order as in +that word, we see at once that the monogram may have been derived +either from the word Chrestos, _Good_, or the word Chronos, _Time_, or +the word Chrusos, _Gold_. + +There is, by the way, another curious connection between the three +Greek words in question. For the name of the famous god Kronos or +Cronos was often spelt XPONO{sigma} _i.e._, Chronos.[54] And this god +Chronos--the father of Zeus; and more or less a personification of +Time, the Old Father from whom we are all descended--was identical with +Saturn, while the Saturnian Age was, as in Virgil's fourth eclogue, +ever that spoken of as the Golden age when the ancients were referring +to what they pictured as the good old times. + +It will not do, however, to assume that if the symbol we are +considering first arose as a combination of the Greek letters P and X, +they were of necessity taken from, and representative of, a word in +which they occur in the same order as in _Christos_. And the fact that +in the {image "monogram4.gif"}, if not also in the {image +"monogram3.gif"}, the P is the leading feature, gives emphasis to the +point in question. + +If we suppose that the so-called monogram arose as a combination of the +Greek letters in question occurring in the order P X, the student of +such matters can scarcely fail to note that the letters in question +occur in that order as the centre both of the word APXH, the _Head_, +_Chief_, or _First_; and also as the centre of the kindred word +APX{omega}, _to be first_, the only remaining letters of which, and +therefore the first and the last of this word as of the old Greek +alphabet, are, as will be seen, Alpha and Omega, the letters so +continually placed on either side of the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} +in Christian times. + +In this connection it should be pointed out that according to some of +the best authorities the first {image "monogram3.gif"} which occurs +upon any Roman coin, coming as it does after the letter _alpha_ in a +Greek inscription, should be taken with that letter as forming the PX +of APX, the latter being an abbreviation of some form or other of the +title _Archon_. This title was that given to the dignitary who was at +one and the same time the chief magistrate of the state and its chief +priest, and it may be worth remark that as Bacchus was the deity +worshipped in Lydia, the Archon in question would therefore have been +the chief priest of the Sun-God. + +Several writers have, in their zeal for our religion, outrun their +discretion, and gone so far as to assume that the existence of the +so-called monogram of Christ upon this coin of the Emperor Decius is +due to some Christian having been employed in turning out the coin in +question, and having in _his_ zeal surreptitiously introduced a symbol +of his faith. But though gravely supported by more than one great +authority, this is obviously an absurd position to take up. And in any +case the facts remain that it was in this instance placed over a +representation of the Sun-God, and had for centuries been in use as a +Pagan symbol. + +Passing on, however, we have next to note that, as before hinted, even +if the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} arose as a combination of two +letters, though we know that symbol to have been often used as a +contraction of the Greek letters P and X (our R and CH), there is no +proof that it arose as a combination of two Greek letters; and the +symbol may have arisen as a combination of the Roman letters P and X. + +It should therefore be pointed out that in the inscriptions which have +come down to us from the Gaulish Christians of the sixth, seventh, and +eighth centuries after Christ, the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and +{image "monogram4.gif"} are continually used as contractions of the +Latin word PAX, _Peace_. For though the fact that the Monogram was +often so interpreted by Christians centuries A.C. can by no means be +considered evidence that it was thus that it first arose as a Pagan +symbol centuries B.C., such a possibility should be kept before us. + +But did the so-called Monogram of Christ first come into being as a +combination of two letters; Greek, Roman, or otherwise? + +Even this is not certain, for this pre-Christian symbol may originally +have been a cross, as a symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, _plus_ the +Greek letter P as the initial character of the word "Rome" in what may +be called the court language of the time. + +Such an explanation would more or less account for the variations +{image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"}; these being +obviously the natural ways of adding the letter P, signifying Rome, to +the crosses {image "x.gif"} and {image "plus.gif"} respectively. + +All the foregoing references to the origin of the so-called monogram as +a Pagan symbol of pre-Christian date, are but speculations however. Its +origin cannot be ascertained for certain. + +The revival of this pre-Christian symbol, and the prominence given to +it upon the coins of the Roman Empire, _are_, however, traceable. And, +as has been shown, they are traceable to Constantine; who induced the +Christians to accept as the Monogram of the Christ, and therefore as a +Christian as well as a Gaulish symbol of victory, the Solar Wheel +venerated by the Gaulish conquerors of Rome. + +Nowadays the so-called Monogram of Christ is almost always reproduced +for us as {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}; but the +fact that Constantine sometimes so used it should not blind us to the +facts that it was at first usually the centre of a circle, like the +spokes of a wheel; and that the undisguised solar wheel {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} appears upon not a few of the coins issued by the +Christian successors of Constantine, while since his reign the solar +wheel {image "solarwheel2.gif"} and many an artistic variation of the +same have been Christian symbols, and when in our ornamentation of +ecclesiastical properties we omit the circle we as often as not make +the cross itself wheel-like by rounding the extremities and widening +them till they nearly meet. + +Moreover it should not be forgotten that it was evidently one form or +other of the solar wheel of the Gauls, _plus_ the politic loop to one +of its spokes, which Constantine and his Gaulish warriors are said to +have seen above the meridian sun, with the divinely written legend EN +TOYT{omega} NIKA, _By this conquer_, attached. For though that +miraculous symbol is referred to as a "cross," the Monogram itself was +so referred to; and Eusebius, after telling us that the Christ appeared +to Constantine and commanded him to make a military standard for the +Sun-God worshipping Gauls, "With the same sign which he had seen in the +heavens," expressly describes this as composed of "Two letters +indicating the name of the Christ, the letter P being intersected with +X at the centre." And on this particular Labarum of Constantine, as on +the majority of the Labara represented upon his coins, the {image +"monogram3.gif"} was the centre of a circle or circular wreath, like +the spokes of a wheel.[55] + +In any case the fact that the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} was a +Pagan one centuries before the Christ is said to have made it a +Christian one for the Sun-God worshipping Gauls to follow on to +victory, coupled with the facts that they are said to have seen it +above the mid-day sun, and that it was admittedly a politic adaptation +of the Solar Wheel, show us how much Eusebius and other Christian +chroniclers both invented and suppressed, and also how largely the +influence of Sun-God worship permeated and moulded our religion. + +In this connection it may be noted, as a curious fact rather than as +evidence, that according to some authorities the so-called Monograms of +Christ were in earlier ages Monograms of the Sun-God Osiris.[56] Also +that both Socrates and Sozomen tell us that when the temple of the +Sun-God Serapis at Alexandria was pulled down, the symbol of the Christ +was discovered upon its foundations and the Christians made many +converts in consequence a somewhat significant statement. + +Moreover we are told that upon every _Dies Solis_, or in other words +upon that day of the week which throughout the Roman Empire was held +sacred to the Sun-God and throughout Christendom is called Sun-day, +Constantine made his troops, assembled under what was admittedly a +solar symbol, recite at a given time, which was probably dawn or +mid-day, a prayer commencing "We acknowledge thee to be God alone, and +own that our victories are due to thy favour."[57] Who could this God +have been but the Sun-God, seeing that it was to the Sun-God that +Constantine upon his coins ever attributed his victories? And what is +more likely than that, wishing to take a friendly view of the deity +worshipped by their supporters the Christians, it was as conceiving the +Christ to be but the latest addition to the many conceptions of the +Sun-God, that Constantine altered the solar symbols of his troops into +the so-called Monograms of Christ, and that his troops accepted the +alterations? + +And, passing from the symbol to the deity represented, let us remember +that it is recorded that various Christian paintings of ancient times +bore upon them the dedicatory words _DEO SOLI_. For this remarkable +legend means both "To God alone" and "To the Sun-God," both "To the +Sole God" and "To the God Sol;" and forcibly reminds us, not only of +the prayer which Constantine caused his troops to repeat, but also of +that fine address to the "universally adored" Sun-God commencing + + "Latium calls thee Sol because in honour thou + art Solitary, + After the Father."[58] + +Now, as will be shown further on, a cross of some description or other +was in every land accepted as the symbol of the universally adored +Sun-God. And while not a single one of the many books forming the New +Testament states that Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument, and the _first_ crosses Christians used as signs or symbols +bore every form but that which a cross-shaped instrument of execution +would have borne, the Christians of the fourth century, as we have +seen, went out of their way to claim even the so-called Monogram of +Christ as a cross; Eusebius so carefully speaking of it as such even +where he relates that Constantine and his soldiers saw it above the +meridian sun, that one might not unreasonably imagine him to be +claiming it as Christian because it was more or less cruciform and +therefore more or less like the world-wide symbol of the Sun-God. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS. + +Having made clear the part played by Constantine in the prominence +given in his lifetime to the cross as a symbol of the Roman Empire and +therefore of what he made its State Religion, and having also shown +that while the Christian chroniclers of those days are silent +concerning the various forms of crosses placed by Constantine upon his +coins they went out of their way to allude to the so-called Monogram of +Christ as a cross, to claim it as such, and even to associate it with +the sun, let us now turn our attention again to the pre-Christian +cross. + +So great was the veneration in which that phallic and solar symbol the +cross was held in the ages which preceded the birth and death of Jesus, +that the philosophers of those days even went so far as to declare that +the cross was the figure of the Life or Soul of the Universe. + +Though it is a matter of very considerable importance, we Christians +for some reason or other ignore the fact that long before our era +commenced philosophers thus conceived the figure of the cross to be the +symbol of the _Logos_ of God. + +Now although, following the Gospel of St. John, we have made it a main +article of our belief that the Logos, really the Thought _plus_ Speech, +of God, became about the year B.C. 4 specially incarnate in the person +of Jesus the Nazarene, we ought not to forget that, being the one Power +by which all that ever came into existence was created and all that +exists is sustained, the Logos in any case ever was, is, and will be, +incarnate in every sentient being. + +As the Logos of God (or, as the Authorised Version of the Bible into +English most inadequately renders it in the first chapter of St. John's +Gospel, the _Word_ of God) was by the philosophers called the +"Intellectual Sun" and the "Light of the World",[59] being, as a +personification of the _Thought_ and _Speech_ of the All-Father, a +personification of Wisdom and Reason (which, in an even more real sense +than the emanations of the physical sun, form the "Light of the World," +or, as the original text of the New Testament puts it, the "Light of +the _Cosmos_"), the fact that pre-Christian philosophers affirmed that +the cross was the symbol of the said "Light of the Cosmos," is +obviously one which every writer concerning the cross as a Christian +symbol ought in common honesty to deal with. + +That pre-Christian philosophers did so affirm, can be seen by turning +to the _Timaeus_ of Plato, where, referring to the begetting of the +Universal Soul (whom Philo, another pre-Christian philosopher, speaks +of as the "Second God"; and as God's "Beloved Son," "Image," +"Ambassador," "Mediator," and "First-Begotten"), Plato says + + "Such was the whole plan of the Eternal God about the + God that was to be:--and in the centre he put the soul + which he diffused throughout the body:--and he made the + Universe a circle moving in a circle. Having these + purposes in view he created the world a blessed God:--he + made the soul on this wise--joined--at the centre like + the letter X."[60] + +Concerning this pronouncement of the great Teacher he so revered, +Proclus wrote as follows + + "Two circles will be formed, of which one is interior + but the other is exterior. One of these is called the + circle of the Same and one the circle of the Different, + or of the Fixed and of the Variable, or rather of the + Equinoctial Circle and of the Zodiac. The circle of the + Different revolves about the Zodiac, but the circle of + the Same about the Equinoctial. Hence we conceive that + the right lines are not to be applied to each other at + right angles but like the letter X, as Plato says, so as + to cause the angles to be equal only at the summit but + those on each side and the successive angles to be + unequal. For the Equinoctial Circle does not cut the + Zodiac at right angles. Such therefore in short is the + mathematical discussion of the figure of the (Universal) + Soul."[61] + +Even the Fathers of the Christian Church admitted that their ideas of +the Son of God and of the cross being his symbol, were more or less +derived from pre-Christian philosophers. For we find Justin Martyr +remarking that Plato declared that + + "The Power next to the Supreme God was figured in + the shape of the letter X upon the universe."[62] + +And in another place this famous Father states that + + "Whereas Plato, philosophising about the Son of God, + says God expressed him upon the universe in the shape + of the letter X, he evidently took the hint from Moses, + who took brass and made the sign of the cross and + placed it by the holy tabernacle, and declared that if + people would look upon that cross and believe they would + be saved."[63] + +The value of all this evidence is so obvious that its mere parade is +almost sufficient. + +It should however be pointed out that this cross {image "x.gif"}, being +avowedly adopted by the pre-Christian philosophers as the symbol of the +"Logos" or "First-begotten" of God in preference to the {image +"plus.gif"} because the zodiac or pathway of the Sun does not "cross" +the equator at right angles, was clearly a solar symbol. And it may be +added that though Justin Martyr is careful to claim this particular +solar cross as a symbol of the Christ, no one claims that Jesus was +executed upon an instrument so shaped; while the story that St. Andrew +was affixed to an instrument of execution so shaped, is admittedly a +worthless legend. + +This claim of Justin Martyr that the solar cross of the philosophers +was a pre-Christian symbol of the Christ, is, when considered in +connection with the fact that nearly all the Fathers allude to the +figure of the cross, _any_ kind of cross, as a life-giving symbol from +time immemorial, significant of much. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE. + +That the symbol of the cross was widely venerated in Europe long before +our era, is well known to archaeologists. Of Britain in those days we +know next to nothing, history being almost silent upon the subject and +relics conspicuous by their absence. The cross is however a conspicuous +feature upon certain funeral urns which are said to date back to the +period in question. And it is noteworthy that both it and the solar +wheel occur upon several of the earliest British coins; which whether +issued as some say before, or as others aver after, the advent of +Julius Caesar, were admittedly of pre-Christian date. Evidences of the +veneration of the cross in France before our era are so numerous and +easily ascertainable, that it will only be necessary to refer the +reader to the _Collection Roujou_, the pages of the _Revue de +Numismatique_, and the writings of Messieurs De la Saussaye, Lenormant, +De Saulcy, E. Lambert, and other French authorities. + +If, continuing our journey eastwards, we pass over the border into the +northern provinces of Italy, we find equally striking evidence of the +pre-Christian veneration of the symbol in question. + +Let us take for example the evidence furnished by the remarkable +discoveries made in the pre-Christian cemetery unearthed at Gola-Secca. +For upon a very large proportion of the articles discovered in the +ancient tombs of the cemetery in question, a cross of some kind is the +prominent feature. + +Particulars of these articles can be found recorded in the literary and +scientific journals of France. And the conclusion arrived at by the +authorities upon such matters cannot be better put than in the revised +edition in book form of an article in the _Revue Archeologque_ by +Monsieur G. de Mortillet. + +After referring to the relics of so much of ancient Gaul as is +comprised in modern France, a subject he takes leave of in the words-- + + "But the pre-Christian cult of the cross was not + confined to Savoy and the environs of Lyons. A glance at + the coins of ancient Gaul is sufficient to show that it + existed in nearly every part"-- + +M. de Mortillet, crossing the frontier and dealing +with the said tombs of Gola-Secca near Milan +in Italy, sums up as follows + + "One sees that there can be no doubt whatever concerning + the use of the cross as a religious sign for a very long + time before Christianity. The cult of the cross was well + spread over Gaul before its conquest and already existed + in Emilia in the Bronze Age, more than a thousand years + before Jesus Christ." + +Let us pass on to yet another country, Switzerland. Here also we find +unexceptional evidence of the general recognition of the cross before +our era as a symbol which should above all others be venerated. + +The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland may be said to have been brought to +light by the extraordinary drought experienced in the years A.C. +1853-4; for though piles and ancient remains were found upon the shores +of various lakes before that date, no great heed was paid to them till +the drought in question lowered the waters of the lake of Zurich and of +other lakes to an unprecedented extent, and certain discoveries due +thereto led to the matter being thoroughly investigated by +antiquarians. + +The result was that many relics of the Lake Dwellers were found. And, +placed upon those relics by this forgotten race of hoary antiquity as +the sign they venerated, was the symbol of the cross. + +These relics, preserved for us by the sediment carried into the lakes +by various rivers, cannot be less than 3,000 years old, are not +improbably 4,000 years old, and may quite possibly be 5,000 years old; +some authorities--Monsieur Morlot for instance--estimating their age at +from 6,000 to 7,000 years. Suffice it to record the fact that these +relics are admittedly pre-Christian. + +Upon the articles in question, as on those discovered in the +pre-Christian tombs of Gola-Secca, the cross is stamped as a symbol of +life, of good omen, and of salvation. Even dies for stamping articles +with the cross have been discovered among the remains of the Lake +Dwellers. And the crosses are of three kinds; (1) the right-angled +cross of four equal arms, of which so many variations, some enclosed in +circles and some with the extremities widened and rounded, are used as +Christian symbols; (2) the other cross of four equal arms, known as the +St. Andrew's cross or _Chi_ cross; and (3) the Fylfot or Svastika +cross. + +The last named cross is a peculiar one of quite unmistakeable design; +and there are two varieties, {image "svastika1.gif"}, and {image +"svastika2.gif"}, of which one is obviously an impression or reverse +view of the other. + +The names _Fylfot_ and _Svastika_ are very generally applied to both +these symbols. The term _Svastika_, an Indian one, is however applied +by the inhabitants of Hindostan to one only; they calling the other +_Sauvastika_. And it is curious to note that the meanings attached to +these names, though, like the symbols allied in nature, are, also like +them, the reverse or negative or complement of each other. + +For instance we are told by Sir G. Birdwood that the right handed +Svastika signifies the Male Principle, the Sun on its daily journey +from East to West, Light and Life; and that the left-handed Svastika +signifies the Female Principle, the Sun in Hades or the Underworld on +its journey from West to East, Darkness and Death.[64] + +This more or less official pronouncement may be taken as a fairly +accurate one, although it is obvious that the annual as well as the +diurnal movement of the Sun should have been referred to; the half year +between the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox representing Light and +Life, and that between the Autumnal Equinox and Vernal Equinox Darkness +and Death, just as clearly as do the half days between sunrise and +sunset, sunset and sunrise. But it is to be feared that even those who +remember how often Death and Darkness are referred to as periods of +Gestation, will have some difficulty in seeing how a sign or symbol of +the Female Power of Generation can have signified Death. + +The fact of course is that the symbol in question represented both Life +and Death, and represented the latter only in a minor sense and owing +to the fact that the Female Principle of Life was regarded as the +necessary reverse, negative, or complement of the Male Principle; which +latter, having of the two the better claim to be considered the starter +of life, was the one more particularly identified with Life and +therefore with the vernal Sun-God. + +It would also appear that the two symbols in question to some extent +signified Fire and Water; Fire being of course the Male Principle, Day, +Summer, Light, and Life; and Water the Female Principle. This still +further illustrates the point dealt with above; for though Water is the +negative of Fire, yet Fire cannot produce Life without the aid of +Water. + +Returning however to our consideration of the cross as a symbol of Life +of pre-Christian date and origin, and having already dealt with the +lands now known as Britain, France, Italy, and Switzerland, let us now +consider the evidence of Greece. + +At Mycenae and elsewhere Dr. Schliemann discovered, among other relics +of a bygone age, not only articles marked with the Svastika cross and +the cross of four equal arms, but even seals and dies giving +impressions of such crosses; thus demonstrating how large and prominent +a part the symbol of the cross played in pre-Christian times among +those in whose classic tongue the earliest known copies of the +Christian Scriptures were written centuries later. + +It is also remarkable that Dr. Schliemann found golden crosses in the +previously unopened tombs he discovered and explored at Mycenae; as +many as five such crosses having in some instances been placed with a +single body by those who sealed up the vaults in question thousands of +years ago and many centuries before the commencement of our era. + +As few if any unrifled tombs of so ancient a date have been discovered +in Greece and first explored by a trustworthy investigator, and as, +moreover, it would only have been with the bodies of important +personages that crosses of so valuable a material as gold would have +been buried, these discoveries, coupled with the self-evident fact that +crosses of more perishable material may have been buried with the +bodies of less distinguished people, and by this time, like both the +bodies and the tombs which enclosed them, have gone to dust, are most +remarkable. And they entirely corroborate the testimony borne by the +coins of ancient Gaul, the contents of the tombs of Gola-Secca, and the +remains of the Lake Dwellers of Switzerland, to the veneration paid +long before our era by the inhabitants of Europe to the cross as the +recognised symbol of Life. Nor as the symbol only of the life which +ends in the grave, but also of the glorious hope that as the Sun, from +whom we derive that life, whether considered from a daily or yearly +point of view sinks but to rise again, even so we who owe our brief +lives to the Sun-God, may, like the Giver of Life and only Saviour, +rise from one life to another. + +For whether the ancients were or were not unphilosophic enough to +believe in the resurrection of bodies whose constituent atoms are +continually changing and in time form part of other bodies, it is +absurd to assume that they did not at times like ourselves conceive and +dwell upon a hoped-for, if unexpected and improbable, Life-to-come. + +Moreover it is with us, as it was with them, a _hope_; and it is +disingenuous to label as Christian what was pre-Christian, and to claim +as ours what has been common to the reasoning minds of suffering men +and women of all eras. + +It is equally disingenuous on the part of us Christians to keep in the +background the noteworthy fact that even in pre-Christian ages the +symbol of that hope was--the cross. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA. + +If, leaving Europe, we pass on into Asia, we find that not only have +the two varieties of Svastika crosses for thousands of years played a +prominent part as a religious symbol in Hindostan, Thibet, and China, +but that other kinds of crosses also were in bygone ages venerated by +their inhabitants. + +For instance our Eastern Empire is strewn with the remains of ancient +temples built, like those of Christendom in later days, in the shape of +a cross; and we are told that the oldest of its rock-hewn caves were +planned after the same figure. It is also well-known that isolated +stone crosses of pre-historic date are to be seen in various parts of +India. + +The evidence of Hindostan is however outweighed by that obtainable from +the antiquities of Western Asia, concerning some of which Sir A. H. +Layard wrote: + + "The crux ansata, the tau or sign of life, is found in + the sculptures of Khorsabad, on the ivories of + Nimroud--which as I have shown are of the same + age--carried too by an Assyrian King."[65] + +We have also to note the equally significant facts that the recognised +symbol of the Phoenician Goddess of Love--Astarte, Ashtoreth, or +Ishtar, the Bride of the Sun-God--was a cross; that a cross was also +associated with the Phoenician Baal or Sun-God; and that the circle and +cross, now the symbol of the planet held sacred to the Goddess of Love, +frequently occurs upon the ancient coins of Western Asia and was not +improbably more or less akin in signification to the crux ansata of +Egypt. The fact that upon very ancient remains still existing the Baal +is represented as crowned with a wheel-like nimbus of rays should also +be mentioned. + +The cross more especially connected with the Phoenician "Bride of the +Sun-God" in ancient days, was, as can easily be seen upon reference to +ancient coins, where it occurs in the hand of the goddess in question, +a long handled cross such as is frequently to be seen in our pictorial +representations of John the Baptist. + +As John the Baptist was an Asiatic and to some extent a pre-Christian +Asiatic, we can here, without wandering very far from the matter in +hand, pause to consider the question why we Christians represent John +the Baptist, who had nothing to do with a cross, as holding a cross; if +it be not that while Jesus was supposed to represent the Sun in its +annual ascension, John was supposed to represent the Sun in its annual +declension? What other rational explanation have we of the facts, (1) +that John is represented as saying that he baptised with water but that +Jesus would baptise with _fire_ (where the rains of winter and the heat +of summer may be referred to); and (2) that the Christian Church in +framing its calendar fixed upon what we call Midsummer day as the +birthday of John the Baptist, and upon the clay which bears the same +relation to the other solstice as the birthday of Christ, as if wishing +to illustrate that other remarkable pronouncement of John, thus placed +at the point where the days begin to shorten, concerning Jesus, thus +placed where the days begin to lengthen, "He must increase but I must +decrease"? + +The probability that to its original signification of Life, that of +Salvation was added to the cross as a recognition of the fact that the +salvation of Earth-Life in general and of Mankind in particular is due +to the fact that at the Vernal Equinox the Sun-God "crosses" to save, +summer and the fruits of the earth and therefore salvation and increase +being due to the fact that the Sun then crosses the Equator, is +supported by evidence from all quarters. And if we refuse to admit that +Christianity is permeated with the ideas of Sun-God worship, we not +only have no rational explanation to offer of the prophecies put by the +Evangelists in the mouth of John the Baptist to the effect that Jesus +would baptise with _fire_ and would _increase_, but also none to offer +of many another prominent feature of our religion; such as, for +instance, the fact that while pretending to reverence all the Ten +Commandments we deliberately make a point of breaking one of them in +order to keep as a day of rest not the seventh day but the first, the +day which from time immemorial was held sacred throughout the Roman +Empire as _Dies Solis_, the Day of the Sun. For to aver as we do that +Jesus was not made the subject of a Sun-God allegory, but purposely +rose from the underworld on the Day of the Sun, at the time of the +Vernal Equinox, in order to annul a commandment previously laid down by +God and substitute a new one in silence, is only to make ourselves +ridiculous. + +Returning however to the matter more particularly in hand, it should be +pointed out that the crux ansata mentioned by Layard is not the only +kind of cross to be found upon the relics of ancient Babylonia and +Assyria. For the cross of four equal arms and the solar wheel are also +to be met with. + +Moreover, as all visitors to our museums should be aware, the monarchs +are represented as wearing in the place of honour round their neck and +on their breast, a Maltese cross. And this cross, worn by the kings +centuries before our era as the symbol which should above all others be +venerated, or as best signifying their power over the lives of their +subjects and their position as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, is admitted +by all the best authorities to have been the sign and symbol of the +Sun-God.[66] + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA. + +Passing on to Africa and a consideration of the _crux ansata_ or +so-called 'Key of the Nile,' we find that this variety of cross had +much the same significance attached to it by the ancients as had the +more widely accepted varieties. + +As a matter of fact no one acquainted with Egyptian antiquities who +enquires into the matter in thorough going fashion, can in the end fail +to be convinced that the Egyptian cross was a phallic symbol having +reference to the sexual powers of generation and to the Sun, and being +therefore a symbol both of Life and of the Giver of Life. + +The connection between the crux ansata and the Sun-God in the minds of +the inhabitants of the Land of the Nile in pre-Christian days, is very +clearly set forth by an illustration of Khuenaten in the act of +distributing gifts to his courtiers which faces page 40, volume I., of +Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's "_Manners and Customs of the Ancient +Egyptians_." For this monarch--also known as Amenophis IV.--and his +wife are both represented as receiving the crux ansata from the +Sun-God, and the Sun is marked with the crux ansata as its peculiar +symbol. + +Upon Plate IV. facing page 43 of the same famous work, we see Seti I. +surmounted by the Sun; two crosses adorning the latter. The crosses +are, moreover, attached to two serpents issuing from the sun; and these +were in ancient days phallic signs representing the sexual powers. + +On page 405 is a representation of the Egyptian god Khem, or Amen-Ra +Generator; the Egyptian Priapus, or god of Generation. The names of +this phallic deity show his connection with the Sun. + +It is noteworthy that this particular conception of the Sun-God is +accompanied by emblems of the sexual organs of reproduction, and that +he bears a St. Andrew's cross upon his breast. + +Upon page 24 of volume III. of the same work is another representation +of Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator. In this case also he is accompanied by +phallic and solar emblems and wears a St. Andrew's cross upon his +breast. + +On page 26 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson tells us that + + "Khem was considered the generating influence of the + sun, whence perhaps the reason of his being connected + with Amen-Ra: and in one of the hieroglyphic legends + accompanying his name he is styled the sun; that is the + pro-creating power of the only source of warmth, which + assists in the continuation of the various created + species." + +Upon Plate XXII., facing page 44 of volume III., are three different +instances of the crux ansata being attached to the sun as the symbol of +the Sun-God. + +Upon page 46 is another instance of the crux ansata being attached to +the solar serpent issuing from the sun's disc. + +On Plate XXIII., facing page 52, is another illustration of the +reception of the crux ansata from the Sun-God. + +Upon page 82 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson rightly observes that it is +absurd to speak of the crux ansata or Egyptian cross as the _Key of the +Nile_, inasmuch as this cross "is less frequently seen in the hand of +the God Nilus than any deity of the Egyptian pantheon." + +Upon the remarkable Plate XXXI., facing page 136, we see inscriptions +describing the reigning Pharaoh as the "Vice-gerent of the Giver of +Eternal Life"; or, in other words, of the Sun-God. Other expressions +applied to the Pharaoh are "Giver of Life and Strength like the Sun"; +"Who gives all Life, Stability, and Health like the Sun"; and "Approved +of the Sun and Giver of Life like the Sun." + +It is thus clear that ages before our era the cross was venerated in +Egypt as in other lands as the symbol both of Life and of the Giver of +Life; and that the deity worshipped as the Giver of Life, and ever +associated with that salutary symbol the cross, was the Sun-God. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +EVIDENCE OF TROY. + +Dr. Schliemann has told us that in his researches upon the site of Troy +he found that in pre-Christian if not indeed pre-historic times the +cross was, in that classic locality as elsewhere, a phallic emblem and +the symbol of life; as well as a solar emblem and the symbol of the +holy fire with which life was more or less identified. For instance on +page 337 of his _Ilios_ (1880 edition) Dr. Schliemann describes a +leaden idol discovered by him and of great antiquity. He tells us that +it was female in character and had the vulva marked with the triangle, +a symbol of the Feminine Principle. And he points out that within the +triangle was the Svastika cross. + +On page 521 Dr. Schliemann describes an ancient terra cotta vase, with +the characteristics of a woman upon it, and on the vulva a St. Andrew's +cross. + +Upon page 523 is a reference to another vase of similar design. Here +also a cross appears to mark the vulva. + +On page 353 Dr. Schliemann admits that the Svastika cross drawn within +the triangle marking the vulva, shows that this cross was a sign of +generation in ancient and pre-historic times. This remark should +evidently have been applied by him to the St. Andrew's cross as well, +for he shows that also to have been used as a sign of the organ of +generation, as has been shown above. + +We are here reminded of the fact, already noted, that the Egyptians +represented their God of Generation, Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator, as +wearing a conspicuous St. Andrew's cross. And as Khem was the Egyptian +Priapus it ought also to be pointed out that it was in ancient times +the practice to erect wooden crosses to this conception of the Sun-God. + +An illustration of one example of the crosses erected to Priapus can be +seen in figure XI. of plate XXIX. of that well-known work, _Antique +Gems and Rings_.[67] And the phallic nature of such crosses cannot be +denied. + +Returning, however, to the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann upon the site +of Troy, we find on page 350 of _Ilios_ that both varieties of the +Svastika cross are extraordinarily common upon the articles he +discovered. + +As an Indian symbol the Svastika cross can only be traced back as far +as the fourth or fifth century B.C.; and its occurrence upon these and +other relics of earlier ages and other lands, shows us that it is +inaccurate and misleading to speak of it as "Indian." + +The origin of the Svastika cross, whether the {image "svastika1.gif"}, +or the {image "svastika2.gif"}, is unknown; but Dr. Schliemann quotes +with approval Professor Max Muller's remarks to the effect that Mr. +Thomas our distinguished Oriental numismatist + + "Has clearly proved that on some of the Andra coins and + likewise on some punched coins depicted on Sir W. + Elliot's plate ix. _Madras Jour. Lit. and Science_, vol. + III., the place of the more definite figure of the sun + is often taken by the Svastika, and that the Svastika + has been inserted within the rings or normal circles + representing the four suns of the Ujjain pattern on + coins. He has also called attention to the fact that in + the long list of the recognised devices of the + twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the sun is absent; but + that while the eighth Tirthankara has the sign of the + half-moon the seventh Tirthankara is marked with the + _Svastika, i.e._, the sun. Here then, I think, we have + very clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands + pointing in the right direction, was originally a symbol + of the Sun, perhaps of the vernal sun as opposed to the + autumnal sun, the _Sauvastika_, and therefore a natural + symbol of light, life, health, and wealth. That in + ancient mythology the sun was frequently represented as + a wheel is well known. Grimm identifies the Old Norse + _hjol_ or hvel, the A.-S. _hvehol_, English 'wheel,' + with {kappa|upsilon with + tonos|kappa|lambda|omicron|rho}, Sk. Kakra, wheel; and + derives jol, 'yule-tide,' the time of the winter + solstice, from hjol, 'the (solar) wheel.'" + +Both the {image "svastika1.gif"} and the {image "svastika2.gif"} occur +upon the famous footprints of Buddha carved upon the Amaravati Tope, +and Dr. Schliemann remarks that we find the Svastika or Sauvastika +cross + + "In Ezekiel ix. 4, 6, where--in the form of the old + Hebrew letter Tau--it is written as the sign of life on + the forehead, like the corresponding Indian symbol. We + find it twice on a large piece of ornamental leather + contained in the celebrated Corneto treasure preserved + in the Royal Museum at Berlin; also on ancient pottery + found at Konigsberg in the Neumark and preserved in the + Markisches Museum in Berlin; and on a Bowl from Yucatan + in the Berlin Ethnological Museum. We also see it on + coins of Gaza, as well as on an Imperial coin of Asido; + also on the drums of the Lapland priests." + +It is noteworthy that in the neighbourhood of Troy, as in Cyprus and +other places, a cross of four equal arms, like our sign of addition, in +days of old shared with the Svastika crosses the veneration of the +people and was evidently more or less akin to those crosses in +signification. Dr. Schliemann tells us that this cross of four equal +arms "occurs innumerable times on the whorls of the three upper +pre-historic cities of Hissarlik," and that if, as Burnouf and others +suggest, the {image "svastika2.gif"} and {image "svastika1.gif"} +represented primitive fire machines, this other cross "might also claim +the honour of representing the two pieces of wood for producing the +holy fire by friction." + +Elsewhere in the same work Dr. Schliemann quotes with approval the +opinion of Professor Sayce that the Svastika cross, {image +"svastika2.gif"} or {image "svastika1.gif"}, "was a symbol of +generation." + +As phallic worship and Sun-God worship were admittedly always closely +connected, it is not surprising to find that Dr. Schliemann also very +highly commends a dissertation on the {image "svastika2.gif"} and +{image "svastika1.gif"} by Mr. Edward Thomas, whose conclusion is that + + "As far as I have been able to trace or connect the + various manifestations of this emblem, they one and all + resolve themselves into the primitive conception of + solar motion, which was intuitively associated with the + rolling or wheel-like projection of the sun through the + upper or visible arc of the heavens." + +It may therefore be considered proven that the inhabitants of classic +Troy like those of the Land of the Nile and other countries, recognised +a close affinity between the productive forces and the sun, and were +one in accepting a cross of some description as the natural symbol +whether of Life or of the Giver of Life. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS. + +Although now, owing to the march of events, the island of Cyprus is out +of the way and seldom visited, it was once otherwise. For in days of +old it occupied a favoured position between the countries then foremost +in the arts of civilisation. + +In those days Cyprus was a centre of Phoenician enterprise. And, as we +are told in that fine work _'Kypros, the Bible, and Homer: Oriental +Civilisation, Art and Religion in ancient times,'_ "The oldest extant +Phoenician inscriptions, _themselves the earliest examples of letters +properly so called_, come from Cyprus." + +As, moreover, when face to face with the relics of the Phoenicians we +are, as Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter also remarks, "In the very midst of +ancient Canaanitish civilisation as depicted in the Old Testament," it +will be seen that a study of the antiquities of Cyprus should have a +special interest for us Christians. + +Let us therefore see what the ancient remains found in the island in +question, and others referred to in the work mentioned as illustrative +of the same, can tell us regarding phallic worship in general and the +pre-Christian cross in particular. + +One of the first points to be noted in the illustrations supplied by +Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter is in a cut of an ancient Cyprian coin on +Plate X.; upon which coin we see over a temple gateway the phallic +symbol since adopted by the Moslems, and commonly spoken of as the +'_star_ and crescent' although, as already shown, it originality +represented the radiate Sun or Male Principle in conjunction with the +Crescent moon or Female Principle. + +Upon Plate XIX. we see several examples of the Svastika cross occurring +upon an ancient Cyprian vase. + +On Plate XXV. we are shown a gold leaf taken from an ancient grave, +upon which the Svastika cross occurs. + +Figure 10 upon the same plate shows us a gold leaf discovered at +Amathus upon which we see the Sun and Moon in conjunction, the Sun in +this instance being represented as a disc in the horns of the crescent. + +Upon Plate XXVI. we have representations of stone pillars at Atheniaon, +upon the capitals of which are phallic emblems, including that of the +Sun as a disc within the horns of the Crescent moon. + +On Plate XXX. we have in figure 7 a cut of an important cylinder now +stored in the Berlin Museum, upon which are represented both the Sacred +Tree and the Ashera. The winged Sun-disc appears over the former and +the Crescent moon over the latter. + +Figure 11 upon the same plate shows us a Masseba representing the Male +Principle, surmounted by the star-like form which represented the +radiate Sun; and an Ashera, representing the Female Principle, +surmounted by the Crescent moon. + +Just as in modern Christianity we make a distinction without alleging +much difference between the Father and the Son, even so in ancient +times a distinction of a similarly vague kind was made between the +All-Father _Fire_ and His Image and First-begotten Son _Light_. The +disc of the Sun seems to have represented the former and the Sun-star +or radiate Sun the latter where both were represented in one +illustration, as for instance in figure 12 on the plate last mentioned. + +The illustration in question is an important one. On the left is an +Ashera under a Crescent moon; in the centre is a Masseba under the +Sun-star or radiate Sun; and on the right is an altar under a sun disc. + +The phallic meaning of all this is evident; and a kind of Trinity is +presented to us, _viz._ (1) The Female Principle and perhaps the +primeval Darkness, needing impregnation or illumination ere the same +can cause aught to be; (2) the Male Principle and Light, the First-born +Son of Fire; and (3) Fire itself, the one origin of all things and +Father of Spirits, made manifest unto mortals by His First-born Son, +and best symbolled, as is Light, by the Solar Orb. + +On Plate XXXI. we have in figure 4 a representation of the goddess +Ishtar, the bride of the Sun-God. Over her we see the phallic symbol of +the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + +On Plate XXXII. we see in figure 23 the Svastika cross under a tree, in +a representation of a scarab from Ialysos. This cross coupled with the +presence of two bulls, one on either side of the tree, seem to show +that the Male Principle is referred to. + +On Plate XL. we have a cut of a votive arm, holding in its hand that +phallic symbol the apple, and obtained from the sanctuary of Apollo at +Voni. + +On Plate LVIII. in representations of the stone capitals of two votive +pillars from the shrine of Aphrodite at Idalion, we see various phallic +emblems; including the familiar Sun disc and Crescent moon in +conjunction. + +The same remark applies to Plate LIX., where two more such pillars are +illustrated. + +Upon Plate LXIX. are given no less than 134 illustrations of ancient +religious symbols, and the phallic character of nearly if not quite all +is plainly apparent. + +In twelve of these the presence of the Sun or the Crescent Moon as the +case may be, points out that in the former event the Male Principle of +Life, and in the latter the Female Principle of Life, is referred to. +In six other cases the presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in +juxtaposition shows that both those Principles are referred to. And in +four other examples the presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in +conjunction shows that the union of those Principles is referred to. + +Besides the numerous Masseboth and Asheroth, respectively representing +the Male and Female Principles, we see numerous examples of the +triangle which represented the female _vulva_ and of the diamond shaped +symbol which represented the female _pudendum_. + +Among the remaining symbols is the cross of four equal arms. + +Upon Plate LXXV. is an illustration of a vase painting in red figures +from a Stamnos from Vulci Panofka. The representation is one of the +Sun-God Dionysos upon a cross. + +The said cross, which like various Christian crosses of the Dark and +Middle Ages has projecting branches and foliage, seems to have been +more or less connected with the Tree worship of ancient times. + +On Plate LXXVI. we are given thirteen examples of Sacred Trees +discovered in the groves of Astarte-Aphrodite and Tanit-Artemis-Cybele, +being clay copies of the Sacred Trees erected at the entrances to the +temples. As Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter states, these evidently phallic +symbols undoubtedly played a part in the worship of the Sun-God +Tammuz-Adonis and his bride Astarte-Aphrodite. + +Upon Plate LXXVII. we have a cut of an important Phoenician seal, where +we see (1) a man kneeling in adoration to a Divine Trinity connected +with the winged disc of the sun, and (2) a priest worshipping three +symbols. The three sacred symbols in question are (1) the Ashera or +symbol of the Female Life Principle; (2) the Masseba or symbol of the +Male Life Principle; and (3) a combination of the Ashera and Masseba +symbols representing the two Life Principles in conjunction. + +On Plate LXXIX. we have in figure 14 a representation both of the +Sacred Tree and of the combined Ashera and Masseba. Over the latter we +naturally see the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + +In figure 16 on the same plate are representations of an Ashera and a +Masseba, respectively surmounted by a Crescent moon and a radiate Sun. + +A similar remark applies to figure 17. A sacrificing priest can be seen +in this and the last named instances. + +On Plate LXXX. we have in figure 1 a representation of a holy pillar, +the volute capital of which has on it a Crescent moon within the horns +of which is a disc plainly marked with a cross. This is taken from an +ancient cylinder of Hittite origin. + +On the same plate we see in figure 7 a Sun column from Tyre, upon which +we see the Crescent and disc in conjunction as in the last case, but +without the cross. + +On Plate CXVIII. we have in figure 8 a cut of a fine vase from Melos +ornamented with a Svastika cross. + +Upon Plate CXXXIII. we have, in figures I to 4, representations of a +sacred Boeotian chest or ark. On the front are seven Svastika crosses +(some of each variety) and one ordinary cross like our sign of +addition. On the lid we see two serpents surrounded by eight Svastika +crosses (some of each variety) and eight crosses formed of tau crosses, +{image "taucross.gif"}; besides two other crosses. + +On the back are eight Svastika crosses (some of each variety) and eight +other crosses. + +In figure 6 we have a cut of a chest from Athiaenon upon which two +Svastika crosses will be noticed. + +In figure 8 of the same plate is an illustration of one side of another +sacred chest or ark from Athiaenon, on which two Svastika crosses of +the other variety can be seen. + +Upon Plate CLV. we have in figure 9 a cut of an important Cyprian +Graeco-Phoenician Amphora discovered in an ancient grave at Kition and +now stored in the British Museum. The object represented upon it is a +Sacred Tree marked at the bottom with a St. Andrew's cross and +surrounded with Svastika crosses. + +On Plate CLXXIII. we see in group 19 various objects discovered in +ancient graves; one bearing several ordinary crosses and also several +Svastika crosses, one bearing a Svastika cross of the other variety, +and a third bearing Svastika crosses of both kinds. + +Upon Plate CXCII. are cuts of various Cyprian coins, the phallic symbol +of the circle and cross occurring upon Nos. 1, 9, and 10. + +Leaving the Book of Plates and turning to the illustrations given with +the Text of the valuable work we are considering, we discover upon page +62 a cut showing the impression of a chalcedony cylinder from the +collection of the Due de Luynes, where the Sun is represented by a +Cross of four equal arms. + +Upon page 85 we have in figure 117 an illustration of an inscribed +cylinder, now belonging to the Bibliotheque Nationale of France, in +which, as Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter remarks, the priest or king +represented is raising his arm + + "In adoration in the direction of the Cross suspended in + the air before him, a holy object we often meet on + Assyrian and Babylonian monuments." + +This cross, like that last named, is more like a Greek cross than a +Maltese cross. + +On page 148 we have in figure 150 an illustration of a coloured image +of Aphrodite or Astarte discovered in an early Graeco-Phoenician tomb +at Kurion. This representation of the Goddess of Love and Bride of the +Sun-God is marked with several Svastika crosses, and is yet further +evidence of the phallic and solar character of that symbol. + +Such is the evidence of the phallic worship and Sun-God worship of the +Phoenicians and their neighbours, of the close relationship between +such phallic worship and Sun-God worship, and of the part played in +connection with the same by the pre-Christian cross, borne by a work of +research so free from bias against the views of the Christian Church +that it has prefixed to it a letter of warm commendation from that +veteran statesman and theologian, the author of the ultra-orthodox +"_Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture_." + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE. + +The most noteworthy features of the available evidence illustrative of +the real origin and history of the symbol of the cross have now been +placed before the reader, but a number of more or less miscellaneous +facts directly or indirectly throwing additional light upon the subject +have still to be drawn attention to. + +For instance, no mention has yet been made of the _Hermae_ of bygone +ages. And although their origin may have had no connection with the +symbol in question, it is noteworthy that some at least of the early +Christians discovered in the more or less cruciform outline of the +Hermae a reason or excuse for paying them homage, while very similar +figures are to be seen illustrated upon Christian antiquities, such as +the mosaic of which the great cross of the Lateran forms the principal +feature. + +The Hermae venerated by the ancient Greeks were pillars, usually of +stone and quadrangular, surmounted in most instances with a head of +either Hermes or Dionysos; and with a peculiar transverse rail just +below the head, much used for hanging garlands upon, which made the +whole look more or less like a cross. + +These pillars were erected in front of temples, tombs, and houses; but +more especially as sign posts at cross roads; and whether the head at +the top was that of Hermes the Messenger of the Gods, or, as was very +often the case, that of Dionysos the Sun-God, a phallus was always a +prominent feature. + +Moreover these phallic and often solar erections called Hermae, +undoubtedly more or less cross-shaped owing to the transverse rail, +were worshipped as conducive to fecundity. + +It is also worthy of notice that the cross is well known to have been +venerated in America before even the Norsemen who preceded Columbus set +foot upon that afterwards rediscovered continent. + +For instance a cross surrounded by a circle was in use among the +ancient Mexicans as a solar sign, another cross was a solar symbol of +the natives of Peru from time immemorial, and we are also told by the +authorities that a cross of four equal arms with a disc or circle at +the centre was the age-old Moqui symbol of the Sun.[68] + +Other noteworthy points are that the cross occurs upon Runic monuments +in Europe long before Christianity was introduced into the regions +containing them; that ancient altars to the Sun-God Mithras bearing the +sacred symbol of the cross have been discovered even in England; and +that the Laplanders of old when sacrificing marked their idols with the +symbol of the cross, using the life blood of their victims for that +purpose.[69] + +It should also be pointed out that on a coin of Thasos bearing +representations of a phallic character connected with the worship of +the Thracian Bacchus, a Svastika cross is a prominent symbol; that upon +ancient vases the headgear of Bacchus is sometimes ornamented with the +cross of four equal arms; that upon a Greek vase at Lentini, Sicily, an +ancient representation of the Sun-God Hercules is accompanied by no +less than three different kinds of crosses as symbols; and that upon an +archaic Greek vase in the British Museum, the Svastika cross, the St. +Andrew's cross, and the other and right angled cross of four equal +arms, appear under the rays of the Sun. Nor should it be forgotten that +though the Svastika cross has almost died out as a Christian symbol and +was perhaps never thoroughly acclimatised as such, it often appeared +upon Christian ecclesiastical properties of the Middle Ages, and, +either as a Pagan or Christian symbol, continually occurs in the +catacombs of Rome. + +We are told that circular wafers or cakes were used in the mysteries of +the Sun-God Bacchus, and, being marked with a cross, resembled the +disc-like wafers of the Christian Mass. Whether this was so or not, it +is noteworthy that a cross is said to appear upon the representation of +a circular wafer used in the mysteries of Mithras which occurs upon an +ancient fresco at Rome. + +In this connection it may be mentioned, as a series of curious +coincidences, that in the Zoroastrian religion long before our era the +Sun-God Mithras bore much the same relation to the All-Father that the +Christ does in ours, and is referred to in the Zend Avesta as the +_Incarnate Word_; that Mithras is said, like the Christ, to have been +born in a cave; that the Fathers admitted that the new-born Sun had +been worshipped in the cave at Bethlehem to which the story of the +birth of Jesus referred; and that in framing its calendar our Church +fixed upon the recognised birthday of Mithras, the _Natalis Invicti_ of +the Roman Brumalia, as the birthday of the Christ. + +It is also noteworthy that the Christ is thus said to have been born as +well as to have risen again the third _or fourth_ ("_After_ three +days," _Matt_, xxvii. 63; _after_ "Three days and three nights," Matt, +xii. 40) day. For the birthday of Mithras and afterwards of the Christ, +known to us as Christmas day, seems to have been fixed upon as the +third or fourth day after the winter solstice, and as that upon which +the sun's resurrection from the south was first discernible after its +apparent cessation of movement or death. + +In this connection it should be added that Lucian records the fact that +the Sun-God referred to by the Fathers as worshipped at Bethlehem was +lamented as dead once a year and always acclaimed as alive again the +third day; that in several places in the Zend Avesta we meet with +passages which show that the Mithras worshippers of old believed that +at the death of a man his spirit sits at the head of the corpse for +three days and three nights, and then, at dawn, rises free from all +earthly attachments; and that we say that the execution of Jesus took +place at the time of the Passover or Vernal Equinox, while instead of +the prophesied "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" +(_Matt_. xii. 40) the period between the death and burial on Good +Friday evening and the resurrection before dawn on Easter Sunday is +just about that during which the Sun's disc is at the Vernal Equinox +transfixed by the Equator, _viz._, 32 2/3 hours. + +The question why the Cock so often, like the Cross, surmounts the +steeples wherewith we adorn our Christian churches, is brought before +us by the fact that it was in ancient days a well-known symbol both of +the generative powers and of the Sun-God; often appearing as such upon +the top of a sacred pillar in Assyrian and Babylonian representations +of priests in the act of sacrificing or worshipping. It was probably as +the "herald of the dawn" that this bird became a symbol of the Sun-God, +and it would seem that we place its effigy aloft with the same idea in +view. + +Another point to be noted is that in the Kunthistorisches Museum at +Vienna is an ancient vase upon which is a representation of the Sun-God +Apollo bearing upon his breast as his one ornament and symbol a +Svastika cross. + +We are reminded of the facts that we Christians were once in the habit +of alluding to the cross as the Tree of Life, and that the ancients +dressed up the trunks of trees and worshipped them as symbols of life +and growth, by an Attic vase of the fifth century B.C. Upon this is a +red coloured painting of a tree so dressed, on which is to be seen near +the top a head of the Sun-God Dionysos, and surrounding the trunk a +shirt or garment covered with crosses. + +As to the evidence obtained from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, +it is said that much which is of a phallic character has been, from +quite worthy motives, kept in the background. An important fact has +however been mentioned by Mr. C. W. King, M.A., in his well known work +on the _Gnostics and, their Remains_, and this at least can be +commented upon. He tells us that the Cross and the Phallus were found +placed in juxtaposition upon the walls as meaning one and the same +thing, and he goes on to add that + + "This cross seems to be the Egyptian Tau, that ancient + symbol of the generative power and therefore transferred + into the Bacchic mysteries." + +The foregoing are the last of the evidences throwing light upon the +origin and history of the symbol adopted by our religion as its own, +which the author thinks it necessary to bring forward in support of his +contention. And however much of the evidence sought out by the author +and in this work marshalled by him into something like order may seem +by itself to be untrustworthy or worthless, no reader can reasonably +deny that it has been proved that the cross was a well known symbol of +Life long before our era, and that as a whole the evidence tends to +show that it became such as a phallic symbol, and therefore as a symbol +of the Sun-God. + +And what is the moral of the real, as distinguished from the imaginary, +history of the symbol of the cross but this: that from the beginning +nought has caused the beliefs of men to assume an appearance of radical +difference, save the difference in the name or dress with which this or +that set of men have clothed similar ideas? + +For, as has already been hinted, Humanity has ever had but one God and +but one Religion. And as from one point of view Life is but another +term for the Real Presence, and Death but another term for the +withdrawal of Deity, it may be said that that God is Life, and that +Religion the desire for Life, more Life, and fuller Life. Moreover, as +has been said before, this universal worship of Life is discernible +even in the willingness of some to sacrifice what remains to them of +mortal life in the hope of thus being enabled to lay hold of a life +immortal which is not for all. + +The worship of Life is natural, and must of necessity continue. Let us +however render it nobler by recognising its catholicity; and by +contemptuously refusing to either seek or accept a life of bliss +hereafter which any of our brothers and sisters are, either in our +imagination or in reality, to be debarred from sharing. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +SUMMARY. + +At the commencement of this work it was shown that, as the Greek text +of the writings forming the New Testament testifies, not one of the +Apostles or Evangelists ever stated that Jesus was executed upon a +cross-shaped instrument of execution. The circumstances under which the +figure of the cross became the symbol of our religion, were then made +clear. And, having since demonstrated the existence in pre-Christian +ages of a widespread veneration of the figure of the cross as the +symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, which may have given rise to the +desire to associate Jesus therewith, little remains for the author to +do save draw the notice of the reader to the admissions of other +writers concerning the rise of the cross as the symbol of Christianity; +for the sake of brevity more or less confining his attention to two +well known works upon the history of religious art. + +It should first however be pointed out that though we Christians affirm +that crucifixion was a form of capital punishment made use of in days +of old, and abolished the fourth century after Christ by Constantine +because Jesus was so executed, we cannot exactly prove that the +_staurosis_ thus abolished was crucifixion, or even that it included +crucifixion. For various as are the different forms of 'death by the +stauros' of which descriptions have come down to us from pre-Christian +ages and the first three centuries of our era, no relic of that date +bears a representation of an instrument of execution such as we cause +to appear in our sacred pictures, and even if, regardless of the more +exact meaning of the word stauros, we suppose the term staurosis to +have included every form of carrying out the extreme penalty by means +of affixion or suspension, we meet with no description of such an +instrument of execution as we picture. Therefore even if we were to +exclude from the staurosis abolished by Constantine all forms of +transfixion by a stauros, we could not, upon the evidence before us, +fairly say that what that astute Emperor abolished was what is usually +understood by the term crucifixion. + +It will not be necessary to quote again the admission of the Reverend +S. Baring-Gould, M.A., to the effect that the so-called Cross of +Constantine or monogram of Christ was but the symbol of the Sun-God of +the Gauls with a loop added by their crafty leader to please the +Christians, but it may be pointed out that this fact is also admitted +in _Chambers's Encyclopaedia_; where we read that + + "The so-called cross of Constantine was not really a + cross but a circle containing the X P I, the first three + letters of the name of Christ in Greek; and was merely + an adaptation of a symbol of a Gaulish solar deity." + +And it may be added that the fact that the Monogram of Christ and the +ordinary cross so frequently used as symbols by Constantine upon his +coins and elsewhere, and thus made symbols of the Roman Empire in the +first half of the fourth century, were at first Pagan rather than +Christian symbols, also seems to be borne out by Dean Burgon in his +_Letters from Rome_, where he states + + "I question whether a cross occurs on any Christian + monument of the first four centuries."[70] + +Passing on however to the representative works on Christian Art already +referred to, we first come to Mrs. Jameson's famous _History of Our +Lord as exemplified in works of art_. + +Upon page 315 of Volume II. the gifted authoress, after confessing that +the cross was venerated by the heathen as a symbol of Life before the +period of Christianity and referring to St. Chrysostom, who flourished +half a century after Constantine, admits that + + "It must be owned that ancient objects of Art, as + far as hitherto known, afford no corroboration of the use + of the cross in the simple transverse form familiar to + us at any period preceding or even closely succeeding + the words of St. Chrysostom." + +That is to say, although Constantine introduced the Monogram of Christ +and the cross of four equal arms before St. Chrysostom was born, and, +making them symbols of the Roman Empire, would, whether a Sun-God +worshipper or a Christian, in any case have imposed them upon what he +established as his State Religion, it was not till after these solar +symbols of the Gauls were accepted as Christian that such a cross as +could possibly have been a representation of an instrument of execution +was introduced. + +As to the crucifix, we are told that though this is said by some to be +referred to in the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa--a Bishop of Tours who +lived in the sixth century, and also in the injunctions of the often +quoted council of Greek bishops A.C. 692 called the "Quini-sextum" or +"in Trullo," the evidence is + + "Insufficient to convince most modern archaeologists + that a crucifix in any sense now accepted was meant." + +In other words, not only is it clear that the cross as a representation +of the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died was not introduced +till after the days of Constantine, but it is also evident that the +crucifix, the earliest known representation of that execution, was not +introduced till centuries later. + +Other noteworthy admissions are made in the work above quoted from, but +we must pass on to the Dean of Canterbury's comparatively recent work +upon the same subject. + +Dean Farrar states upon page 11 of his _Life of Christ as represented +in Art_ that "Of all early Christian symbols the _Fish_ was the most +frequent and the favourite." + +The Fish; and not the Cross. + +Moreover the Dean significantly adds upon the next page, that the Fish + + "Continued to be a common symbol down to the + days of Constantine." + +And the significance lies in the fact that the introduction by +Constantine of the solar symbols venerated by the Gauls, may account +for the displacement of the symbol of the Fish from favour. + +Upon page 19 Dr. Farrar goes on to say that + + "Two symbols continued for ages to be especially common, + of which I have not yet spoken. They were not generally + adopted, even if they appeared at all, until after the + Peace of the Church at the beginning of the fourth + century. I mean the cross and the monogram of Christ." + +Here again, it will be seen, the Dean admits that the cross, as the +symbol of our religion, came in with Constantine. + +Directly after the passage last quoted Dean Farrar very misleadingly +remarks: "It must be remembered that the cross was in itself an object +of utter horror even to the Pagans." For the exact reverse is the +truth, inasmuch as in almost every land a cross of some description had +been for ages venerated as a symbol of Life. + +The fact of course is that the Dean here and elsewhere, like other +Christian writers, does not take the trouble to distinguish between the +symbol of the cross and the death caused by execution upon a stauros; +which instrument, by the way, was, as has been shown, not necessarily +in the shape of a cross, and appears to have been in most cases a stake +without a transverse rail. What the Pagans held in utter horror was the +awful death caused by transfixion by or affixion to a stauros, whatever +its shape; the symbol of the cross was, upon the contrary, an object of +veneration among them from time immemorial. + +On page 23 Dr. Farrar, alluding to the use of the transient sign of the +cross by the Christians of early days, makes the admission + + "That it did _not_ remind them of the Crucifixion only + or even mainly is proved alike by their literature and + other relics." + +Exactly so: for the non-material sign traced by them (and by us) upon +the forehead in the _non-Mosaic_ initiatory rite of baptism and perhaps +also upon the breast or in the air at other times, seems to have been +the survival of a Pagan and pre-Christian custom. + +Upon page 24 Dean Farrar admits that + + "The cross was only introduced among the Christian + symbols tentatively and timidly. It may be doubted + whether it once occurs till after the vision of + Constantine in 312 and his accession to the Empire of + the East and West in 324." + +Further on upon the same page the Dean of Canterbury, passing without +notice from symbols to instruments of execution and making no +distinction whatever, states that + + "Crosses were of two kinds. The _Crux Simplex_, 'of + one single piece without transom,' was a mere stake, + used sometimes to impale, sometimes to hang the victim + by the hands." + +Exactly so. + +But, to bring this work to a conclusion with what is the crux of the +whole matter, is it not disingenuous in the extreme upon the part of +those of us Christians who know better, to hide the fact that it may +have been upon some such cross as the Dean here refers to, that is, +upon no cross at all, that Jesus was executed? Is it not dishonest of +us to place before the masses Bibles and Lexicons wherein we ever +carefully translate as "cross" a word which at the time the ancient +classics and our sacred writings were penned did not necessarily, if +indeed ever, signify something cross-shaped? Is it not gross disloyalty +to Truth to insist, as we do in our versions of the Christian +Scriptures, upon translating as "crucify" or "crucified" four different +words, not one of which referred to anything necessarily in the shape +of a cross? + +Another point which should be mentioned, though such matters cannot be +discussed here, is that the questions whether Jesus did not prophesy +that the final Day of judgment would come before those whom he +addressed should die, and did not solemnly declare that his mission was +to the descendants of Jacob or Israel and to them alone, undoubtedly +affect our story. + +As to the Gospel of the Cross, have not we Christians by, in our +imaginations, limiting its saving effects to the few who are able to +believe in it, all the centuries that we have re-echoed the cry "the +Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" _forced_ upon the same the unutterably +selfish meaning that the kingdom at hand for the many who simply cannot +believe is that of Hell? Was _that_ what Jesus meant, and all that the +so-called cross effected? + +Moreover, whether the message of Jesus which we proclaim and variously +interpret was or was not a gospel--that is, "glad tidings "--to all +men, and from an unselfish point of view, what possible good purpose +can be served by insisting upon supplementing the simple story of his +stressful life, his magnificent love for the afflicted and suffering, +his equally magnificent hatred of qualities not altogether dissimilar +from that which enables some of us to claim to be not only admirers but +also genuine followers of a Communist who declared that those who would +follow him must first sell all their possessions and give the proceeds +to the poor;--what good purpose can be served by supplementing this, +and the account of the final conflict of Jesus with the officials of +his native land and his subsequent execution upon a stauros or stake +not stated to have had a cross-bar attached, by the adoption and +culture of a partisan and misleading fiction regarding the origin and +history of the symbol of the cross? + + + +THE END. + + + +--------------------- +FOOTNOTES +[1] _e.g._, _Iliad_, xxiv. 453; _Odyssey_, xiv. 11 +[2] _e.g._, Thuc. iv. 90; Xen. _An._ v. 2, 21. +[3] _Gal._ iii. 13; I _Pet._ ii. 24; _Acts_ v. 30; _Acts_ x. 39; + _Acts_ xiii. 29. +[4] _e.g._, Hdt. iii. 125. +[5] _e.g._, Thuc. vii. 25. +[6] Livy, xxviii. 29. +[7] Minucius Felix, _Oct._ xxix. +[8] _De Praescrip_. xl. +[9] _Oct._ xxix. +[10] _Ad Nationes_, xiv. +[11] Poed iii. II, 59. +[12] _Nicodemus_ i. +[13] _Nicodemus_ vii. +[14] _Nicodemus_ viii. +[15] _Apol_, i. 55. +[16] _Dial. cum Trypho_, lxxxvi. +[17] _Dial. cum Trypho_, xcvii. +[18] _Against Marcion_, iv. 20. +[19] _Against Marcion_, iii. 18. +[20] _Scorpiace_, i. +[21] _De Corolla_, iii. +[22] _De Proescrip_, xl. +[23] _Apologiticus_, xvi. +[24] _Ad Nationes_, xii. +[25] xxxvi. +[26] _Testimonies against the Jews_, ii. 21. +[27] _Testimonies against the Jews_, ii. 22. +[28] _Apud Gretserum_, ii. +[29] _Epist. ad Romanos_, Lib. vi. +[30] _Christ in Art_, p. 23. +[31] _Against Heresies_, i. xxiv. +[32] _Against Heresies_, II., xxii. 4-5. +[33] _Vit. Const. I._ +[34] _Vit. Const. I._, 28, 29, 30. +[35] _Vit. Const. I._, 29. +[36] _De Mart. Pers._, c. 44. +[37] _Vit. Const. I._, 31. +[38] _Vit. Const. I._, 37. +[39] _Vit. Const. I._, 40. +[40] _Vit. Const. II._ 7-9. +[41] _Vit. Const. III._ 3. +[42] _Vit. Const. III._ 49. +[43] _Opera S. Cyrilli_ cura Ant. Touttee 351 Menaeum Graecum + ad diem 7 Maii. +[44] zosimus ii. +[45] Both Zonaras and Cedrenus bear testimony to this effect. +[46] _Early Christian Numismatics_. +[47] _The Likeness of Christ_, p. 20. +[48] Herodotus II., 73. +[49] Pliny, x., 2. +[ ] 2 Tacitus, _Annal_. Vi., 28. Editorial note: There is no reference + in the text to this footnote #2 at the bottom of page 130 +[50] An engraving of the coin can be seen in Duruy's _Histoire + des Romains_, Torn. vii. +[51] Bockh, C.I.G. n. 4713 b. +[52] Berlin Collection 428. +[53] _Strange Survivals_, 286. +[54] _e.g._, Arist. _Mundi_. +[55] Bar. _Ann_. A.C. 312. +[56] Basnage, iii., 23. +[57] Eusebius, _Vit. Const._ iv. +[58] Martianus Capella. +[59] _e.g._ Philo, _De Somniis_, i. +[60] _Timaeus_, 34-36. +[61] _Theol. Plat._ +[62] _Apol._ +[63] _Apol._ +[64] _Report on the Old Records of the India Office_, London, + 1891, x., xi. +[65] _Nineveh_, ii. 213. +[66] _e.g._, C. W. King, M.A. _Early Christian Numismatics_; + Professor Rawlinson; &c., &c. +[67] C. W. King, M.A. +[68] _First Annual Report U. S. Bureau of Ethnology._ +[69] Ol. Varelli, _Scandage Runic;_ Ans. Rudbeckins, _Atlant.: + e.g._ an altar discovered ac Rudchester, Northumberland: Sheffer, + _Lapponic_. +[70] _Letters from Rome_, 1862, p. 210. + +------ +For those who do not have access to the images used in the above text, +here are some crude representations of them.--(Editor) + + + +x.gif + +X X + X X + X X + X + X X + X X +X X + + + +t.gif + +XXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + X + X + X + + + +plus.gif + + X + X + X +XXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + + + +asterisk.gif + +X X X + X X X + X X X + X + X X X + X X X +X X X + + + +solarwheel1.gif + + o ooooo o + o X o + o X X X o +o X X X o +o X X X o +o X o +o X X X o + o X X X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + + +solarwheel2.gif + + o ooooo o + o X o + o X o +o X o +o X o +oXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXo +o X o + o X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + + +monogram1.gif + + o ooooo o + o XXX o + o X X X X o +o X XXX X o +o X X X o +o X o +o X X X o + o X X X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + +monogram2.gif + + o ooooo o + o XXX o + o X X o +o XXX o +o X o +oXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXo +o X o + o X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + +monogram3.gif + + xxx +X x x X + X xxx X + X x X + x + X x X + X x X + X x X + + +monogram4.gif + + XXX + X X + XXX + X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + + + +svastika1.gif + + X XXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXX X + + + +svastika2.gif + + XXXXXXXXX X + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + X XXXXXXXXXX + + + +taucross.gif + + XXXXXXX + X + X X X + X X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X X + X X X + X + XXXXXXX + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Non-Christian Cross, by John Denham Parsons + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + +This file should be named cross10.txt or cross10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, cross11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cross10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/2005-10-cross10.zip b/old/2005-10-cross10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e246fd6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2005-10-cross10.zip diff --git a/old/2005-10-cross10h.htm b/old/2005-10-cross10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..134874f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2005-10-cross10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7165 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<HEAD> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><!-- Necessary to make Netscape 4 display the unicode characters --> +<STYLE TYPE="text/css"> +.smallcaps {font-variant: small-caps} +</STYLE> +<TITLE> +The Non-Christian Cross +</TITLE> +<!-- The following JavaScript is necessary to get around bugs in Internet Explorer. +Internet Explorer doesn't always display all the images embedded in the text. 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Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Non-Christian Cross + An Enquiry Into the Origin and History of the Symbol + Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion + +Author: John Denham Parsons + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9071] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 2, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + + + + + +</pre> + +<!-- Page 3 --> +<CENTER><H3>THE</H3></CENTER> +<CENTER><H1>NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS</H1></CENTER> +<CENTER><H3>AN ENQUIRY INTO THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF</H3></CENTER> +<CENTER><H3>THE SYMBOL EVENTUALLY ADOPTED AS</H3></CENTER> +<CENTER><H3>THAT OF OUR RELIGION</H3></CENTER> +<BR><BR> +<CENTER><H4>BY</H4></CENTER> +<CENTER><H3>JOHN DENHAM PARSONS</H3></CENTER> +<BR> + +<CENTER>1896</CENTER> + + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<!-- Page 5 --> +<CENTER> +<TABLE> +<TR> + <TD> +“O CRUX, SPLENDIDIOR CUNCTIS ASTRIS, MUNDO<BR> +CELEBRIS, HOMINIBUS MULTUM AMABILIS, SANCTIOR<BR> +UNIVERSIS.” + </TD> +</TR> +<TR> + <TD ALIGN=right> +[<I>BREVIARIUM ROMANUM,<BR> +Festival of the Invention of the Holy Cross.</I><BR> + </TD> +</TR> +</TABLE> +</CENTER> + +<!-- Page 6 --> +<BR><BR><BR> + +<!-- Page 7 --> +<CENTER>PREFACE.</CENTER> +<HR width=40 align=center> + +The history of the symbol of the cross +has had an attraction for the author +ever since, as an enquiring youth, he found +himself unable to obtain satisfactory answers +to four questions concerning the same which +presented themselves to his mind. + +<P>The first of those questions was why John +the Baptist, who was beheaded before Jesus +was executed, and so far as we are told never +had anything to do with a cross, is represented +in our religious pictures as holding a cross. + +<P>The second question was whether this curious +but perhaps in itself easily explained practice +<!-- Page 8 --> +had in its inception any connection with the +non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism; which +Jesus accepted as a matter of course at the +hands of his cousin John, and in which the +sign of the cross has for ages been the all-important +feature. And it was the wonder +whether there was or was not some association +between the facts that the New Testament +writers give no explanation whatever of the +origin of baptism as an initiatory rite, that +this non-Mosaic initiatory rite was in use +among Sun-God worshippers long before our +era, and that the Fathers admitted that the +followers of the Persian conception of the +Sun-God marked their initiates upon the forehead +like the followers of the Christ, which +finally induced the author to start a systematic +enquiry into the history of the cross +as a symbol. + +<P>The third question was why, despite the +fact that the instrument of execution to which +<!-- Page 9 --> +Jesus was affixed can have had but one shape, +almost any kind of cross is accepted as a +symbol of our faith. + +<P>The last of the four questions was why +many varieties of the cross of four equal arms, +which certainly was not a representation of +an instrument of execution, were accepted by +Christians as symbols of the Christ before any +cross which could possibly have been a representation +of an instrument of execution was +given a place among the symbols of Christianity; +while even nowadays one variety of +the cross of four equal arms is the favourite +symbol of the Greek Church, and both it and +the other varieties enter into the ornamentation +of our sacred properties and dispute the +supremacy with the cross which has one of +its arms longer than the other three. + +<P>Pursuing these matters for himself, the author +eventually found that even before our era the +cross was venerated by many as the symbol +<!-- Page 10 --> +of Life; though our works of reference seldom +mention this fact, and never do it justice. + +<P>He moreover discovered that no one has +ever written a complete history of the symbol, +showing the possibility that the <I>stauros</I> or +post to which Jesus was affixed was not +cross-shaped, and the certainty that, in any +case, what eventually became the symbol of +our faith owed some of its prestige as a +Christian symbol of Victory and Life to the +position it occupied in pre-Christian days. + +<P>The author has therefore, in the hope of +drawing attention to the subject, incorporated +the results of his researches in the present +essay. +<BR><BR> + 14, ST. DUNSTAN'S HILL,<BR> + LONDON, E.C.<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<!-- Page 11 --> +<CENTER> +<TABLE> +<TR><TH COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>C O N T E N T S .</TH></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center><HR width=40 align=center></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=right><FONT SIZE="-1">PAGE</FONT></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER I.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH1">WAS THE <I>STAUROS</I> OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED?</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH1">13</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER II.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH2">THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH2">31</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER III.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH3">THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH3">41</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER IV.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH4">CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENÆUS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH4">52</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER V.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH5">ORIGIN OF THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH5">57</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER VI.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH6">ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH6">65</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER VII.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH7">THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH7">82</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER VIII.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH8">CROSS AND CRESCENT</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH8">92</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER IX.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH9">THE CORONATION ORB</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH9">104</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER X.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH10">ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH10">119</A></TD></TR> +<!-- Page 12 --> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XI.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH11">THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH11">133</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XII.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH12">ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH12">142</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XIII.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH13">THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH13">147</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XIV.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH14">THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH14">163</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XV.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH15">THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH15">169</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XVI.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH16">THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH16">178</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XVII.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH17">THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH17">183</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XVIII.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH18">EVIDENCE OF TROY</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH18">187</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XIX.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH19">EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH19">193</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XX.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH20">MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH20">204</A></TD></TR> +<TR><TD COLSPAN=2 ALIGN=center>CHAPTER XI.</TD></TR> +<TR><TD ALIGN=left><A HREF="#CH21">SUMMARY</A></TD><TD ALIGN=right><A HREF="#CH21">214</A></TD></TR> +</TABLE> +</CENTER> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 13 --> +<CENTER><H1>THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS.</H1></CENTER> +<HR width=70 align=center> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH1">CHAPTER I.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>WAS THE <I>STAUROS</I> OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED?</H4></CENTER> +<P>In the thousand and one works supplied for +our information upon matters connected +with the history of our race, we are told that +Alexander the Great, Titus, and various Greek, +Roman, and Oriental rulers of ancient days, +"crucified" this or that person; or that they +"crucified" so many at once, or during their +reign. And the instrument of execution is +called a "cross." + +<P>The natural result is that we imagine that all +the people said to have been "crucified" were +executed by being nailed or otherwise affixed +to a cross-shaped instrument set in the ground, +like that to be seen in our fanciful illustrations +of the execution of Jesus. + +<!-- Page 14 --> +This was, however, by no means necessarily +the case. + +<P>For instance, the death spoken of, death by +the <I>stauros</I>, included transfixion by a pointed +stauros or stake, as well as affixion to an unpointed +stauros or stake; and the latter punishment +was not always that referred to. + +<P>It is also probable that in most of the many +cases where we have no clue as to which kind +of stauros was used, the cause of the condemned +one's death was transfixion by a pointed stauros. + +<P>Moreover, even if we could prove that this +very common mode of capital punishment was +in no case that referred to by the historians who +lived in bygone ages, and that death was in +each instance caused by affixion to, instead of +transfixion by, a stauros, we should still have to +prove that each stauros had a cross-bar before +we could correctly describe the death caused by +it as death by crucifixion. + +<P>It is also, upon the face of it, somewhat unlikely +that the ancients would in every instance +in which they despatched a man by affixing +him to a post set in the ground, have gone out +of their way to provide the artistic but quite +unnecessary cross-bar of our imaginations. + +<!-- Page 15 --> +<P>As it is, in any case, well known that the +Romans very often despatched those condemned +to death by affixing them to a stake or post +which had no cross-bar, the question arises as +to what proof we have that a cross-bar was +used in the case of Jesus. + +<P>Nor is the question an unimportant one. For, +as we shall see in the chapters to come, there +was a pre-Christian cross, which was, like ours, +a symbol of Life. And it must be obvious to +all that if the cross was a symbol of Life before +our era, it is possible that it was originally +fixed upon as a symbol of the Christ because +it was a symbol of Life; the assumption that +it became a symbol of Life because it was a +symbol of the Christ, being in that case neither +more nor less than a very natural instance of +putting the cart before the horse. + +<P>Now the Greek word which in Latin versions +of the New Testament is translated as <I>crux</I>, and +in English versions is rendered as <I>cross, i.e.</I>, the +word <I>stauros</I>, seems to have, at the beginning +of our era, no more meant a cross than the +English word stick means a crutch. + +<P>It is true that a stick may be in the shape +of a crutch, and that the stauros to which Jesus +<!-- Page 16 --> +was affixed may have been in the shape of a +cross. But just as the former is not necessarily +a crutch, so the latter was not necessarily a cross. + +<P>What the ancients used to signify when they +used the word <I>stauros</I>, can easily be seen by +referring to either the Iliad or the Odyssey.<A NAME="S1" HREF="#R1"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>1</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>It will there be found to clearly signify an +ordinary pole or stake without any cross-bar. +And it is as thus signifying a single piece of +wood that the word in question is used +throughout the old Greek classics.<A NAME="S2" HREF="#R2"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>2</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>The stauros used as an instrument of execution +was (1) a small pointed pole or stake used +for thrusting through the body, so as to pin +the latter to the earth, or otherwise render +death inevitable; (2) a similar pole or stake +fixed in the ground point upwards, upon which +the condemned one was forced down till incapable +of escaping; (3) a much longer and +stouter pole or stake fixed point upwards, upon +which the victim, with his hands tied behind +him, was lodged in such a way that the point +should enter his breast and the weight of the +<!-- Page 17 --> +body cause every movement to hasten the end; +and (4) a stout unpointed pole or stake set +upright in the earth, from which the victim was +suspended by a rope round his wrists, which +were first tied behind him so that the position +might become an agonising one; or to which +the doomed one was bound, or, as in the case +of Jesus, nailed. + +<P>That this last named kind of stauros, which +was admittedly that to which Jesus was affixed, +had in every case a cross-bar attached, is untrue; +that it had in most cases, is unlikely; that it +had in the case of Jesus, is unproven. + +<P>Even as late as the Middle Ages, the word +stauros seems to have primarily signified a +straight piece of wood without a cross-bar. +For the famous Greek lexicographer, Suidas, +expressly states, "Stauroi; ortha xula perpégota," +and both Eustathius and Hesychius affirm +that it meant a <I>straight</I> stake or pole. + +<P>The side light thrown upon the question by +Lucian is also worth noting. This writer, referring +to Jesus, alludes to "That sophist of +theirs who was fastened to a <I>skolops;</I>" which +word signified a single piece of wood, and not +two pieces joined together. + +<!-- Page 18 --> +<P>Only a passing notice need be given to the +fact that in some of the Epistles of the New +Testament, which seem to have been written +before the Gospels, though, like the other +Epistles, misleadingly placed after the Gospels, +Jesus is said to have been <I>hanged</I> upon a <I>tree</I>.<A NAME="S3" HREF="#R3"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>3</SUP></FONT></A> +For in the first place the Greek word translated +"hanged" did not necessarily refer to hanging +by the neck, and simply meant suspended in +some way or other. And in the second place +the word translated "tree," though that always +used in referring to what is translated as the +"<I>Tree of Life</I>," signified not only "tree" but +also "wood." + +<P>It should be noted, however, that these five +references of the Bible to the execution of Jesus +as having been carried out by his suspension +upon either a tree or a piece of timber set in +the ground, in no wise convey the impression +that two pieces of wood nailed together in the +form of a cross is what is referred to. + +<P>Moreover, there is not, even in the Greek +text of the Gospels, a single intimation in +the Bible to the effect that the instrument +<!-- Page 19 --> +actually used in the case of Jesus was cross-shaped. + +<P>Had there been any such intimation in the +twenty-seven Greek works referring to Jesus, +which our Church selected out of a very large +number and called the "New Testament," the +Greek letter <I>chi</I>, which was cross-shaped, would +in the ordinary course have been referred to; +and some such term as <I>Katà chiasmon</I>, "like a +chi," made use of. + +<P>It should also be borne in mind that though +the Christians of the first three centuries certainly +made use of a transient sign of the +cross in the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism +and at other times, it is, as will be shown in the +next two chapters, admitted that they did not +use or venerate it as a representation of the +instrument of execution upon which Jesus died. + +<P>Moreover, if in reply to the foregoing it +should be argued that as it is well known that +cross-shaped figures of wood, and other lasting +representations of the sign or figure of the cross, +were not venerated by Christians until after the +fateful day when Constantine set out at the +head of the soldiers of Gaul in his famous march +against Rome; and that the Christian crosses +<!-- Page 20 --> +of the remainder of the fourth century were +representations of the instrument of execution +upon which Jesus died; a dozen other objections +present themselves if we are honest enough +to face the fact that we have to show that they +were so from the first. For the Gauls, and +therefore the soldiers of Gaul, venerated as +symbols of the Sun-God and Giver of Life and +Victory the cross of four equal arms, +<IMG SRC="plus.gif" ALT="Plus"> , +or +<IMG SRC="x.gif" ALT="X"> , +and the solar wheel, +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="solarwheel2.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 2"> ; +while +the so-called cross which Constantine and his +troops are said to have seen above the midday +sun was admittedly the monogram of Christ, +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> , +which was admittedly an adaptation +of the solar wheel, as will be shown +further on; and it was as tokens of the conquest +of Rome by his Gaulish troops, that Constantine, +as their leader, erected one of these symbols +in the centre of the Eternal City, and +afterwards placed upon his coins the crosses +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> , +<IMG SRC="solarwheel2.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 2"> , +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> , +<IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> , +<IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> , +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> , +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> , +the cross of four equal arms +<IMG SRC="x.gif" ALT="X"> , +and several +variations of that other cross of four equal arms, +the right-angled +<IMG SRC="plus.gif" ALT="Plus"> . +And it was not till long +after these crosses were accepted as Christian, +<!-- Page 21 --> +and Constantine was dead and buried, that the +cross with one of its arms longer than the other +three (or two), which alone could be a representation +of an instrument of execution, was +made use of by Christians. + +<P>Another point to be remembered is that when +Constantine, apparently conceiving ours, as the +only non-national religion with ramifications +throughout his world-wide dominions, to be the +only one that could weld together the many +nations which acknowledged his sway, established +Christianity as the State Religion of the +Roman Empire, the Church to which we belong +would naturally have had to accept as its own +the symbols which Constantine had caused to +be those of the State in question. And it should +be added that the cross of later days with one +of its arms longer than the others, if not also +the assumption that the stauros to which Jesus +was affixed had a cross-bar, may have been +merely the outcome of a wish to associate with +the story of Jesus these Gaulish symbols of +victory which had become symbols of the +Roman State, and therefore of its State +Church. + +<P>Anyway, the first kind of cross venerated by +<!-- Page 22 --> +Christians was not a representation of an +instrument of execution; and the fact that we +hold sacred many different kinds of crosses, +although even if we could prove that the stauros +to which Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar but +one kind could be a representation of that +instrument of execution, has to be accounted +for. + +<P>Our only plausible explanation of the fact +that we hold sacred almost any species of cross +is that, as we do not know what kind of cross +Jesus died upon, opinions have always differed +as to which was the real cross. + +<P>This difference of opinion among Christians +as to the shape of the instrument upon which +Jesus was executed, has certainly existed for +many centuries. But as an explanation of the +many different kinds of crosses accepted by us +as symbols of the Christ, it only lands us in a +greater difficulty. For if we did not know +what kind of cross Jesus died upon when we +accepted the cross as our symbol, the chances +obviously are that we accepted the cross as our +symbol for some other reason than that we +assert. + +<P>As a matter of fact our position regarding +<!-- Page 23 --> +the whole matter is illogical and unsatisfactory, +and we ought to alter it by honestly facing the +facts that we cannot satisfactorily prove that our +symbol was adopted as a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was +affixed, and that we do not even know for +certain that the instrument in question was +cross-shaped. + +<P>It need only be added that there is not a +single sentence in any of the numerous writings +forming the New Testament, which, in the +original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to +the effect that the stauros used in the case of +Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; +much less to the effect that it consisted, not +of one piece of timber, but of two pieces +nailed together in the form of a cross. + +<P>Taking the whole of the foregoing facts into +consideration, it will be seen that it is not a +little misleading upon the part of our teachers +to translate the word stauros as "cross" when +rendering the Greek documents of the Church +into our native tongue, and to support that +action by putting "cross" in our lexicons as +the meaning of stauros without carefully explaining +that that was at any rate not the +<!-- Page 24 --> +primary meaning of the word in the days of +the Apostles, did not become its primary signification +till long afterwards, and became so +then, if at all, only because, despite the absence +of corroborative evidence, it was for some reason +or other assumed that the particular stauros +upon which Jesus was executed had that +particular shape. + +<P>But—the reader may object—how about the +Greek word which in our Bibles is translated +as "crucify" or "crucified?" Does not that +mean "fix to a cross" or "fixed to a cross?" +And what is this but the strongest possible +corroboration of our assertion as Christians +that Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument? + +<P>The answer is that no less than four different +Greek words are translated in our Bibles as +meaning "crucify" or "crucified," and that not +one of the four meant "crucify" or "crucified." + +<P>The four words in question are the words +<I>prospēgnumi, anastauroo, sustauroō,</I> and <I>stauroō</I>. + +<P>The word prospēgnumi, though translated in +our Bibles as "crucify" or "crucified," meant to +"fix" to or upon, and meant that only. It +had no special reference to the affixing of +<!-- Page 25 --> +condemned persons either to a stake, pale, or +post, or to a tree, or to a cross; and had no +more reference to a cross than the English +word "fix" has. + +<P>The word <I>anastauroo</I> was never used by the +old Greek writers as meaning other than to +impale upon or with a single piece of timber.<A NAME="S4" HREF="#R4"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>4</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>The word <I>sustauroō</I> does not occur in pre-Christian +writings, and only five times in the +Bible against the forty-four times of the word +next to be dealt with. Being obviously derived +in part from the word stauros, which primarily +signified a stake or pale which was a single +piece of wood and had no cross-bar, <I>sustauroō</I> +evidently meant affixion to such a stake or +pale. Anyhow there is nothing whatever either +in the derivation of the word, or in the context +in either of the five instances in which it occurs, +to show that what is referred to is affixion +to something that was cross-shaped. + +<P>The word <I>stauroō</I> occurs, as has been said, +forty-four times; and of the four words in +question by far the most frequently. The +meaning of this word is therefore of special +<!-- Page 26 --> +importance. It is consequently most significant +to find, as we do upon due investigation, that +wherever it occurs in the pre-Christian classics +it is used as meaning to impalisade, or stake, +or affix to a pale or stake; and has reference, +not to crosses, but to single pieces of +wood.<A NAME="S5" HREF="#R5"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>5</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>It therefore seems tolerably clear (1) that +the sacred writings forming the New Testament, +to the statements of which—as translated for +us—we bow down in reverence, do not tell us +that Jesus was affixed to a cross-shaped instrument +of execution; (2) that the balance of +evidence is against the truth of our statements +to the effect that the instrument in question was +cross-shaped, and our sacred symbol originally +a representation of the same; and (3) that we +Christians have in bygone days acted, and, alas! +still act, anything but ingenuously in regard to +the symbol of the cross. + +<P>This is not all, however. For if the unfortunate +fact that we have in our zeal almost +manufactured evidence in favour of the theory +that <I>our</I> cross or crosses had its or their origin +<!-- Page 27 --> +in the shape of the instrument of execution to +which Jesus was affixed proves anything at all, +it proves the need for a work which, like the +present one, sets in array the evidence available +regarding both the pre-Christian cross and the +adoption in later times of a similar symbol as +that of the catholic faith. + +<P>Nor should it be forgotten that the triumph +of Christianity was due to the fact that it <I>was</I> +a "catholic" faith, and not, like the other faiths +followed by the subjects of Rome, and like what +Jesus seems to have intended the results of His +mission to have been inasmuch as He solemnly +declared that he was sent to the lost sheep of +the House of Israel and to them alone, the +monopoly of a single nation or race. + +<P>For if Paul, taking his and other visions of +Jesus as the long-needed proofs of a future +life, had not disregarded the very plain intimations +of Jesus to the effect that His mission +was to the descendants of Jacob or Israel, and +to them alone; if Paul had not withstood +Christ's representative, Peter, to the face, and, +with unsurpassed zeal, carried out his grand +project of proclaiming a non-national and universal +religion founded upon appearances of +<!-- Page 28 --> +the spirit-form of Jesus, what we call Christianity +would not have come into existence. + +<P>The fact that but for Paul there would have +been no catholic faith with followers in every +land ruled by Constantine when sole emperor, +for that astute monarch to establish as the +State Religion of his loosely knit empire, +because, on account of its catholicity, that best +fitted to hold power as the official faith of a +government with world-wide dominions, is +worthy of a lasting place in our memory. + +<P>Nor is the noteworthy fact last mentioned +unconnected with the symbol of the cross. For, +as will be shown, it is clear that it was because +Constantine caused the figure of the cross to +become a recognized symbol of his catholic +empire, that it became recognized as a symbol +of the catholic faith. + +<P>Not till after Constantine and his Gaulish +warriors planted what Eusebius the Bishop of +Cæsarea and other Christians of the century in +question describe as a cross, within the walls +of the Eternal City as the symbol of their +victory, did Christians ever set on high a cross-shaped +trophy of any description. + +<P>Moreover, but for the fact that, as it happened, +<!-- Page 29 --> +the triumph of Constantine resulted in that of +the Christian Church, we should probably have +deemed the cross, if to our minds a representation +of the instrument of execution to which +Jesus was affixed, as anything but the symbol +of Victory we now deem it. + +<P>This is evident from the fact that the so-called +cross of Jesus admittedly fulfilled the purpose +for which it was erected at the request of +those who sought the death of Jesus. And +even according to our Gospels the darkness of +defeat o'ershadowed the scene at Calvary. + +<P>To put the matter plainly, the victory of Jesus +was not a victory over the cross; for He did not +come down from the cross. Nor was it a victory +over His enemies; for what they sought was +to get rid of a man whom they deemed an agitator, +and their wish was gratified, inasmuch as, +thanks to the cross, He troubled them no more. + +<P>In other words the victory which we ascribe +to Jesus did not occur during the gloom which +hung like a pall over his native land at the +time of His execution, but upon the then +approaching Sun-day of the Vernal Equinox, +at the coming of the glory of the dawn. + +<P>For the victory in question, from whatever +<!-- Page 30 --> +point of view we may look at it, was not the avoidance +of defeat, but its retrieval. And its story +is an illustration of the old-world promise, hoary +with antiquity and founded upon the coming, +ushered in every year by the Pass-over or cross-over +of the equator by the sun at the Vernal +Equinox, of the bounteous harvests of summer +after the dearth of devastating winter; bidding us +ever hope, not indeed for the avoidance of death +and therefore of defeat, but for such victory as +may happen to lay in survival or resurrection. + +<P>It is therefore clear that even if we <I>could</I> +prove that the instrument of execution to +which Jesus was affixed was cross-shaped, it +would not necessarily follow that it was as +the representation of the cause of His death +which we now deem it, that the figure of the +cross became our symbol of Life and Victory. + +<P>In any case honesty demands that we should +no longer translate as "cross" a word which +at the time our Gospels were written did not +necessarily signify something cross-shaped. And +it is equally incumbent upon us, from a moral +point of view, that we should cease to render +as "crucify" or "crucified" words which never +bore any such meaning. + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH2">CHAPTER II.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX.</H4></CENTER> +<P>The Fathers who wrote in Latin, used the +word <I>crux</I> as a translation of the Greek +word <I>stauros</I>. It is therefore noteworthy that +even this Latin word "crux," from which we +derive our words "cross" and "crucify," did not +in ancient days necessarily mean something +cross-shaped, and seems to have had quite +another signification as its original meaning. + +<P>A reference, for instance, to the writings of +Livy, will show that in his time the word crux, +whatever else it may have meant, signified a +single piece of wood or timber; he using it +in that sense.<A NAME="S6" HREF="#R6"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>6</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>This however is a curious rather than an +important point, for even the assumption that +the word <I>crux</I> always and invariably meant +<!-- Page 32 --> +something cross-shaped, would not affect the +demonstration already made that the word +<I>stauros</I> did not. + +<P>As our Scriptures were written in Greek and +were written in the first century A.C., the vital +question is what the word stauros then meant, +when used, as in the New Testament, without +any qualifying expression or hint that other +than an ordinary stauros was signified. What +the Fathers chose to consider the meaning of +that word to be, or chose to give as its Latin +translation, would, even if they had written the +same century, in no wise affect that issue. And, +as a matter of fact, even the earliest of the +Fathers whose undisputed works have come +down to us, did not write till the middle of the +second century. + +<P>Granting, however, as all must, that most if +not all of the earlier of the Fathers, and certainly +all the later ones, rightly or wrongly +interpreted the word stauros as meaning something +cross-shaped, let us, remembering that +this does not dispose of the question whether +they rightly or wrongly so interpreted it, in this +and the next two chapters pass in review the +references to the cross made by the Fathers +<!-- Page 33 --> +who lived before Constantine's march upon +Rome at the head of his Gaulish army. + +<P>Commencing, on account of its importance, +with the evidence of Minucius Felix, we find +that this Father wrote +<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"We assuredly see the sign of a cross naturally, in +the ship when it is carried along with swelling sails, +when it glides forward with expanded oars; and when +the military yoke is lifted up it is the sign of a cross; +and when a man adores God with a pure mind, with +arms outstretched. Thus the sign of the cross either +is sustained by a natural reason or your own religion +is formed with respect to it."<A NAME="S7" HREF="#R7"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>7</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Various other pronouncements to a similar +effect are to be found in the writings of other +Christian Fathers, and such passages are often +quoted as conclusive evidence of the Christian +origin of what is now our symbol. In reality, +however, it is somewhat doubtful if we can +fairly claim them as such; for the question +arises whether, if the writers in their hearts +believed their cross to be a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was +affixed, they would have omitted, as they did +in every instance, to mention that as the right +<!-- Page 34 --> +and proper and all-sufficient reason for venerating +the figure of the cross. + +<P>Moreover it is quite clear that while, as will +be shown hereafter, the symbol of the cross +had for ages been a Pagan symbol of Life, it +can, as already stated, scarcely be said to have +become a Christian <I>symbol</I> before the days of +Constantine. No cross-shaped symbol of wood +or of any other material had any part in the +Christianity of the second and third centuries; +and the only cross which had any part in the +Christianity of those days was the immaterial +one traced upon the forehead in the non-Mosaic +and originally Pagan initiatory rite of Baptism, +and at other times also according to some of +the Fathers, apparently as a charm against the +machinations of evil spirits. + +<P>This "sign" or "signal" rather than "symbol" +of the cross, referred to as theirs by the +Christian writers of the second and third centuries, +is said to have had a place before our +era in the rites of those who worshipped Mithras, +if not also of those who worshipped certain +other conceptions of the Sun-God; and it +should be noted that the Fathers insist upon +it that a similar mark is what the prophet +<!-- Page 35 --> +Ezekiel referred to as that to be placed upon +the foreheads of certain men as a sign of life +and salvation; the original Hebrew reading +"Set a <I>tau</I> upon the foreheads of the men" +(<I>Ezek</I>. ix. 4), and the tau having been in the +days of the prophet in question—as we know +from relics of the past—the figure of a cross. +Nor should it be forgotten that Tertullian +admits that those admitted into the rites of the +Sun-God Mithras were so marked, trying to +explain this away by stating that this was done +in imitation of the then despised Christians!<A NAME="S8" HREF="#R8"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>8</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>That it was this immaterial sign or signal, +rather than any material symbol of the cross, +which Minucius Felix considered Christian, is +demonstrated by the fact that the passage +already quoted is accompanied by the remark +that +<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Crosses, moreover, we Christians neither venerate +nor wish for. You indeed who consecrate gods of wood +venerate wooden crosses, perhaps as parts of your gods. +For your very standards, as well as your banners, and +flags of your camps, what are they but crosses gilded +and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate +the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a +man affixed to it."<A NAME="S9" HREF="#R9"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>9</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<!-- Page 36 --> +<P>This remarkable denunciation of the Cross +as a Pagan symbol by a Christian Father who +lived as late as the third century after Christ, +is worthy of special attention; and can scarcely +be said to bear out the orthodox account of the +origin of the cross as a Christian symbol. It +is at any rate clear that the cross was not our +recognised symbol at that date; and that it is +more likely to have been gradually adopted by +us from Sun-God worshippers, than by the +worshippers of Mithras and other pre-Christian +conceptions of the Sun-God from us. + +<P>As our era was six or seven centuries old +before the crucifix was introduced, and the +earliest pictorial representation of the execution +of Jesus still existing or referred to in any work +as having existed was of even later date, much +stress has been laid by us upon what we allege +to be a caricature of the crucifixion of Jesus and +of much earlier date. The drawing in question +was discovered in 1856 to be scrawled upon a +wall of the Gelotian House under the Palatine +at Rome; and as no Christian representations +of the alleged execution upon a cross-shaped +instrument of even a reasonably early date +exist, it would of course be greatly to our +<!-- Page 37 --> +interest to be able to quote this alleged caricature, +which is said to be as old as the third +and perhaps even as old as the second century, +as independent evidence of the truth of our +story. But can we fairly do so? + +<P>The drawing in question is a very roughly +executed representation of a figure with human +arms, legs, and feet; but with an animal's head. +The arms are extended, and two lines, which +are said to represent a cross but appear in +front of the figure instead of behind it, traverse +the arms and trunk. In the foreground is a +man looking at this grotesque figure; and an +accompanying inscription is to the effect that +"Alexamenos adores his God." + +<P>Tertullian relates that a certain Jew "carried +about in public a caricature of us with this +label, <I>An ass of a priest</I>. This figure had an +ass's ears, and was dressed in a toga with a +book; having a hoof on one of his feet."<A NAME="S10" HREF="#R10"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>10</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>It is upon the strength of this passage and +the two lines traversing the figure, that we, +ignoring the fact that the figure is standing, claim +this much-quoted <I>graffito</I> as conclusive evidence +<!-- Page 38 --> +of the historical accuracy of our story. But it may +be pointed out that even if this was a caricature +of the execution of Jesus made at the date +mentioned, a caricature, made certainly not less +than two hundred years after the event, is not +altogether trustworthy evidence as to the details. + +<P>And, was it a caricature of the execution of +Jesus? It would appear not. + +<P>To commence with, the two lines or scratches—for +they are little more—which we call a +cross, need not necessarily have formed a part +of the original <I>graffito;</I> and, even if they did, +of themselves prove nothing. There is no +reference to a cross in the inscription, nor is +there anything to show that an execution of +any kind is what is illustrated. Moreover, the +hoof upon one foot, mentioned by Tertullian, is +not to be seen; a remark which also applies to +the toga and the book he mentions. And even +what Tertullian referred to was not a caricature +of the execution of Jesus. + +<P>It should also be noted that the head of the +figure in this famous graffito, is more like that +of a jackal than that of an ass; and appears to +have been a representation of the Egyptian god +Anubis, who is so often to be seen upon relics +<!-- Page 39 --> +of the past as a figure with a jackal's head, with +human arms extended, and with human legs +and feet, as in this drawing. + +<P>Upon all points, therefore, our claim concerning +the graffito is an ill-founded one; and it +cannot be considered evidence regarding either +cross or crucifixion. + +<P>There thus being no opposing evidence of +any weight, it is quite clear from the fact that +as late as the third century after Christ we find a +Christian Father who venerated the sign or figure +of the cross denouncing it as a symbol, that no +material representations of that sign or figure +were recognised as Christian till an even later +date. And such a conclusion is borne out by +the striking fact that when Clement of Alexandria +at the beginning of the third century made +out a list of the symbols which Christians were +permitted to use, he mentioned the Fish and the +Dove but said nothing regarding the Cross.<A NAME="S11" HREF="#R11"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>11</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>As to the sign or figure of the cross referred +to by the Fathers of the second and third centuries, +even so high an authority as the Dean of +Canterbury admits, as we shall see in the next +<!-- Page 40 --> +chapter, that it was not "mainly" as reminding +them of the death of Jesus that the Christians +of the second and third centuries venerated it. +If, therefore, not in the main, and, it would +follow, not originally as a representation of the +instrument of execution upon which Jesus died, +what more likely than that the early Christians +venerated the sign and figure of the cross as the +age-old and widely accepted symbol of Life and +of the Sun-God we know it to have been? + +<P>Anyway Minucius Felix may be said to stand +alone in denouncing the symbol of the cross +as non-Christian. And as even he expresses +veneration for the figure of the cross, and +must have approved of the sign of the cross in +the initiatory rite of baptism, that denunciation +evidently applied only to material representations +of the cross. + +<P>Moreover the denunciation in question was +clearly due to the fear that such objects might +degenerate amongst Christians, as they afterwards +did, into little better than idols. And if +the sign or figure of the cross did not mainly +remind the early Christians of the death of Jesus, +it must have mainly reminded them of something else. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 41 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH3">CHAPTER III.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS.</H4></CENTER> +<P>The works which have come down to us +from the Fathers who lived before the +days of Constantine make up over ten thousand +pages of closely printed matter; and the first +point which strikes those who examine that +mass of literature with a view to seeing what +the Christians of the first three centuries +thought and wrote concerning the execution +of Jesus and the symbol of the cross, is that +the execution of Jesus was hardly so much as +mentioned by them, and no such thing as a +representation of the instrument of execution +once referred to. + +<P>Another fact worthy of special note is that, +whether the Fathers wrote in Greek and used +the word <I>stauros</I>, or wrote in Latin and translated +that word as <I>crux</I>, they often seem to +<!-- Page 42 --> +have had in their mind's eye a tree; a tree +which moreover was closely connected in +meaning with the forbidden tree of the Garden +of Eden, an allegorical figure of undoubtedly +phallic signification which had its counterpart +in the Tree of the Hesperides, from which the +Sun-God Hercules after killing the Serpent was +fabled to have picked the Golden Apples of +Love, one of which became the symbol of +Venus, the Goddess of Love. Nor was this +the only such counterpart, for almost every race +seems in days of old to have had an allegorical +Tree of Knowledge or Life whose fruit was +Love; the ancients perceiving that it was love +which produced life, and that but for the sexual +passion and its indulgence mankind would cease +to be. + +<P>Starting upon an examination of the early +Christian writings in question, we read in the +<I>Gospel of Nicodemus</I> that when the Chief +Priests interviewed certain men whom Jesus +had raised from the dead, those men made upon +their faces "the sign of the stauros."<A NAME="S12" HREF="#R12"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>12</SUP></FONT></A> +The sign of the cross is presumably meant; and +<!-- Page 43 --> +all that need be said is that if the men whom +Jesus raised from the dead were acquainted +with the sign of the cross, it would appear +that it must have been as a pre-Christian +sign. + +<P>Further on in the same Gospel, Satan is +represented as being told that "All that thou +hast gained through the Tree of Knowledge, +all hast thou lost through the Tree of the +Stauros."<A NAME="S13" HREF="#R13"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>13</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Elsewhere we read that "The King of Glory +stretched out his right hand, and took hold of +our forefather Adam, and raised him: then, +turning also to the rest, he said, <!-- original missing opening quote here -->'Come with me +as many as have died through the Tree which +he touched, for behold I again raise you all up +through the Tree of the Stauros.'"<A NAME="S14" HREF="#R14"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>14</SUP></FONT></A> +Some see +in this peculiar pronouncement a reference to the +doctrine of re-incarnation. + +In the <I>Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy +Apostle Andrew</I> we are told that those who +executed Andrew "lifted him up on the stauros," +but "did not sever his joints, having received +this order from the pro-consul, for he wished him +<!-- Page 44 --> +to be in distress while hanging, and in the nighttime +as he was suspended to be eaten by dogs." +There is nothing to show that the stauros used +was other than an ordinary stauros. + +<P>In the <I>Epistle of Barnabas</I> are various references +to the stauros; mixed up with various +passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, quoted—without +any justification—as referring to the +initiatory rite of baptism; a rite, be it noted, +that was admittedly of Gentile rather than +Israelitish origin, and not unconnected with the +Sun-God worship of the Persians and other +Orientals of non-Hebrew race. + +<P>The references in question commence with the +enquiry, "Let us further ask whether the Lord +took any care to foreshadow the Water and the +Stauros?" + +<P>Afterwards we have a quotation of <I>Psalm</I> i. 3-6—which +likens the good man to a tree planted +by the side of a river and yielding his fruit in +due season—and the pronouncement, "Mark how +he has described at once both the Water and the +Stauros. For these words imply, Blessed are +they who, placing their trust in the Stauros, have +gone down into the Water." + +<P>This further reference to the non-Mosaic +<!-- Page 45 --> +initiatory rite of baptism is followed by a +quotation of <I>Ezekiel</I> xlvii. 12, which speaks of +a river by whose side grow trees those who cat +the fruit of which grow for ever. + +<P>Further on is a declaration that when Moses +stretched out his hands (in a direction not specified) +that victory might rest with the forces he +commanded, he stretched them out in the figure +of a stauros, as a prophecy that Jesus "would be +the author of life." + +<P>A reference is then made to the Brazen Serpent, +and to the pole upon which it was placed; +and it is stated that this lifeless imitation of a +serpent was a type of Jesus. + +<P>In the <I>Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians</I> we +read that the stauros of the Christ is indeed a +stumbling block to those who do not believe. +The evidence of Irenæus, as that of one who +was through his acquaintance with the aged Polycarp +almost in touch as it were with the apostles, +will on account of his importance as a witness +be specially dealt with in the next chapter. + +<P>Justin Martyr, arguing that the figure of the +cross is impressed upon the whole of nature, +asks men to<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Consider all things in the world, whether without +<!-- Page 46 --> +this form they could be administered or have any certainty. +For the sea is not traversed except that trophy +which is called a sail abide safe in the ship; and the +earth is not ploughed without it: diggers and mechanics +do not their work except with tools which have this +shape. And the human form differs from that of the +irrational animals in nothing else than in its being erect +and having the hands extended and having on the face +extending from the forehead what is called the nose, +through which there is respiration for the living creature; +and this shows no other form than that of the cross. +And so it was said by the prophet <I>The breath before our +face is the Lord Christ</I>. And the power of this form +is shown by your own symbols on what are called +standards and trophies; with which all your processions +are made, using these as insignia of your power +and government."<A NAME="S15" HREF="#R15"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>15</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Elsewhere Justin Martyr declares that the +Christ<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Was symbolised both by the Tree of Life which was +said to have been planted in Paradise, and by those +events which should happen to all the just. Moses was +sent with a <I>rod</I> to effect the redemption of the people; +and with this in his hands at the head of the people he +divided the sea. By this he saw the water gushing out +of the rock; and when he cast a <I>tree</I> into the waters of +Marah, which were bitter, he made them sweet. Jacob +by putting <I>rods</I> into the water troughs caused the sheep +<!-- Page 47 --> +of his uncle to conceive . . . . Aaron's <I>rod</I> which +blossomed declared him to be the High Priest. Isaiah +prophesied that a rod would come forth from the root +of Jesse, and this was the Christ."<A NAME="S16" HREF="#R16"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>16</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Further on in the same work, Justin Martyr, +alluding to the statement in the Israelitish Law +"Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," +states that<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"It was not without design that the prophet Moses +when Hur and Aaron upheld his hands, remained in this +form until evening. For indeed the Lord remained upon +the tree almost until evening."<A NAME="S17" HREF="#R17"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>17</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Tertullian writes concerning the Christ "With +the last enemy Death did he fight, and through +the trophy of the cross he triumphed"<A NAME="S18" HREF="#R18"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>18</SUP></FONT></A>; +and elsewhere tells us that "Cursed is every one +who hangeth on a tree" was a prediction of his +death.<A NAME="S19" HREF="#R19"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>19</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>There is also in existence a long essay by +Tertullian which starts by discussing the efficacy +of "the sign" as an antidote. The sign +of the cross as traced upon the forehead in +the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism seems +<!-- Page 48 --> +to be what is referred to; and no representation +of an instrument of execution, or cross-shaped +symbol of wood or any material, is +once mentioned.<A NAME="S20" HREF="#R20"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>20</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>In another of Tertullian's works we come +across the passage "In all the actions of daily +life we trace upon the forehead the sign."<A NAME="S21" HREF="#R21"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>21</SUP></FONT></A> + +His famous reference to the Sun-God Mithras +reads as follows:—<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"The devil in the mystic rites of his idols competes +even with the essential portions of the sacraments of +God. He, like God, baptizes some, that is, his own +believing and faithful followers, and promises the putting +away of sins by baptism; and if I remember rightly +Mithras there signs his soldiers upon their foreheads, +celebrates the oblation of bread, introduces a representation +of the resurrection, and places the crown beyond +the sword."<A NAME="S22" HREF="#R22"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>22</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Elsewhere Tertullian writes:—<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"If any of you think we render superstitious adoration +to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us . . +You worship <I>victories</I>, for in your trophies the cross is the +heart of the trophy. The camp religion of the Romans +is all through a worship of the standards . . . I praise +your zeal: you would not worship crosses unclothed and +unadorned."<A NAME="S23" HREF="#R23"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>23</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<!-- Page 49 --> +<P>In another of Tertullian's works we read:—<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"As for him who affirms that we are the priesthood +of a cross, we shall claim him as a co-religionist . . . +Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in an +erect position is part of a cross, and indeed the greater +part of its mass. But an entire cross is attributed to +us . . . . The truth however is that <I>your</I> religion +is <I>all</I> cross . . . You are ashamed, I suppose, to +worship unadorned and simple crosses."<A NAME="S24" HREF="#R24"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>24</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>In the <I>Instructions of Commodianus</I> we read +"The first law was in the tree, and so, too, +was the second."<A NAME="S25" HREF="#R25"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>25</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Cyprian contends that "By the sign of the +cross, also, Amalek was conquered by Moses."<A NAME="S26" HREF="#R26"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>26</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Elsewhere Cyprian tells us that "In this sign +of the cross is salvation for all people who are +marked on their foreheads"; quoting as proof +of this, from the Apocalypse, "They had his +name and the name of his Father written on +their foreheads," and "Blessed are they that +do his commandments that they may have +power over the Tree of Life."<A NAME="S27" HREF="#R27"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>27</SUP></FONT></A> + +Methodius tells us that "He overcame, as has +<!-- Page 50 --> +been said, the powers that enslaved us by the +figure of the cross; and shadowed forth man, +who had been oppressed by corruption as by +a tyrant power, to be free with unfettered hands. +For the cross, if you wish to define it, is the +confirmation of victory."<A NAME="S28" HREF="#R28"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>28</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Passing on to Origen, we find in one of his +works the noteworthy passage:—<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"It is possible to avoid it if we do what the Apostle +saith 'Mortify your members which are upon earth,' and +if we always carry about in our bodies the death of +Christ. For it is certain that where the death of Christ +is carried about, sin cannot reign. For the power of +the <I>stauros</I> of Christ is so great that if it be set before a +man's eyes and kept faithfully in his mind so that he look +with steadfast eyes of the mind upon that same death +of Christ, no concupiscence, no sensuality, no natural +passion, and no envious desire, is able to overcome +him."<A NAME="S29" HREF="#R29"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>29</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Whether however this reference to the +"<I>stauros</I> of Christ" is or is not a reference to +the figure of the cross, is doubtful. + +<P>Such is the evidence regarding the cross, +whether considered as immaterial sign or material +symbol, obtainable from the writings of the +<!-- Page 51 --> +Christians who lived between the days of the +Apostles and those of Constantine; other of +course than the <I>Octavius</I> of Minucius Felix, +which was dealt with in the last chapter, and +the writings of Irenæus, which will be dealt +with in the next. + +<P>Among the noteworthy features of the evidence +in question prominently stands out the +smallness of its volume. + +<P>This is but a negative point, however; and +what should be carefully borne in mind is +that the evidence as a whole leads to the conclusion +that the Christians of the second and +third centuries made use of the sign and venerated +the figure of the cross without, as Dean +Farrar admits, it "only or even mainly," reminding +them of the death of Jesus; and therefore +otherwise than as a representation of the instrument +of execution upon which Jesus died.<A NAME="S30" HREF="#R30"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>30</SUP></FONT></A> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 52 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH4">CHAPTER IV.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENÆUS.</H4></CENTER> +<P>The special importance of the evidence of +Irenæus, is due to the fact that of all the +Fathers whose undisputed works have come +down to us he is the only one who can be +considered to have been anything like in touch +with the Apostles. As an acquaintance of the +aged Polycarp, who is said to have been in his +youth a pupil of the aged Evangelist and +Apostle St. John and to have met yet other +Apostles, Irenæus had opportunities for ascertaining +facts concerning the life and death of +Jesus which the other Fathers upon whose +works we rely did not possess. + +<P>What, then, does this important witness have +to say, which bears upon the points at issue? +As a matter of fact, very little. + +<!-- Page 53 --> +<P>There are, however, two passages in the +works of Irenæus which it would not be right +to altogether ignore. + +<P>In the first of these passages Irenæus mentions +that some Christians believed that Simon +of Cyrene was executed instead of Jesus, owing +to the power of Jesus to metamorphose himself +and others having been exercised with that +object in view.<A NAME="S31" HREF="#R31"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>31</SUP></FONT></A> +This power is referred to +more than once in our Gospels, for instance +in the account of the so-called "Transfiguration" +upon the Mount; the Greek word rendered in +our Bibles as "transfigured" being the word +which in translations of the older Greek classics +is rendered "metamorphosed." + +<P>Even if we pass by this belief of certain of +the early Christians that Jesus was never +executed, a question here arises which should +at least be stated, and that is the question how, +if Jesus was metamorphosed upon the Mount, +as the Gospels tell us, he can be said to have +died as a man at Calvary? For if upon the +Mount of Transfiguration, or at any other time +previous to the scene at Calvary, Jesus was +<!-- Page 54 --> +metamorphosed, the form which was the result +of the process of re-metamorphosis necessary +to make him recognisable again cannot be said +to have been born of the Virgin Mary, and +can have been human only in appearance. + +<P>The other passage in the writings of Irenæus +which deserves our notice, is neither more nor +less than an emphatic declaration, by Irenæus +himself, that Jesus was not executed when a +little over thirty years of age, but lived to be +an old man. Explain it away how we will, the +fact remains; and it certainly ought not to be +ignored. + +<P>At first sight this statement of Irenæus would +decidedly seem to support the theory advanced +by some, that, as the Roman Procurator Pontius +Pilate admittedly did not want to carry out the +extreme penalty in the case of Jesus, though he +reluctantly consented to do so in order to pacify +the Jews and allowed Jesus to be fixed to a +stauros and suspended in public view, he took +care to manage things so that Jesus should only +appear to die. The idea of course is that if +Pilate wished to preserve the life of Jesus he +could easily have had him taken down while in +a drugged condition, have had the farce of burial +<!-- Page 55 --> +carried out at the earliest possible moment, and +then have had him resuscitated and removed to +some region where he could dwell in safety. + +<P>What Irenæus says concerning Jesus is that<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"He passed through every age, becoming an infant for +infants. . . . So likewise he was an old man for old +men, that he might be a perfect Master for all, not merely +as regards the setting forth of the truth but also as +regards age, sanctifying at the same time the aged also +and becoming an example to them likewise. Then, at +last, he came on to death itself. . . . From the +fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline towards +old age, which our Lord possessed while he still fulfilled +the office of a Teacher; even as the Gospel and all the +elders testify, those who were conversant in Asia with +John the disciple of the Lord affirming that John conveyed +to them that information. And he remained +among them up to the times of Trajan. Some of them +moreover saw not only John but the other apostles also, +and heard the very same account from them, and bear +testimony as to the statement. Whom, then, should we +rather believe? Whether such men as these, or Ptolemæus, +who never saw the apostles and who never even +in his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an +apostle?"<A NAME="S32" HREF="#R32"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>32</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>The reader must decide for himself or herself +whether Irenæus believed that Jesus was +never executed; or that he was executed but +<!-- Page 56 --> +survived; or that he was born when we suppose, +but executed thirty years or so later than we +suppose; or that, though executed when we +suppose, he was then an old man, and was born, +not at the commencement or middle or end of +the year A.C. 1, or B.C. 4, or whenever the +orthodox date is, but thirty years or more before +what we call our era began. Anyhow he mentions +neither cross nor execution, and here seems +to assume that Jesus died a natural death. And +in any case the fact remains that, however mistaken +he may have been, Irenæus stated that +Jesus lived to be an old man; and stated so +emphatically. + +<P>Even granting that Irenæus must have been +mistaken, his evidence none the less affects one +of the most important points debated in this +work. For it is clear that if even he knew so +little about the execution of Jesus, the details +of that execution cannot have been particularly +well known; and the affirmation that the stauros +to which Jesus was affixed had a transverse bar +attached may have had no foundation in fact, +and may have arisen from a wish to connect +Jesus with that well-known and widely-venerated +Symbol of Life, the pre-Christian cross. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 57 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH5">CHAPTER V.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>ORIGIN OF THIS PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Having in the foregoing chapters demonstrated +that it is possible, if not indeed +probable, that the instrument of execution to +which Jesus was affixed was otherwise than +cross-shaped; and having also shown that it +was not mainly, if indeed even partially, that the +early Christians signified that instrument by the +sign of the cross; it is now desirable that, as +a preliminary to an enquiry into the circumstances +under which the cross became the +symbol of Christianity, we should enquire into +the origin of the <I>pre</I>-Christian cross. + +<P>That there was a pre-Christian cross, and that +it was, like ours, a Symbol of Life, is generally +admitted. + +<P>The authorities upon such subjects, however, +unfortunately differ as to the reason why the +<!-- Page 58 --> +Cross came to be selected by the ancients as +the Symbol of Life. And not one of their +suggestions seems to go to the root of the +matter. + +<P>Let us therefore in thought go back tens of +thousands of years, and conceive the genus +Homo as a race gradually awakening to reason +but as yet unfettered by inherited traditions and +creeds. Let us imagine Man ere he began to +make gods in his own image. Let us remember +that what would strike him as the greatest of +all marvels would of necessity be Life itself, +and that far and away the next greatest marvel +must have been the glorious Sun; the obvious +source of earth life, and Lord of the Hosts +of Heaven. + +<P>Let us bear in mind, too, that though the +Nature Worship of our remote ancestors had +other striking features, the facts mentioned +would lead to the predominance of the phallic +idea, and to its association with Sun-God worship. +And as Life, the greatest marvel of all, must +have had a symbol allotted to it at a very early +date, let us ask ourselves what the untutored +mind of Man would be most likely to select as +its symbol. + +<!-- Page 59 --> +<P>To this question there is, so far as the author +can see, but one reasonable answer:—the figure +of the cross. + +<P>And the author conceives this to be the real +solution of the difficulty for this reason:—because +the figure of the cross is the simplest possible +representation of that union of two bodies or +two sexes or two powers or two principles, which +alone produces life. + +<P>For the ancients cannot fail to have perceived +that all life more immediately proceeds from the +<I>union</I> of <I>two</I> principles; and the first, readiest, +simplest, and most natural symbol of Life, was +consequently one straight line superimposed +upon another at such an angle that both could +be seen; in other words, a cross of some description +or other. + +<P>It is evidently probable that this was the real +reason why the figure of the cross originally +came to be adopted as the Symbol of Life. But, +of course, whatever the original reason, as time +rolled on other reasons for the veneration of the +cross were pointed out; nothing being more +natural than that primitive Man should, or more +certain than that he did, find pleasure in connecting +with other objects of his regard than +<!-- Page 60 --> +Life itself, that which as the Symbol of Life was +pre-eminently a symbol of good omen. + +<P>The most notable instance of this is the way +in which, or rather the different ways in which, +the figure of the cross was connected with the +Sun-God. + +<P>A good example of the last named fact, is the +declaration of the philosophers of ancient Greece +that the figure of the cross was the figure of the +"Second God" or "Universal Soul," the <I>Ratio</I> as +well as the <I>Oratio</I> of the All-Father, which they +called the <I>Logos</I> of God; a term badly translated +in our versions of the Gospel of St. John as +the <I>Word</I> of God, as if it signified the <I>Oratio</I> only. + +<P>It was this Logos or "Second God" whom +Philo, who was born before the commencement +of our era, described as the "Intellectual Sun," +and even as God's "First Begotten" and "Beloved" +offspring, and the "Light of the World"; +terms afterwards made use of by the writers of +our Gospels in describing the Christ. And, as +will be shown in a chapter upon the subject, the +reason the philosophers, among whom was Plato, +gave for declaring the cross to be the figure of +the Logos, was that the Sun creates this figure +by crossing the Equator. + +<!-- Page 61 --> +<P>An even better illustration can be seen in the +fact that in days of old almost every civilised +race held feasts at the time of the Vernal +Equinox, in honour of the Passover or <I>Cross</I>-over +of the Sun. + +<P>The fact that the ancients were thus at special +pains to connect the symbol of Life with the +Sun-God, and also, as we know, spoke of him +as the "Giver of Life" and the only "Saviour," +was doubtless due to their perceiving, not only +that life is the result of the union of the two +principles distinguished by the titles male and +female, but also that the salvation of life is due +to the action of the sun in preserving the body +from cold and in producing and ripening for +its use the fruits of the earth. + +<P>As the Giver of Life, the Sun-God was of +course considered to be bi-sexual. But when +the two great lights of heaven, the Sun and +the Moon, were associated with each other, as +was often and naturally the ease, the Sun was +considered to be more especially a personification +of the Male Principle, and the waxing and +waning moon, as represented by the Crescent, a +personification of the Female Principle. Hence +the worship of the God associated with the +<!-- Page 62 --> +radiate sun, as of that of the Goddess associated +with the crescent moon and called the Sun-God's +mother or bride, was phallic in character; and +their connection is repeatedly symbolised upon +the relics which have come down to us from +antiquity by the sign of the crescent containing +within its horns either a disc or what we should +consider a star-like object, which latter was +almost as favourite a mode with the ancients +of representing the sun as it is with us of +representing a star or planet, as will be shown +further on. + +<P>Returning, however, to the symbol of the +cross, as the first and simplest representation +of that union of the Male and Female Principles +which alone produces what we mortals call life, +it is extremely curious that the selection of the +figure of the cross in comparatively modern +times as the simplest and most natural symbol +both of addition and of multiplication, should +have led no one to perceive that, being for these +very reasons also the simplest and most natural +symbol of Life, a probable solution of the +mystery surrounding the origin of the pre-Christian +cross as a symbol of Life, as it were +stared them in the face. +<!-- Page 63 --> +As to the contention of not a few authorities, +apparently founded upon the mistaken assumption +that the <I>Svastika</I> was the earliest form of +cross to acquire importance as a symbol, that +the pre-Christian cross was originally a representation +of the wheel-like motion of the sun or a +reference to the wheel of the Sun-God's chariot; +it need only be remarked that evidence exists to +show that the cross was a symbol of Life from +a period so early, that it is doubtful if the Sun-God +had then been likened to a charioteer, and +not certain that either chariots or wheels had +been invented. It is true that the Solar Wheel +became a recognized symbol of the Sun-God, +and that additional veneration was paid to it +because the figure of the symbol of Life was +more or less discoverable in the spokes allotted +to the Solar Wheel; but it is putting the cart +before the horse to suppose that the cross +became the symbol of Life because its form was +so discoverable. + +<P>It only remains to be added that there +undoubtedly was a connection, however slight, +between the pre-Christian Cross as the Symbol +of Life, the Solar Wheel as a symbol of the +Sun-God, and the Cross as the symbol of the +<!-- Page 64 --> +Christ. And whatever the date at which the +cross was first adopted as a Christian symbol, +or whatever the reason for that adoption, there +is no doubt that, as will be shown further on, +our religion was considerably influenced by the +facts that the Gaulish soldiers whose victories +enabled Constantine to become Sole Emperor +venerated the Solar Wheel, +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="solarwheel2.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 2"> , +and that +their leader, who was anxious to obtain the +support of the Christians, allowed a loop to be +added to the top of the vertical spoke so that +the Christians might be able to interpret the +victorious symbol as +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> , +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> ; +<I>i.e.</I>, <SPAN LANG="gr">ΧΡ</SPAN> or <SPAN LANG="gr">ΧΡΙ</SPAN>, the first two or three letters of +the Greek word <SPAN LANG="gr">ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ</SPAN>, <I>Christos</I>, Christ. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 65 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH6">CHAPTER VI.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS.</H4></CENTER> +<P>As has already been to some extent pointed +out, it is evident that our beloved Christendom +more or less owes its existence to the fact +that Constantine the Great when only ruler of +Gaul, himself a Sun-God worshipper at the head +of an army of Sun-God worshippers, seeing how +greatly the small but enthusiastic bodies of +Christians everywhere to be met with could aid +him in his designs upon the attainment of +supreme power, bid for their support. For to +this politic move, its success, and Constantine's +perception that only a non-national religion +whose followers sought to convert the whole +world and make their faith a catholic one, could +really weld together different races of men, we +owe the fact that when he became Sole Emperor +<!-- Page 66 --> +he made Christianity the State Religion of the +world-wide Roman Empire. + +<P>This act and its far-reaching effects, are not +all we owe to Constantine, however. It should +be remembered that even our creed was to some +extent decided by him. For it was this Sun-God +worshipper—who, though he advised others +to enter what he wished should become a catholic +and all-embracing religion, refused to do so +himself till he was dying—who called together +our bishops, and, presiding over them in council +at Nicæa, demanded that they should determine +the controversy in the ranks of the Christians as +to whether the Christ was or was not God, by +subscribing to a declaration of his Deity. It is +even recorded that he forced the unwilling ones +to sign under penalty off deprivation and banishment. + +<P>From these and other incidents in his career it +would appear that, either from policy or conviction, +Constantine acted as if he thought the +Sun-God and the Christ were one and the same +deity. + +<P>The probability of this is more or less apparent +from what we are told concerning the part he +played in connection with what, thanks, as we +<!-- Page 67 --> +are about to see, to him, became our recognised +symbol. + +<P>Our knowledge of the part played by Constantine +in connection with the symbol of the +cross, except so far as we can gather it from a +study of ancient coins and other relics, unfortunately +comes to us solely through Christian +sources. And the first that famous bishop and +ecclesiastical historian Eusebius of Cæsarea, to +whom we owe so large a proportion of our real +or supposed knowledge of the early days of +Christianity, tells us about Constantine and the +cross, is that in the year A.C. 312—a quarter of +a century before his admission into the Christian +Church—Constantine and the Gaulish soldiers he +was leading saw at noon <I>over the Sun</I> a cross of +Light in the heavens, bearing upon it or having +attached to it the inscription <SPAN LANG="gr">ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ ΝΙΝΑ</SPAN>, +<I>By this conquer</I>. + +<P>The words of the Bishop, who is reporting +what he states the Emperor in question to have +told him personally, are:—<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"He said that at mid-day when the sun was beginning +to decline he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross +of light in the heavens, above the Sun, bearing the +inscription <SPAN LANG="gr">ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ ΝΙΝΑ</SPAN>; he himself, and his +<!-- Page 68 --> +whole army also, being struck with amazement at this +sight."<A NAME="S33" HREF="#R33"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>33</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Though this marvellous cross, declared by +Christian writers of that century to have been +the so-called Monogram of Christ +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> , +appeared to an army of Sun-God +worshippers, Constantine himself—as can be +seen from his coins—remaining one for many +years afterwards if not till his death, it is put +before us as a Christian cross. + +<P>It is also noteworthy that no material representation +of a cross of any description was ever +held aloft by adherents of the Christian Church, +until after Constantine is said to have had this +more or less solar cross so represented as the +standard of his Gaulish army. + +<P>Mention should therefore be made of the fact +that, upon the coins he struck, the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> +is perhaps the one which occurs the most +frequently upon representations of the famous +<I>Labarum</I> or Military Standard of Constantine; +but that the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> , +the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +without the circle, and the +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +and +<IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> , +are +also to be seen. + +<!-- Page 69 --> +<P>Now the Gauls led by Constantine specially +venerated the Solar Wheel. This had sometimes +six and sometimes four spokes, +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="solarwheel2.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 2"> , +and the warriors of their native land had long +been in the habit of wearing a representation of +the same upon their helmets. It is therefore +not improbable that even before the date of the +alleged vision when marching upon Rome, some +such symbol formed the standard of Constantine's +army. + +<P>Anyhow, that the worthy Bishop Eusebius +was, like other enthusiasts, liable to be at times +carried by his enthusiasm beyond the limits of +veracity, or else was the victim of imperial mendacity, +is evident. For Eusebius tells us in the +<I>Life of Constantine</I> he wrote after the death of +his patron, that the night after this miraculous +"cross" and motto were seen in the sky above +the Sun, the Christ appeared to Constantine, +and, showing the Gaulish general the same sign +that had been seen in the sky, directed him to +have a similar symbol made, under which his +army—an army, be it remembered, of Sun-God +worshippers—should march conquering and to +conquer!<A NAME="S34" HREF="#R34"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>34</SUP></FONT></A> + +<!-- Page 70 --> +<P>All that is really likely to have happened is +that Constantine, wishing to encourage his troops, +bade them rally round a standard on which was +represented the sacred Solar Wheel venerated +by the Gauls; and that as with this as a rallying +point Constantine and his Gauls became masters +of Rome, the symbol we are discussing became a +Roman—and therefore, later on, upon the establishment +of our faith as the State Religion of +the Roman Empire, also a <I>Christian</I>—symbol. +And a loop seems to have been sooner or later +added to the top of the vertical spoke of the +Gaulish symbol, so that Christians could accept +it as a Monogram of Christ; as has already +been hinted, and as will be demonstrated further +on. + +<P>A noteworthy point is that we have two +accounts of Constantine's alleged vision of the +Christ, and that they do not quite agree. +The Bishop of Cæsarea's account is, that the +night after the Emperor—then only ruler of +Gaul—and all his soldiers saw the "cross" and +motto above the meridian sun, the Christ appeared +to Constantine<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"With the same sign which he had seen in the +<!-- Page 71 --> +heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that +sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as +a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies."<A NAME="S35" HREF="#R35"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>35</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>But the author of <I>De Mortibus Persecutorem</I>, +a work said to have been written during the reign +of Constantine, and attributed to Lactantius, +refers to the alleged vision as follows:—<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Constantine was admonished in his sleep to mark the +celestial sign of God on the shields, and thus engage in +battle. He did as he was commanded, and marked the +name of the Christ on the shields by the letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN> drawn +across them with the top circumflexed. Armed with this +sign his troops—"<A NAME="S36" HREF="#R36"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>36</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> +<BR><BR> +and the differences between these two accounts +are greater than would at first sight appear. + +<P>Let us however return to the story of the +Bishop of Cæsarea, who tells us that the morning +after the Christ appeared to Constantine, the +Emperor told this second marvel to his friends, +and, sending for the workers in gold and precious +stones who are assumed to have accompanied +the Gaulish army, directed them to overlay with +gold a long spear<BR><BR> + +<!-- Page 72 --> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"On the top of the whole of which was fixed a wreath +of gold and precious stones, and within this the symbol +of the Saviour's name, two letters indicating the name of +the Christ by means of its initial characters, the letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> +being intersected with the letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN> in its centre."<A NAME="S37" HREF="#R37"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>37</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Several questions naturally arise at this point +of our enquiry, and it is not easy—nay, it is +impossible—for us Christians to honestly dispose +of all of them and yet retain our cherished +opinions upon this matter. Only one such question +need be stated, and it is this: Is it likely +that the Infinite Ruler of the universe, either at +mid-day or at mid-night, went out of his way +to induce a Sun-God worshipper who would not +enter the Christian Church till a quarter of a +century later and ere then was to become a +murderer of innocent persons like the boy-Cæsar +Licinius, to adopt a symbol which he +warranted would enable Constantine to lead on +the Gauls to victory? + +<P>Pursuing the narrative of Eusebius we find +that he, alluding to the symbol which he describes +as a monogram but calls a cross, states that, +setting this "victorious trophy and salutary +symbol" in front of his soldiers, Constantine +<!-- Page 73 --> +continued his march against Maxentius; and, +with his forces thus "divinely aided," overthrew +the Emperor just outside the Imperial City, +entered Rome in triumph, and thanked God +that He had enabled him to defeat and slay its +ruler and assume the purple in that ruler's +stead.<A NAME="S38" HREF="#R38"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>38</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Eusebius then tells us that Constantine, who +did not dispose of all his rivals and become sole +emperor till some twelve years later, as victor in +the fight with Maxentius and master of Rome +though not as yet of the whole empire, at once +<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"By loud proclamation and monumental inscriptions +made known to all men the salutary symbol, setting +up this great trophy of victory over his enemies, and +expressly causing it to be engraven in indelible characters +that the salutary symbol was the safeguard of the +Roman Government and entire people. Accordingly he +immediately ordered a lofty spear in the figure of a cross +to be placed beneath the hand of a statue representing +himself in the most frequented part of Rome, and the +following inscription engraven on it in the Latin tongue:—'By +virtue of this salutary sign which is the true test of +valour, I have preserved and liberated your city from the +yoke of tyranny, and I have also set at liberty the Roman +Senate and People, and have restored to them their +ancient distinction and splendour.'"<A NAME="S39" HREF="#R39"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>39</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<!-- Page 74 --> +<P>Now, as we have already seen, what Eusebius +referred to as the "cross" observed above the +mid-day sun (and accompanied by a miraculous +inscription in, presumably, to agree with the +monogram, the Greek language; which was, +well, "Greek" to the Gaulish soldiers) was the +so-called Monogram of Christ <IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> or <IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> or +<IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> or <IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> . That, too, was what Eusebius tells +us the Christ afterwards told the Gaulish leader +Constantine to model his military standard after. +That, therefore, was the "salutary symbol" and +"trophy of victory" referred to in the above +passage from the same authority. + +<P>It is therefore clear that this "lofty spear in +the figure of a cross" which Eusebius tells us +was placed under the hand of the statue of +Constantine in the central place of honour in +Rome, was referred to by Eusebius as a "cross" +because it was shaped like or in some way connected +with some form or other of the so-called +Monogram of Christ. And such a conclusion is +borne out by the fact that spears with cross-bars +had been in use among both Gauls and Romans +for centuries, whereas this one is referred to as +something out of the common. + +<P>It should also be noted that it was as a +<!-- Page 75 --> +victorious military standard, and not as either +a monogram of the Christ or a representation of +the <I>stauros</I> upon which Jesus was executed, that +Constantine caused this <IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> or <IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> , or <IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> +or <IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> , or <IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> or <IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> (all which variations occur +upon the coins of Constantine and his successors), +to become a symbol of the Roman Empire. + +<P>Further on in his history of the Emperor, +Eusebius tells us that whenever Constantine saw +his troops hard pressed, he gave orders that the +"salutary trophy" should be moved in that +direction, and that victory always resulted. + +<P>The Bishop of Cæsarea then goes on to relate +that Constantine selected fifty men of his bodyguard, +the most distinguished for piety, valour, +and strength, whose sole duty it was to defend +this famous standard; and that, of the elect +fifty, those who fled were always slain, and those +who stood their ground were always miraculously +preserved.<A NAME="S40" HREF="#R40"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>40</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>One would imagine from all this that there +was only one labarum. Many different kinds +are, however, represented upon the coins of +<!-- Page 76 --> +Constantine; as also almost every variety of +ordinary cross, except, perhaps, such as might +conceivably have been a representation of an +instrument of execution, like that which has +since come into vogue among us. + +<P>Eusebius also tells us that Constantine caused +to be erected in front of his palace a lofty tablet, +on which was painted a representation of himself +with the "salutary sign" over his head and +a dragon or serpent under his feet.<A NAME="S41" HREF="#R41"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>41</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>He also informs us that inside the palace and +in the principal apartment, on a vast tablet in +the ceiling, Constantine caused "the symbol of +our Saviour's passion to be fixed, composed of +a variety of precious stones inwrought with +gold."<A NAME="S42" HREF="#R42"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>42</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Which of all the "salutary" signs that appear +upon the coins of Constantine these particular +crosses were, we do not know; but it is, at any +rate, obviously unlikely that a worshipper of +Apollo who refused to enter the Christian +Church till he was dying, and on his coins +always attributed his victories to the Sun-God, +elevated either as a representation of an instrument +of execution. + +<!-- Page 77 --> +<P>As to the alleged finding at Jerusalem, by +Helena the mother of Constantine, of three +stakes with transverse bars attached, all of which +were ancient instruments of execution and one +of which was shown by the occurrence of a +miracle to have been a cross to which Jesus was +affixed three centuries before, it is clear that +this is a fairy tale. The story cannot be traced +further back than to St. Cyril of Jerusalem +about A.C. 350; and Eusebius, who gives an +account of Helena's visit to Jerusalem, does +not mention any such occurrence as that in +question; a sure sign that it was an invention +of later date. + +<P>The Christian Church, however, in a weak +moment vouched for the truth of this ridiculous +story; and while what was suffered to remain +in Jerusalem of the true cross became the +treasure of that city and a trophy captured +by its foes but afterwards secured from them +and once more placed in its holiest shrine, what +was broken up into relics for the faithful throughout +Christendom multiplied into a thousand +fragments; one of which forms the centre of +the Vatican Cross, and such few others of which +as survive would not if examined, 'tis said, even +<!-- Page 78 --> +prove to be all of the same kind of wood, or +even limited to the two kinds for the presence +of which a supposed cross-bar of another kind +of timber might be held accountable. + +<P>The same Christian Bishop to whom this +fairy tale can be traced, in a letter to one of +the Emperors that succeeded Constantine declared +that on the seventh of May A.C. 351 he +and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem saw a +brilliant cross in the heavens, stretching from +Mount Golgotha to the Mount of Olives, and +<I>shining like the Sun for several hours</I>.<A NAME="S43" HREF="#R43"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>43</SUP></FONT></A> +And this marvellous vision is vouched for by St. +Jerome, Socrates, Matins, and the Alexandrine +Chronicle, as well as by St. Cyril; and is still +kept in memory by the Greek Church, a solemn +festival being held upon anniversaries of the +day in question. But which particular "salutary +sign" thus shone in the sky like the Sun for +hours, is uncertain. + +<P>These painfully obvious inventions cannot but +incline broad-minded Christians to the belief +that our Church went to great lengths in order +to induce people to believe that the cross was +<!-- Page 79 --> +essentially a <I>Christian</I> symbol; which tends to +show that there was a danger of their thinking +otherwise. + +<P>It is also clear from the evidence already +quoted concerning the adoption by Christians in +the fourth century of a symbol they denounced +in the third, that whether Jesus was executed +upon a cross-shaped instrument or not, that was +not the chief reason why the phallic symbol of +Life became recognised as the symbol of the +Christ. + +<P>The striking fact that though, as will be +shown, the cross of four equal arms (a cross +which, as we have seen, preceded the Latin cross +as a Christian symbol, and one form of which +is still the favourite symbol of the Greek Church; +while even in the other two great divisions of +Christendom its numerous variations, wheel-like +and otherwise, as a whole dispute the supremacy +with the Latin cross) occurs many times upon +the coins of Constantine, yet it was the so-called +Monogram of Christ or adapted solar wheel of +the Gauls which the Christians of the fourth +century were most careful to claim as a Christian +symbol, should also be noted. For though the +cross of four equal arms was also put by +<!-- Page 80 --> +Constantine upon his coins as a solar symbol, yet +that, being then, as for ages previously, a symbol +of the Sun-God of world-wide acceptation, and +one which as we shall see had already appeared +as such upon Roman coins, it was not so much +a Gaulish symbol as the other; and it was +evidently because that other was the symbol +followed by the triumphant leader of the Gauls +and his victorious army, that the Christians +wished to specially identify it with the Christ. + +<P>In any case, whether the so-called Monogram +of Christ was more or less forced upon Christianity +when Constantine made our faith the +State Religion of his empire, or whether it was +adopted by Christians of their own volition, it +was a politic move (than which few possible +moves could have done more to secure the +triumph of our faith) to accept as the symbol of +the Christian Church what was at one and the +same time the symbol of Constantine, of the +Roman State, and of the universally adored +Sun-God. + +<P>That the more generally accepted symbol +of the Sun-God, the cross of four equal arms, +should in time supplant the more local one, was +of course only to be expected; as was the +<!-- Page 81 --> +adoption of a cross with one arm longer than +the others, as being the only kind which could +possibly be connected with the story of Jesus +as the Christ incarnate. + +<P>As to the possible objection that what has +been dealt with in this chapter has been rather +the origin of the Christian custom of manufacturing +and venerating material representations +of the sign or figure of the cross than the origin +of the Christian cross itself, the answer is obvious. +And the answer is that the first cross which can +<I>justly</I> be called "Christian," was the one which +was the first to be considered, to use Dean +Farrar's expressions, "mainly," if not "only," a +representation of an instrument of execution; +which cross was undoubtedly not a transient +sign or gesture but a material representation of +the cross with one arm longer than the others +and was introduced after such representations +of the cross of four equal arms and of the +so-called Monogram of Christ had come into +vogue among Christians as a consequence of the +influence of Constantine. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 82 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH7">CHAPTER VII.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Having already shown not a little cause +for believing that the adoption of the +cross as our symbol is due to the fact that we +Christians helped to secure the triumph of the +ambitious ruler of the Gauls, and after receiving +numberless smaller favours from Constantine +during the years he was ruler of Rome but +not as yet sole emperor eventually obtained +from him the establishment of Christianity as +the State Religion of the Roman Empire, +adapting the victorious trophy of the Gauls and +the various crosses venerated by them and other +Sun-God worshippers to our faith as best we +could, it is desirable that we should pause to +trace the career of the man we hail as the first +Christian Emperor. + +<!-- Page 83 --> +<P>To do this properly we must commence by +referring to Constantine's father, Constantius +Chlorus; and to the favour shown to Constantius +Chlorus by his patron the Emperor Diocletian. + +<P>Finding the supreme rule of the almost worldwide +Roman Empire too much for one man +in ill-health to undertake successfully, Diocletian +in the year A.C. 286 made Maximian co-emperor. +And in A.C. 292 Diocletian followed this up by +conferring the inferior position and title of +Cæsar upon Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. + +<P>In A.C. 305 Diocletian relinquished power +altogether, forcing Maximian to abdicate with +him; Galerius and Constantius Chlorus thus +obtaining the coveted title of Augustus, and +sharing the supreme power. + +<P>Galerius now ranked first, however; for it was +to the ruler of Illyricum and not to that of Gaul +that Diocletian gave the power of appointing +Cæsars to govern Italy and the East. + +<P>Constantius Chlorus died in Britain A.C. 306, +the year after Diocletian abdicated; and +Galerius, who had married a daughter of +Diocletian, naturally thought that under the +circumstances he ought to become sole emperor. + +<P>The legions of Gaul, however, proclaimed +<!-- Page 84 --> +the son of Constantius Chlorus as Augustus +in his stead; and as Constantine thus became +ruler of Gaul and a power to be reckoned +with, Galerius thought it best to give way so +far as to grant Constantine the inferior title +of Cæsar. + +<P>Soon afterwards Galerius conferred the title +of Augustus upon Severus; and a little while +after that the Eternal City was lost to Galerius +through the revolt of his son-in-law Maxentius, +the son of Maximian. + +<P>The Senate of Rome then asked Maximian +to re-assume the purple, and he and Maxentius +shared the power between them, both taking +the title of Augustus. + +<P>Upon this Severus at the request of Galerius +marched upon Rome. He was, however, defeated +and slain. + +<P>After being more or less expelled by his son +Maxentius, Maximian in the year A.C. 308 +marched to Gaul and married his daughter +Fausta to Constantine; at the same time +conferring upon him the title of Augustus. +About this time Galerius made his friend +Licinius an Augustus in the place of Severus; +whereupon Maximin, the Governor of Syria and +<!-- Page 85 --> +Egypt, demanded and was granted that title +also. + +<P>There were thus in the year A.C. 308 some +half-a-dozen Roman Emperors instead of one; +there being Constantine and Maximian in the +west, Maxentius at Rome, and Galerius, Licinius, +and Maximin elsewhere; not to mention Diocletian, +who was content to remain in retirement. + +<P>This decided break-up of the Roman Empire +was Constantine's opportunity; and he was +favourably placed, for he had a warlike and +faithful people under him. + +<P>Moreover by reversing so far as lay in his +power as ruler of Gaul the traditional policy +of Rome towards Christianity, and setting +himself forward as a champion of a non-national +religion which had been persecuted +because it was non-national, Constantine was +secure of the enthusiastic backing of all the +Christians to be found in the dominions of +his various rivals. + +<P>In A.C. 310 Constantine either executed his +father-in-law the Emperor Maximian, or caused +him to commit suicide; and the first of his +five rivals was disposed of. + +<P>In A.C. 311 the Emperor Galerius died from +<!-- Page 86 --> +disease, and Constantine's most formidable competitor, +and one who undoubtedly had a better +claim than himself to the position of sole +emperor, thus opportunely made way for the +ruler of Gaul. + +<P>In A.C. 312 Constantine marched at the head +of the Gauls against the Emperor Maxentius, +defeated him near the Milvian Bridge outside +Rome, and entered the Eternal City in triumph. +Maxentius is said to have been drowned in the +Tiber; and the Senate decreed that Constantine +should rank as the first of the three remaining +Augusti. + +<P>In A.C. 313 the Emperor Maximin fought +the Emperor Licinius; but his forces were +defeated, and he soon afterwards died. + +<P>Some ten years or so later Constantine went +to war with his only remaining rival, Licinius, +defeated him, and became sole emperor, A.C. 324. + +<P>That despite his great qualities as a ruler +the character of Constantine was not perfect, +can be easily seen from the fact that, not +content with executing the Emperor Licinius +after accepting his submission, he murdered the +young Licinius; a boy certainly not over twelve +years of age, and according to some authorities +<!-- Page 87 --> +two or three years younger than that. He +also put his own son Crispus to death, and +other relations as well. + +<P>We are told that Constantine was so tortured +by the memory of these and other crimes that +he applied to the priests of the Gods of Rome +for absolution, but that they bravely said that +there was no absolution for such sins, whereupon +this worshipper of the Sun-God turned to his +friends the Christians and they gave him what +he desired.<A NAME="S44" HREF="#R44"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>44</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>This statement seems somewhat improbable, +however, as one would imagine that the Pagan +priests, when called upon by one who was +Pontifex Maximus and therefore their spiritual +superior as well as the supreme emperor, would +not have scrupled to invent some purifying rite—if +they had none such—warranted to blot out +the stain of every crime and thoroughly appease +offended heaven. + +<P>However this may have been, these terrible +crimes of Constantine, all committed many years +after his alleged conversion to our faith, show +how badly advised we are to so needlessly go +<!-- Page 88 --> +out of our way to claim as a Christian one who +refused to enter the Christian Church till he was +dying and possibly no longer master of himself. + +<P>It is said that this refusal of his to be baptised +till he was weak and dying and surrounded by +Church officials who would perhaps have spread +the report that he had been baptised even if they +had not then at last been able to induce him to +take the decisive step, was due, not to want of +belief, but to excess of belief; Constantine's idea +being that the longer he put off the rite in +question, the more crimes would it wash out. +Or, in other words, that delay would enable him +to sin with impunity a little longer. + +<P>This may possibly have been the case, but it +should at the same time be borne in mind that +whether Constantine called him Apollo or Christ, +it seems probable that it was the Sun-God to +whom he referred. For everything tends to +show that this astute emperor, who so naturally +wished to establish and mould a religion which +all his subjects of whatever race or nationality +might be reasonably expected to become in time +willing to accept, acted during his reign as +supreme ruler of the Roman World, if not from +first to last, as if the Christ were but another +<!-- Page 89 --> +conception of the Sun-God he was brought up +to worship as Apollo and all countries venerated +under some name or other. + +<P>This point is not only demonstrated by the +fact that upon his coins Constantine repeatedly +declared that the Sun-God was his invincible +guide and protector and the giver even of the +victory foreshadowed by the alleged vision of +the cross or Monogram of Christ above the +meridian sun, but is also clearly shown by +certain incidents connected with the founding +towards the end of his life of the new metropolis +which in less than a century equalled Rome in +all save antiquity. + +<P>New Rome, or, as we now call it, Constantinople, +the city of Constantine, was built on the +site of, and often called by the name of, Byzantium. +It was not designed till A.C. 324, and was +not dedicated till A.C. 330, or, as some think, an +even later date: Constantine dying in the year +A.C. 337. + +<P>We are told that Constantinople was dedicated +to the Virgin Mother of God.<A NAME="S45" HREF="#R45"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>45</SUP></FONT></A> +This should +remind us of the fact that long before our era, +<!-- Page 90 --> +and right down to the time when Constantine +selected Byzantium as the site of a new capital, +that place was considered dedicated to the Virgin +Queen of Heaven. + +<P>Now in the central place of honour in his new +metropolis, one would naturally expect Constantine +to erect something or other to the +honour of the God to whom he attributed his +victories. + +<P>Whose, then, was the statue Constantine +towards the end of his life, and about twenty +years after his alleged conversion to our faith, +erected in the centre of the Forum of New +Rome? + +<P>It was a statue of the Sun-God Apollo; or, as +some explain it, a statue of himself adorned with +the attributes of the Sun-God. + +<P>In fact, taking the career of Constantine as a +whole, there is nothing inconsistent with the +supposition that he was a Christian only in so +far as, out of policy or conviction, he acted as +if he considered the Christ to be one of many +conceptions of the Sun-God. For although, as +has been mentioned and will be shown in a later +chapter, Constantine, upon the many varieties +of coins he issued, repeatedly acclaimed the +<!-- Page 91 --> +Sun-God as his companion and the author of his +triumphs, he never once, except in so far as he +may have considered the God we Christians +worship to be the Sun-God, so attributed his +victories to the Christ. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + + +<!-- Page 92 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH8">CHAPTER VIII.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>CROSS AND CRESCENT.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Before passing in review the evidence +regarding the symbol of the cross derivable +from Roman coins and other relics of +antiquity, a few introductory remarks are necessary +regarding the too often forgotten fact that +the ancients naturally looked upon the Giver +of Life as bi-sexual; no life being known to +them which was not a result of the conjunction +of the Male and Female Principles. + +<P>The necessarily bi-sexual character of the +creator of both the Male and Female Principles, +was, it should be remembered, borne in mind +by the thinkers of old all the while they accommodatingly +spoke of the Sun-God or Giver of +Life as being a personification of the Male +Principle and gave him a Bride or Virgin Mother +to represent the Female Principle. + +<!-- Page 93 --> +<P>Moreover, just as the disc of the Sun, or the +star-like form which the ancients often used to +signify the radiate or impregnating Sun, naturally +came to be recognised as the symbol of the +Male Principle, so the Crescent, as signifying +the increasing Moon and the lesser of the two +great lights of heaven, in like manner came to +be adopted as the natural symbol of the Female +Principle. + +<P>In this connection it will not be amiss to +draw attention to the symbol of the conquerors +of the city founded by Constantine. For though +misleadingly called "the Crescent," that symbol +is, as the reader cannot very well fail to be aware, +not a mere crescent; but one which has within +its horns what we consider to be a star-like form +and therefore call a star. And though it is possible +that it was not knowingly adopted as such +by the Moslems, this dual symbol was a combination +of the ancient symbols of the Male +and Female Principles. + +<P>An erroneous account of the origin of this symbol +as a Moslem symbol is given in all our works +of reference which deal with the matter, as if their +compilers copied one from another without +troubling to consider the evidence for themselves. + +<!-- Page 94 --> +<P>The incorrect but widely accepted explanation +in question, is to the effect that the so-called +<I>star</I> and crescent had its origin as a Moslem +symbol in the capture of Byzantium or Constantinople +by the Turks in A.C. 1453; our works +of reference stating that it was then adopted by +Mahomet II., as the symbol of the famous city +he had taken from the Christians. + +<P>But was the "star and crescent" the symbol +of the City of Constantine? It would appear +not. + +<P>Ancient Byzantium was, as stated in a previous +chapter, considered, long before our era and +right up to the days of Constantine, as dedicated +to the Virgin Queen of Heaven; whose symbol +was a crescent. And when Constantine rebuilt +and renamed Byzantium, he dedicated New +Rome—or, as we now call it, Constantinople—to +the Virgin Mother of God and Queen of +Heaven; whose symbol, as can be seen upon +reference to both ancient and modern representations +of the Virgin Mary, is also a crescent. It +would therefore appear that the symbol of the +city is more likely to have been a simple +crescent than the so-called <I>star</I> and crescent. +Such a conclusion is entirely borne out by +<!-- Page 95 --> +the evidence. For though the so-called star and +crescent can be seen upon three or four coins +struck at Byzantium before such a place as New +Rome was thought of, this proves little if anything; +inasmuch as the symbol in question was +a very common one in days of old, and occurs +frequently upon coins struck elsewhere. + +<P>Moreover the question is what the symbol +of Constantinople was at the time it was captured +by the Turks. And an inspection of the +coins issued by the Christian rulers of that city +during the thousand years and more it was in +their hands, will reveal to the enquirer that +though the crescent with a <I>cross</I> within its horns +appears occasionally upon the coins of the +Emperors of the East, and in one or two +instances we see a cross of four equal arms with +each extremity piercing a crescent, it is doubtful +if a single example of the so-called "<I>star</I> and +crescent" symbol can be found upon them. + +<P>We learn from other sources also that the +symbol of the imperial Christian Metropolis +captured by the Turks nearly five hundred years +ago and ever since retained by them, was a +simple crescent. And there is no doubt whatever +that the dual symbol of the Moslems was +<!-- Page 96 --> +adopted by them, not when they brought about +the downfall of Constantinople as a Christian +city, but centuries before, as a result of the conquest +of Persia. + +<P>It was in the year A.C. 641 that the battle of +Nehavend, ever after called by the Moslems the +<I>Victory of Victories</I>, laid at the feet of the +followers of the Prophet the kingdom of Iran +or Persia, and brought to an end the Sassanian +Monarchy. + +<P>Now the coins of the Sassanian kings then +and for the previous two centuries bore upon +them, with scarcely an exception, the so-called +"<I>star</I> and crescent"; and it was as the symbol +of this Zoroastrian dynasty and of the fair +land of Iran, that the Moslems adopted it as +their own. +What the star-like object (star-like, that is, in +<I>our</I> opinion) represented upon the coins of Iran +or Persia when placed within the horns of a +crescent, was, of course, the Sun. The supposition +of certain writers that the dual symbol +represented the two crescent-presenting orbs, +Venus and the Moon, is entirely mistaken. +For though the conjunction of the two crescent-shaped +and feminine lights of heaven, was of +<!-- Page 97 --> +old, like the combination of the symbol of the +Sun—as representing the Male Principle—with +that ever feminine symbol the Crescent, held to +signify Increase and Life, we are dealing with +what was admittedly a Mithraic symbol. And +not only was the star-like object in question +the symbol of the Sun-God Mithras, but it was, +as any student of the coins of the Sassanian +dynasty can see, substituted for the disc. + +<P>Upon the Sassanian coins the so-called star, +in reality a representation neither of a star +nor of a planet but of the radiate Sun, seems +to have been first substituted for the round +disc as a representation of the Sun, by Perozes, +about A.C. 457; the disc in the horns of a +crescent being the symbol on the coins of his +father Isdigerd II. and other predecessors. But +the dual symbol miscalled the "star and crescent" +was one even then of great antiquity, as will be +shown in a later chapter dealing with Phœnician +relics discovered in Cyprus and elsewhere. + +<P>The primary signification of the dual symbol +in question, often accompanied on the Sassanian +coins by a prayer that the monarch might +"increase," or flourish generally, was undoubtedly +<I>Life</I>. And it is clear that the conjunction of +<!-- Page 98 --> +the Crescent as the symbol of the Female Principle +of Life with the star-like figure which +represented the radiate, life-giving, or impregnating +Sun, must have not only signified Life, +but also the necessarily bi-sexual Giver of Life. + +<P>We are thus brought to the conclusion that +the Cross and the so-called Crescent are more +or less allied in signification. + +<P>Nor is this noteworthy fact to be wondered +at. For only words and forms divide the faiths +of Mankind, and at heart the one object of our +desires is Life. Even those who piously lay +down their lives for others here, do so in the +hope of being rewarded with longer life and +more blissful life hereafter. + +<P>Another point which is too often overlooked, +is that if the followers of the so-called Crescent +have, as would appear to be the case, forgotten +the meaning of their symbol and the fact that +it alludes to the bi-sexual nature of the Creator, +we followers of the Cross may all unconsciously +be in a very similar position regarding our +symbol. And as the Cross as the recognised +symbol of the Christ is not of older date than +the conquest of Rome by the Gauls, and more +or less resulted therefrom, it is clear that the +<!-- Page 99 --> +same remark applies if we consider the Moslems +to have adopted their symbol as that of the land +they conquered from the Sassanian kings, rather +than as one with the primal and natural interpretation +of which they were content. + +<P>Anyway the cross as well as the "star and +crescent" is more or less a bi-sexual symbol, as +will be clear to those who understand how the +cross came to be recognised ages before our era +as the natural symbol of Life. And a good +illustration of the fact in question still exists in +the Caroccio crucifix of Milan; in which relic +we see, under the usual inscription, an androgynous +Christ upon a cross, with a man's head +but half the body of female form, and with, +instead of a cloth or fig-leaf, the phallic <I>crux +ansata</I>, or Egyptian cross or symbol of Life, +placed sideways, and as if the oval represented +the female organ of reproduction, and the <I>tau</I> +or incomplete cross that of the other sex. + +<P>Like the Red Cross of to-day, the Carocco +bi-sexual crucifix, once so common in Italy, was +a symbol of Life and Salvation in two senses; +it not only being considered so in itself, but +being also used on the battlefield as a rallying +point for wounded soldiers, signalling to them +<!-- Page 100 --> +that bandages, drugs, and surgical aid, could be +obtained where it towered aloft. + +<P>These references to the fact that in days of +old many very naturally came to the conclusion +that the Creator and Giver of Life and only +Saviour must be bi-sexual, should remind us +Christians that our assertion that the Infinite +Spirit is "Our Father" is not from all points of +view an improvement upon the ideas of the +ancients. For they also, and rightly, conceived +what we wrongly ignore, <I>viz.,</I> that the Infinite +Author of all existence must also be "Our +Mother." + +<P>In this respect Protestants have if possible +gone even further astray than members of the +Greek and Roman Churches. For in the +veneration paid by the latter to Mary of +Nazareth as the Bride of God, the Mother +of God, the Star of the Sea, and the Queen +of Heaven, can be seen a survival, however +toned down or distorted, of the old idea that +the Deity must necessarily be of both sexes. + +<P>Even the plainly evident fact that, while in +pre-Christian days the symbol of the cross represented +the two sexual powers in conjunction, +it has in Christian times come to be considered +<!-- Page 101 --> +the symbol of Life as being the symbol of the +<SPAN CLASS=smallcaps>Son</SPAN> of God, should, moreover, lead us to note +that our religion scarcely does justice to the part +played in the economy of Nature by the fair +sex. This is doubtless due to the fact that the +moulding of our creed and the interpretation of +things hard to be understood has for the most +part been in the hands of the sex which, as the +author belongs to it, may by way of contrast be +called unfair. + +<P>What, for instance, can be more unfair than +the assumption that God, if incarnated as one of +the genus Homo, must have been born a male? +Yet that assumption is at the very basis of +modern Christianity. + +<P>Moreover, even granting that the Deity was +specially incarnated in Jesus the Nazarene and +therefore as a male, why should we, as if supposing +that a passing form could stamp its sex +upon an Infinite Spirit, speak of "God the Son" +yet never of "God the Daughter?" + +<P>The fact is that the natural disabilities and +disadvantages of the childbearing sex have from +the first resulted in the power of the male sex +to rule the roast, and one result of the predominance +thus ensured to the male sex by the +<!-- Page 102 --> +laws of Nature has of course been a similar +predominance for the opinion that the Creator +is of the male sex. + +<P>Some enthusiastic champion of her sex, +alluding to the fact that the opposing sex now +has a monopoly of the priesthood, may even go +so far as to ask with a special meaning, Has +not Man from the beginning made God in his +own image? + +<P>The male sex did not always have a monopoly +of the priesthood, however; and in few if any +instances did the priests of old go so far as to +teach that the Creator, whom out of compliment +to the Deity—or themselves—they naturally +spoke of as belonging to the stronger sex, was +a male and <I>only</I> a male. Nor did they even +assume such a thing. Though the different gods +and goddesses were spoken of as belonging to +this or that sex, more than one were regarded as +in reality androgynous; and the fact that the +Creator and Giver of Life must of necessity be +so was very generally recognised. + +<P>As a matter of fact it is by no means certain +that the Creator is not represented as being +androgynous even in our Bible. For in the +account of the Creation which the Jews brought +<!-- Page 103 --> +with them from Babylon, the Creator is represented +as saying "Let <I>us</I> make man in <I>our</I> +image"; and a race which like the Jews solemnly +declared that there was but one God, could only, +it would seem, have accepted such a declaration +as a divine revelation if they conceived the God +supposed to be speaking to be androgynous, and +addressing the other part of himself. This +would account for the emphasis laid upon the +statement that man was created "male <I>and</I> +female," like, or in the image of, the Creator. + +<P>In any case it is clear that if God be not +female as well as male, Man was <I>not</I> created in +the likeness of God. + +<P>The theory of the ancients that Man himself +was created an androgynous being, capable, like +the Creator, of creating life in himself, but was +afterwards divided into halves, one of which is ever +seeking to find the other, need only be mentioned. + +<P>Suffice it to add that it can scarcely be said +to have been altogether progress in the right +direction, which has led us mortals to call the +Author of all Life "Our Father," to the utter +obscuration of the equally important fact that +the Deity in whom we live and move and have +our being must also be "Our Mother." +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 104 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH9">CHAPTER IX.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE CORONATION ORB.</H4></CENTER> +<P>The fact that though we Christians fail to +do the matter justice, the ancients upon +the contrary recognised that the Creator and the +Giver of Life cannot be rightly spoken of as +belonging to one sex and one alone, is not the +only fact which those who examine relics of +antiquity, such as the coins of the Roman +Empire, with a view to ascertaining what +evidence is derivable from them that bears upon +the history of the symbol of the cross, should +ever bear in mind. Another point to be kept in +view is the evolution of the Christian symbol +now known as the Coronation Orb. + +<P>This compound symbol, which plays so prominent +a part in the regalia of a Christian +Monarch, also crowns the topmost height of +many a Christian Temple including both St. +<!-- Page 105 --> +Peter's at Rome and St. Paul's at London. +And it is noteworthy that it bears a certain +resemblance to the representation of the Apex, +once worn by the Salian priests and afterwards +by the Pontifex Maximus and the Flamens +generally, which appears upon ancient coins of +the <I>Fabia</I> gens; the office of <I>Flamen Quirinalis</I> +having been hereditary in the Fabia family. + +<P>Upon other coins also, what is said to be +meant for the pontifical apex occurs as a round +ball surmounted by something very like a cross, +in the hand of a female figure representing +Rome; exactly as the so-called Coronation Orb +is to be seen upon coins of later date in the hand +of this or that Christian Emperor. + +<P>The evidence as a whole, however, favours the +supposition that the Coronation Orb, instead of +having been derived from the Apex of the Pagan +priests and thus signifying the claim to priesthood +or headship of the church so often made by +monarchs, is a development of the round object, +frequently unsurmounted by anything, so continually +to be met with upon ancient coins of +Rome in the hand of this or that God, Goddess, +or Ruler. + +<P>This being the case, it is a matter of very +<!-- Page 106 --> +considerable importance that we should be quite +sure what the round object in question used to +signify, and should base our assurance upon +the results of personal investigation rather than +upon the assumption that the popular explanation +is necessarily the correct one. + +<P>Though the round object in question was, as +stated, in days of old often used as a symbol by +itself, it was sometimes, and, as time rolled on, +more and more frequently, surmounted by a +small female figure with wings; which figure +was a representation of Victory. This figure +was, after the establishment of Christianity as +the State Religion of the Roman Empire, +gradually, and only gradually, supplanted by +the figure of the cross. + +<P>Although several writers of note assume that +the initiative in this direction was taken by +Constantine himself, the first step seems to have +been taken upon the death of Constantine, when +a coin or medal was issued on which the +deceased monarch is called a God and is represented +as holding a round object surmounted +by the so-called Monogram of Christ; a symbol +continually referred to by Eusebius and other +writers of the fourth century as a cross. + +<!-- Page 107 --> +<P>Later on an instance occurs of the Monogram +surmounting a round object held by a female +figure representing Rome. This is upon a coin +issued by Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine. + +<P>Passing on to the reign of Valentinianus II., +we find that that Emperor issued a coin upon +which a round object surmounted by a cross is +to be seen in the hand of Victory herself. This +would appear to have been the first instance in +which what we should call a cross, supplanted +the representation of Victory as a small female +figure with wings, as a symbol surmounting the +round object which we are considering. + +<P>A similar coin was issued by Theodosius I., +surnamed the Great; the last of the Emperors +of Rome whose rule extended throughout the +whole of the Roman world. + +<P>The instances named are, it will be understood, +the exceptions to the general rule during +a considerable period. And upon many of the +coins of the Emperors mentioned, as well as +upon those of the intervening Emperors, the +round object held by those rulers is surmounted +by either a Victory or a Phœnix; usually by +the former, but in several instances by the latter. + +<P>The first ruler who caused <I>himself</I> to be +<!-- Page 108 --> +represented as holding a round object surmounted +by an ordinary cross, was Theodosius II., +Emperor of the East. + +<P>The fact that for a long time the Victory, +the Phœnix, and the Cross, were made use of +as symbols which might be substituted one for +another, is worthy of special note. For the facts +that the round object held by Theodosius II. +is as often surmounted by a Victory as by a +Cross, and that a Victory instead of a Cross +was often used by succeeding Christian Emperors, +tend to show that the Victory, the +Phœnix, and the Cross were allied in signification, +and equally connected with the round +object the nature and meaning of which we are +about to enquire into. + +<P>The reader may possibly object that no case +has been made out for such enquiry, inasmuch +as not only did the cross in course of time +entirely supplant the Victory, but the round +object from first to last, and whether unsurmounted +by anything or surmounted by a +Victory or a Phœnix or a Cross, signified the +world upon which we dwell, the round world, +and nothing but the world. + +<P>Such is, of course, the popular assumption; +<!-- Page 109 --> +based upon what we are taught in school books +and in standard works of reference. But, as a +matter of fact, in many cases the round object +admittedly signified an apple; the Golden Apple +of the Hesperides: a well known phallic symbol. +Whenever a round object unsurmounted by anything +is to be seen in the hand of either the +Sun-God Hercules or Venus the Goddess of +Love, it admittedly may have been, for it +admittedly often was, a representation, not of +the world, but of the Golden Apple. And not +only does it so occur upon a very large number +of coins, but in some instances we see the +Victory surmounting it; recalling to our minds +the fact that victory, as signifying the triumph +of Life over Death, had a phallic as well as a +martial meaning, and is achieved every time that +a man is born into the world as a result of the +tasting of the fruit of the Tree of Life or of +the knowledge of good and evil. + +<P>Moreover, though the fact is now for some +reason or other ignored, the so-called Coronation +Orb of Christian Monarchs was itself +once known as the Golden Apple. It is so +referred to in important Latin documents of +the Middle Ages; for instance in the famous +<!-- Page 110 --> +Bull of Charles IV. regarding the Imperial +elections, wherein we read of the right of the +Counts Palatine of the Rhine to carry the +symbol in question at the coronation of their +Emperor. And to this very day the so-called +Coronation Orb is known throughout Germany +and Austria as <I>Reichsapfel</I>, the Imperial Apple. + +<P>It is therefore by no means certain that the +round portion of the Coronation Orb which +thus caused the name of "the Golden Apple" +to be given to this compound Christian symbol, +is not, like the cross above it, to some extent +a phallic symbol. + +<P>Every one should know the classic story of +the Golden Apple; how the tree which bore +the Golden Apples grew up in the Garden of +the Hesperides in honour of the wedding of +Hera, a goddess who more or less personified +the female sex; how the Golden Apples are +variously said to have been dedicated to the +Sun (Hellos), to the Sun-God (Dionysos), and +to the Goddess of Love (Aphrodite); how the +Sun-God Hercules as one of the twelve labours +which represented the months, slew the Serpent +which guarded the tree, and plucked the fruit; +and how the Goddess Eris, who alone of all +<!-- Page 111 --> +the deities was not invited to the nuptials of +Peleus and Thetis, revenged herself by throwing +among the guests a Golden Apple inscribed +"To the fairest," and Paris awarded it to the +Goddess of Love, Aphrodite or Venus. + +<P>The story of the Garden of the Hesperides is +at heart one with that of the Garden of Eden; +for it is obvious that the same phallic meaning +underlies each, and that they are but different +versions of the same allegory. + +<P>It may here be called to mind that it has +this century been discovered from the cuneiform +inscriptions of Western Asia, that Eden was the +name given by Babylonians in days of old to +the plain outside Babylon, whereupon, according +to the legends of that city, the creation of living +beings took place. Also that much evidence +has accrued which, impartially weighed in the +balance, leads clearly to the conclusion that the +all-important commencement of Genesis, which +forms as it were the very basis of both the +Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, was borrowed +by the Jews from Babylon. And that it +was in reality a <I>Babylonian</I> tradition or series of +traditions of far older date than any writing of +purely Jewish origin, has not only been amply +<!-- Page 112 --> +proved by recent discoveries, but might indeed +have been guessed from its reference to the +Tower of Babel or Babylon. + +<P>Nor is this all, for among the age-old relics +discovered in Western Asia is a pictorial representation +of the allegorical Temptation and Fall. + +<P>Upon this noteworthy piece of evidence the +Tree of Knowledge or Life, with which the +figure of the cross was identified by the early +Christians; the Serpent, which in all countries +and every age has been more or less identified +with the sexual powers; the Man; the Woman; +and the Apple; are all represented. And it +is important to note that, according to the +cuneiform inscription upon another time-worn +relic in the British Museum, the Babylonians of +old, at a time when the descendants of Jacob or +Israel were without scriptures of their own, had +a tradition to the effect that the fate of our first +parents—who, thanks to a wicked Serpent of +Darkness, tasted of the forbidden fruit which +grew in the "Garden of the Gods"—was placed +in the hands of "their Redeemer." + +<P>It should also be pointed out that this voice +from the dim and distant past distinctly states +that the Redeemer in question was—the Sun-God. + +<!-- Page 113 --> +<P>In ancient days the so-called forbidden fruit +or apple seems to have borne somewhat the +same symbolic meaning that the egg did. But +while the apple not only represented Life, but +also, and primarily, that union between two +sexes or principles which produces life, the +egg more or less lacked the latter meaning, +and, on the other hand, signified Existence in +a wider sense than the apple did. + +<P>The <I>Cosmos</I> itself was an egg according to +the conceptions of many of the ancients; and +few ideas were more widely spread, or can be +traced further back, than the one that the whole +visible creation emerged from the original Chaos +or Darkness in the shape of an egg. + +<P>The egg also, and above all, signified the +Sun-God, as the acknowledged Giver of Life +and Saviour of Life. Hence the prominent +part which it played in the various religious +mysteries of the ancients, and also the fact that +the Egyptians represented the Sun-God Ra as +giving forth such utterances as "I am the +Creative Soul of the celestial abyss. None sees +my nest, and none can break my egg." The +egg referred to, was of course the Sun itself. + +<P>Even our Christian custom of exchanging +<!-- Page 114 --> +eggs at Easter is more or less derived from +Sun-God worship, being a survival from customs +practised long before our era at that particular +period of the year, the time of the Vernal +Equinox or Pass-over of the Sun, when the +Orient Light crosses the Equator to rise once +more in the Northern Hemisphere. + +<P>Nor are these the only facts connecting the +egg with Sun-God worship, for the Sun-God +Apollo was of old represented as born from the +egg of Leda, and the Sun-God Osiris was also +said to have been born from an egg. + +<P>Moreover the Chinese believe that the first +man was born from an egg, the Orphic hymns +speak of the "First-Begotten One" as "egg-born," +and the Greeks fabled that their Sun-God +Dionysos sprang from the cosmic egg. + +<P>As to the origin of the Coronation Orb, it is +noteworthy that no finer or more natural symbol +of Power could have been fixed upon than a +representation of that ball of fire which was so +frequently spoken of in bygone ages as "the +Orb," and from which all earthly life and power +may be said to proceed. + +<P>However the available evidence certainly seems +to show that the round object we are considering +<!-- Page 115 --> +is more likely to have signified the cosmic egg +than the solar orb. + +<P>In any case the object in question cannot be +shown to have represented the world upon which +we dwell and that alone; and nothing is more +likely than that so famous a symbol should, like +the cross which now adorns it, have more or less +signified Life. + +<P>It should also be pointed out that this symbol +of Power may have signified, not so much that +the Ruler who used it laid claim to world-wide +dominion, as that he held in his hand power +over the lives of others; and, possibly, also +that he claimed to be, as the vicegerent of the +Sun-God and Giver of Life, the only legitimate +Saviour of his country. + +<P>The facts that the symbol was used in clays +of old by others than the Emperors whose sway +extended over the whole of the Roman Empire, +and is nowadays considered the rightful symbol +of every Christian Monarch however limited the +area over which his power is felt, should also be +borne in mind; though not of much value as +evidence, as even petty rulers have been known +to boast that they held the world in their grasp. + +<P>It should however be remembered that though +<!-- Page 116 --> +the ancients, struck by the dome-like appearance +of the sky and the circular movements of the +constellations, conceived the cosmos or universe +to be spherical, and in some instances even +constructed celestial globes upon which to record +the movements of Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars, +it is doubtful if a single one of them considered +the world upon which we dwell to be spherical. +Also, that many a Christian Monarch has used +the Coronation Orb as a symbol of power, and +yet believed the earth to be otherwise than a +globe in shape. + +<P>In this connection it should be pointed out +that the round object which the ancients represented +Atlas as supporting upon his shoulders, +usually in the presence of Jupiter, was not as is +vulgarly supposed the earth, but the heavens; +Hesiod telling us that Atlas bore heaven with +his head and hands, Ovid that upon Atlas rested +heaven and all the stars, and other writers of +bygone ages that Atlas was a king who first +taught men that heaven had the shape of a +globe. + +<P>It is of course possible that the ancients may +have conceived the earth to be otherwise than +spherical, and yet, because the horizon which +<!-- Page 117 --> +appears to limit its extent seems to be circular, +or for some other reason, have considered a +round object to be a representation of it. + +<P>Even where, however, the ball-like symbol we +are considering may have represented something +other than the Golden Apple, the probability is +that it seldom if ever represented the earth. + +<P>For as, though the ancients may have conceived +and spoken of the world we live upon as +being "round" in the same sense as a circular +coin is round, they did not think of it as being a +globe, it is obvious that the ball-like symbol in +question is much less likely to have signified the—in +their belief—non-globular earth, than it is +to have been a representation of something +which they did consider to be globular. + +<P>Such is the nature of the evidence which tends +to show that we Christians may be mistaken in +supposing that our famous symbol the Coronation +Orb represents the round world upon which +we dwell, surmounted by the instrument of +execution upon which Jesus died. + +<P>Although, however, most points have now +been touched upon, including the important fact +that the so-called Coronation Orb of Christian +Monarchs used to be called, even by Christians, +<!-- Page 118 --> +the Golden Apple, the idea that it may have +been the <I>crux ansata</I>, or Egyptian symbol of +Life (an upright oval, perhaps signifying the +female principle, set upon the top of the <I>tau</I>, +or +<IMG SRC="t.gif" ALT="T"> +cross, and thus turning into a complete +cross what is really an incomplete one, and may +be supposed to have signified the male principle), +<I>reversed</I> (<I>e.g., Archæological Journal</I> xlii. 164), +should at least be mentioned. It ought, however +to be pointed out that the Orb is even more +like the ancient symbol of the planet sacred +to Venus, the Goddess of Love, reversed. + +<P>Even this point does not exhaust the subject +in hand; for the fact that in days of old we +used to represent the Christ as the Pagans represented +the Sun-God, <I>viz.,</I> as standing by the +Tree of Life and holding a round object meant +for the phallic apple, has not yet been dealt +with in any way. + +<P>It is however desirable that before discussing +the matter further we should ascertain the nature +of the evidence, regarding this and kindred +subjects, derivable from the coins of the Roman +Empire. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 119 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH10">CHAPTER X.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Bearing in mind the matters mentioned +in the two last chapters, let us now pass +in review the coins struck by the Romans, and +make a note of such features as may, directly +or indirectly, bear upon the history of the cross. + +<P>The first cross we meet with on the coins in +question, is upon one of Julius Cæsar; who was +appointed <I>Flamen Dialis</I> B.C. 87, <I>Pontiff</I> B.C. 74, +Military Tribune B.C. 73, Quæstor B.C. 68, <I>Pontifex +Maximus</I> B.C. 63, and Dictator B.C. 49. + +<P>The cross in question consists of the name +<I>C. Cossutius Maridianus</I> arranged as a cross of +four equal arms. And it should be noted that +it is admitted, even by such well-known authorities +as Mr. C. W. King, M.A., that the name +was so arranged out of compliment to the official +<!-- Page 120 --> +in question <I>because his name had reference to the +meridian sun</I>.<A NAME="S46" HREF="#R46"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>46</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Upon a coin struck by Cæsar's heir, the almost +equally famous Augustus (Consul B.C. 43, Emperor +B.C. 29—A.C. 14), about twenty years +before our era, we see a head of the Sun-God +Bacchus upon one side; and on the reverse a +man presenting a military standard, the banner +of which is ornamented with a St. Andrew's +cross. + +<P>Two other coins of the same reign and about +the same date, have upon them representations of +military standards bearing the same symbol. + +<P>Upon another coin struck by Augustus we +see a crescent with a star or radiate sun within +its horns, the ancient phallic symbol adopted by +the followers of the prophet Muhammad centuries +later. + +<P>A similar symbol occurs upon the coins of +Hadrian (A.C. 117—138). + +<P>Upon two coins of Antoninus Pius (A.C. 138—161) +we see the Sun-God Hercules plucking the +Golden Apple from a tree around which the +traditional serpent is coiled. + +<!-- Page 121 --> +<P>On another coin of the same reign the Sun-God +Hercules can be seen holding a round +object which admittedly represents the Golden +Apple; that symbol both of the Sun-God as +(1) the bi-sexual Giver of Life and (2) the personification +of the Male Principle, and of the +Goddess who represented (1) the Love of the +two sexes and (2) the Female Principle. + +<P>Upon another coin Jove holds a similar +looking object. + +<P>Many coins issued in the name of Annia +Galeria Faustina the wife of Antoninus Pius, +and by Marcus Aurelius (A.C. 161—180), and in +the name of his wife Annia Faustina, have upon +them representations of Venus the Goddess of +Love holding a round object which is admittedly +meant for the Golden Apple. The favourite +legends are <I>Venus Victrix</I>, <I>Venus Felix</I>, and +<I>Venus Genetrix</I>, and of phallic import; and in +one instance the Goddess of Love holds an +infant wrapped in swaddling clothes as well as +the phallic apple. + +<P>Other coins of Marcus Aurelius or his wife have +upon them representations of Eternity as a female +figure holding a round object. In some cases +the round object is surmounted by a Phœnix. + +<!-- Page 122 --> +<P>Upon a coin struck by Lucius Aurelius Verus +(A.C. 160—169) that ruler is to be seen holding a +round object surmounted by a Victory. + +<P>On the coins of Commodus (A.C. 180—192) +sometimes Jove and sometimes the Emperor +holds a small round object. A Victory in some +cases surmounts it. + +<P>Venus holding the Golden Apple—that is, a +round object which in such instances is admitted +to have represented the Golden Apple—is to +be seen upon many coins issued in the name +of Lucilla, the sister of Commodus. + +<P>Upon coins issued by Caius Pescennius Niger +a small round object surmounted by a Victory +is to be seen in the hand of Jove. +On a coin struck by Septimus Severus (A.C. +193—211) we see Rome represented as a female +figure with a shield at her side marked with a +cross. + +<P>Upon another coin we see the Goddess of +Love holding a round object admittedly meant +for the Golden Apple, while a child is stationed +at her feet. The legend is <I>Venus Genetrix.</I> +Among the coins issued in the name of Julia +Domna, the wife of the last named Emperor, +are nearly a dozen varieties upon which Venus +<!-- Page 123 --> +is represented as holding a round object. A +crescent occurs upon the reverse in some +instances. + +<P>Upon several coins of Caracalla (A.C. 211—217) +we see that Emperor holding a small +round object surmounted by a Victory; upon +others he is to be seen holding a Victory +only. + +<P>Various coins issued in the name of Fulvia +Plantilla the wife of Caracalla, show us the +Goddess of Love holding a round object. The +legends are <I>Venus Felix</I> and <I>Venus Victrix</I>. + +<P>In the reign of Elagabalus or Heliogabalus +(A.C. 218—222) a coin was struck on which we +see the Goddess Astarte, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or +Venus, holding a cross. + +<P>Venus holding a round object is to be seen +upon many coins issued in the names of Soæmias +the mother of Elagabalus, his wife Julia +Aquilia Severa, Julia Mamma the mother of +Alexander Severus, and his wife Orbiana. + +<P>On a coin of the Emperor Decius (A.C. 249—251) +struck at Mæonia, we meet with the so-called +"Monogram of Christ" upon a Roman +coin in the form +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +for the first time. + +<P>Upon a coin of Trebonianus Gallus (A.C. 251—254) +<!-- Page 124 --> +Eternity is represented as a female holding +a small round object. + +<P>On another coin of this reign we see a Phœnix +instead of a Victory upon the round object held +by the Emperor. + +<P>Many of the coins of ancient Rome acclaim +the Sun-God as the Saviour, and upon a coin +issued by Gallienus (A.C. 254—268) we see the +Sun-God Apollo holding a cross. + +<P>Upon a coin issued by the younger Valerian +we see the Sun-God holding a small round object. + +<P>A coin struck by Tetricus (A.C. 267—264) has +upon its reverse a representation of the Sun-God +holding a round object, while in the field +near the Sun-God is a cross. + +<P>On a coin issued by Claudius II. we see the +Sun-God Hercules holding a round object +admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + +<P>Upon a coin issued by Aurelianus we see +the Sun-God holding a round object surmounted +by a crescent. + +<P>On a coin issued by Vabalathus we see the +Sun-God Hercules holding a round object admittedly +representing the Golden Apple. + +<P>Upon a coin of Numerianus (A.C. 283—284) +we see the Goddess of Love holding a round +<!-- Page 125 --> +object surmounted by a Victory. Such instances +as this should be specially noted, as nothing +distinguishes the round objects so surmounted +from those held by Venus which admittedly +represent the Golden Apple, and the present +fashion of our symbol the Coronation Orb or +Imperial Apple is due to the fact that a century +later Theodosius II. Emperor of Constantinople +started the idea of substituting a cross for the +Victory. + +<P>Upon several coins of Carinus (A.C. 282—284) +we see the Sun-God holding a small +round object. + +<P>On other coins of this reign Eternity appears +as a female holding a small round object surmounted +by a Phœnix. + +<P>Upon the coins issued in the name of Magnia +Urbica, wife of Carinus, on which we see Venus +holding a small round object which admittedly +represented the Golden Apple, the Crescent +frequently accompanies the representations of +the Goddess of Love. + +<P>On coins issued by Diocletian (A.C. 284-305) +we see both Jove and the Sun-God holding a +small round object; like the Emperor himself. +A Victory in some cases surmounts it. + +<!-- Page 126 --> +<P>The Sun-God Hercules holding a round +object which admittedly signified the Golden +Apple is to be seen on other coins issued during +this reign. + +<P>Among the coins issued by Diocletian's co-Emperor +Maximian, is one bearing a representation +of the Sun-God Hercules in the +Garden of the Hesperides near the Tree +encircled by the Serpent he slew. The Sun-God +holds a round object representing a Golden +Apple plucked from the Tree in question. + +<P>On the reverse of another coin bearing the +names both of Jove the All-Father and Hercules +the Sun-God, we see the latter represented as +holding a round object, admittedly meant for +the Golden Apple. + +<P>In some cases where Hercules holds the +Golden Apple-for instance, upon a coin bearing +the legend <I>Herculi invicto Aug</I>.—the Golden +Apple is surmounted by a Victory. + +<P>A coin issued by Constantius Chlorus, the +ruler of Gaul and father of Constantine the +Great, represents the Sun-God Hercules in the +act of plucking a Golden Apple from the +famous Tree. + +<P>A coin issued in the joint names of Galerius +<!-- Page 127 --> +and Constantius Chlorus, bearing the legend +<I>Genio Populi Romani</I>, has in the field on the +reverse side a cross, which takes the place occupied +upon otherwise similar coins by a star-like +object not improbably representing the sun. + +<P>Such are the more striking features of the +evidence which can be obtained from the Roman +coins issued prior to the accession of Constantine +to the throne of Gaul. + +<P>The reader will have seen that the symbol +of the cross occurs several times upon the coins +in question, and in almost if not quite every +instance in connection with the Sun-God. + +<P>The fact that upon a coin of Julius Cæsar, +and therefore before our era, a cross admittedly +occurs as a symbol of the sun, will also have +been remarked. + +<P>It will also have been noticed in how very +large a number of cases the round symbol +which was a precursor of our Coronation Orb +admittedly signified the Golden Apple, and +therefore was of phallic import. + +<P>Another point which the reader cannot very +well fail to bear in mind, is that where the +Goddess of Love, as the representative of the +sex whose felicity lies in motherhood or the +<!-- Page 128 --> +victorious production of life, is seen carrying the +symbol in question, the surrounding legend is +Venus <I>Genetrix</I>, or <I>Victrix</I>, or <I>Felix</I>, or some +variation or other of the same; and that the said +legends are obviously phallic in signification. + +<P>If we also keep before us the fact that the +Golden Apple whether held by the Sun-God or +his complement the Goddess of Love, was at +times surmounted by the figure of Victory for +which Christian Emperors gradually and only +gradually substituted the figure of the cross, it +is curious to note that in early Christian representations +of the Christ he is often to be seen +with the Apple or forbidden fruit of the Tree of +Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + +<P>When the Christ is in such cases depicted as a +youth, the phallic apple is usually to be seen +lying near him; but when the Christ is represented +as a man, it is placed in his hand. + +<P>For instance a good example of the Christ +holding the fruit of the Tree of Life is reproduced +for us in the well known work on the +likeness of Jesus by the late Thomas Heaphy.<A NAME="S47" HREF="#R47"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>47</SUP></FONT></A> +Here we see, in a picture which occurs upon a +<!-- Page 129 --> +glass ornament found in the Catacombs of Rome +in the tomb of a Christian named Eutychia, an +illustration of the Christ standing by the side of +the Tree of Life. The rays of the Sun surround +the head of the Christ, and in his hand is the +phallic Apple. + +<P>It will have been remarked that the round +object to be seen upon innumerable Roman coins +in the hand of this or that ruler or deity, and +popularly supposed to have always represented +the round world upon which we dwell although +it is at the same time believed that the world +was not then considered to be round, frequently +occurs in the hand of a female figure representing +Eternity. It is self-evident that a representation +of the world we live on is less likely to have +been so placed than a symbol of Life. + +<P>A still more striking fact, which cannot fail to +have been noticed by the reader of the evidence +from the coins of ancient Rome quoted in the +earlier part of this chapter, is that in several +instances a Phœnix and not a Victory surmounts +the so-called orb. For the story of the Phœnix +was derived from the Egyptian City of the +Sun.<A NAME="S48" HREF="#R48"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>48</SUP></FONT></A> +And the fabulous bird in question was, +<!-- Page 130 --> +according to Tacitus as well as Herodotus, +specially connected with the temple of the +Sun-God at Heliopolis. + +<P>Upon this point it may be added that the +famous story of the Phœnix seems to have been +known to the writer of <I>Job</I>; the Septuagint +version of <I>Job</I> xxix. 18, being "I shall die in my +nest and shall multiply my days as the Phœnix" +according to some of the best authorities. + +<P>The various ages allotted to this allegorical +bird had reference to the calendar; as indeed +we learn from Pliny, who tells us that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"The revolution of the Great Year in which the +seasons and stars return to their former places, agrees +with the life of this bird."<A NAME="S49" HREF="#R49"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>49</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>This is borne out by the periods spoken of as +the lifetime of the Phœnix; as among them are +one of 600 years, the Great Year referred to by +Josephus and others, and one of 1,461 years, +which was the Sothic period of the Egyptians. + +<P>It is also clear that, like the Victory and the +Golden Apple it surmounted, the Phœnix and +its wonderful egg were not only connected with +the Sun-God, but also had a phallic signification. + +<!-- Page 131 --> +<P>The problem as to whether bird or egg first +existed scarcely applies to the fabulous Phœnix +and its equally fabulous egg, and need not be +discussed here. Suffice it to say that the round +object from which that Christian symbol the +Coronation Orb is descended, though it may at +times have more or less represented the world +upon which we dwell, seems to have primarily +signified, as associated with each other in idea, +both the Golden Apple of Love and the Phœnix-like +life principle enshrined in the Egg, both the +egg-like <I>Cosmos</I> or Universe and Eternity; but +in all, and through all, and above all, the basis +of all power whether finite or infinite, <I>viz.,</I> Life. + +<P>It is therefore not surprising to find that the +monarchs of ancient days claimed to rule by +divine right as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, to +whose favouring influence all earthly life is +traceable; and caused themselves to be represented, +upon Roman coins as receiving the +Golden Apple, and upon Egyptian monuments +as receiving the Cross, from the Sun-God, as +the symbol of their authority. + +<P>Yet another point to be borne in mind, is that +we Christians are expressly taught that God the +Father and God the Son are as nearly identical +<!-- Page 132 --> +as the ancients considered the Central Fire, +which they deemed the Parent of all things, +and the Warmth and Light issuing therefrom to +be; or the Sun's disc and the emanations therefrom; +the Christ being represented as saying +"I and My Father are one" and "He that hath +seen Me hath seen the Father." For though we +describe ours as a <I>co-equal</I> Trinity, no such +identity with either God the Father or God the +Son is affirmed of God the Holy Ghost, and it +is remarkable that in our ancient illustrations of +the Three Persons, both the First and the Second +are represented as holding the so-called globe +and Cross, while the Third, even where depicted +as of human shape like the other two, is not. + +<P>The fact is that the co-equality of the Holy +Spirit of a God who is Himself, as Jesus declared, +a Spirit, is an idea which did not find +much acceptance among Christians till a comparatively +late date and is the outcome of confused +thought. And the separate personality +of this Spirit of a Spirit being entirely a +Christian conception, and without a counterpart +in the theology of the ancients, few if any Pagan +symbols such as the so-called globe and the cross +would have been associated with it in any case. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 133 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH11">CHAPTER XI.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE.</H4></CENTER> +<P>We are more or less in the habit of +assuming that just as Paul, the founder +of the catholic faith, was converted, not altogether +by reason but as it were by force and with the +rapidity of a flash of lightning, under the rays +of a meridian sun ("About <I>noon</I> suddenly there +shone from heaven a great light round about +me," <I>Acts</I> xxii. 6; "At <I>mid-day</I>," <I>Acts</I> xxvi. 13), +so Constantine, the establisher of that faith as +the State Religion of the empire in which Paul +was so proud of his rights as a citizen, was in +similarly rapid fashion converted by the appearance +of a miraculous "cross" of light and an +accompanying legend above a meridian sun +("At <I>mid-day</I>," Eusebius, <I>Vit. Const. I.</I>). + +<P>But, as has already been pointed out, this +alleged vision of Constantine is said to have +<!-- Page 134 --> +taken place during his march upon Rome in +the year A.C. 312; and during the remaining +twenty-five years of his life he acted rather as +if he were converting Christianity into what he +thought most likely to be accepted by his subjects +as a catholic religion, than as if he had been +converted to the teachings of Jesus the Nazarene. + +<P>The fact is that Constantine was favourable +to our religion out of policy rather than conviction; +and if after refusing so long he did +indeed, a quarter of a century after the alleged +vision, consent to be baptised when ill and +dying, policy doubtless swayed him even then. +Anyway, as has already been stated and will +now be seen, the evidence of his coins conclusively +shows that the God to whom Constantine +from first to last attributed his victories, +was—the Sun-God. + +<P>Upon one coin issued by Constantine we see +upon the reverse a nude figure crowned with +rays, with the right hand elevated toward the +east, and a round object in the left hand. In +the field is a cross widened at the extremities, +and the surrounding legend is a significant one, +<I>Soli Invicto Comiti</I>. This coin was struck years +after the alleged conversion of Constantine, and +<!-- Page 135 --> +the combined reference to the Sun-God and use +of the cross are worthy of special notice. + +<P>Upon two somewhat similar coins of Constantine +the cross is placed within a circular +wreath of bay or laurel. + +<P>On another coin with the same legend we +see the same nude figure crowned with rays, +representing the Sun-God and carrying a round +object; while in the field we see the Gaulish +symbol, sometimes called a cross, which by the +addition of a loop was, as we shall see later on, +turned into the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +<P>Upon a coin with the anything but Christian +legend <I>Marti Conservatori</I>, is a cross with four +equal arms. + +<P>On a somewhat similar coin with the same +legend, the helmet on the reverse is ornamented +with the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +<P>Upon another coin we see Mars leaning on a +shield adorned with the so-called Monogram +of Christ, the legend being <I>Marti Patri Conservator</I>. + +<P>On a coin issued in the name of his son +Crispus during the reign of Constantine, we see +two Victories holding a shield upon a pedestal +marked with a cross of four equal arms. + +<!-- Page 136 --> +<P>A similar cross appears upon a coin issued +during this reign in the name of another son +of Constantine. + +<P>Upon a coin bearing the inscription <I>Constantinus +Max. Aug.</I> we see upon the reverse a cross +of four equal arms. + +<P>On an otherwise similar coin a compound +<I>tau</I> cross of four equal arms, +<IMG SRC="taucross.gif" ALT="tau cross"> , +appears. + +<P>Upon a well-known engraving of a coin in +the <I>Annales Ecclesiastici</I> of Baronius, the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +form of the so-called Monogram of Christ +appears upon the helmet of Constantine. Some +authorities, however, state that this is copied +as the familiar +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +in error; what appeared +on the helmet being the Gaulish symbol +<IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> +with a dot representing a star near the top of +the vertical bar. Such a dot can be seen in a +similar place upon two or three coins bearing +the legend <I>Virtus Exercit</I>. + +<P>On another coin the legend <I>Gloria Exercitus</I> +surrounds two soldiers holding military +standards, between which is the symbol of the +cross. + +<P>On a somewhat similar coin the compound +tan cross, of which we have already noted an +example, occurs between the standards. + +<!-- Page 137 --> +<P>A cross of four equal arms appears upon a +coin bearing the legend <I>Pax Publica</I>. + +<P>A coin issued during the reign of Constantine +the Great in the name of his son Constantine, +has upon its reverse a cross of four equal arms, +the extremities of which are rounded. + +<P>On an otherwise similar coin the compound +tau cross appears. + +<P>Upon a coin bearing the inscription <I>Constantinus +Max. Aug.</I> a cross of four equal arms +occurs near a soldier armed with spear and +shield. + +<P>On the reverse of one coin we see two soldiers +holding military standards, and between the +standards the so-called Monogram of Christ +appears. + +<P>A coin of similar type was issued during the +reign of Constantine the Great in the name of +his son Constantine. + +<P>Upon a coin which on the obverse bears the +inscription <I>Constantinus Max. Aug.</I>, we see upon +the reverse Victory carrying a palm. In the +field is the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> . +The surrounding motto +is <I>Victoria constantini Aug.</I> + +<P>Several coins with the legend <I>Gloria Exercitus</I> +have upon the same side two soldiers with a +<!-- Page 138 --> +labarum or military standard between them, +upon the banner of which is the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> . + +<P>On a coin with the legend <I>Victoria Cæsar NN</I> +we see Victory carrying a palm. In the field is +the Gaulish symbol +<IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> . + +<P>The reverse of another coin has the legend +<I>Constantinus Aug.</I>, and represents Constantine +as holding a labarum or military standard +terminating in a round object. Upon the +banner is the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> . + +<P>On a coin bearing upon its obverse the +inscription <I>Constantinopolis</I>, we see upon the +other side a figure of Victory and a cross of +four equal arms. + +<P>On another coin bearing the same legend we +see upon the reverse Victory standing upon a +ship, and to the left the so-called monogram. + +<P>Upon another coin we see the same symbol +above the wolf and twins of the city of +Rome. + +<P>A rare coin bears upon the obverse the inscription +<I>Constantinus Max. Aug.</I>, and on the +reverse, surrounded by the legend <I>Spes Publica</I>, +a labarum or military standard the handle or +base of which transfixes a serpent. Upon the +banner three globules are embroidered, and the +<!-- Page 139 --> +symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +appears above the cross-bar from +which the banner hangs. + +<P>Upon one medal or coin of Constantine we +see the significant legend <I>Soli Invicto Aeterno +Aug.</I> inscribed around the quadriga of the Sun-God +Phœbus. + +<P>On another piece struck by Constantine the +Great, the Sun-God is given the title <I>Comes +Aug.;</I> Companion, Guardian, or Saviour, of the +Emperor. + +<P>Upon several coins we see the legend <I>Comiti +Aug. NN,</I> and, surrounded by the same, the +Sun-God holding a small round object. + +<P>On numerous other coins also, the Sun-God +is represented as holding a small round +object. + +<P>Other significant Sun-God legends to be met +upon the coins of this alleged Christian Emperor, +are <I>Comis Constantini Aug., Soli Invicto, Soli +Comiti Augg. NN, Soli Invicto Com. D.N.</I> +and the like. + +<P>Upon a coin bearing the legend <I>Soli Comiti +Aug. N.</I> we see the Sun-God presenting Constantine +with a small round object surmounted +by a Victory. + +<P>On a coin with the legend <I>Pax Augustorum</I>, +<!-- Page 140 --> +Constantine holds a standard ornamented with +a cross. + +<P>Upon another coin Constantine is to be seen +holding what is said to be a representation of +the Zodiac. + +<P>On a coin issued in his own name, as upon +others already mentioned as issued in the names +of his sons, we see two Victories supporting a +shield upon an altar ornamented with a cross. + +<P>Upon a somewhat similar coin the altar is +ornamented with the star-like object which in +days of old so often stood for the radiate sun. + +<P>A coin with the inscription <I>Divo Constantino</I>, +and on the reverse the legend <I>Aeterna Pietas</I> +and a representation of Constantine holding +a round object surmounted by the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> , +though usually included in the coins of +that Emperor was evidently struck after his +death and deification. + +<P>The same remark applies to a somewhat +similar coin, which has an additional symbol in +a plain cross in the field to the right of the +Emperor-God. + +<P>It should be noted that the question here +arises as to how far it is fair of us to claim +this cross and so-called Monogram of Christ as +<!-- Page 141 --> +Christian and at the same time denounce as +Pagan the deification of Constantine referred to +upon the same coins. + +<P>As to the coins of Constantine the Great as a +whole, it need only be remarked once more that +while upon many of the pieces struck by him +Constantine attributed his victories to the Sun-God, +not upon a single one of them did he +attribute them to the Christ; while it was ever +the Sun-God and never the Christ whom he +alluded to on his coins as his Companion, +Partner, Guardian, or Saviour. + +<P>This being so, how can we honestly claim +that the so-called Monogram of Christ, and +other forms of the cross, were ever placed upon +his coins by Constantine as symbols of the +Christ, yet never as symbols of the Sun-God? +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 142 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH12">CHAPTER XII.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Passing on to the Christian successors of +Constantine the Great, we are at once +met with the significant fact that Constantine +the Second issued many different coins bearing +a representation of the Sun-God holding a +small round object; and, as the surrounding +legend, <I>Claritas Reipublicae</I>. + +<P>Another coin of this son of Constantine the +Great, and one which deserves special attention, +has upon its reverse a Cross and a Crescent in +juxtaposition, as if the cross signified the sun. + +<P>A very similar coin has the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +between the military standards. + +<P>Upon another coin we see on the reverse +both this Christian Emperor and the Sun-God; +the former holding a small round object, and +<!-- Page 143 --> +the latter crowning him. The surrounding +legend is <I>Soli Invicto Comiti</I>. + +<P>The reverse of another coin bears the same +Sun-God legend, and represents the Sun-God +as holding a small round object. + +<P>Upon another coin we see Constantine +holding a small round object surmounted by +a Victory. On the reverse is the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> . + +<P>Constans I., another son of Constantine the +Great, issued a coin on which he is represented +as holding in one hand a simply formed +labarum or military standard consisting of a +straight pole terminating at the top in a crossbar, +from which hangs a banner bearing the +symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> ; +while in the other hand he holds +a small round object surmounted by a <I>Phœnix</I>. + +<P>Constantius II., yet another son of Constantine +the Great, issued a coin on which is +the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +between the letters <SPAN LANG="gr">Α</SPAN> and <SPAN LANG="gr">Ω</SPAN> +(? <SPAN LANG="gr">ΑΡΧΩ</SPAN>); the legend being <I>Salus Aug +Nostri</I>. + +<P>On another coin is Constantius II. as the +Sun, upon one side; and upon the other the +symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +between the letters alpha and omega +once again. + +<P>Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine the +<!-- Page 144 --> +Great who took Rome in A.C. 350 but was +killed as an usurper the same year, issued a +coin on the reverse of which, surrounded by +the legend <I>Urbs Roma</I>, is a female figure +representing Rome and holding in her hand +a round object surmounted by the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> . + +<P>The symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +frequently occurs upon the +coins of Valeus (A.C. 364—378). And upon +one coin of this Emperor we see the letter +<SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> surmounting a cross; surrounded by the +legend <I>Gloria Romanorum</I>. + +<P>Upon a coin of Valentinianus II. we see +Victory holding a round object surmounted +by a cross, the legend being <I>Victoria Augustorum</I>. + +<P>On the coins of Theodosius I. (A.C. 378—395) +we find representations of the Emperor holding +a round object surmounted by a Phœnix, and +of the Emperor holding a round object surmounted +by a Victory; as also of Victory +holding a round object surmounted by a cross. + +<P>This Emperor Theodosius I., better known +as Theodosius the Great, after securing sole +control of the Roman Empire brought about +the final disruption of the world-wide dominions +of Rome by bequeathing them in two portions +<!-- Page 145 --> +to his sons Arcadius and Honorius; the elder, +Arcadius, becoming Emperor of Constantinople +and the East, while the younger, Honorius, +became Emperor of Rome and the West: A.C. 395. + +<P>Less than a century later, <I>viz.,</I> between the +years A.C. 475 and 480, the Western Empire +was finally extinguished by Odoacer; the +Eastern Empire surviving it nearly a thousand +years, lasting as the latter did from the partition +in A.C. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by +Mahomet II. in A.C. 1453. + +<P>It was, as stated in a previous chapter, upon +the coins of an Emperor of the East, <I>viz.,</I> +Theodosius II., that the first example occurs +of a representation of an Emperor holding a +round object surmounted by a cross; though, +as has been noted, instances of Victory carrying +an object so surmounted had previously occurred. +And it need only be added that the symbols +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> , +often the centre of a circle or +surrounded by a circular wreath of bay or laurel, +continually occur upon the coins of the Eastern +Empire, the symbol +<IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> +frequently, and the +undisguised solar wheel, +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +upon the coins of +Eudoxia, Theodosius II., Leo I., and others. + +<!-- Page 146 --> +<P>The evidence of the coins of the Roman +Empire given in this and the two preceding +chapters, coupled with the too-often forgotten +fact that the only form of cross which could +possibly be a representation of the instrument +of execution to which Jesus was affixed was +the very last form of cross to be adopted as +a Christian symbol, cannot, it will be seen, lead +the unprejudiced enquirer to any other conclusion +than that the cross became the symbol of +Christendom because the advent of Constantine +and his Gauls made it a prominent symbol of +the Roman Empire. And that the symbol in +question was not altogether unconnected with +Sun-God worship, should be equally clear to +the reader. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 147 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH13">CHAPTER XIII.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST.</H4></CENTER> +<P>The so-called "Monogram of Christ "—a +term which has at one time or another +been applied to each of the symbols +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> , +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> , +and +<IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> , +as but variations +of one and the same symbol—deserves a chapter +to itself. + +<P>Though not first placed upon the coins of the +Roman Empire by Constantine any more than +was the right-angled cross of four equal arms +or the so-called St. Andrew's cross, the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +was, like the +<IMG SRC="x.gif" ALT="X"> +cross and the many +varieties of right-angled crosses of four equal +arms, first brought into prominence as a Roman +symbol by the Emperor in question. + +<P>From the evidence at our disposal it would +appear that Decius was the first Roman ruler +<!-- Page 148 --> +to make use of this form of the so-called +Monogram of Christ. Anyhow, as has already +been remarked, this symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +occurs upon +a coin of the Emperor Decius struck at Mæonia +about A.C. 250; and therefore more than half +a century before the days of Constantine. And +it is noteworthy that it was as a Pagan symbol +that the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +thus first appeared upon the Roman +coinage. + +<P>The coin in question is a bronze one, and the +"Monogram of Christ" occurs in the centre of a +Greek inscription surrounding a representation +of the Sun-God Bacchus; and, apparently, as +an amalgamation or contraction of the two +Greek letters equivalent to our R and CH, <I>viz.:</I> +the Greek letters <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> and <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN>.<A NAME="S50" HREF="#R50"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>50</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Why these particular letters should have +been contracted, is, however, uncertain; and the +question arises as to whether the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +first arose +as a contraction of such Greek letters, or as an +amalgamation of the Roman letters <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> and <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN>, or +as the cross +<IMG SRC="x.gif" ALT="X"> +<I>plus</I> the Greek <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> (our R) as the +initial letter of the Greek name for Rome. + +<P>Moreover if it be decided that the symbol +<!-- Page 149 --> +first arose as a contraction of certain letters, +yet further questions arise; <I>viz.;</I> in what order +those letters were first read, and what word +they first represented. + +<P>Before going into such matters as these, however, +it is important that we should fully realise +how certain it is that the so-called Monogram +of Christ was originally a <I>Pagan</I> symbol. For +even if this be not considered demonstrated by +its occurrence upon a Roman coin long before, +according to our Church, the Christ caused Constantine +to use it as the military standard of +the Gauls, it is clearly shown by its occurrence +upon many relics of pre-Christian date. + +<P>The so-called "Monogram of Christ" can be +seen, for instance, upon a monument of Isis, the +Virgin Mother of the Sun-God, which dates +from the second century before our era.<A NAME="S51" HREF="#R51"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>51</SUP></FONT></A> +Also upon the coins of Ptolemaeus; on one of which +is a head of Zeus Ammon upon one side, and +an eagle bearing the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +in its claws upon the +other.<A NAME="S52" HREF="#R52"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>52</SUP></FONT></A> +The symbol in question also appears +upon Greek money struck long before the birth +of Jesus; for instance upon certain varieties of +<!-- Page 150 --> +the Attic tetradrachma. And the +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +occurs +upon many different coins of the first Herod, +struck thirty years or more B.C. + +<P>Whether the Pagan +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and the Pagan +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +originally had the same signification or not, is +uncertain. + +<P>Almost equally uncertain is the date at which +we Christians first adopted these Pagan symbols +as Christian symbols because they could be +interpreted as formed of the two first letters +of the Greek word <SPAN LANG="gr">ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ</SPAN>, <I>Christos</I>, Christ. + +<P>The probability is that Christians had at least +drawn attention to this possible interpretation of +the symbols in question before the days of +Constantine. But this scarcely renders less +noteworthy the fact, shown further on, that the +favourite symbol of the Gaulish warriors, the +solar wheel +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="solarwheel2.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 2"> , +was sooner or later +altered by their leader into +<IMG SRC="monogram1.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram2.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 2"> +to +please the Christians; while the symbols +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +were also made use of by Constantine. + +<P>Which form of solar wheel, monogram, or +cross, was that actually carried by the Gauls in +triumph within the walls of Rome and set up +by their leader in the heart of the Eternal City, +is not quite certain. But it is clear that as +<!-- Page 151 --> +both the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and the +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +appeared upon coins +struck before our era, Constantine cannot very +well have been ignorant of the fact that these +were originally Pagan symbols, when he favoured +the addition of a loop to the top of the vertical +bar of the Gaulish solar symbols +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +or +<IMG SRC="asterisk.gif" ALT="asterisk"> +and +<IMG SRC="solarwheel2.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 2"> +or +<IMG SRC="plus.gif" ALT="Plus"> +in order that what his Gaulish army +venerated as triumphal tokens might be accepted +as symbols of victory by his Christian supporters +also. + +<P>That this Gaulish monarch did so alter, and +for the reason named, the symbol or symbols +venerated by his troops, is admitted by, amongst +others, that well known writer the Reverend S. +Baring Gould, M.A. For, referring to the solar +wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God venerated +by the ancient Gauls, this author tells us that +Constantine<BR><BR> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Adopted and adapted the sign for his standards, and +the <I>Labarum</I> of Constantine became a common Christian +symbol. That there was policy in his conduct we can +hardly doubt; the symbol he set up gratified the +Christians in his army on one side and the Gauls on +the other. For the former it was a sign compounded of +the initial letters of Christ, to the latter it was the token +of the favour of the solar deity."<A NAME="S53" HREF="#R53"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>53</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<!-- Page 152 --> +<P>As the fact that both the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +were +in use as symbols before the commencement of +our era thoroughly disposes of our contention as +Christians that the so-called "Monogram of +Christ" had its origin in the formation of a +monogram out of the two first letters of the +Greek word <SPAN LANG="gr">ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ</SPAN> (<I>Christos</I>, Christ), it is +clear that these symbols must have had some +other origin. + +<P>Assuming that the symbols +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +had +the same origin, and the same signification, and +that if the +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +was a combination of two letters +the Greek or Latin T (instead of X) was not +one of them; or rather, as these would be very +considerable assumptions, more or less confining +our attention to the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +as the more likely of +the two to have arisen as a combination of the +Greek letters P and X; let us in passing briefly +enquire into the origin of the so-called Monogram +of Christ as a Pagan symbol. + +<P>If we seek for that origin as a combination of +the first two letters of some other Greek word +than Christos, <I>Christ</I>, and for the moment +assume the letters <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> and <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN> to have occurred +in the same order as in that word, we see at +once that the monogram may have been derived +<!-- Page 153 --> +either from the word Chrestos, <I>Good</I>, or the +word Chronos, <I>Time</I>, or the word Chrusos, +<I>Gold</I>. + +<P>There is, by the way, another curious connection +between the three Greek words in +question. For the name of the famous god +Kronos or Cronos was often spelt <SPAN LANG="gr">ΧΡΟΝΟΣ</SPAN> +<I>i.e.</I>, Chronos.<A NAME="S54" HREF="#R54"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>54</SUP></FONT></A> +And this god Chronos—the +father of Zeus; and more or less a personification +of Time, the Old Father from whom we +are all descended—was identical with Saturn, +while the Saturnian Age was, as in Virgil's +fourth eclogue, ever that spoken of as the +Golden age when the ancients were referring +to what they pictured as the good old times. + +<P>It will not do, however, to assume that if the +symbol we are considering first arose as a combination +of the Greek letters <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> and <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN>, they were +of necessity taken from, and representative of, a +word in which they occur in the same order as +in <I>Christos</I>. And the fact that in the +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> , +if +not also in the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> , +the <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> is the leading feature, +gives emphasis to the point in question. + +<P>If we suppose that the so-called monogram +<!-- Page 154 --> +arose as a combination of the Greek letters in +question occurring in the order <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ Χ</SPAN>, the student +of such matters can scarcely fail to note that +the letters in question occur in that order as the +centre both of the word <SPAN LANG="gr">ΑΡΧΗ</SPAN>, the <I>Head, Chief,</I> +or <I>First;</I> and also as the centre of the kindred +word <SPAN LANG="gr">ΑΡΧΩ</SPAN>, <I>to be first</I>, the only remaining +letters of which, and therefore the first and the +last of this word as of the old Greek alphabet, +are, as will be seen, Alpha and Omega, the +letters so continually placed on either side of +the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +in Christian times. + +<P>In this connection it should be pointed out +that according to some of the best authorities +the first +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +which occurs upon any Roman +coin, coming as it does after the letter <I>alpha</I> in +a Greek inscription, should be taken with that +letter as forming the <SPAN LANG="gr">ΡΧ</SPAN> of <SPAN LANG="gr">ΑΡΧ</SPAN>, the latter +being an abbreviation of some form or other +of the title <I>Archon</I>. This title was that given +to the dignitary who was at one and the same +time the chief magistrate of the state and its +chief priest, and it may be worth remark that +as Bacchus was the deity worshipped in Lydia, +the Archon in question would therefore have +been the chief priest of the Sun-God. + +<!-- Page 155 --> +<P>Several writers have, in their zeal for our +religion, outrun their discretion, and gone so far +as to assume that the existence of the so-called +monogram of Christ upon this coin of the +Emperor Decius is due to some Christian having +been employed in turning out the coin in question, +and having in <I>his</I> zeal surreptitiously introduced +a symbol of his faith. But though gravely +supported by more than one great authority, +this is obviously an absurd position to take up. +And in any case the facts remain that it was +in this instance placed over a representation of +the Sun-God, and had for centuries been in use +as a Pagan symbol. + +<P>Passing on, however, we have next to note +that, as before hinted, even if the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +arose as a combination of two letters, though +we know that symbol to have been often used +as a contraction of the Greek letters <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> and <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN> +(our R and CH), there is no proof that it arose +as a combination of two Greek letters; and the +symbol may have arisen as a combination of +the Roman letters P and X. + +<P>It should therefore be pointed out that in the +inscriptions which have come down to us from +the Gaulish Christians of the sixth, seventh, and +<!-- Page 156 --> +eighth centuries after Christ, the symbols +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> +are continually used as contractions of +the Latin word PAX, <I>Peace</I>. For though the +fact that the Monogram was often so interpreted +by Christians centuries A.C. can by no means +be considered evidence that it was thus that +it first arose as a Pagan symbol centuries B.C., +such a possibility should be kept before us. + +<P>But did the so-called Monogram of Christ +first come into being as a combination of two +letters; Greek, Roman, or otherwise? + +<P>Even this is not certain, for this pre-Christian +symbol may originally have been a cross, as a +symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, <I>plus</I> the +Greek letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN> as the initial character of the +word "Rome" in what may be called the court +language of the time. + +<P>Such an explanation would more or less +account for the variations +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +and +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> ; +these +being obviously the natural ways of adding the +letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Ρ</SPAN>, signifying Rome, to the crosses +<IMG SRC="x.gif" ALT="X"> +and +<IMG SRC="plus.gif" ALT="Plus"> +respectively. + +<P>All the foregoing references to the origin of +the so-called monogram as a Pagan symbol of +pre-Christian date, are but speculations however. +Its origin cannot be ascertained for certain. + +<!-- Page 157 --> +<P>The revival of this pre-Christian symbol, +and the prominence given to it upon the coins +of the Roman Empire, <I>are</I>, however, traceable. +And, as has been shown, they are traceable to +Constantine; who induced the Christians to +accept as the Monogram of the Christ, and +therefore as a Christian as well as a Gaulish +symbol of victory, the Solar Wheel venerated +by the Gaulish conquerors of Rome. + +<P>Nowadays the so-called Monogram of Christ +is almost always reproduced for us as +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +or +<IMG SRC="monogram4.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 4"> ; +but the fact that Constantine sometimes +so used it should not blind us to the facts that +it was at first usually the centre of a circle, like +the spokes of a wheel; and that the undisguised +solar wheel +<IMG SRC="solarwheel1.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 1"> +appears upon not a few of the +coins issued by the Christian successors of Constantine, +while since his reign the solar wheel +<IMG SRC="solarwheel2.gif" ALT="Solar Wheel 2"> +and many an artistic variation of the same +have been Christian symbols, and when in our +ornamentation of ecclesiastical properties we +omit the circle we as often as not make the +cross itself wheel-like by rounding the extremities +and widening them till they nearly +meet. + +<P>Moreover it should not be forgotten that it +<!-- Page 158 --> +was evidently one form or other of the solar +wheel of the Gauls, <I>plus</I> the politic loop to +one of its spokes, which Constantine and his +Gaulish warriors are said to have seen above +the meridian sun, with the divinely written +legend <SPAN LANG="gr">ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ ΝΙΚΑ</SPAN>, <I>By this conquer</I>, +attached. For though that miraculous symbol +is referred to as a "cross," the Monogram itself +was so referred to; and Eusebius, after telling +us that the Christ appeared to Constantine and +commanded him to make a military standard +for the Sun-God worshipping Gauls, "With the +same sign which he had seen in the heavens," +expressly describes this as composed of "Two +letters indicating the name of the Christ, the +letter P being intersected with X at the centre." +And on this particular Labarum of Constantine, +as on the majority of the Labara represented +upon his coins, the +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +was the centre of a +circle or circular wreath, like the spokes of a +wheel.<A NAME="S55" HREF="#R55"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>55</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>In any case the fact that the symbol +<IMG SRC="monogram3.gif" ALT="Monogram of Christ 3"> +was +a Pagan one centuries before the Christ is said +to have made it a Christian one for the Sun-God +<!-- Page 159 --> +worshipping Gauls to follow on to victory, +coupled with the facts that they are said to +have seen it above the mid-day sun, and that +it was admittedly a politic adaptation of the +Solar Wheel, show us how much Eusebius and +other Christian chroniclers both invented and +suppressed, and also how largely the influence +of Sun-God worship permeated and moulded +our religion. + +<P>In this connection it may be noted, as a +curious fact rather than as evidence, that according +to some authorities the so-called Monograms +of Christ were in earlier ages Monograms +of the Sun-God Osiris.<A NAME="S56" HREF="#R56"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>56</SUP></FONT></A> +Also that both +Socrates and Sozomen tell us that when the +temple of the Sun-God Serapis at Alexandria +was pulled down, the symbol of the Christ +was discovered upon its foundations and the +Christians made many converts in consequence +a somewhat significant statement. + +<P>Moreover we are told that upon every <I>Dies +Solis</I>, or in other words upon that day of the +week which throughout the Roman Empire was +held sacred to the Sun-God and throughout +<!-- Page 160 --> +Christendom is called Sun-day, Constantine +made his troops, assembled under what was +admittedly a solar symbol, recite at a given time, +which was probably dawn or mid-day, a prayer +commencing "We acknowledge thee to be God +alone, and own that our victories are due to +thy favour."<A NAME="S57" HREF="#R57"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>57</SUP></FONT></A> +Who could this God have been +but the Sun-God, seeing that it was to the +Sun-God that Constantine upon his coins ever +attributed his victories? And what is more +likely than that, wishing to take a friendly view +of the deity worshipped by their supporters the +Christians, it was as conceiving the Christ to be +but the latest addition to the many conceptions +of the Sun-God, that Constantine altered the +solar symbols of his troops into the so-called +Monograms of Christ, and that his troops +accepted the alterations? + +<P>And, passing from the symbol to the deity +represented, let us remember that it is recorded +that various Christian paintings of ancient times +bore upon them the dedicatory words <I>DEO +SOLI</I>. For this remarkable legend means both +"To God alone" and "To the Sun-God," both +<!-- Page 161 --> +"To the Sole God" and "To the God Sol;" +and forcibly reminds us, not only of the +prayer which Constantine caused his troops to +repeat, but also of that fine address to the +"universally adored" Sun-God commencing<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="1"> +"Latium calls thee Sol because in honour thou<BR> + art Solitary,<BR> +After the Father."<A NAME="S58" HREF="#R58"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>58</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Now, as will be shown further on, a cross of +some description or other was in every land +accepted as the symbol of the universally +adored Sun-God. And while not a single +one of the many books forming the New +Testament states that Jesus was executed upon +a cross-shaped instrument, and the <I>first</I> crosses +Christians used as signs or symbols bore every +form but that which a cross-shaped instrument +of execution would have borne, the Christians +of the fourth century, as we have seen, went +out of their way to claim even the so-called +Monogram of Christ as a cross; Eusebius so +carefully speaking of it as such even where he +relates that Constantine and his soldiers saw +<!-- Page 162 --> +it above the meridian sun, that one might not +unreasonably imagine him to be claiming it as +Christian because it was more or less cruciform +and therefore more or less like the world-wide +symbol of the Sun-God. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + + +<!-- Page 163 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH14">CHAPTER XIV.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Having made clear the part played by +Constantine in the prominence given in +his lifetime to the cross as a symbol of the +Roman Empire and therefore of what he made +its State Religion, and having also shown that +while the Christian chroniclers of those days are +silent concerning the various forms of crosses +placed by Constantine upon his coins they went +out of their way to allude to the so-called +Monogram of Christ as a cross, to claim it as +such, and even to associate it with the sun, +let us now turn our attention again to the +pre-Christian cross. + +<P>So great was the veneration in which that +phallic and solar symbol the cross was held in +the ages which preceded the birth and death of +Jesus, that the philosophers of those days even +<!-- Page 164 --> +went so far as to declare that the cross was the +figure of the Life or Soul of the Universe. + +<P>Though it is a matter of very considerable +importance, we Christians for some reason or +other ignore the fact that long before our era +commenced philosophers thus conceived the +figure of the cross to be the symbol of the +<I>Logos</I> of God. + +<P>Now although, following the Gospel of St. +John, we have made it a main article of our +belief that the Logos, really the Thought <I>plus</I> +Speech, of God, became about the year B.C. 4 +specially incarnate in the person of Jesus the +Nazarene, we ought not to forget that, being +the one Power by which all that ever came +into existence was created and all that exists +is sustained, the Logos in any case ever was, +is, and will be, incarnate in every sentient being. + +<P>As the Logos of God (or, as the Authorised +Version of the Bible into English most inadequately +renders it in the first chapter of St. +John's Gospel, the <I>Word</I> of God) was by the +philosophers called the "Intellectual Sun" and +the "Light of the World",<A NAME="S59" HREF="#R59"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>59</SUP></FONT></A> +being, as a personification of the <I>Thought</I> and <I>Speech</I> of the +<!-- Page 165 --> +All-Father, a personification of Wisdom and +Reason (which, in an even more real sense than +the emanations of the physical sun, form the +"Light of the World," or, as the original text +of the New Testament puts it, the "Light +of the <I>Cosmos</I>"), the fact that pre-Christian +philosophers affirmed that the cross was the +symbol of the said "Light of the Cosmos," is +obviously one which every writer concerning +the cross as a Christian symbol ought in common +honesty to deal with. + +<P>That pre-Christian philosophers did so affirm, +can be seen by turning to the <I>Timæus</I> of +Plato, where, referring to the begetting of the +Universal Soul (whom Philo, another pre-Christian +philosopher, speaks of as the "Second +God"; and as God's "Beloved Son," "Image," +"Ambassador," "Mediator," and "First-Begotten"), +Plato says<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Such was the whole plan of the Eternal God about +the God that was to be:—and in the centre he put the +soul which he diffused throughout the body:—and he +made the Universe a circle moving in a circle. Having +these purposes in view he created the world a blessed +God:—he made the soul on this wise—joined—at the +centre like the letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN>."<A NAME="S60" HREF="#R60"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>60</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<!-- Page 166 --> +<P>Concerning this pronouncement of the great +Teacher he so revered, Proclus wrote as follows<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Two circles will be formed, of which one is interior +but the other is exterior. One of these is called the circle +of the Same and one the circle of the Different, or of the +Fixed and of the Variable, or rather of the Equinoctial +Circle and of the Zodiac. The circle of the Different +revolves about the Zodiac, but the circle of the Same about +the Equinoctial. Hence we conceive that the right lines +are not to be applied to each other at right angles but +like the letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN>, as Plato says, so as to cause the angles +to be equal only at the summit but those on each side +and the successive angles to be unequal. For the Equinoctial +Circle does not cut the Zodiac at right angles. +Such therefore in short is the mathematical discussion of +the figure of the (Universal) Soul."<A NAME="S61" HREF="#R61"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>61</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Even the Fathers of the Christian Church +admitted that their ideas of the Son of God +and of the cross being his symbol, were more +or less derived from pre-Christian philosophers. +For we find Justin Martyr remarking that +Plato declared that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"The Power next to the Supreme God was figured in +the shape of the letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN> upon the universe."<A NAME="S62" HREF="#R62"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>62</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<BR><BR>And in another place this famous Father states +that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Whereas Plato, philosophising about the Son of God, +<!-- Page 167 --> +says God expressed him upon the universe in the shape +of the letter <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ</SPAN>, he evidently took the hint from Moses, +who took brass and made the sign of the cross and +placed it by the holy tabernacle, and declared that if +people would look upon that cross and believe they would +be saved."<A NAME="S63" HREF="#R63"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>63</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>The value of all this evidence is so obvious +that its mere parade is almost sufficient. + +<P>It should however be pointed out that this +cross +<IMG SRC="x.gif" ALT="X"> , +being avowedly adopted by the +pre-Christian philosophers as the symbol of +the "Logos" or "First-begotten" of God in +preference to the +<IMG SRC="plus.gif" ALT="Plus"> +because the zodiac or +pathway of the Sun does not "cross" the +equator at right angles, was clearly a solar +symbol. And it may be added that though +Justin Martyr is careful to claim this particular +solar cross as a symbol of the Christ, no one +claims that Jesus was executed upon an instrument +so shaped; while the story that St. +Andrew was affixed to an instrument of execution +so shaped, is admittedly a worthless +legend. + +<P>This claim of Justin Martyr that the solar +cross of the philosophers was a pre-Christian +<!-- Page 168 --> +symbol of the Christ, is, when considered in +connection with the fact that nearly all the +Fathers allude to the figure of the cross, <I>any</I> +kind of cross, as a life-giving symbol from time +immemorial, significant of much. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 169 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH15">CHAPTER XV.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE.</H4></CENTER> +<P>That the symbol of the cross was widely +venerated in Europe long before our era, +is well known to archæologists. +Of Britain in those days we know next to +nothing, history being almost silent upon the +subject and relics conspicuous by their absence. +The cross is however a conspicuous feature upon +certain funeral urns which are said to date back +to the period in question. And it is noteworthy +that both it and the solar wheel occur upon +several of the earliest British coins; which +whether issued as some say before, or as others +aver after, the advent of Julius Cæsar, were +admittedly of pre-Christian date. +Evidences of the veneration of the cross in +France before our era are so numerous and +<!-- Page 170 --> +easily ascertainable, that it will only be necessary +to refer the reader to the <I>Collection Roujou</I>, the +pages of the <I>Revue de Numismatique</I>, and the +writings of Messieurs De la Saussaye, Lenormant, +De Saulcy, E. Lambert, and other +French authorities. + +<P>If, continuing our journey eastwards, we pass +over the border into the northern provinces of +Italy, we find equally striking evidence of +the pre-Christian veneration of the symbol in +question. + +<P>Let us take for example the evidence furnished +by the remarkable discoveries made in the +pre-Christian cemetery unearthed at Gola-Secca. +For upon a very large proportion of the +articles discovered in the ancient tombs of the +cemetery in question, a cross of some kind is +the prominent feature. + +<P>Particulars of these articles can be found +recorded in the literary and scientific journals +of France. And the conclusion arrived at by +the authorities upon such matters cannot be +better put than in the revised edition in book +form of an article in the <I>Revue Archéologque</I> +by Monsieur G. de Mortillet. + +<P>After referring to the relics of so much of +<!-- Page 171 --> +ancient Gaul as is comprised in modern France, +a subject he takes leave of in the words—<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"But the pre-Christian cult of the cross was not +confined to Savoy and the environs of Lyons. A glance +at the coins of ancient Gaul is sufficient to show that it +existed in nearly every part"— +</FONT> + +<BR><BR>M. de Mortillet, crossing the frontier and dealing +with the said tombs of Gola-Secca near Milan +in Italy, sums up as follows<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"One sees that there can be no doubt whatever concerning +the use of the cross as a religious sign for a very +long time before Christianity. The cult of the cross was +well spread over Gaul before its conquest and already +existed in Emilia in the Bronze Age, more than a thousand +years before Jesus Christ." +</FONT> + +<P>Let us pass on to yet another country, Switzerland. +Here also we find unexceptional evidence +of the general recognition of the cross before +our era as a symbol which should above all +others be venerated. + +<P>The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland may be +said to have been brought to light by the extraordinary +drought experienced in the years A.C. +1853-4; for though piles and ancient remains +were found upon the shores of various lakes +<!-- Page 172 --> +before that date, no great heed was paid to them +till the drought in question lowered the waters +of the lake of Zurich and of other lakes to an +unprecedented extent, and certain discoveries +due thereto led to the matter being thoroughly +investigated by antiquarians. + +<P>The result was that many relics of the Lake +Dwellers were found. And, placed upon those +relics by this forgotten race of hoary antiquity +as the sign they venerated, was the symbol of +the cross. + +<P>These relics, preserved for us by the sediment +carried into the lakes by various rivers, cannot +be less than 3,000 years old, are not improbably +4,000 years old, and may quite possibly be 5,000 +years old; some authorities—Monsieur Morlot +for instance—estimating their age at from 6,000 +to 7,000 years. Suffice it to record the fact that +these relics are admittedly pre-Christian. + +<P>Upon the articles in question, as on those +discovered in the pre-Christian tombs of Gola-Secca, +the cross is stamped as a symbol of life, +of good omen, and of salvation. Even dies for +stamping articles with the cross have been discovered +among the remains of the Lake Dwellers. +And the crosses are of three kinds; (1) the +<!-- Page 173 --> +right-angled cross of four equal arms, of which +so many variations, some enclosed in circles and +some with the extremities widened and rounded, +are used as Christian symbols; (2) the other +cross of four equal arms, known as the St. +Andrew's cross or <I>Chi</I> cross; and (3) the Fylfot +or Svastika cross. + +<P>The last named cross is a peculiar one of quite +unmistakeable design; and there are two varieties, +<IMG SRC="svastika1.gif" ALT="Svastika1"> , +and +<IMG SRC="svastika2.gif" ALT="Svastika2"> , +of which one is obviously an +impression or reverse view of the other. + +<P>The names <I>Fylfot</I> and <I>Svastika</I> are very +generally applied to both these symbols. The +term <I>Svastika</I>, an Indian one, is however applied +by the inhabitants of Hindostan to one only; +they calling the other <I>Sauvastika</I>. And it is +curious to note that the meanings attached to +these names, though, like the symbols allied in +nature, are, also like them, the reverse or negative +or complement of each other. + +<P>For instance we are told by Sir G. Birdwood +that the right handed Svastika signifies the Male +Principle, the Sun on its daily journey from East +to West, Light and Life; and that the left-handed +Svastika signifies the Female Principle, +the Sun in Hades or the Underworld on its +<!-- Page 174 --> +journey from West to East, Darkness and +Death.<A NAME="S64" HREF="#R64"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>64</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>This more or less official pronouncement may +be taken as a fairly accurate one, although it is +obvious that the annual as well as the diurnal +movement of the Sun should have been referred +to; the half year between the Vernal Equinox +and Autumnal Equinox representing Light and +Life, and that between the Autumnal Equinox +and Vernal Equinox Darkness and Death, just +as clearly as do the half days between sunrise and +sunset, sunset and sunrise. But it is to be feared +that even those who remember how often Death +and Darkness are referred to as periods of Gestation, +will have some difficulty in seeing how +a sign or symbol of the Female Power of +Generation can have signified Death. + +<P>The fact of course is that the symbol in +question represented both Life and Death, and +represented the latter only in a minor sense and +owing to the fact that the Female Principle of +Life was regarded as the necessary reverse, +negative, or complement of the Male Principle; +<!-- Page 175 --> +which latter, having of the two the better claim +to be considered the starter of life, was the one +more particularly identified with Life and therefore +with the vernal Sun-God. + +<P>It would also appear that the two symbols in +question to some extent signified Fire and +Water; Fire being of course the Male Principle, +Day, Summer, Light, and Life; and Water the +Female Principle. This still further illustrates +the point dealt with above; for though Water is +the negative of Fire, yet Fire cannot produce +Life without the aid of Water. + +<P>Returning however to our consideration of +the cross as a symbol of Life of pre-Christian +date and origin, and having already dealt with +the lands now known as Britain, France, Italy, +and Switzerland, let us now consider the evidence +of Greece. + +<P>At Mycenæ and elsewhere Dr. Schliemann +discovered, among other relics of a bygone age, +not only articles marked with the Svastika cross +and the cross of four equal arms, but even seals +and dies giving impressions of such crosses; +thus demonstrating how large and prominent a +part the symbol of the cross played in pre-Christian +times among those in whose classic +<!-- Page 176 --> +tongue the earliest known copies of the Christian +Scriptures were written centuries later. + +<P>It is also remarkable that Dr. Schliemann +found golden crosses in the previously unopened +tombs he discovered and explored at Mycenæ; +as many as five such crosses having in some +instances been placed with a single body by +those who sealed up the vaults in question +thousands of years ago and many centuries +before the commencement of our era. + +<P>As few if any unrifled tombs of so ancient a +date have been discovered in Greece and first +explored by a trustworthy investigator, and as, +moreover, it would only have been with the +bodies of important personages that crosses of +so valuable a material as gold would have been +buried, these discoveries, coupled with the self-evident +fact that crosses of more perishable +material may have been buried with the bodies +of less distinguished people, and by this time, +like both the bodies and the tombs which +enclosed them, have gone to dust, are most +remarkable. And they entirely corroborate the +testimony borne by the coins of ancient Gaul, +the contents of the tombs of Gola-Secca, and +the remains of the Lake Dwellers of Switzerland, +<!-- Page 177 --> +to the veneration paid long before our era by +the inhabitants of Europe to the cross as the +recognised symbol of Life. Nor as the symbol +only of the life which ends in the grave, but also +of the glorious hope that as the Sun, from whom +we derive that life, whether considered from a +daily or yearly point of view sinks but to rise +again, even so we who owe our brief lives to the +Sun-God, may, like the Giver of Life and only +Saviour, rise from one life to another. + +<P>For whether the ancients were or were not unphilosophic +enough to believe in the resurrection +of bodies whose constituent atoms are continually +changing and in time form part of other bodies, +it is absurd to assume that they did not at times +like ourselves conceive and dwell upon a hoped-for, +if unexpected and improbable, Life-to-come. + +<P>Moreover it is with us, as it was with them, a +<I>hope;</I> and it is disingenuous to label as Christian +what was pre-Christian, and to claim as ours +what has been common to the reasoning minds +of suffering men and women of all eras. + +<P>It is equally disingenuous on the part of us +Christians to keep in the background the noteworthy +fact that even in pre-Christian ages the +symbol of that hope was—the cross. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 178 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH16">CHAPTER XVI.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA.</H4></CENTER> +<P>If, leaving Europe, we pass on into Asia, +we find that not only have the two varieties +of Svastika crosses for thousands of years played +a prominent part as a religious symbol in +Hindostan, Thibet, and China, but that other +kinds of crosses also were in bygone ages +venerated by their inhabitants. + +<P>For instance our Eastern Empire is strewn +with the remains of ancient temples built, like +those of Christendom in later days, in the shape +of a cross; and we are told that the oldest of +its rock-hewn caves were planned after the same +figure. It is also well-known that isolated stone +crosses of pre-historic date are to be seen in +various parts of India. + +<P>The evidence of Hindostan is however outweighed +by that obtainable from the antiquities +of Western Asia, concerning some of which +Sir A. H. Layard wrote:<BR><BR> + +<!-- Page 179 --> +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"The crux ansata, the tau or sign of life, is found +in the sculptures of Khorsabad, on the ivories of +Nimroud—which as I have shown are of the same +age—carried too by an Assyrian King."<A NAME="S65" HREF="#R65"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>65</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>We have also to note the equally significant +facts that the recognised symbol of the Phœnician +Goddess of Love—Astarte, Ashtoreth, or Ishtar, +the Bride of the Sun-God—was a cross; that +a cross was also associated with the Phœnician +Baal or Sun-God; and that the circle and cross, +now the symbol of the planet held sacred to +the Goddess of Love, frequently occurs upon +the ancient coins of Western Asia and was +not improbably more or less akin in signification +to the crux ansata of Egypt. The fact that +upon very ancient remains still existing the +Baal is represented as crowned with a wheel-like +nimbus of rays should also be mentioned. + +<P>The cross more especially connected with the +Phœnician "Bride of the Sun-God" in ancient +days, was, as can easily be seen upon reference +to ancient coins, where it occurs in the hand +of the goddess in question, a long handled cross +such as is frequently to be seen in our pictorial +representations of John the Baptist. + +<!-- Page 180 --> +<P>As John the Baptist was an Asiatic and to +some extent a pre-Christian Asiatic, we can +here, without wandering very far from the +matter in hand, pause to consider the question +why we Christians represent John the Baptist, +who had nothing to do with a cross, as holding +a cross; if it be not that while Jesus was +supposed to represent the Sun in its annual +ascension, John was supposed to represent +the Sun in its annual declension? What +other rational explanation have we of the +facts, (1) that John is represented as saying +that he baptised with water but that Jesus +would baptise with <I>fire</I> (where the rains +of winter and the heat of summer may be +referred to); and (2) that the Christian Church +in framing its calendar fixed upon what we +call Midsummer day as the birthday of John +the Baptist, and upon the clay which bears +the same relation to the other solstice as the +birthday of Christ, as if wishing to illustrate +that other remarkable pronouncement of John, +thus placed at the point where the days begin +to shorten, concerning Jesus, thus placed where +the days begin to lengthen, "He must increase +but I must decrease"? + +<!-- Page 181 --> +<P>The probability that to its original signification +of Life, that of Salvation was added to +the cross as a recognition of the fact that the +salvation of Earth-Life in general and of +Mankind in particular is due to the fact that +at the Vernal Equinox the Sun-God "crosses" +to save, summer and the fruits of the earth +and therefore salvation and increase being due +to the fact that the Sun then crosses the +Equator, is supported by evidence from all +quarters. And if we refuse to admit that +Christianity is permeated with the ideas of +Sun-God worship, we not only have no rational +explanation to offer of the prophecies put by +the Evangelists in the mouth of John the +Baptist to the effect that Jesus would baptise +with <I>fire</I> and would <I>increase</I>, but also none to +offer of many another prominent feature of +our religion; such as, for instance, the fact +that while pretending to reverence all the Ten +Commandments we deliberately make a point +of breaking one of them in order to keep as +a day of rest not the seventh day but the +first, the day which from time immemorial was +held sacred throughout the Roman Empire as +<I>Dies Solis</I>, the Day of the Sun. For to aver +<!-- Page 182 --> +as we do that Jesus was not made the subject +of a Sun-God allegory, but purposely rose from +the underworld on the Day of the Sun, at the +time of the Vernal Equinox, in order to annul +a commandment previously laid down by God +and substitute a new one in silence, is only +to make ourselves ridiculous. + +<P>Returning however to the matter more +particularly in hand, it should be pointed out +that the crux ansata mentioned by Layard is +not the only kind of cross to be found upon +the relics of ancient Babylonia and Assyria. +For the cross of four equal arms and the solar +wheel are also to be met with. + +<P>Moreover, as all visitors to our museums +should be aware, the monarchs are represented +as wearing in the place of honour round their +neck and on their breast, a Maltese cross. And +this cross, worn by the kings centuries before +our era as the symbol which should above all +others be venerated, or as best signifying their +power over the lives of their subjects and their +position as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, is +admitted by all the best authorities to have +been the sign and symbol of the Sun-God.<A NAME="S66" HREF="#R66"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>66</SUP></FONT></A> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 183 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH17">CHAPTER XVII.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Passing on to Africa and a consideration +of the <I>crux ansata</I> or so-called 'Key of +the Nile,' we find that this variety of cross +had much the same significance attached to +it by the ancients as had the more widely +accepted varieties. + +<P>As a matter of fact no one acquainted with +Egyptian antiquities who enquires into the +matter in thorough going fashion, can in the +end fail to be convinced that the Egyptian +cross was a phallic symbol having reference +to the sexual powers of generation and to +the Sun, and being therefore a symbol both +of Life and of the Giver of Life. + +<P>The connection between the crux ansata +and the Sun-God in the minds of the +<!-- Page 184 --> +inhabitants of the Land of the Nile in pre-Christian +days, is very clearly set forth by an +illustration of Khuenaten in the act of distributing +gifts to his courtiers which faces +page 40, volume I., of Sir J. Gardner +Wilkinson's "<I>Manners and Customs of the +Ancient Egyptians.</I>" For this monarch—also +known as Amenophis IV.—and his wife are +both represented as receiving the crux ansata +from the Sun-God, and the Sun is marked +with the crux ansata as its peculiar symbol. + +<P>Upon Plate IV. facing page 43 of the same +famous work, we see Seti I. surmounted by +the Sun; two crosses adorning the latter. +The crosses are, moreover, attached to two +serpents issuing from the sun; and these were +in ancient days phallic signs representing +the sexual powers. + +<P>On page 405 is a representation of the +Egyptian god Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator; +the Egyptian Priapus, or god of Generation. +The names of this phallic deity show his +connection with the Sun. + +<P>It is noteworthy that this particular conception +of the Sun-God is accompanied by +emblems of the sexual organs of reproduction, +<!-- Page 185 --> +and that he bears a St. Andrew's cross upon +his breast. + +<P>Upon page 24 of volume III. of the same +work is another representation of Khem, or +Amen-Ra Generator. In this case also he is +accompanied by phallic and solar emblems +and wears a St. Andrew's cross upon his +breast. + +<P>On page 26 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson tells +us that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Khem was considered the generating influence of +the sun, whence perhaps the reason of his being +connected with Amen-Ra: and in one of the +hieroglyphic legends accompanying his name he is +styled the sun; that is the pro-creating power of the +only source of warmth, which assists in the continuation +of the various created species." +</FONT> + +<P>Upon Plate XXII., facing page 44 of volume +III., are three different instances of the crux +ansata being attached to the sun as the +symbol of the Sun-God. + +<P>Upon page 46 is another instance of the +crux ansata being attached to the solar +serpent issuing from the sun's disc. + +<P>On Plate XXIII., facing page 52, is another +illustration of the reception of the crux ansata +from the Sun-God. + +<!-- Page 186 --> +<P>Upon page 82 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson +rightly observes that it is absurd to speak of +the crux ansata or Egyptian cross as the <I>Key +of the Nile</I>, inasmuch as this cross "is less +frequently seen in the hand of the God Nilus +than any deity of the Egyptian pantheon." + +<P>Upon the remarkable Plate XXXI., facing +page 136, we see inscriptions describing the +reigning Pharaoh as the "Vice-gerent of the +Giver of Eternal Life"; or, in other words, of +the Sun-God. Other expressions applied to +the Pharaoh are "Giver of Life and Strength +like the Sun"; "Who gives all Life, Stability, +and Health like the Sun"; and "Approved of +the Sun and Giver of Life like the Sun." + +<P>It is thus clear that ages before our era the +cross was venerated in Egypt as in other +lands as the symbol both of Life and of the +Giver of Life; and that the deity worshipped +as the Giver of Life, and ever associated +with that salutary symbol the cross, was the +Sun-God. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 187 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH18">CHAPTER XVIII.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>EVIDENCE OF TROY.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Dr. Schliemann has told us that in +his researches upon the site of Troy +he found that in pre-Christian if not indeed +pre-historic times the cross was, in that classic +locality as elsewhere, a phallic emblem and +the symbol of life; as well as a solar emblem +and the symbol of the holy fire with which +life was more or less identified. +For instance on page 337 of his <I>Ilios</I> +(1880 edition) Dr. Schliemann describes a +leaden idol discovered by him and of great +antiquity. He tells us that it was female in +character and had the vulva marked with the +triangle, a symbol of the Feminine Principle. +And he points out that within the triangle was +the Svastika cross. + +<!-- Page 188 --> +<P>On page 521 Dr. Schliemann describes an +ancient terra cotta vase, with the characteristics +of a woman upon it, and on the vulva a +St. Andrew's cross. + +Upon page 523 is a reference to another +vase of similar design. Here also a cross +appears to mark the vulva. + +<P>On page 353 Dr. Schliemann admits that +the Svastika cross drawn within the triangle +marking the vulva, shows that this cross was +a sign of generation in ancient and pre-historic +times. This remark should evidently have +been applied by him to the St. Andrew's cross +as well, for he shows that also to have been +used as a sign of the organ of generation, +as has been shown above. + +<P>We are here reminded of the fact, already +noted, that the Egyptians represented their +God of Generation, Khem, or Amen-Ra +Generator, as wearing a conspicuous St. +Andrew's cross. And as Khem was the +Egyptian Priapus it ought also to be pointed +out that it was in ancient times the practice +to erect wooden crosses to this conception of +the Sun-God. + +<P>An illustration of one example of the crosses +<!-- Page 189 --> +erected to Priapus can be seen in figure XI. of +plate XXIX. of that well-known work, <I>Antique +Gems and Rings</I>.<A NAME="S67" HREF="#R67"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>67</SUP></FONT></A> +And the phallic nature of such crosses cannot be denied. + +<P>Returning, however, to the discoveries of +Dr. Schliemann upon the site of Troy, we +find on page 350 of <I>Ilios</I> that both varieties +of the Svastika cross are extraordinarily common +upon the articles he discovered. + +<P>As an Indian symbol the Svastika cross +can only be traced back as far as the fourth +or fifth century B.C.; and its occurrence upon +these and other relics of earlier ages and other +lands, shows us that it is inaccurate and misleading +to speak of it as "Indian." + +<P>The origin of the Svastika cross, whether +the +<IMG SRC="svastika1.gif" ALT="Svastika1"> , +or the +<IMG SRC="svastika2.gif" ALT="Svastika2"> , +is unknown; but Dr. +Schliemann quotes with approval Professor Max +Müller's remarks to the effect that Mr. Thomas +our distinguished Oriental numismatist<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Has clearly proved that on some of the Andra +coins and likewise on some punched coins depicted on +Sir W. Elliot's plate ix. <I>Madras Jour. Lit. and Science</I>, +vol. III., the place of the more definite figure of the +<!-- Page 190 --> +sun is often taken by the Svastika, and that the Svastika +has been inserted within the rings or normal circles +representing the four suns of the Ujjain pattern on +coins. He has also called attention to the fact that +in the long list of the recognised devices of the twenty-four +Jaina Tirthankaras the sun is absent; but that +while the eighth Tirthankara has the sign of the half-moon +the seventh Tirthankara is marked with the +<I>Svastika, i.e.</I>, the sun. Here then, I think, we have very +clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands +pointing in the right direction, was originally a symbol +of the Sun, perhaps of the vernal sun as opposed to +the autumnal sun, the <I>Sauvastika</I>, and therefore a natural +symbol of light, life, health, and wealth. That in ancient +mythology the sun was frequently represented as a wheel +is well known. Grimm identifies the Old Norse <I>hjol</I> or +hvel, the A.-S. <I>hvehol</I>, English 'wheel,' with <SPAN LANG="gr">κύκλος</SPAN>, +Sk. Kakra, wheel; and derives jól, 'yule-tide,' the time +of the winter solstice, from hjol, 'the (solar) wheel.'" +</FONT> + +<P>Both the +<IMG SRC="svastika1.gif" ALT="Svastika1"> +and the +<IMG SRC="svastika2.gif" ALT="Svastika2"> +occur upon the +famous footprints of Buddha carved upon the +Amarâvati Tope, and Dr. Schliemann remarks +that we find the Svastika or Sauvastika cross<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"In Ezekiel ix. 4, 6, where—in the form of the old +Hebrew letter Tau—it is written as the sign of life on +the forehead, like the corresponding Indian symbol. +We find it twice on a large piece of ornamental leather +contained in the celebrated Corneto treasure preserved +in the Royal Museum at Berlin; also on ancient pottery +found at Konigsberg in the Neumark and preserved in +<!-- Page 191 --> +the Märkisches Museum in Berlin; and on a Bowl from +Yucatan in the Berlin Ethnological Museum. We also +see it on coins of Gaza, as well as on an Imperial coin +of Asido; also on the drums of the Lapland priests."<!-- Original ends in single quote instead of double quote --> +</FONT> + +<P>It is noteworthy that in the neighbourhood +of Troy, as in Cyprus and other places, a cross +of four equal arms, like our sign of addition, +in days of old shared with the Svastika crosses +the veneration of the people and was evidently +more or less akin to those crosses in signification. +Dr. Schliemann tells us that this cross of four +equal arms "occurs innumerable times on the +whorls of the three upper pre-historic cities +of Hissarlik," and that if, as Burnouf and others +suggest, the +<IMG SRC="svastika2.gif" ALT="Svastika2"> +and +<IMG SRC="svastika1.gif" ALT="Svastika1"> +represented primitive +fire machines, this other cross "might also claim +the honour of representing the two pieces of +wood for producing the holy fire by friction." + +<P>Elsewhere in the same work Dr. Schliemann +quotes with approval the opinion of Professor +Sayce that the Svastika cross, +<IMG SRC="svastika2.gif" ALT="Svastika2"> +or +<IMG SRC="svastika1.gif" ALT="Svastika1"> , +"was a symbol of generation." + +<P>As phallic worship and Sun-God worship +were admittedly always closely connected, it is +not surprising to find that Dr. Schliemann +also very highly commends a dissertation on +<!-- Page 192 --> +the +<IMG SRC="svastika2.gif" ALT="Svastika2"> +and +<IMG SRC="svastika1.gif" ALT="Svastika1"> +by Mr. Edward Thomas, +whose conclusion is that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"As far as I have been able to trace or connect the +various manifestations of this emblem, they one and all +resolve themselves into the primitive conception of solar +motion, which was intuitively associated with the rolling +or wheel-like projection of the sun through the upper +or visible arc of the heavens." +</FONT> + +<P>It may therefore be considered proven that +the inhabitants of classic Troy like those of +the Land of the Nile and other countries, +recognised a close affinity between the productive +forces and the sun, and were one in +accepting a cross of some description as the +natural symbol whether of Life or of the Giver +of Life. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 193 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH19">CHAPTER XIX.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS.</H4></CENTER> +<P>Although now, owing to the march of +events, the island of Cyprus is out of +the way and seldom visited, it was once otherwise. +For in days of old it occupied a +favoured position between the countries then +foremost in the arts of civilisation. + +In those days Cyprus was a centre of +Phœnician enterprise. And, as we are told in +that fine work <I>'Kypros, the Bible, and Homer: +Oriental Civilisation, Art and Religion in ancient +times,'</I> "The oldest extant Phœnician inscriptions, +<I>themselves the earliest examples of letters +properly so called,</I> come from Cyprus." + +<P>As, moreover, when face to face with the relics +of the Phœnicians we are, as Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter +also remarks, "In the very midst of +<!-- Page 194 --> +ancient Canaanitish civilisation as depicted in +the Old Testament," it will be seen that a study +of the antiquities of Cyprus should have a special +interest for us Christians. + +<P>Let us therefore see what the ancient remains +found in the island in question, and others +referred to in the work mentioned as illustrative +of the same, can tell us regarding phallic worship +in general and the pre-Christian cross in +particular. + +<P>One of the first points to be noted in the +illustrations supplied by Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter +is in a cut of an ancient Cyprian coin on +Plate X.; upon which coin we see over a temple +gateway the phallic symbol since adopted by the +Moslems, and commonly spoken of as the '<I>star</I> +and crescent' although, as already shown, it +originality represented the radiate Sun or Male +Principle in conjunction with the Crescent moon +or Female Principle. + +<P>Upon Plate XIX. we see several examples of +the Svastika cross occurring upon an ancient +Cyprian vase. + +<P>On Plate XXV. we are shown a gold leaf +taken from an ancient grave, upon which the +Svastika cross occurs. + +<!-- Page 195 --> +<P>Figure 10 upon the same plate shows us a gold +leaf discovered at Amathus upon which we see +the Sun and Moon in conjunction, the Sun in +this instance being represented as a disc in the +horns of the crescent. + +<P>Upon Plate XXVI. we have representations +of stone pillars at Atheniaon, upon the capitals +of which are phallic emblems, including that of +the Sun as a disc within the horns of the +Crescent moon. + +<P>On Plate XXX. we have in figure 7 a cut of an +important cylinder now stored in the Berlin +Museum, upon which are represented both the +Sacred Tree and the Ashera. The winged Sun-disc +appears over the former and the Crescent +moon over the latter. + +<P>Figure 11 upon the same plate shows us a +Masseba representing the Male Principle, surmounted +by the star-like form which represented +the radiate Sun; and an Ashera, representing +the Female Principle, surmounted by the +Crescent moon. + +<P>Just as in modern Christianity we make a +distinction without alleging much difference +between the Father and the Son, even so in +ancient times a distinction of a similarly vague +<!-- Page 196 --> +kind was made between the All-Father <I>Fire</I> +and His Image and First-begotten Son <I>Light</I>. +The disc of the Sun seems to have represented +the former and the Sun-star or radiate Sun the +latter where both were represented in one illustration, +as for instance in figure 12 on the plate +last mentioned. + +<P>The illustration in question is an important +one. On the left is an Ashera under a Crescent +moon; in the centre is a Masseba under the +Sun-star or radiate Sun; and on the right is an +altar under a sun disc. + +<P>The phallic meaning of all this is evident; +and a kind of Trinity is presented to us, <I>viz.</I> +(1) The Female Principle and perhaps the +primeval Darkness, needing impregnation or +illumination ere the same can cause aught to be; +(2) the Male Principle and Light, the First-born +Son of Fire; and (3) Fire itself, the one origin +of all things and Father of Spirits, made manifest +unto mortals by His First-born Son, and +best symbolled, as is Light, by the Solar +Orb. + +<P>On Plate XXXI. we have in figure 4 a representation +of the goddess Ishtar, the bride of the +Sun-God. Over her we see the phallic symbol +<!-- Page 197 --> +of the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in +conjunction. + +<P>On Plate XXXII. we see in figure 23 the Svastika +cross under a tree, in a representation of +a scarab from Ialysos. This cross coupled with +the presence of two bulls, one on either side of +the tree, seem to show that the Male Principle is +referred to. + +<P>On Plate XL. we have a cut of a votive arm, +holding in its hand that phallic symbol the +apple, and obtained from the sanctuary of Apollo +at Voni. + +<P>On Plate LVIII. in representations of the stone +capitals of two votive pillars from the shrine of +Aphrodite at Idalion, we see various phallic +emblems; including the familiar Sun disc and +Crescent moon in conjunction. + +<P>The same remark applies to Plate LIX., where +two more such pillars are illustrated. + +<P>Upon Plate LXIX. are given no less than 134 +illustrations of ancient religious symbols, and the +phallic character of nearly if not quite all is +plainly apparent. + +<P>In twelve of these the presence of the Sun or +the Crescent Moon as the case may be, points +out that in the former event the Male Principle +<!-- Page 198 --> +of Life, and in the latter the Female Principle +of Life, is referred to. In six other cases the +presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in juxtaposition +shows that both those Principles are +referred to. And in four other examples the +presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction +shows that the union of those Principles +is referred to. + +<P>Besides the numerous Masseboth and Asheroth, +respectively representing the Male and +Female Principles, we see numerous examples +of the triangle which represented the female +<I>vulva</I> and of the diamond shaped symbol +which represented the female <I>pudendum</I>. + +<P>Among the remaining symbols is the cross +of four equal arms. + +<P>Upon Plate LXXV. is an illustration of a vase +painting in red figures from a Stamnos from +Vulci Panofka. The representation is one of +the Sun-God Dionysos upon a cross. + +<P>The said cross, which like various Christian +crosses of the Dark and Middle Ages has +projecting branches and foliage, seems to have +been more or less connected with the Tree +worship of ancient times. + +<P>On Plate LXXVI. we are given thirteen +<!-- Page 198 --> +examples of Sacred Trees discovered in the groves +of Astarte-Aphrodite and Tanit-Artemis-Cybele, +being clay copies of the Sacred Trees erected +at the entrances to the temples. As Dr. +Ohnefalsch-Richter states, these evidently phallic +symbols undoubtedly played a part in the +worship of the Sun-God Tammuz-Adonis and +his bride Astarte-Aphrodite. + +<P>Upon Plate LXXVII. we have a cut of an +important Phœnician seal, where we see (1) a +man kneeling in adoration to a Divine Trinity +connected with the winged disc of the sun, +and (2) a priest worshipping three symbols. +The three sacred symbols in question are (1) +the Ashera or symbol of the Female Life +Principle; (2) the Masseba or symbol of the +Male Life Principle; and (3) a combination +of the Ashera and Masseba symbols representing +the two Life Principles in conjunction. + +<P>On Plate LXXIX. we have in figure 14 a +representation both of the Sacred Tree and of +the combined Ashera and Masseba. Over the +latter we naturally see the radiate Sun and +Crescent moon in conjunction. + +<P>In figure 16 on the same plate are representations +of an Ashera and a Masseba, +<!-- Page 200 --> +respectively surmounted by a Crescent moon +and a radiate Sun. + +<P>A similar remark applies to figure 17. A +sacrificing priest can be seen in this and the +last named instances. + +<P>On Plate LXXX. we have in figure 1 a representation +of a holy pillar, the volute capital of +which has on it a Crescent moon within the +horns of which is a disc plainly marked with a +cross. This is taken from an ancient cylinder +of Hittite origin. + +<P>On the same plate we see in figure 7 a Sun +column from Tyre, upon which we see the +Crescent and disc in conjunction as in the +last case, but without the cross. + +<P>On Plate CXVIII. we have in figure 8 a cut +of a fine vase from Melos ornamented with +a Svastika cross. + +Upon Plate CXXXIII. we have, in figures I to 4, +representations of a sacred Bœotian chest or +ark. On the front are seven Svastika crosses +(some of each variety) and one ordinary cross +like our sign of addition. On the lid we see two +serpents surrounded by eight Svastika crosses +(some of each variety) and eight crosses formed +of tau crosses, +<IMG SRC="taucross.gif" ALT="tau cross"> ; +besides two other crosses. + +<!-- Page 201 --> +<P>On the back are eight Svastika crosses (some +of each variety) and eight other crosses. + +<P>In figure 6 we have a cut of a chest from +Athiaenon upon which two Svastika crosses +will be noticed. + +<P>In figure 8 of the same plate is an illustration +of one side of another sacred chest or ark +from Athiaenon, on which two Svastika crosses +of the other variety can be seen. + +<P>Upon Plate CLV. we have in figure 9 a cut +of an important Cyprian Græco-Phœnician +Amphora discovered in an ancient grave at +Kition and now stored in the British Museum. +The object represented upon it is a Sacred +Tree marked at the bottom with a St. +Andrew's cross and surrounded with Svastika +crosses. + +<P>On Plate CLXXIII. we see in group 19 +various objects discovered in ancient graves; +one bearing several ordinary crosses and also +several Svastika crosses, one bearing a Svastika +cross of the other variety, and a third bearing +Svastika crosses of both kinds. + +<P>Upon Plate CXCII. are cuts of various Cyprian +coins, the phallic symbol of the circle and +cross occurring upon Nos. 1, 9, and 10. + +<!-- Page 202 --> +<P>Leaving the Book of Plates and turning to +the illustrations given with the Text of the +valuable work we are considering, we discover +upon page 62 a cut showing the impression +of a chalcedony cylinder from the collection +of the Due de Luynes, where the Sun is +represented by a Cross of four equal arms. + +<P>Upon page 85 we have in figure 117 an +illustration of an inscribed cylinder, now +belonging to the Bibliothèque Nationale of +France, in which, as Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter +remarks, the priest or king represented is raising +his arm<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"In adoration in the direction of the Cross suspended +in the air before him, a holy object we often meet on +Assyrian and Babylonian monuments." +</FONT> + +<P>This cross, like that last named, is more like +a Greek cross than a Maltese cross. + +<P>On page 148 we have in figure 150 an illustration +of a coloured image of Aphrodite or Astarte +discovered in an early Græco-Phœnician tomb +at Kurion. This representation of the Goddess +of Love and Bride of the Sun-God is marked +with several Svastika crosses, and is yet +further evidence of the phallic and solar +character of that symbol. + +<!-- Page 203 --> +<P>Such is the evidence of the phallic worship +and Sun-God worship of the Phœnicians and +their neighbours, of the close relationship +between such phallic worship and Sun-God +worship, and of the part played in connection +with the same by the pre-Christian cross, +borne by a work of research so free from +bias against the views of the Christian Church +that it has prefixed to it a letter of warm +commendation from that veteran statesman +and theologian, the author of the ultra-orthodox +"<I>Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture.</I>" +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 204 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH20">CHAPTER XX.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE.</H4></CENTER> +<P>The most noteworthy features of the available +evidence illustrative of the real origin +and history of the symbol of the cross have +now been placed before the reader, but a number +of more or less miscellaneous facts directly or +indirectly throwing additional light upon the +subject have still to be drawn attention to. + +<P>For instance, no mention has yet been made +of the <I>Hermæ</I> of bygone ages. And although +their origin may have had no connection with +the symbol in question, it is noteworthy that +some at least of the early Christians discovered +in the more or less cruciform outline of the +Hermæ a reason or excuse for paying them +homage, while very similar figures are to be +seen illustrated upon Christian antiquities, such +<!-- Page 205 --> +as the mosaic of which the great cross of the +Lateran forms the principal feature. + +<P>The Hermæ venerated by the ancient Greeks +were pillars, usually of stone and quadrangular, +surmounted in most instances with a head of +either Hermes or Dionysos; and with a peculiar +transverse rail just below the head, much used +for hanging garlands upon, which made the +whole look more or less like a cross. + +<P>These pillars were erected in front of temples, +tombs, and houses; but more especially as sign +posts at cross roads; and whether the head at +the top was that of Hermes the Messenger of +the Gods, or, as was very often the case, that +of Dionysos the Sun-God, a phallus was always +a prominent feature. + +<P>Moreover these phallic and often solar erections +called Hermæ, undoubtedly more or less +cross-shaped owing to the transverse rail, were +worshipped as conducive to fecundity. + +<P>It is also worthy of notice that the cross is +well known to have been venerated in America +before even the Norsemen who preceded +Columbus set foot upon that afterwards rediscovered +continent. + +<P>For instance a cross surrounded by a circle +<!-- Page 206 --> +was in use among the ancient Mexicans as a +solar sign, another cross was a solar symbol +of the natives of Peru from time immemorial, +and we are also told by the authorities that a +cross of four equal arms with a disc or circle +at the centre was the age-old Moqui symbol +of the Sun.<A NAME="S68" HREF="#R68"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>68</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>Other noteworthy points are that the cross +occurs upon Runic monuments in Europe long +before Christianity was introduced into the +regions containing them; that ancient altars to +the Sun-God Mithras bearing the sacred symbol +of the cross have been discovered even in England; +and that the Laplanders of old when +sacrificing marked their idols with the symbol +of the cross, using the life blood of their victims +for that purpose.<A NAME="S69" HREF="#R69"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>69</SUP></FONT></A> + +<P>It should also be pointed out that on a coin +of Thasos bearing representations of a phallic +character connected with the worship of the +Thracian Bacchus, a Svastika cross is a prominent +symbol; that upon ancient vases the +<!-- Page 207 --> +headgear of Bacchus is sometimes ornamented +with the cross of four equal arms; that upon +a Greek vase at Lentini, Sicily, an ancient +representation of the Sun-God Hercules is +accompanied by no less than three different +kinds of crosses as symbols; and that upon an +archaic Greek vase in the British Museum, the +Svastika cross, the St. Andrew's cross, and the +other and right angled cross of four equal arms, +appear under the rays of the Sun. Nor should +it be forgotten that though the Svastika cross +has almost died out as a Christian symbol and +was perhaps never thoroughly acclimatised as +such, it often appeared upon Christian ecclesiastical +properties of the Middle Ages, and, either +as a Pagan or Christian symbol, continually +occurs in the catacombs of Rome. + +<P>We are told that circular wafers or cakes +were used in the mysteries of the Sun-God +Bacchus, and, being marked with a cross, +resembled the disc-like wafers of the Christian +Mass. Whether this was so or not, it is noteworthy +that a cross is said to appear upon the +representation of a circular wafer used in the +mysteries of Mithras which occurs upon an +ancient fresco at Rome. + +<!-- Page 208 --> +<P>In this connection it may be mentioned, as a +series of curious coincidences, that in the Zoroastrian +religion long before our era the Sun-God +Mithras bore much the same relation to +the All-Father that the Christ does in ours, +and is referred to in the Zend Avesta as the +<I>Incarnate Word;</I> that Mithras is said, like +the Christ, to have been born in a cave; that +the Fathers admitted that the new-born Sun +had been worshipped in the cave at Bethlehem +to which the story of the birth of Jesus referred; +and that in framing its calendar our Church +fixed upon the recognised birthday of Mithras, +the <I>Natalis Invicti</I> of the Roman Brumalia, as +the birthday of the Christ. + +<P>It is also noteworthy that the Christ is thus +said to have been born as well as to have risen +again the third <I>or fourth</I> ("<I>After</I> three days," +<I>Matt</I>, xxvii. 63; <I>after</I> "Three days and three +nights," Matt, xii. 40) day. For the birthday of +Mithras and afterwards of the Christ, known to +us as Christmas day, seems to have been fixed +upon as the third or fourth day after the winter +solstice, and as that upon which the sun's resurrection +from the south was first discernible after +its apparent cessation of movement or death. + +<!-- Page 209 --> +<P>In this connection it should be added that +Lucian records the fact that the Sun-God +referred to by the Fathers as worshipped at +Bethlehem was lamented as dead once a year +and always acclaimed as alive again the third +day; that in several places in the Zend Avesta +we meet with passages which show that the +Mithras worshippers of old believed that at the +death of a man his spirit sits at the head of +the corpse for three days and three nights, and +then, at dawn, rises free from all earthly attachments; +and that we say that the execution +of Jesus took place at the time of the Passover +or Vernal Equinox, while instead of the +prophesied "three days and three nights in the +heart of the earth" (<I>Matt</I>. xii. 40) the period +between the death and burial on Good Friday +evening and the resurrection before dawn on +Easter Sunday is just about that during which +the Sun's disc is at the Vernal Equinox transfixed +by the Equator, <I>viz.,</I> 32 2/3 hours. + +<P>The question why the Cock so often, like the +Cross, surmounts the steeples wherewith we +adorn our Christian churches, is brought before +us by the fact that it was in ancient days a +well-known symbol both of the generative +<!-- Page 210 --> +powers and of the Sun-God; often appearing +as such upon the top of a sacred pillar in +Assyrian and Babylonian representations of +priests in the act of sacrificing or worshipping. +It was probably as the "herald of the dawn" +that this bird became a symbol of the Sun-God, +and it would seem that we place its +effigy aloft with the same idea in view. + +<P>Another point to be noted is that in the +Kunthistorisches Museum at Vienna is an +ancient vase upon which is a representation of +the Sun-God Apollo bearing upon his breast +as his one ornament and symbol a Svastika +cross. + +<P>We are reminded of the facts that we +Christians were once in the habit of alluding +to the cross as the Tree of Life, and that +the ancients dressed up the trunks of trees +and worshipped them as symbols of life and +growth, by an Attic vase of the fifth century +B.C. Upon this is a red coloured painting of +a tree so dressed, on which is to be seen +near the top a head of the Sun-God Dionysos, +and surrounding the trunk a shirt or garment +covered with crosses. + +<P>As to the evidence obtained from the ruins +<!-- Page 211 --> +of Herculaneum and Pompeii, it is said that +much which is of a phallic character has +been, from quite worthy motives, kept in the +background. An important fact has however +been mentioned by Mr. C. W. King, M.A., +in his well known work on the <I>Gnostics and, +their Remains</I>, and this at least can be commented +upon. He tells us that the Cross and +the Phallus were found placed in juxtaposition +upon the walls as meaning one and the same +thing, and he goes on to add that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"This cross seems to be the Egyptian Tau, that +ancient symbol of the generative power and therefore +transferred into the Bacchic mysteries." +</FONT> + +<P>The foregoing are the last of the evidences +throwing light upon the origin and history of +the symbol adopted by our religion as its +own, which the author thinks it necessary to +bring forward in support of his contention. +And however much of the evidence sought +out by the author and in this work marshalled +by him into something like order may seem +by itself to be untrustworthy or worthless, no +reader can reasonably deny that it has been +proved that the cross was a well known +<!-- Page 212 --> +symbol of Life long before our era, and that +as a whole the evidence tends to show that +it became such as a phallic symbol, and +therefore as a symbol of the Sun-God. + +<P>And what is the moral of the real, as +distinguished from the imaginary, history of +the symbol of the cross but this: that from +the beginning nought has caused the beliefs +of men to assume an appearance of radical +difference, save the difference in the name +or dress with which this or that set of men +have clothed similar ideas? + +<P>For, as has already been hinted, Humanity +has ever had but one God and but one +Religion. And as from one point of view +Life is but another term for the Real Presence, +and Death but another term for the withdrawal +of Deity, it may be said that that +God is Life, and that Religion the desire +for Life, more Life, and fuller Life. Moreover, +as has been said before, this universal +worship of Life is discernible even in the +willingness of some to sacrifice what remains +to them of mortal life in the hope of thus +being enabled to lay hold of a life immortal +which is not for all. + +<!-- Page 213 --> +<P>The worship of Life is natural, and must +of necessity continue. Let us however render +it nobler by recognising its catholicity; and +by contemptuously refusing to either seek or +accept a life of bliss hereafter which any of +our brothers and sisters are, either in our +imagination or in reality, to be debarred +from sharing. +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> + +<!-- Page 214 --> +<CENTER><H2><A NAME="CH21">CHAPTER XXI.</A></H2></CENTER> +<CENTER><H4>SUMMARY.</H4></CENTER> +<P>At the commencement of this work it was +shown that, as the Greek text of the +writings forming the New Testament testifies, +not one of the Apostles or Evangelists ever +stated that Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument of execution. The circumstances +under which the figure of the cross +became the symbol of our religion, were then +made clear. And, having since demonstrated +the existence in pre-Christian ages of a widespread +veneration of the figure of the cross +as the symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, +which may have given rise to the desire +to associate Jesus therewith, little remains +for the author to do save draw the notice +of the reader to the admissions of other +<!-- Page 215 --> +writers concerning the rise of the cross as the +symbol of Christianity; for the sake of brevity +more or less confining his attention to two +well known works upon the history of religious +art. + +<P>It should first however be pointed out that +though we Christians affirm that crucifixion +was a form of capital punishment made use +of in days of old, and abolished the fourth +century after Christ by Constantine because +Jesus was so executed, we cannot exactly +prove that the <I>staurosis</I> thus abolished was +crucifixion, or even that it included crucifixion. +For various as are the different forms of 'death +by the stauros' of which descriptions have come +down to us from pre-Christian ages and the +first three centuries of our era, no relic of +that date bears a representation of an instrument +of execution such as we cause to +appear in our sacred pictures, and even if, +regardless of the more exact meaning of the +word stauros, we suppose the term staurosis +to have included every form of carrying out +the extreme penalty by means of affixion or +suspension, we meet with no description of +such an instrument of execution as we picture. +<!-- Page 216 --> +Therefore even if we were to exclude from +the staurosis abolished by Constantine all forms +of transfixion by a stauros, we could not, upon +the evidence before us, fairly say that what +that astute Emperor abolished was what is +usually understood by the term crucifixion. + +<P>It will not be necessary to quote again +the admission of the Reverend S. Baring-Gould, +M.A., to the effect that the so-called +Cross of Constantine or monogram of Christ +was but the symbol of the Sun-God of the +Gauls with a loop added by their crafty leader +to please the Christians, but it may be pointed +out that this fact is also admitted in <I>Chambers's +Encyclopædia;</I> where we read that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"The so-called cross of Constantine was not really +a cross but a circle containing the <SPAN LANG="gr">Χ Ρ Ι</SPAN>, the first +three letters of the name of Christ in Greek; and was +merely an adaptation of a symbol of a Gaulish solar +deity." +</FONT> + +<P>And it may be added that the fact that the +Monogram of Christ and the ordinary cross +so frequently used as symbols by Constantine +upon his coins and elsewhere, and thus made +symbols of the Roman Empire in the first +half of the fourth century, were at first Pagan +<!-- Page 217 --> +rather than Christian symbols, also seems to +be borne out by Dean Burgon in his <I>Letters +from Rome</I>, where he states<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"I question whether a cross occurs on any Christian +monument of the first four centuries."<A NAME="S70" HREF="#R70"><FONT SIZE="-1"><SUP>70</SUP></FONT></A> +</FONT> + +<P>Passing on however to the representative +works on Christian Art already referred to, +we first come to Mrs. Jameson's famous <I>History +of Our Lord as exemplified in works of art</I>. + +<P>Upon page 315 of Volume II. the gifted +authoress, after confessing that the cross was +venerated by the heathen as a symbol of Life +before the period of Christianity and referring +to St. Chrysostom, who flourished half a century +after Constantine, admits that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"It must be owned that ancient objects of Art, as +far as hitherto known, afford no corroboration of the use +of the cross in the simple transverse form familiar to +us at any period preceding or even closely succeeding +the words of St. Chrysostom." +</FONT> + +<P>That is to say, although Constantine introduced +the Monogram of Christ and the cross of four +equal arms before St. Chrysostom was born, +and, making them symbols of the Roman +<!-- Page 218 --> +Empire, would, whether a Sun-God worshipper +or a Christian, in any case have imposed them +upon what he established as his State Religion, +it was not till after these solar symbols of the +Gauls were accepted as Christian that such a +cross as could possibly have been a representation +of an instrument of execution was +introduced. + +<P>As to the crucifix, we are told that though +this is said by some to be referred to in the +works of St. Gregory of Nyssa—a Bishop of +Tours who lived in the sixth century, and +also in the injunctions of the often quoted +council of Greek bishops A.C. 692 called the +"Quini-sextum" or "in Trullo," the evidence +is<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Insufficient to convince most modern archæologists +that a crucifix in any sense now accepted was meant." +</FONT> + +<P>In other words, not only is it clear that the +cross as a representation of the instrument of +execution upon which Jesus died was not +introduced till after the days of Constantine, +but it is also evident that the crucifix, the +earliest known representation of that execution, +was not introduced till centuries later. + +<!-- Page 219 --> +<P>Other noteworthy admissions are made in +the work above quoted from, but we must pass +on to the Dean of Canterbury's comparatively +recent work upon the same subject. + +<P>Dean Farrar states upon page 11 of his +<I>Life of Christ as represented in Art</I> that +"Of all early Christian symbols the <I>Fish</I> was the +most frequent and the favourite." + +<P>The Fish; and not the Cross. + +<P>Moreover the Dean significantly adds upon +the next page, that the Fish<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Continued to be a common symbol down to the +days of Constantine." +</FONT> + +<P>And the significance lies in the fact that the +introduction by Constantine of the solar +symbols venerated by the Gauls, may account +for the displacement of the symbol of the +Fish from favour. + +<P>Upon page 19 Dr. Farrar goes on to say +that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Two symbols continued for ages to be especially +common, of which I have not yet spoken. They were +not generally adopted, even if they appeared at all, +until after the Peace of the Church at the beginning +of the fourth century. I mean the cross and the +monogram of Christ." +</FONT> + +<!-- Page 220 --> +<BR><BR>Here again, it will be seen, the Dean admits +that the cross, as the symbol of our religion, +came in with Constantine. + +<P>Directly after the passage last quoted Dean +Farrar very misleadingly remarks: "It must +be remembered that the cross was in itself an +object of utter horror even to the Pagans." +For the exact reverse is the truth, inasmuch +as in almost every land a cross of some +description had been for ages venerated as +a symbol of Life. + +<P>The fact of course is that the Dean here +and elsewhere, like other Christian writers, does +not take the trouble to distinguish between +the symbol of the cross and the death caused +by execution upon a stauros; which instrument, +by the way, was, as has been shown, not +necessarily in the shape of a cross, and appears +to have been in most cases a stake without a +transverse rail. What the Pagans held in utter +horror was the awful death caused by transfixion +by or affixion to a stauros, whatever +its shape; the symbol of the cross was, upon +the contrary, an object of veneration among +them from time immemorial. + +<P>On page 23 Dr. Farrar, alluding to the use +<!-- Page 221 --> +of the transient sign of the cross by the +Christians of early days, makes the admission<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"That it did <I>not</I> remind them of the Crucifixion +only or even mainly is proved alike by their literature +and other relics." +</FONT> + +<BR><BR>Exactly so: for the non-material sign traced +by them (and by us) upon the forehead in +the <I>non-Mosaic</I> initiatory rite of baptism and +perhaps also upon the breast or in the air at +other times, seems to have been the survival +of a Pagan and pre-Christian custom. + +<P>Upon page 24 Dean Farrar admits that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"The cross was only introduced among the Christian +symbols tentatively and timidly. It may be doubted +whether it once occurs till after the vision of Constantine +in 312 and his accession to the Empire of the East +and West in 324." +</FONT> + +<P>Further on upon the same page the Dean +of Canterbury, passing without notice from +symbols to instruments of execution and making +no distinction whatever, states that<BR><BR> + +<FONT SIZE="-1"> +"Crosses were of two kinds. The <I>Crux Simplex</I>, 'of +one single piece without transom,' was a mere stake, +used sometimes to impale, sometimes to hang the victim +by the hands." +</FONT> + +<BR><BR>Exactly so. + +<!-- Page 222 --> +<P>But, to bring this work to a conclusion with +what is the crux of the whole matter, is it +not disingenuous in the extreme upon the +part of those of us Christians who know better, +to hide the fact that it may have been upon +some such cross as the Dean here refers to, +that is, upon no cross at all, that Jesus was +executed? Is it not dishonest of us to place +before the masses Bibles and Lexicons wherein +we ever carefully translate as "cross" a word +which at the time the ancient classics and our +sacred writings were penned did not necessarily, +if indeed ever, signify something cross-shaped? +Is it not gross disloyalty to Truth to insist, +as we do in our versions of the Christian +Scriptures, upon translating as "crucify" or +"crucified" four different words, not one of +which referred to anything necessarily in the +shape of a cross? + +<P>Another point which should be mentioned, +though such matters cannot be discussed here, +is that the questions whether Jesus did not +prophesy that the final Day of judgment +would come before those whom he addressed +should die, and did not solemnly declare that +his mission was to the descendants of Jacob +<!-- Page 223 --> +or Israel and to them alone, undoubtedly +affect our story. + +<P>As to the Gospel of the Cross, have not we +Christians by, in our imaginations, limiting its +saving effects to the few who are able to +believe in it, all the centuries that we have +re-echoed the cry "the Kingdom of Heaven +is at hand" <I>forced</I> upon the same the unutterably +selfish meaning that the kingdom at hand +for the many who simply cannot believe is +that of Hell? Was <I>that</I> what Jesus meant, +and all that the so-called cross effected? + +<P>Moreover, whether the message of Jesus +which we proclaim and variously interpret was +or was not a gospel—that is, "glad tidings "—to +all men, and from an unselfish point of view, +what possible good purpose can be served by +insisting upon supplementing the simple story +of his stressful life, his magnificent love for +the afflicted and suffering, his equally magnificent +hatred of qualities not altogether dissimilar +from that which enables some of us +to claim to be not only admirers but also +genuine followers of a Communist who declared +that those who would follow him must first +sell all their possessions and give the proceeds +<!-- Page 224 --> +to the poor;—what good purpose can be served +by supplementing this, and the account of the +final conflict of Jesus with the officials of his +native land and his subsequent execution upon +a stauros or stake not stated to have had a +cross-bar attached, by the adoption and culture +of a partisan and misleading fiction regarding +the origin and history of the symbol of the +cross? +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +THE END. + +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<BR> +<HR> +FOOTNOTES +<BR><A NAME="R1" HREF="#S1">[1]</A> +<I>e.g.</I>, <I>Iliad</I>, xxiv. 453; <I>Odyssey</I>, xiv. 11 + +<BR><A NAME="R2" HREF="#S2">[2]</A> +<I>e.g.</I>, Thuc. iv. 90; Xen. <I>An.</I> v. 2, 21. + +<BR><A NAME="R3" HREF="#S3">[3]</A> +<I>Gal.</I> iii. 13; I <I>Pet.</I> ii. 24; <I>Acts</I> v. 30; <I>Acts</I> x. 39; <I>Acts</I> xiii. 29. + +<BR><A NAME="R4" HREF="#S4">[4]</A> +<I>e.g.</I>, Hdt. iii. 125. + +<BR><A NAME="R5" HREF="#S5">[5]</A> +<I>e.g.</I>, Thuc. vii. 25. + +<BR><A NAME="R6" HREF="#S6">[6]</A> +Livy, xxviii. 29. + +<BR><A NAME="R7" HREF="#S7">[7]</A> +Minucius Felix, <I>Oct.</I> xxix. + +<BR><A NAME="R8" HREF="#S8">[8]</A> +<I>De Praescrip</I>. xl. + +<BR><A NAME="R9" HREF="#S9">[9]</A> +<I>Oct</I>. xxix. + +<BR><A NAME="R10" HREF="#S10">[10]</A> +<I>Ad Nationes</I>, xiv. + +<BR><A NAME="R11" HREF="#S11">[11]</A> +Pœd iii. II, 59. + +<BR><A NAME="R12" HREF="#S12">[12]</A> +<I>Nicodemus</I> i. + +<BR><A NAME="R13" HREF="#S13">[13]</A> +<I>Nicodemus</I> vii. + +<BR><A NAME="R14" HREF="#S14">[14]</A> +<I>Nicodemus</I> viii. + +<BR><A NAME="R15" HREF="#S15">[15]</A> +<I>Apol</I>, i. 55. + +<BR><A NAME="R16" HREF="#S16">[16]</A> +<I>Dial. cum Trypho</I>, lxxxvi. + +<BR><A NAME="R17" HREF="#S17">[17]</A> +<I>Dial. cum Trypho</I>, xcvii. + +<BR><A NAME="R18" HREF="#S18">[18]</A> +<I>Against Marcion</I>, iv. 20. + +<BR><A NAME="R19" HREF="#S19">[19]</A> +<I>Against Marcion</I>, iii. 18. + +<BR><A NAME="R20" HREF="#S20">[20]</A> +<I>Scorpiace</I>, i. + +<BR><A NAME="R21" HREF="#S21">[21]</A> +<I>De Corolla</I>, iii. + +<BR><A NAME="R22" HREF="#S22">[22]</A> +<I>De Prœscrip</I>, xl. + +<BR><A NAME="R23" HREF="#S23">[23]</A> +<I>Apologiticus</I>, xvi. + +<BR><A NAME="R24" HREF="#S24">[24]</A> +<I>Ad Nationes</I>, xii. + +<BR><A NAME="R25" HREF="#S25">[25]</A> +xxxvi. +<BR><A NAME="R26" HREF="#S26">[26]</A> +<I>Testimonies against the Jews</I>, ii. 21. + +<BR><A NAME="R27" HREF="#S27">[27]</A> +<I>Testimonies against the Jews</I>, ii. 22. + +<BR><A NAME="R28" HREF="#S28">[28]</A> +<I>Apud Gretserum</I>, ii. + +<BR><A NAME="R29" HREF="#S29">[29]</A> +<I>Epist. ad Romanos</I>, Lib. vi. + +<BR><A NAME="R30" HREF="#S30">[30]</A> +<I>Christ in Art</I>, p. 23. + +<BR><A NAME="R31" HREF="#S31">[31]</A> +<I>Against Heresies</I>, i. xxiv. + +<BR><A NAME="R32" HREF="#S32">[32]</A> +<I>Against Heresies</I>, II., xxii. 4-5. + +<BR><A NAME="R33" HREF="#S33">[33]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. I.</I> + +<BR><A NAME="R34" HREF="#S34">[34]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. I.,</I> 28, 29, 30. + +<BR><A NAME="R35" HREF="#S35">[35]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. I.,</I> 29. + +<BR><A NAME="R36" HREF="#S36">[36]</A> +<I>De Mart. Pers</I>., c. 44. + +<BR><A NAME="R37" HREF="#S37">[37]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. I</I>., 31. + +<BR><A NAME="R38" HREF="#S38">[38]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. I</I>., 37. + +<BR><A NAME="R39" HREF="#S39">[39]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. I</I>., 40. + +<BR><A NAME="R40" HREF="#S40">[40]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. II</I>. 7-9. + +<BR><A NAME="R41" HREF="#S41">[41]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. III</I>. 3. + +<BR><A NAME="R42" HREF="#S42">[42]</A> +<I>Vit. Const. III</I>. 49. + +<BR><A NAME="R43" HREF="#S43">[43]</A> +<I>Opera S. Cyrilli</I> curâ Ant. Touttée 351 Menaeum Graecum +ad diem 7 Maii. + +<BR><A NAME="R44" HREF="#S44">[44]</A> +zosimus ii. + +<BR><A NAME="R45" HREF="#S45">[45]</A> +Both Zonaras and Cedrenus bear testimony to this effect. + +<BR><A NAME="R46" HREF="#S46">[46]</A> +<I>Early Christian Numismatics.</I> + +<BR><A NAME="R47" HREF="#S47">[47]</A> +<I>The Likeness of Christ</I>, p. 20. + +<BR><A NAME="R48" HREF="#S48">[48]</A> +Herodotus II., 73. + +<BR><A NAME="R49" HREF="#S49">[49]</A> +Pliny, x., 2. + +<!-- 2 Tacitus, <I>Annal</I>. Vi., 28. Editorial note: There is no reference in the text to this footnote #2 at the bottom of page 130 --> + +<BR><A NAME="R50" HREF="#S50">[50]</A> +An engraving of the coin can be seen in Duruy's <I>Histoire +des Romains</I>, Torn. vii. + +<BR><A NAME="R51" HREF="#S51">[51]</A> +Böckh, C.I.G. n. 4713 b. + +<BR><A NAME="R52" HREF="#S52">[52]</A> +Berlin Collection 428. + +<BR><A NAME="R53" HREF="#S53">[53]</A> +<I>Strange Survivals</I>, 286. + +<BR><A NAME="R54" HREF="#S54">[54]</A> +<I>e.g.</I>, Arist. <I>Mundi</I>. + +<BR><A NAME="R55" HREF="#S55">[55]</A> +Bar. <I>Ann</I>. A.C. 312. + +<BR><A NAME="R56" HREF="#S56">[56]</A> +Basnage, iii., 23. + +<BR><A NAME="R57" HREF="#S57">[57]</A> +Eusebius, <I>Vit. Const.</I> iv. + +<BR><A NAME="R58" HREF="#S58">[58]</A> +Martianus Capella. + +<BR><A NAME="R59" HREF="#S59">[59]</A> +<I>e.g.</I> Philo, <I>De Somniis</I>, i. + +<BR><A NAME="R60" HREF="#S60">[60]</A> +<I>Timæus</I>, 34-36. + +<BR><A NAME="R61" HREF="#S61">[61]</A> +<I>Theol. Plat.</I> + +<BR><A NAME="R62" HREF="#S62">[62]</A> +<I>Apol.</I> + +<BR><A NAME="R63" HREF="#S63">[63]</A> +<I>Apol.</I> + +<BR><A NAME="R64" HREF="#S64">[64]</A> +<I>Report on the Old Records of the India Office</I>, London, +1891, x., xi. + +<BR><A NAME="R65" HREF="#S65">[65]</A> +<I>Nineveh</I>, ii. 213. + +<BR><A NAME="R66" HREF="#S66">[66]</A> +<I>e.g.</I>, C. W. King, M.A. <I>Early Christian Numismatics;</I> +Professor Rawlinson; &c., &c. + +<BR><A NAME="R67" HREF="#S67">[67]</A> +C. W. King, M.A. + +<BR><A NAME="R68" HREF="#S68">[68]</A> +<I>First Annual Report U. S. Bureau of Ethnology.</I> + +<BR><A NAME="R69" HREF="#S69">[69]</A> +Ol. Varelli, <I>Scandage Runic;</I> Ans. Rudbeckins, <I>Atlant.: +e.g.</I> an altar discovered ac Rudchester, Northumberland: Sheffer, +<I>Lapponic</I>. + +<BR><A NAME="R70" HREF="#S70">[70]</A> +<I>Letters from Rome</I>, 1862, p. 210. + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Non-Christian Cross, by John Denham Parsons + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + +This file should be named cross10h.htm or cross10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, cross11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, cross10ah.htm + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Non-Christian Cross + An Enquiry Into the Origin and History of the Symbol + Eventually Adopted as That of Our Religion + +Author: John Denham Parsons + +Release Date: October, 2005 [EBook #9071] +Last Updated: August 25, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + + +THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS + +An Enquiry Into The Origin And History Of +The Symbol Eventually Adopted As +That Of Our Religion + +By John Denham Parsons + +London + +1896 + + +"O Crux, Splendidior Cunctis Astris, Mundo +Celebris, Hominibus Multum Amabilis, Sanctior +Universis." + [_Breviarium Romanum,_ + _Festival Of The Invention Of The Holy Cross._ + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The history of the symbol of the cross has had an attraction for the +author ever since, as an enquiring youth, he found himself unable to +obtain satisfactory answers to four questions concerning the same which +presented themselves to his mind. + +The first of those questions was why John the Baptist, who was beheaded +before Jesus was executed, and so far as we are told never had anything +to do with a cross, is represented in our religious pictures as holding +a cross. + +The second question was whether this curious but perhaps in itself +easily explained practice had in its inception any connection with the +non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism; which Jesus accepted as a matter +of course at the hands of his cousin John, and in which the sign of the +cross has for ages been the all-important feature. And it was the +wonder whether there was or was not some association between the facts +that the New Testament writers give no explanation whatever of the +origin of baptism as an initiatory rite, that this non-Mosaic +initiatory rite was in use among Sun-God worshippers long before our +era, and that the Fathers admitted that the followers of the Persian +conception of the Sun-God marked their initiates upon the forehead like +the followers of the Christ, which finally induced the author to start +a systematic enquiry into the history of the cross as a symbol. + +The third question was why, despite the fact that the instrument of +execution to which Jesus was affixed can have had but one shape, almost +any kind of cross is accepted as a symbol of our faith. + +The last of the four questions was why many varieties of the cross of +four equal arms, which certainly was not a representation of an +instrument of execution, were accepted by Christians as symbols of the +Christ before any cross which could possibly have been a representation +of an instrument of execution was given a place among the symbols of +Christianity; while even nowadays one variety of the cross of four +equal arms is the favourite symbol of the Greek Church, and both it and +the other varieties enter into the ornamentation of our sacred +properties and dispute the supremacy with the cross which has one of +its arms longer than the other three. + +Pursuing these matters for himself, the author eventually found that +even before our era the cross was venerated by many as the symbol of +Life; though our works of reference seldom mention this fact, and never +do it justice. + +He moreover discovered that no one has ever written a complete history +of the symbol, showing the possibility that the _stauros_ or post to +which Jesus was affixed was not cross-shaped, and the certainty that, +in any case, what eventually became the symbol of our faith owed some +of its prestige as a Christian symbol of Victory and Life to the +position it occupied in pre-Christian days. + +The author has therefore, in the hope of drawing attention to the +subject, incorporated the results of his researches in the present +essay. + +14, ST. DUNSTAN'S HILL, + +LONDON, E.C. + + + + +C O N T E N T S + PAGE + CHAPTER I. + WAS THE _STAUROS_ OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED? 13 + CHAPTER II. + THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX 31 + CHAPTER III. + THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS3 41 + CHAPTER IV. + CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENAEUS 52 + CHAPTER V. + ORIGIN OF THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS 57 + CHAPTER VI. + ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS 65 + CHAPTER VII. + THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH 82 + CHAPTER VIII. + CROSS AND CRESCENT8 92 + CHAPTER IX. + THE CORONATION ORB9 104 + CHAPTER X. + ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE 119 + CHAPTER XI. + THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE 133 + CHAPTER XII. + ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE 142 + CHAPTER XIII. + THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST 147 + CHAPTER XIV. + THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS 163 + CHAPTER XV. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE 169 + CHAPTER XVI. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA 178 + CHAPTER XVII. + THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA 183 + CHAPTER XVIII. + EVIDENCE OF TROY 187 + CHAPTER XIX. + EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS 193 + CHAPTER XX. + MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE 204 + CHAPTER XI. + SUMMARY 214 + + + + +THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS. + + +CHAPTER I. +WAS THE _STAUROS_ OF JESUS CROSS-SHAPED? + +In the thousand and one works supplied for our information upon matters +connected with the history of our race, we are told that Alexander the +Great, Titus, and various Greek, Roman, and Oriental rulers of ancient +days, "crucified" this or that person; or that they "crucified" so many +at once, or during their reign. And the instrument of execution is +called a "cross." + +The natural result is that we imagine that all the people said to have +been "crucified" were executed by being nailed or otherwise affixed to +a cross-shaped instrument set in the ground, like that to be seen in +our fanciful illustrations of the execution of Jesus. + +This was, however, by no means necessarily the case. + +For instance, the death spoken of, death by the _stauros_, included +transfixion by a pointed stauros or stake, as well as affixion to an +unpointed stauros or stake; and the latter punishment was not always +that referred to. + +It is also probable that in most of the many cases where we have no +clue as to which kind of stauros was used, the cause of the condemned +one's death was transfixion by a pointed stauros. + +Moreover, even if we could prove that this very common mode of capital +punishment was in no case that referred to by the historians who lived +in bygone ages, and that death was in each instance caused by affixion +to, instead of transfixion by, a stauros, we should still have to prove +that each stauros had a cross-bar before we could correctly describe +the death caused by it as death by crucifixion. + +It is also, upon the face of it, somewhat unlikely that the ancients +would in every instance in which they despatched a man by affixing him +to a post set in the ground, have gone out of their way to provide the +artistic but quite unnecessary cross-bar of our imaginations. + +As it is, in any case, well known that the Romans very often despatched +those condemned to death by affixing them to a stake or post which had +no cross-bar, the question arises as to what proof we have that a +cross-bar was used in the case of Jesus. + +Nor is the question an unimportant one. For, as we shall see in the +chapters to come, there was a pre-Christian cross, which was, like +ours, a symbol of Life. And it must be obvious to all that if the cross +was a symbol of Life before our era, it is possible that it was +originally fixed upon as a symbol of the Christ because it was a symbol +of Life; the assumption that it became a symbol of Life because it was +a symbol of the Christ, being in that case neither more nor less than a +very natural instance of putting the cart before the horse. + +Now the Greek word which in Latin versions of the New Testament is +translated as _crux_, and in English versions is rendered as _cross, +i.e._, the word _stauros_, seems to have, at the beginning of our era, +no more meant a cross than the English word stick means a crutch. + +It is true that a stick may be in the shape of a crutch, and that the +stauros to which Jesus was affixed may have been in the shape of a +cross. But just as the former is not necessarily a crutch, so the +latter was not necessarily a cross. + +What the ancients used to signify when they used the word _stauros_, +can easily be seen by referring to either the Iliad or the Odyssey.[1] + +It will there be found to clearly signify an ordinary pole or stake +without any cross-bar. And it is as thus signifying a single piece of +wood that the word in question is used throughout the old Greek +classics.[2] + +The stauros used as an instrument of execution was (1) a small pointed +pole or stake used for thrusting through the body, so as to pin the +latter to the earth, or otherwise render death inevitable; (2) a +similar pole or stake fixed in the ground point upwards, upon which the +condemned one was forced down till incapable of escaping; (3) a much +longer and stouter pole or stake fixed point upwards, upon which the +victim, with his hands tied behind him, was lodged in such a way that +the point should enter his breast and the weight of the body cause +every movement to hasten the end; and (4) a stout unpointed pole or +stake set upright in the earth, from which the victim was suspended by +a rope round his wrists, which were first tied behind him so that the +position might become an agonising one; or to which the doomed one was +bound, or, as in the case of Jesus, nailed. + +That this last named kind of stauros, which was admittedly that to +which Jesus was affixed, had in every case a cross-bar attached, is +untrue; that it had in most cases, is unlikely; that it had in the case +of Jesus, is unproven. + +Even as late as the Middle Ages, the word stauros seems to have +primarily signified a straight piece of wood without a cross-bar. For +the famous Greek lexicographer, Suidas, expressly states, "Stauroi; +ortha xula perpegota," and both Eustathius and Hesychius affirm that it +meant a _straight_ stake or pole. + +The side light thrown upon the question by Lucian is also worth noting. +This writer, referring to Jesus, alludes to "That sophist of theirs who +was fastened to a _skolops_;" which word signified a single piece of +wood, and not two pieces joined together. + +Only a passing notice need be given to the fact that in some of the +Epistles of the New Testament, which seem to have been written before +the Gospels, though, like the other Epistles, misleadingly placed after +the Gospels, Jesus is said to have been _hanged_ upon a _tree_.[3] For +in the first place the Greek word translated "hanged" did not +necessarily refer to hanging by the neck, and simply meant suspended in +some way or other. And in the second place the word translated "tree," +though that always used in referring to what is translated as the +"_Tree of Life_," signified not only "tree" but also "wood." + +It should be noted, however, that these five references of the Bible to +the execution of Jesus as having been carried out by his suspension +upon either a tree or a piece of timber set in the ground, in no wise +convey the impression that two pieces of wood nailed together in the +form of a cross is what is referred to. + +Moreover, there is not, even in the Greek text of the Gospels, a single +intimation in the Bible to the effect that the instrument actually used +in the case of Jesus was cross-shaped. + +Had there been any such intimation in the twenty-seven Greek works +referring to Jesus, which our Church selected out of a very large +number and called the "New Testament," the Greek letter _chi_, which +was cross-shaped, would in the ordinary course have been referred to; +and some such term as _Kata chiasmon_, "like a chi," made use of. + +It should also be borne in mind that though the Christians of the first +three centuries certainly made use of a transient sign of the cross in +the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism and at other times, it is, as +will be shown in the next two chapters, admitted that they did not use +or venerate it as a representation of the instrument of execution upon +which Jesus died. + +Moreover, if in reply to the foregoing it should be argued that as it +is well known that cross-shaped figures of wood, and other lasting +representations of the sign or figure of the cross, were not venerated +by Christians until after the fateful day when Constantine set out at +the head of the soldiers of Gaul in his famous march against Rome; and +that the Christian crosses of the remainder of the fourth century were +representations of the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died; a +dozen other objections present themselves if we are honest enough to +face the fact that we have to show that they were so from the first. +For the Gauls, and therefore the soldiers of Gaul, venerated as symbols +of the Sun-God and Giver of Life and Victory the cross of four equal +arms, {image "plus.gif"}, or {image "x.gif"}, and the solar wheel, +{image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}; while the +so-called cross which Constantine and his troops are said to have seen +above the midday sun was admittedly the monogram of Christ, {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"}, which was admittedly an +adaptation of the solar wheel, as will be shown further on; and it was +as tokens of the conquest of Rome by his Gaulish troops, that +Constantine, as their leader, erected one of these symbols in the +centre of the Eternal City, and afterwards placed upon his coins the +crosses {image "solarwheel1.gif"}, {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, {image +"monogram1.gif"}, {image "monogram2.gif"}, {image "asterisk.gif"}, +{image "monogram3.gif"}, {image "monogram4.gif"}, the cross of four +equal arms {image "x.gif"}, and several variations of that other cross +of four equal arms, the right-angled {image "plus.gif"}. And it was not +till long after these crosses were accepted as Christian, and +Constantine was dead and buried, that the cross with one of its arms +longer than the other three (or two), which alone could be a +representation of an instrument of execution, was made use of by +Christians. + +Another point to be remembered is that when Constantine, apparently +conceiving ours, as the only non-national religion with ramifications +throughout his world-wide dominions, to be the only one that could weld +together the many nations which acknowledged his sway, established +Christianity as the State Religion of the Roman Empire, the Church to +which we belong would naturally have had to accept as its own the +symbols which Constantine had caused to be those of the State in +question. And it should be added that the cross of later days with one +of its arms longer than the others, if not also the assumption that the +stauros to which Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar, may have been +merely the outcome of a wish to associate with the story of Jesus these +Gaulish symbols of victory which had become symbols of the Roman State, +and therefore of its State Church. + +Anyway, the first kind of cross venerated by Christians was not a +representation of an instrument of execution; and the fact that we hold +sacred many different kinds of crosses, although even if we could prove +that the stauros to which Jesus was affixed had a cross-bar but one +kind could be a representation of that instrument of execution, has to +be accounted for. + +Our only plausible explanation of the fact that we hold sacred almost +any species of cross is that, as we do not know what kind of cross +Jesus died upon, opinions have always differed as to which was the real +cross. + +This difference of opinion among Christians as to the shape of the +instrument upon which Jesus was executed, has certainly existed for +many centuries. But as an explanation of the many different kinds of +crosses accepted by us as symbols of the Christ, it only lands us in a +greater difficulty. For if we did not know what kind of cross Jesus +died upon when we accepted the cross as our symbol, the chances +obviously are that we accepted the cross as our symbol for some other +reason than that we assert. + +As a matter of fact our position regarding the whole matter is +illogical and unsatisfactory, and we ought to alter it by honestly +facing the facts that we cannot satisfactorily prove that our symbol +was adopted as a representation of the instrument of execution to which +Jesus was affixed, and that we do not even know for certain that the +instrument in question was cross-shaped. + +It need only be added that there is not a single sentence in any of the +numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original +Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros used +in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to +the effect that it consisted, not of one piece of timber, but of two +pieces nailed together in the form of a cross. + +Taking the whole of the foregoing facts into consideration, it will be +seen that it is not a little misleading upon the part of our teachers +to translate the word stauros as "cross" when rendering the Greek +documents of the Church into our native tongue, and to support that +action by putting "cross" in our lexicons as the meaning of stauros +without carefully explaining that that was at any rate not the primary +meaning of the word in the days of the Apostles, did not become its +primary signification till long afterwards, and became so then, if at +all, only because, despite the absence of corroborative evidence, it +was for some reason or other assumed that the particular stauros upon +which Jesus was executed had that particular shape. + +But--the reader may object--how about the Greek word which in our +Bibles is translated as "crucify" or "crucified?" Does not that mean +"fix to a cross" or "fixed to a cross?" And what is this but the +strongest possible corroboration of our assertion as Christians that +Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped instrument? + +The answer is that no less than four different Greek words are +translated in our Bibles as meaning "crucify" or "crucified," and that +not one of the four meant "crucify" or "crucified." + +The four words in question are the words _prospegnumi, anastauroo, +sustauroo_, and _stauroo_. + +The word prospegnumi, though translated in our Bibles as "crucify" or +"crucified," meant to "fix" to or upon, and meant that only. It had no +special reference to the affixing of condemned persons either to a +stake, pale, or post, or to a tree, or to a cross; and had no more +reference to a cross than the English word "fix" has. + +The word _anastauroo_ was never used by the old Greek writers as +meaning other than to impale upon or with a single piece of timber.[4] + +The word _sustauroo_ does not occur in pre-Christian writings, and only +five times in the Bible against the forty-four times of the word next +to be dealt with. Being obviously derived in part from the word +stauros, which primarily signified a stake or pale which was a single +piece of wood and had no cross-bar, _sustauroo_ evidently meant +affixion to such a stake or pale. Anyhow there is nothing whatever +either in the derivation of the word, or in the context in either of +the five instances in which it occurs, to show that what is referred to +is affixion to something that was cross-shaped. + +The word _stauroo_ occurs, as has been said, forty-four times; and of +the four words in question by far the most frequently. The meaning of +this word is therefore of special importance. It is consequently most +significant to find, as we do upon due investigation, that wherever it +occurs in the pre-Christian classics it is used as meaning to +impalisade, or stake, or affix to a pale or stake; and has reference, +not to crosses, but to single pieces of wood.[5] + +It therefore seems tolerably clear (1) that the sacred writings forming +the New Testament, to the statements of which--as translated for us--we +bow down in reverence, do not tell us that Jesus was affixed to a +cross-shaped instrument of execution; (2) that the balance of evidence +is against the truth of our statements to the effect that the +instrument in question was cross-shaped, and our sacred symbol +originally a representation of the same; and (3) that we Christians +have in bygone days acted, and, alas! still act, anything but +ingenuously in regard to the symbol of the cross. + +This is not all, however. For if the unfortunate fact that we have in +our zeal almost manufactured evidence in favour of the theory that +_our_ cross or crosses had its or their origin in the shape of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed proves anything at +all, it proves the need for a work which, like the present one, sets in +array the evidence available regarding both the pre-Christian cross and +the adoption in later times of a similar symbol as that of the catholic +faith. + +Nor should it be forgotten that the triumph of Christianity was due to +the fact that it _was_ a "catholic" faith, and not, like the other +faiths followed by the subjects of Rome, and like what Jesus seems to +have intended the results of His mission to have been inasmuch as He +solemnly declared that he was sent to the lost sheep of the House of +Israel and to them alone, the monopoly of a single nation or race. + +For if Paul, taking his and other visions of Jesus as the long-needed +proofs of a future life, had not disregarded the very plain intimations +of Jesus to the effect that His mission was to the descendants of Jacob +or Israel, and to them alone; if Paul had not withstood Christ's +representative, Peter, to the face, and, with unsurpassed zeal, carried +out his grand project of proclaiming a non-national and universal +religion founded upon appearances of the spirit-form of Jesus, what we +call Christianity would not have come into existence. + +The fact that but for Paul there would have been no catholic faith with +followers in every land ruled by Constantine when sole emperor, for +that astute monarch to establish as the State Religion of his loosely +knit empire, because, on account of its catholicity, that best fitted +to hold power as the official faith of a government with world-wide +dominions, is worthy of a lasting place in our memory. + +Nor is the noteworthy fact last mentioned unconnected with the symbol +of the cross. For, as will be shown, it is clear that it was because +Constantine caused the figure of the cross to become a recognized +symbol of his catholic empire, that it became recognized as a symbol of +the catholic faith. + +Not till after Constantine and his Gaulish warriors planted what +Eusebius the Bishop of Caesarea and other Christians of the century in +question describe as a cross, within the walls of the Eternal City as +the symbol of their victory, did Christians ever set on high a +cross-shaped trophy of any description. + +Moreover, but for the fact that, as it happened, the triumph of +Constantine resulted in that of the Christian Church, we should +probably have deemed the cross, if to our minds a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed, as anything but the +symbol of Victory we now deem it. + +This is evident from the fact that the so-called cross of Jesus +admittedly fulfilled the purpose for which it was erected at the +request of those who sought the death of Jesus. And even according to +our Gospels the darkness of defeat o'ershadowed the scene at Calvary. + +To put the matter plainly, the victory of Jesus was not a victory over +the cross; for He did not come down from the cross. Nor was it a +victory over His enemies; for what they sought was to get rid of a man +whom they deemed an agitator, and their wish was gratified, inasmuch +as, thanks to the cross, He troubled them no more. + +In other words the victory which we ascribe to Jesus did not occur +during the gloom which hung like a pall over his native land at the +time of His execution, but upon the then approaching Sun-day of the +Vernal Equinox, at the coming of the glory of the dawn. + +For the victory in question, from whatever point of view we may look at +it, was not the avoidance of defeat, but its retrieval. And its story +is an illustration of the old-world promise, hoary with antiquity and +founded upon the coming, ushered in every year by the Pass-over or +cross-over of the equator by the sun at the Vernal Equinox, of the +bounteous harvests of summer after the dearth of devastating winter; +bidding us ever hope, not indeed for the avoidance of death and +therefore of defeat, but for such victory as may happen to lay in +survival or resurrection. + +It is therefore clear that even if we _could_ prove that the instrument +of execution to which Jesus was affixed was cross-shaped, it would not +necessarily follow that it was as the representation of the cause of +His death which we now deem it, that the figure of the cross became our +symbol of Life and Victory. + +In any case honesty demands that we should no longer translate as +"cross" a word which at the time our Gospels were written did not +necessarily signify something cross-shaped. And it is equally incumbent +upon us, from a moral point of view, that we should cease to render as +"crucify" or "crucified" words which never bore any such meaning. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE EVIDENCE OF MINUCIUS FELIX. + +The Fathers who wrote in Latin, used the word _crux_ as a translation +of the Greek word _stauros_. It is therefore noteworthy that even this +Latin word "crux," from which we derive our words "cross" and +"crucify," did not in ancient days necessarily mean something +cross-shaped, and seems to have had quite another signification as its +original meaning. + +A reference, for instance, to the writings of Livy, will show that in +his time the word crux, whatever else it may have meant, signified a +single piece of wood or timber; he using it in that sense.[6] + +This however is a curious rather than an important point, for even the +assumption that the word _crux_ always and invariably meant something +cross-shaped, would not affect the demonstration already made that the +word _stauros_ did not. + +As our Scriptures were written in Greek and were written in the first +century A.C., the vital question is what the word stauros then meant, +when used, as in the New Testament, without any qualifying expression +or hint that other than an ordinary stauros was signified. What the +Fathers chose to consider the meaning of that word to be, or chose to +give as its Latin translation, would, even if they had written the same +century, in no wise affect that issue. And, as a matter of fact, even +the earliest of the Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to +us, did not write till the middle of the second century. + +Granting, however, as all must, that most if not all of the earlier of +the Fathers, and certainly all the later ones, rightly or wrongly +interpreted the word stauros as meaning something cross-shaped, let us, +remembering that this does not dispose of the question whether they +rightly or wrongly so interpreted it, in this and the next two chapters +pass in review the references to the cross made by the Fathers who +lived before Constantine's march upon Rome at the head of his Gaulish +army. + +Commencing, on account of its importance, with the evidence of Minucius +Felix, we find that this Father wrote + + "We assuredly see the sign of a cross naturally, in the + ship when it is carried along with swelling sails, when + it glides forward with expanded oars; and when the + military yoke is lifted up it is the sign of a cross; + and when a man adores God with a pure mind, with arms + outstretched. Thus the sign of the cross either is + sustained by a natural reason or your own religion is + formed with respect to it."[7] + + +Various other pronouncements to a similar effect are to be found in the +writings of other Christian Fathers, and such passages are often quoted +as conclusive evidence of the Christian origin of what is now our +symbol. In reality, however, it is somewhat doubtful if we can fairly +claim them as such; for the question arises whether, if the writers in +their hearts believed their cross to be a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed, they would have +omitted, as they did in every instance, to mention that as the right +and proper and all-sufficient reason for venerating the figure of the +cross. + +Moreover it is quite clear that while, as will be shown hereafter, the +symbol of the cross had for ages been a Pagan symbol of Life, it can, +as already stated, scarcely be said to have become a Christian _symbol_ +before the days of Constantine. No cross-shaped symbol of wood or of +any other material had any part in the Christianity of the second and +third centuries; and the only cross which had any part in the +Christianity of those days was the immaterial one traced upon the +forehead in the non-Mosaic and originally Pagan initiatory rite of +Baptism, and at other times also according to some of the Fathers, +apparently as a charm against the machinations of evil spirits. + +This "sign" or "signal" rather than "symbol" of the cross, referred to +as theirs by the Christian writers of the second and third centuries, +is said to have had a place before our era in the rites of those who +worshipped Mithras, if not also of those who worshipped certain other +conceptions of the Sun-God; and it should be noted that the Fathers +insist upon it that a similar mark is what the prophet Ezekiel referred +to as that to be placed upon the foreheads of certain men as a sign of +life and salvation; the original Hebrew reading "Set a _tau_ upon the +foreheads of the men" (_Ezek_. ix. 4), and the tau having been in the +days of the prophet in question--as we know from relics of the +past--the figure of a cross. Nor should it be forgotten that Tertullian +admits that those admitted into the rites of the Sun-God Mithras were +so marked, trying to explain this away by stating that this was done in +imitation of the then despised Christians![8] + +That it was this immaterial sign or signal, rather than any material +symbol of the cross, which Minucius Felix considered Christian, is +demonstrated by the fact that the passage already quoted is accompanied +by the remark that + + + "Crosses, moreover, we Christians neither venerate nor + wish for. You indeed who consecrate gods of wood + venerate wooden crosses, perhaps as parts of your gods. + For your very standards, as well as your banners, and + flags of your camps, what are they but crosses gilded + and adorned? Your victorious trophies not only imitate + the appearance of a simple cross, but also that of a man + affixed to it."[9] + +This remarkable denunciation of the Cross as a Pagan symbol by a +Christian Father who lived as late as the third century after Christ, +is worthy of special attention; and can scarcely be said to bear out +the orthodox account of the origin of the cross as a Christian symbol. +It is at any rate clear that the cross was not our recognised symbol at +that date; and that it is more likely to have been gradually adopted by +us from Sun-God worshippers, than by the worshippers of Mithras and +other pre-Christian conceptions of the Sun-God from us. + +As our era was six or seven centuries old before the crucifix was +introduced, and the earliest pictorial representation of the execution +of Jesus still existing or referred to in any work as having existed +was of even later date, much stress has been laid by us upon what we +allege to be a caricature of the crucifixion of Jesus and of much +earlier date. The drawing in question was discovered in 1856 to be +scrawled upon a wall of the Gelotian House under the Palatine at Rome; +and as no Christian representations of the alleged execution upon a +cross-shaped instrument of even a reasonably early date exist, it would +of course be greatly to our interest to be able to quote this alleged +caricature, which is said to be as old as the third and perhaps even as +old as the second century, as independent evidence of the truth of our +story. But can we fairly do so? + +The drawing in question is a very roughly executed representation of a +figure with human arms, legs, and feet; but with an animal's head. The +arms are extended, and two lines, which are said to represent a cross +but appear in front of the figure instead of behind it, traverse the +arms and trunk. In the foreground is a man looking at this grotesque +figure; and an accompanying inscription is to the effect that +"Alexamenos adores his God." + +Tertullian relates that a certain Jew "carried about in public a +caricature of us with this label, _An ass of a priest_. This figure had +an ass's ears, and was dressed in a toga with a book; having a hoof on +one of his feet."[10] + +It is upon the strength of this passage and the two lines traversing +the figure, that we, ignoring the fact that the figure is standing, +claim this much-quoted _graffito_ as conclusive evidence of the +historical accuracy of our story. But it may be pointed out that even +if this was a caricature of the execution of Jesus made at the date +mentioned, a caricature, made certainly not less than two hundred years +after the event, is not altogether trustworthy evidence as to the +details. + +And, was it a caricature of the execution of Jesus? It would appear +not. + +To commence with, the two lines or scratches--for they are little +more--which we call a cross, need not necessarily have formed a part of +the original _graffito_; and, even if they did, of themselves prove +nothing. There is no reference to a cross in the inscription, nor is +there anything to show that an execution of any kind is what is +illustrated. Moreover, the hoof upon one foot, mentioned by Tertullian, +is not to be seen; a remark which also applies to the toga and the book +he mentions. And even what Tertullian referred to was not a caricature +of the execution of Jesus. + +It should also be noted that the head of the figure in this famous +graffito, is more like that of a jackal than that of an ass; and +appears to have been a representation of the Egyptian god Anubis, who +is so often to be seen upon relics of the past as a figure with a +jackal's head, with human arms extended, and with human legs and feet, +as in this drawing. + +Upon all points, therefore, our claim concerning the graffito is an +ill-founded one; and it cannot be considered evidence regarding either +cross or crucifixion. + +There thus being no opposing evidence of any weight, it is quite clear +from the fact that as late as the third century after Christ we find a +Christian Father who venerated the sign or figure of the cross +denouncing it as a symbol, that no material representations of that +sign or figure were recognised as Christian till an even later date. +And such a conclusion is borne out by the striking fact that when +Clement of Alexandria at the beginning of the third century made out a +list of the symbols which Christians were permitted to use, he +mentioned the Fish and the Dove but said nothing regarding the +Cross.[11] + +As to the sign or figure of the cross referred to by the Fathers of the +second and third centuries, even so high an authority as the Dean of +Canterbury admits, as we shall see in the next chapter, that it was not +"mainly" as reminding them of the death of Jesus that the Christians of +the second and third centuries venerated it. If, therefore, not in the +main, and, it would follow, not originally as a representation of the +instrument of execution upon which Jesus died, what more likely than +that the early Christians venerated the sign and figure of the cross as +the age-old and widely accepted symbol of Life and of the Sun-God we +know it to have been? + +Anyway Minucius Felix may be said to stand alone in denouncing the +symbol of the cross as non-Christian. And as even he expresses +veneration for the figure of the cross, and must have approved of the +sign of the cross in the initiatory rite of baptism, that denunciation +evidently applied only to material representations of the cross. + +Moreover the denunciation in question was clearly due to the fear that +such objects might degenerate amongst Christians, as they afterwards +did, into little better than idols. And if the sign or figure of the +cross did not mainly remind the early Christians of the death of Jesus, +it must have mainly reminded them of something else. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE EVIDENCE OF THE OTHER FATHERS. + +The works which have come down to us from the Fathers who lived before +the days of Constantine make up over ten thousand pages of closely +printed matter; and the first point which strikes those who examine +that mass of literature with a view to seeing what the Christians of +the first three centuries thought and wrote concerning the execution of +Jesus and the symbol of the cross, is that the execution of Jesus was +hardly so much as mentioned by them, and no such thing as a +representation of the instrument of execution once referred to. + +Another fact worthy of special note is that, whether the Fathers wrote +in Greek and used the word _stauros_, or wrote in Latin and translated +that word as _crux_, they often seem to have had in their mind's eye a +tree; a tree which moreover was closely connected in meaning with the +forbidden tree of the Garden of Eden, an allegorical figure of +undoubtedly phallic signification which had its counterpart in the Tree +of the Hesperides, from which the Sun-God Hercules after killing the +Serpent was fabled to have picked the Golden Apples of Love, one of +which became the symbol of Venus, the Goddess of Love. Nor was this the +only such counterpart, for almost every race seems in days of old to +have had an allegorical Tree of Knowledge or Life whose fruit was Love; +the ancients perceiving that it was love which produced life, and that +but for the sexual passion and its indulgence mankind would cease to +be. + +Starting upon an examination of the early Christian writings in +question, we read in the _Gospel of Nicodemus_ that when the Chief +Priests interviewed certain men whom Jesus had raised from the dead, +those men made upon their faces "the sign of the stauros."[12] The sign +of the cross is presumably meant; and all that need be said is that if +the men whom Jesus raised from the dead were acquainted with the sign +of the cross, it would appear that it must have been as a pre-Christian +sign. + +Further on in the same Gospel, Satan is represented as being told that +"All that thou hast gained through the Tree of Knowledge, all hast thou +lost through the Tree of the Stauros."[13] + +Elsewhere we read that "The King of Glory stretched out his right hand, +and took hold of our forefather Adam, and raised him: then, turning +also to the rest, he said, 'Come with me as many as have died through +the Tree which he touched, for behold I again raise you all up through +the Tree of the Stauros.'"[14] Some see in this peculiar pronouncement a +reference to the doctrine of re-incarnation. + +In the _Acts and Martyrdom of the Holy Apostle Andrew_ we are told that +those who executed Andrew "lifted him up on the stauros," but "did not +sever his joints, having received this order from the pro-consul, for +he wished him to be in distress while hanging, and in the nighttime as +he was suspended to be eaten by dogs." There is nothing to show that +the stauros used was other than an ordinary stauros. + +In the _Epistle of Barnabas_ are various references to the stauros; +mixed up with various passages from the Hebrew Scriptures, +quoted--without any justification--as referring to the initiatory rite +of baptism; a rite, be it noted, that was admittedly of Gentile rather +than Israelitish origin, and not unconnected with the Sun-God worship +of the Persians and other Orientals of non-Hebrew race. + +The references in question commence with the enquiry, "Let us further +ask whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the Water and the +Stauros?" + +Afterwards we have a quotation of _Psalm_ i. 3-6--which likens the good +man to a tree planted by the side of a river and yielding his fruit in +due season--and the pronouncement, "Mark how he has described at once +both the Water and the Stauros. For these words imply, Blessed are they +who, placing their trust in the Stauros, have gone down into the +Water." + +This further reference to the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of baptism is +followed by a quotation of _Ezekiel_ xlvii. 12, which speaks of a river +by whose side grow trees those who cat the fruit of which grow for +ever. + +Further on is a declaration that when Moses stretched out his hands (in +a direction not specified) that victory might rest with the forces he +commanded, he stretched them out in the figure of a stauros, as a +prophecy that Jesus "would be the author of life." + +A reference is then made to the Brazen Serpent, and to the pole upon +which it was placed; and it is stated that this lifeless imitation of a +serpent was a type of Jesus. + +In the _Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians_ we read that the stauros +of the Christ is indeed a stumbling block to those who do not believe. +The evidence of Irenaeus, as that of one who was through his +acquaintance with the aged Polycarp almost in touch as it were with the +apostles, will on account of his importance as a witness be specially +dealt with in the next chapter. + +Justin Martyr, arguing that the figure of the cross is impressed upon +the whole of nature, asks men to + + + "Consider all things in the world, whether without this + form they could be administered or have any certainty. + For the sea is not traversed except that trophy which is + called a sail abide safe in the ship; and the earth is + not ploughed without it: diggers and mechanics do not + their work except with tools which have this shape. And + the human form differs from that of the irrational + animals in nothing else than in its being erect and + having the hands extended and having on the face + extending from the forehead what is called the nose, + through which there is respiration for the living + creature; and this shows no other form than that of the + cross. And so it was said by the prophet _The breath + before our face is the Lord Christ_. And the power of + this form is shown by your own symbols on what are + called standards and trophies; with which all your + processions are made, using these as insignia of your + power and government."[15] + +Elsewhere Justin Martyr declares that the Christ + + "Was symbolised both by the Tree of Life which was said + to have been planted in Paradise, and by those events + which should happen to all the just. Moses was sent with + a _rod_ to effect the redemption of the people; and with + this in his hands at the head of the people he divided + the sea. By this he saw the water gushing out of the + rock; and when he cast a _tree_ into the waters of + Marah, which were bitter, he made them sweet. Jacob by + putting _rods_ into the water troughs caused the sheep + of his uncle to conceive . . . . Aaron's _rod_ which + blossomed declared him to be the High Priest. Isaiah + prophesied that a rod would come forth from the root of + Jesse, and this was the Christ."[16] + +Further on in the same work, Justin Martyr, alluding to the statement +in the Israelitish Law "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree," +states that + + + "It was not without design that the prophet Moses + when Hur and Aaron upheld his hands, remained in this + form until evening. For indeed the Lord remained upon + the tree almost until evening."[17] + +Tertullian writes concerning the Christ "With the last enemy Death did +he fight, and through the trophy of the cross he triumphed"[18]; and +elsewhere tells us that "Cursed is every one who hangeth on a tree" was +a prediction of his death.[19] + +There is also in existence a long essay by Tertullian which starts by +discussing the efficacy of "the sign" as an antidote. The sign of the +cross as traced upon the forehead in the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of +baptism seems to be what is referred to; and no representation of an +instrument of execution, or cross-shaped symbol of wood or any +material, is once mentioned.[20] + +In another of Tertullian's works we come across the passage "In all the +actions of daily life we trace upon the forehead the sign."[21] + +His famous reference to the Sun-God Mithras reads as follows:-- + + + "The devil in the mystic rites of his idols competes + even with the essential portions of the sacraments of + God. He, like God, baptizes some, that is, his own + believing and faithful followers, and promises the putting + away of sins by baptism; and if I remember rightly + Mithras there signs his soldiers upon their foreheads, + celebrates the oblation of bread, introduces a representation + of the resurrection, and places the crown beyond + the sword."[22] + +Elsewhere Tertullian writes:-- + + "If any of you think we render superstitious adoration + to the cross, in that adoration he is sharer with us . . + You worship _victories_, for in your trophies the cross + is the heart of the trophy. The camp religion of the + Romans is all through a worship of the standards . . . I + praise your zeal: you would not worship crosses + unclothed and unadorned."[23] + +In another of Tertullian's works we read:-- + + + "As for him who affirms that we are the priesthood of a + cross, we shall claim him as a co-religionist . . . + Every piece of timber which is fixed in the ground in an + erect position is part of a cross, and indeed the + greater part of its mass. But an entire cross is + attributed to us . . . . The truth however is that + _your_ religion is _all_ cross . . . You are ashamed, I + suppose, to worship unadorned and simple crosses."[24] + +In the _Instructions of Commodianus_ we read "The first law was in the +tree, and so, too, was the second."[25] + +Cyprian contends that "By the sign of the cross, also, Amalek was +conquered by Moses."[26] + +Elsewhere Cyprian tells us that "In this sign of the cross is salvation +for all people who are marked on their foreheads"; quoting as proof of +this, from the Apocalypse, "They had his name and the name of his +Father written on their foreheads," and "Blessed are they that do his +commandments that they may have power over the Tree of Life."[27] + +Methodius tells us that "He overcame, as has been said, the powers that +enslaved us by the figure of the cross; and shadowed forth man, who had +been oppressed by corruption as by a tyrant power, to be free with +unfettered hands. For the cross, if you wish to define it, is the +confirmation of victory."[28] + +Passing on to Origen, we find in one of his works the noteworthy +passage:-- + + "It is possible to avoid it if we do what the Apostle + saith 'Mortify your members which are upon earth,' and + if we always carry about in our bodies the death of + Christ. For it is certain that where the death of Christ + is carried about, sin cannot reign. For the power of the + _stauros_ of Christ is so great that if it be set before + a man's eyes and kept faithfully in his mind so that he + look with steadfast eyes of the mind upon that same + death of Christ, no concupiscence, no sensuality, no + natural passion, and no envious desire, is able to + overcome him."[29] + +Whether however this reference to the "_stauros_ of Christ" is or is +not a reference to the figure of the cross, is doubtful. + +Such is the evidence regarding the cross, whether considered as +immaterial sign or material symbol, obtainable from the writings of the +Christians who lived between the days of the Apostles and those of +Constantine; other of course than the _Octavius_ of Minucius Felix, +which was dealt with in the last chapter, and the writings of Irenaeus, +which will be dealt with in the next. + +Among the noteworthy features of the evidence in question prominently +stands out the smallness of its volume. + +This is but a negative point, however; and what should be carefully +borne in mind is that the evidence as a whole leads to the conclusion +that the Christians of the second and third centuries made use of the +sign and venerated the figure of the cross without, as Dean Farrar +admits, it "only or even mainly," reminding them of the death of Jesus; +and therefore otherwise than as a representation of the instrument of +execution upon which Jesus died.[30] + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CURIOUS STATEMENTS OF IRENAEUS. + +The special importance of the evidence of Irenaeus, is due to the fact +that of all the Fathers whose undisputed works have come down to us he +is the only one who can be considered to have been anything like in +touch with the Apostles. As an acquaintance of the aged Polycarp, who +is said to have been in his youth a pupil of the aged Evangelist and +Apostle St. John and to have met yet other Apostles, Irenaeus had +opportunities for ascertaining facts concerning the life and death of +Jesus which the other Fathers upon whose works we rely did not possess. + +What, then, does this important witness have to say, which bears upon +the points at issue? As a matter of fact, very little. + +There are, however, two passages in the works of Irenaeus which it +would not be right to altogether ignore. + +In the first of these passages Irenaeus mentions that some Christians +believed that Simon of Cyrene was executed instead of Jesus, owing to +the power of Jesus to metamorphose himself and others having been +exercised with that object in view.[31] This power is referred to more +than once in our Gospels, for instance in the account of the so-called +"Transfiguration" upon the Mount; the Greek word rendered in our Bibles +as "transfigured" being the word which in translations of the older +Greek classics is rendered "metamorphosed." + +Even if we pass by this belief of certain of the early Christians that +Jesus was never executed, a question here arises which should at least +be stated, and that is the question how, if Jesus was metamorphosed +upon the Mount, as the Gospels tell us, he can be said to have died as +a man at Calvary? For if upon the Mount of Transfiguration, or at any +other time previous to the scene at Calvary, Jesus was metamorphosed, +the form which was the result of the process of re-metamorphosis +necessary to make him recognisable again cannot be said to have been +born of the Virgin Mary, and can have been human only in appearance. + +The other passage in the writings of Irenaeus which deserves our +notice, is neither more nor less than an emphatic declaration, by +Irenaeus himself, that Jesus was not executed when a little over thirty +years of age, but lived to be an old man. Explain it away how we will, +the fact remains; and it certainly ought not to be ignored. + +At first sight this statement of Irenaeus would decidedly seem to +support the theory advanced by some, that, as the Roman Procurator +Pontius Pilate admittedly did not want to carry out the extreme penalty +in the case of Jesus, though he reluctantly consented to do so in order +to pacify the Jews and allowed Jesus to be fixed to a stauros and +suspended in public view, he took care to manage things so that Jesus +should only appear to die. The idea of course is that if Pilate wished +to preserve the life of Jesus he could easily have had him taken down +while in a drugged condition, have had the farce of burial carried out +at the earliest possible moment, and then have had him resuscitated and +removed to some region where he could dwell in safety. + +What Irenaeus says concerning Jesus is that + + + "He passed through every age, becoming an infant for + infants. . . . So likewise he was an old man for old + men, that he might be a perfect Master for all, not + merely as regards the setting forth of the truth but + also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time the + aged also and becoming an example to them likewise. + Then, at last, he came on to death itself. . . . From + the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline + towards old age, which our Lord possessed while he still + fulfilled the office of a Teacher; even as the Gospel + and all the elders testify, those who were conversant in + Asia with John the disciple of the Lord affirming that + John conveyed to them that information. And he remained + among them up to the times of Trajan. Some of them + moreover saw not only John but the other apostles also, + and heard the very same account from them, and bear + testimony as to the statement. Whom, then, should we + rather believe? Whether such men as these, or + Ptolemaeus, who never saw the apostles and who never + even in his dreams attained to the slightest trace of an + apostle?"[32] + +The reader must decide for himself or herself whether Irenaeus believed +that Jesus was never executed; or that he was executed but survived; or +that he was born when we suppose, but executed thirty years or so later +than we suppose; or that, though executed when we suppose, he was then +an old man, and was born, not at the commencement or middle or end of +the year A.C. 1, or B.C. 4, or whenever the orthodox date is, but +thirty years or more before what we call our era began. Anyhow he +mentions neither cross nor execution, and here seems to assume that +Jesus died a natural death. And in any case the fact remains that, +however mistaken he may have been, Irenaeus stated that Jesus lived to +be an old man; and stated so emphatically. + +Even granting that Irenaeus must have been mistaken, his evidence none +the less affects one of the most important points debated in this work. +For it is clear that if even he knew so little about the execution of +Jesus, the details of that execution cannot have been particularly well +known; and the affirmation that the stauros to which Jesus was affixed +had a transverse bar attached may have had no foundation in fact, and +may have arisen from a wish to connect Jesus with that well-known and +widely-venerated Symbol of Life, the pre-Christian cross. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ORIGIN OF THIS PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS. + +Having in the foregoing chapters demonstrated that it is possible, if +not indeed probable, that the instrument of execution to which Jesus +was affixed was otherwise than cross-shaped; and having also shown that +it was not mainly, if indeed even partially, that the early Christians +signified that instrument by the sign of the cross; it is now desirable +that, as a preliminary to an enquiry into the circumstances under which +the cross became the symbol of Christianity, we should enquire into the +origin of the _pre_-Christian cross. + +That there was a pre-Christian cross, and that it was, like ours, a +Symbol of Life, is generally admitted. + +The authorities upon such subjects, however, unfortunately differ as to +the reason why the Cross came to be selected by the ancients as the +Symbol of Life. And not one of their suggestions seems to go to the +root of the matter. + +Let us therefore in thought go back tens of thousands of years, and +conceive the genus Homo as a race gradually awakening to reason but as +yet unfettered by inherited traditions and creeds. Let us imagine Man +ere he began to make gods in his own image. Let us remember that what +would strike him as the greatest of all marvels would of necessity be +Life itself, and that far and away the next greatest marvel must have +been the glorious Sun; the obvious source of earth life, and Lord of +the Hosts of Heaven. + +Let us bear in mind, too, that though the Nature Worship of our remote +ancestors had other striking features, the facts mentioned would lead +to the predominance of the phallic idea, and to its association with +Sun-God worship. And as Life, the greatest marvel of all, must have had +a symbol allotted to it at a very early date, let us ask ourselves what +the untutored mind of Man would be most likely to select as its symbol. + +To this question there is, so far as the author can see, but one +reasonable answer:--the figure of the cross. + +And the author conceives this to be the real solution of the difficulty +for this reason:--because the figure of the cross is the simplest +possible representation of that union of two bodies or two sexes or two +powers or two principles, which alone produces life. + +For the ancients cannot fail to have perceived that all life more +immediately proceeds from the _union_ of _two_ principles; and the +first, readiest, simplest, and most natural symbol of Life, was +consequently one straight line superimposed upon another at such an +angle that both could be seen; in other words, a cross of some +description or other. + +It is evidently probable that this was the real reason why the figure +of the cross originally came to be adopted as the Symbol of Life. But, +of course, whatever the original reason, as time rolled on other +reasons for the veneration of the cross were pointed out; nothing being +more natural than that primitive Man should, or more certain than that +he did, find pleasure in connecting with other objects of his regard +than Life itself, that which as the Symbol of Life was pre-eminently a +symbol of good omen. + +The most notable instance of this is the way in which, or rather the +different ways in which, the figure of the cross was connected with the +Sun-God. + +A good example of the last named fact, is the declaration of the +philosophers of ancient Greece that the figure of the cross was the +figure of the "Second God" or "Universal Soul," the _Ratio_ as well as +the _Oratio_ of the All-Father, which they called the _Logos_ of God; a +term badly translated in our versions of the Gospel of St. John as the +_Word_ of God, as if it signified the _Oratio_ only. + +It was this Logos or "Second God" whom Philo, who was born before the +commencement of our era, described as the "Intellectual Sun," and even +as God's "First Begotten" and "Beloved" offspring, and the "Light of +the World"; terms afterwards made use of by the writers of our Gospels +in describing the Christ. And, as will be shown in a chapter upon the +subject, the reason the philosophers, among whom was Plato, gave for +declaring the cross to be the figure of the Logos, was that the Sun +creates this figure by crossing the Equator. + +An even better illustration can be seen in the fact that in days of old +almost every civilised race held feasts at the time of the Vernal +Equinox, in honour of the Passover or _Cross_-over of the Sun. + +The fact that the ancients were thus at special pains to connect the +symbol of Life with the Sun-God, and also, as we know, spoke of him as +the "Giver of Life" and the only "Saviour," was doubtless due to their +perceiving, not only that life is the result of the union of the two +principles distinguished by the titles male and female, but also that +the salvation of life is due to the action of the sun in preserving the +body from cold and in producing and ripening for its use the fruits of +the earth. + +As the Giver of Life, the Sun-God was of course considered to be +bi-sexual. But when the two great lights of heaven, the Sun and the +Moon, were associated with each other, as was often and naturally the +ease, the Sun was considered to be more especially a personification of +the Male Principle, and the waxing and waning moon, as represented by +the Crescent, a personification of the Female Principle. Hence the +worship of the God associated with the radiate sun, as of that of the +Goddess associated with the crescent moon and called the Sun-God's +mother or bride, was phallic in character; and their connection is +repeatedly symbolised upon the relics which have come down to us from +antiquity by the sign of the crescent containing within its horns +either a disc or what we should consider a star-like object, which +latter was almost as favourite a mode with the ancients of representing +the sun as it is with us of representing a star or planet, as will be +shown further on. + +Returning, however, to the symbol of the cross, as the first and +simplest representation of that union of the Male and Female Principles +which alone produces what we mortals call life, it is extremely curious +that the selection of the figure of the cross in comparatively modern +times as the simplest and most natural symbol both of addition and of +multiplication, should have led no one to perceive that, being for +these very reasons also the simplest and most natural symbol of Life, a +probable solution of the mystery surrounding the origin of the +pre-Christian cross as a symbol of Life, as it were stared them in the +face. As to the contention of not a few authorities, apparently founded +upon the mistaken assumption that the _Svastika_ was the earliest form +of cross to acquire importance as a symbol, that the pre-Christian +cross was originally a representation of the wheel-like motion of the +sun or a reference to the wheel of the Sun-God's chariot; it need only +be remarked that evidence exists to show that the cross was a symbol of +Life from a period so early, that it is doubtful if the Sun-God had +then been likened to a charioteer, and not certain that either chariots +or wheels had been invented. It is true that the Solar Wheel became a +recognized symbol of the Sun-God, and that additional veneration was +paid to it because the figure of the symbol of Life was more or less +discoverable in the spokes allotted to the Solar Wheel; but it is +putting the cart before the horse to suppose that the cross became the +symbol of Life because its form was so discoverable. + +It only remains to be added that there undoubtedly was a connection, +however slight, between the pre-Christian Cross as the Symbol of Life, +the Solar Wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God, and the Cross as the symbol +of the Christ. And whatever the date at which the cross was first +adopted as a Christian symbol, or whatever the reason for that +adoption, there is no doubt that, as will be shown further on, our +religion was considerably influenced by the facts that the Gaulish +soldiers whose victories enabled Constantine to become Sole Emperor +venerated the Solar Wheel, {image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image +"solarwheel2.gif"}, and that their leader, who was anxious to obtain +the support of the Christians, allowed a loop to be added to the top of +the vertical spoke so that the Christians might be able to interpret +the victorious symbol as {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram2.gif"}, {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}; +_i.e._, XP or XPI, the first two or three letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma}, _Christos_, Christ. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTIAN CROSS. + +As has already been to some extent pointed out, it is evident that our +beloved Christendom more or less owes its existence to the fact that +Constantine the Great when only ruler of Gaul, himself a Sun-God +worshipper at the head of an army of Sun-God worshippers, seeing how +greatly the small but enthusiastic bodies of Christians everywhere to +be met with could aid him in his designs upon the attainment of supreme +power, bid for their support. For to this politic move, its success, +and Constantine's perception that only a non-national religion whose +followers sought to convert the whole world and make their faith a +catholic one, could really weld together different races of men, we owe +the fact that when he became Sole Emperor he made Christianity the +State Religion of the world-wide Roman Empire. + +This act and its far-reaching effects, are not all we owe to +Constantine, however. It should be remembered that even our creed was +to some extent decided by him. For it was this Sun-God worshipper--who, +though he advised others to enter what he wished should become a +catholic and all-embracing religion, refused to do so himself till he +was dying--who called together our bishops, and, presiding over them in +council at Nicaea, demanded that they should determine the controversy +in the ranks of the Christians as to whether the Christ was or was not +God, by subscribing to a declaration of his Deity. It is even recorded +that he forced the unwilling ones to sign under penalty off deprivation +and banishment. + +From these and other incidents in his career it would appear that, +either from policy or conviction, Constantine acted as if he thought +the Sun-God and the Christ were one and the same deity. + +The probability of this is more or less apparent from what we are told +concerning the part he played in connection with what, thanks, as we +are about to see, to him, became our recognised symbol. + +Our knowledge of the part played by Constantine in connection with the +symbol of the cross, except so far as we can gather it from a study of +ancient coins and other relics, unfortunately comes to us solely +through Christian sources. And the first that famous bishop and +ecclesiastical historian Eusebius of Caesarea, to whom we owe so large +a proportion of our real or supposed knowledge of the early days of +Christianity, tells us about Constantine and the cross, is that in the +year A.C. 312--a quarter of a century before his admission into the +Christian Church--Constantine and the Gaulish soldiers he was leading +saw at noon _over the Sun_ a cross of Light in the heavens, bearing +upon it or having attached to it the inscription EN TOYT{omega} NIKA, +_By this conquer_. + +The words of the Bishop, who is reporting what he states the Emperor in +question to have told him personally, are:-- + + "He said that at mid-day when the sun was beginning to + decline he saw with his own eyes the trophy of a cross + of light in the heavens, above the Sun, bearing the + inscription EN TOYT{omega} NIKA; he himself, and his + whole army also, being struck with amazement at this + sight."[33] + +Though this marvellous cross, declared by Christian writers of that +century to have been the so-called Monogram of Christ {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"} +or {image "monogram4.gif"}, appeared to an army of Sun-God worshippers, +Constantine himself--as can be seen from his coins--remaining one for +many years afterwards if not till his death, it is put before us as a +Christian cross. + +It is also noteworthy that no material representation of a cross of any +description was ever held aloft by adherents of the Christian Church, +until after Constantine is said to have had this more or less solar +cross so represented as the standard of his Gaulish army. + +Mention should therefore be made of the fact that, upon the coins he +struck, the symbol {image "monogram1.gif"} is perhaps the one which +occurs the most frequently upon representations of the famous _Labarum_ +or Military Standard of Constantine; but that the symbol {image +"monogram1.gif"}, the {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} without the circle, and the {image "solarwheel1.gif"} +and {image "asterisk.gif"}, are also to be seen. + +Now the Gauls led by Constantine specially venerated the Solar Wheel. +This had sometimes six and sometimes four spokes, {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, and the warriors of +their native land had long been in the habit of wearing a +representation of the same upon their helmets. It is therefore not +improbable that even before the date of the alleged vision when +marching upon Rome, some such symbol formed the standard of +Constantine's army. + +Anyhow, that the worthy Bishop Eusebius was, like other enthusiasts, +liable to be at times carried by his enthusiasm beyond the limits of +veracity, or else was the victim of imperial mendacity, is evident. For +Eusebius tells us in the _Life of Constantine_ he wrote after the death +of his patron, that the night after this miraculous "cross" and motto +were seen in the sky above the Sun, the Christ appeared to Constantine, +and, showing the Gaulish general the same sign that had been seen in +the sky, directed him to have a similar symbol made, under which his +army--an army, be it remembered, of Sun-God worshippers--should march +conquering and to conquer![34] + +All that is really likely to have happened is that Constantine, wishing +to encourage his troops, bade them rally round a standard on which was +represented the sacred Solar Wheel venerated by the Gauls; and that as +with this as a rallying point Constantine and his Gauls became masters +of Rome, the symbol we are discussing became a Roman--and therefore, +later on, upon the establishment of our faith as the State Religion of +the Roman Empire, also a _Christian_--symbol. And a loop seems to have +been sooner or later added to the top of the vertical spoke of the +Gaulish symbol, so that Christians could accept it as a Monogram of +Christ; as has already been hinted, and as will be demonstrated further +on. + +A noteworthy point is that we have two accounts of Constantine's +alleged vision of the Christ, and that they do not quite agree. The +Bishop of Caesarea's account is, that the night after the Emperor--then +only ruler of Gaul--and all his soldiers saw the "cross" and motto +above the meridian sun, the Christ appeared to Constantine + + "With the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, + and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which + he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard + in all engagements with his enemies."[35] + +But the author of _De Mortibus Persecutorem_, a work said to have been +written during the reign of Constantine, and attributed to Lactantius, +refers to the alleged vision as follows:-- + + "Constantine was admonished in his sleep to mark the + celestial sign of God on the shields, and thus engage in + battle. He did as he was commanded, and marked the name + of the Christ on the shields by the letter X drawn + across them with the top circumflexed. Armed with this + sign his troops--"[36] + +and the differences between these two accounts are greater than would +at first sight appear. + +Let us however return to the story of the Bishop of Caesarea, who tells +us that the morning after the Christ appeared to Constantine, the +Emperor told this second marvel to his friends, and, sending for the +workers in gold and precious stones who are assumed to have accompanied +the Gaulish army, directed them to overlay with gold a long spear + + "On the top of the whole of which was fixed a wreath of + gold and precious stones, and within this the symbol of + the Saviour's name, two letters indicating the name of + the Christ by means of its initial characters, the + letter P being intersected with the letter X in its + centre."[37] + +Several questions naturally arise at this point of our enquiry, and it +is not easy--nay, it is impossible--for us Christians to honestly +dispose of all of them and yet retain our cherished opinions upon this +matter. Only one such question need be stated, and it is this: Is it +likely that the Infinite Ruler of the universe, either at mid-day or at +mid-night, went out of his way to induce a Sun-God worshipper who would +not enter the Christian Church till a quarter of a century later and +ere then was to become a murderer of innocent persons like the +boy-Caesar Licinius, to adopt a symbol which he warranted would enable +Constantine to lead on the Gauls to victory? + +Pursuing the narrative of Eusebius we find that he, alluding to the +symbol which he describes as a monogram but calls a cross, states that, +setting this "victorious trophy and salutary symbol" in front of his +soldiers, Constantine continued his march against Maxentius; and, with +his forces thus "divinely aided," overthrew the Emperor just outside +the Imperial City, entered Rome in triumph, and thanked God that He had +enabled him to defeat and slay its ruler and assume the purple in that +ruler's stead.[38] + +Eusebius then tells us that Constantine, who did not dispose of all his +rivals and become sole emperor till some twelve years later, as victor +in the fight with Maxentius and master of Rome though not as yet of the +whole empire, at once + + "By loud proclamation and monumental inscriptions made + known to all men the salutary symbol, setting up this + great trophy of victory over his enemies, and expressly + causing it to be engraven in indelible characters that + the salutary symbol was the safeguard of the Roman + Government and entire people. Accordingly he immediately + ordered a lofty spear in the figure of a cross to be + placed beneath the hand of a statue representing himself + in the most frequented part of Rome, and the following + inscription engraven on it in the Latin tongue:--'By + virtue of this salutary sign which is the true test of + valour, I have preserved and liberated your city from + the yoke of tyranny, and I have also set at liberty the + Roman Senate and People, and have restored to them their + ancient distinction and splendour.'"[39] + +Now, as we have already seen, what Eusebius referred to as the "cross" +observed above the mid-day sun (and accompanied by a miraculous +inscription in, presumably, to agree with the monogram, the Greek +language; which was, well, "Greek" to the Gaulish soldiers) was the +so-called Monogram of Christ {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram2.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}. +That, too, was what Eusebius tells us the Christ afterwards told the +Gaulish leader Constantine to model his military standard after. That, +therefore, was the "salutary symbol" and "trophy of victory" referred +to in the above passage from the same authority. + +It is therefore clear that this "lofty spear in the figure of a cross" +which Eusebius tells us was placed under the hand of the statue of +Constantine in the central place of honour in Rome, was referred to by +Eusebius as a "cross" because it was shaped like or in some way +connected with some form or other of the so-called Monogram of Christ. +And such a conclusion is borne out by the fact that spears with +cross-bars had been in use among both Gauls and Romans for centuries, +whereas this one is referred to as something out of the common. + +It should also be noted that it was as a victorious military standard, +and not as either a monogram of the Christ or a representation of the +_stauros_ upon which Jesus was executed, that Constantine caused this +{image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "asterisk.gif"}, or {image +"monogram1.gif"} or {image "monogram3.gif"}, or {image "monogram2.gif"} +or {image "monogram4.gif"} (all which variations occur upon the coins +of Constantine and his successors), to become a symbol of the Roman +Empire. + +Further on in his history of the Emperor, Eusebius tells us that +whenever Constantine saw his troops hard pressed, he gave orders that +the "salutary trophy" should be moved in that direction, and that +victory always resulted. + +The Bishop of Caesarea then goes on to relate that Constantine selected +fifty men of his bodyguard, the most distinguished for piety, valour, +and strength, whose sole duty it was to defend this famous standard; +and that, of the elect fifty, those who fled were always slain, and +those who stood their ground were always miraculously preserved.[40] + +One would imagine from all this that there was only one labarum. Many +different kinds are, however, represented upon the coins of +Constantine; as also almost every variety of ordinary cross, except, +perhaps, such as might conceivably have been a representation of an +instrument of execution, like that which has since come into vogue +among us. + +Eusebius also tells us that Constantine caused to be erected in front +of his palace a lofty tablet, on which was painted a representation of +himself with the "salutary sign" over his head and a dragon or serpent +under his feet.[41] + +He also informs us that inside the palace and in the principal +apartment, on a vast tablet in the ceiling, Constantine caused "the +symbol of our Saviour's passion to be fixed, composed of a variety of +precious stones inwrought with gold."[42] + +Which of all the "salutary" signs that appear upon the coins of +Constantine these particular crosses were, we do not know; but it is, +at any rate, obviously unlikely that a worshipper of Apollo who refused +to enter the Christian Church till he was dying, and on his coins +always attributed his victories to the Sun-God, elevated either as a +representation of an instrument of execution. + +As to the alleged finding at Jerusalem, by Helena the mother of +Constantine, of three stakes with transverse bars attached, all of +which were ancient instruments of execution and one of which was shown +by the occurrence of a miracle to have been a cross to which Jesus was +affixed three centuries before, it is clear that this is a fairy tale. +The story cannot be traced further back than to St. Cyril of Jerusalem +about A.C. 350; and Eusebius, who gives an account of Helena's visit to +Jerusalem, does not mention any such occurrence as that in question; a +sure sign that it was an invention of later date. + +The Christian Church, however, in a weak moment vouched for the truth +of this ridiculous story; and while what was suffered to remain in +Jerusalem of the true cross became the treasure of that city and a +trophy captured by its foes but afterwards secured from them and once +more placed in its holiest shrine, what was broken up into relics for +the faithful throughout Christendom multiplied into a thousand +fragments; one of which forms the centre of the Vatican Cross, and such +few others of which as survive would not if examined, 'tis said, even +prove to be all of the same kind of wood, or even limited to the two +kinds for the presence of which a supposed cross-bar of another kind of +timber might be held accountable. + +The same Christian Bishop to whom this fairy tale can be traced, in a +letter to one of the Emperors that succeeded Constantine declared that +on the seventh of May A.C. 351 he and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem +saw a brilliant cross in the heavens, stretching from Mount Golgotha to +the Mount of Olives, and _shining like the Sun for several hours_.[43] +And this marvellous vision is vouched for by St. Jerome, Socrates, +Matins, and the Alexandrine Chronicle, as well as by St. Cyril; and is +still kept in memory by the Greek Church, a solemn festival being held +upon anniversaries of the day in question. But which particular +"salutary sign" thus shone in the sky like the Sun for hours, is +uncertain. + +These painfully obvious inventions cannot but incline broad-minded +Christians to the belief that our Church went to great lengths in order +to induce people to believe that the cross was essentially a +_Christian_ symbol; which tends to show that there was a danger of +their thinking otherwise. + +It is also clear from the evidence already quoted concerning the +adoption by Christians in the fourth century of a symbol they denounced +in the third, that whether Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument or not, that was not the chief reason why the phallic symbol +of Life became recognised as the symbol of the Christ. + +The striking fact that though, as will be shown, the cross of four +equal arms (a cross which, as we have seen, preceded the Latin cross as +a Christian symbol, and one form of which is still the favourite symbol +of the Greek Church; while even in the other two great divisions of +Christendom its numerous variations, wheel-like and otherwise, as a +whole dispute the supremacy with the Latin cross) occurs many times +upon the coins of Constantine, yet it was the so-called Monogram of +Christ or adapted solar wheel of the Gauls which the Christians of the +fourth century were most careful to claim as a Christian symbol, should +also be noted. For though the cross of four equal arms was also put by +Constantine upon his coins as a solar symbol, yet that, being then, as +for ages previously, a symbol of the Sun-God of world-wide acceptation, +and one which as we shall see had already appeared as such upon Roman +coins, it was not so much a Gaulish symbol as the other; and it was +evidently because that other was the symbol followed by the triumphant +leader of the Gauls and his victorious army, that the Christians wished +to specially identify it with the Christ. + +In any case, whether the so-called Monogram of Christ was more or less +forced upon Christianity when Constantine made our faith the State +Religion of his empire, or whether it was adopted by Christians of +their own volition, it was a politic move (than which few possible +moves could have done more to secure the triumph of our faith) to +accept as the symbol of the Christian Church what was at one and the +same time the symbol of Constantine, of the Roman State, and of the +universally adored Sun-God. + +That the more generally accepted symbol of the Sun-God, the cross of +four equal arms, should in time supplant the more local one, was of +course only to be expected; as was the adoption of a cross with one arm +longer than the others, as being the only kind which could possibly be +connected with the story of Jesus as the Christ incarnate. + +As to the possible objection that what has been dealt with in this +chapter has been rather the origin of the Christian custom of +manufacturing and venerating material representations of the sign or +figure of the cross than the origin of the Christian cross itself, the +answer is obvious. And the answer is that the first cross which can +_justly_ be called "Christian," was the one which was the first to be +considered, to use Dean Farrar's expressions, "mainly," if not "only," +a representation of an instrument of execution; which cross was +undoubtedly not a transient sign or gesture but a material +representation of the cross with one arm longer than the others and was +introduced after such representations of the cross of four equal arms +and of the so-called Monogram of Christ had come into vogue among +Christians as a consequence of the influence of Constantine. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE ESTABLISHER OF THE CHURCH. + +Having already shown not a little cause for believing that the adoption +of the cross as our symbol is due to the fact that we Christians helped +to secure the triumph of the ambitious ruler of the Gauls, and after +receiving numberless smaller favours from Constantine during the years +he was ruler of Rome but not as yet sole emperor eventually obtained +from him the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the +Roman Empire, adapting the victorious trophy of the Gauls and the +various crosses venerated by them and other Sun-God worshippers to our +faith as best we could, it is desirable that we should pause to trace +the career of the man we hail as the first Christian Emperor. + +To do this properly we must commence by referring to Constantine's +father, Constantius Chlorus; and to the favour shown to Constantius +Chlorus by his patron the Emperor Diocletian. + +Finding the supreme rule of the almost worldwide Roman Empire too much +for one man in ill-health to undertake successfully, Diocletian in the +year A.C. 286 made Maximian co-emperor. And in A.C. 292 Diocletian +followed this up by conferring the inferior position and title of +Caesar upon Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. + +In A.C. 305 Diocletian relinquished power altogether, forcing Maximian +to abdicate with him; Galerius and Constantius Chlorus thus obtaining +the coveted title of Augustus, and sharing the supreme power. + +Galerius now ranked first, however; for it was to the ruler of +Illyricum and not to that of Gaul that Diocletian gave the power of +appointing Caesars to govern Italy and the East. + +Constantius Chlorus died in Britain A.C. 306, the year after Diocletian +abdicated; and Galerius, who had married a daughter of Diocletian, +naturally thought that under the circumstances he ought to become sole +emperor. + +The legions of Gaul, however, proclaimed the son of Constantius Chlorus +as Augustus in his stead; and as Constantine thus became ruler of Gaul +and a power to be reckoned with, Galerius thought it best to give way +so far as to grant Constantine the inferior title of Caesar. + +Soon afterwards Galerius conferred the title of Augustus upon Severus; +and a little while after that the Eternal City was lost to Galerius +through the revolt of his son-in-law Maxentius, the son of Maximian. + +The Senate of Rome then asked Maximian to re-assume the purple, and he +and Maxentius shared the power between them, both taking the title of +Augustus. + +Upon this Severus at the request of Galerius marched upon Rome. He was, +however, defeated and slain. + +After being more or less expelled by his son Maxentius, Maximian in the +year A.C. 308 marched to Gaul and married his daughter Fausta to +Constantine; at the same time conferring upon him the title of +Augustus. About this time Galerius made his friend Licinius an Augustus +in the place of Severus; whereupon Maximin, the Governor of Syria and +Egypt, demanded and was granted that title also. + +There were thus in the year A.C. 308 some half-a-dozen Roman Emperors +instead of one; there being Constantine and Maximian in the west, +Maxentius at Rome, and Galerius, Licinius, and Maximin elsewhere; not +to mention Diocletian, who was content to remain in retirement. + +This decided break-up of the Roman Empire was Constantine's +opportunity; and he was favourably placed, for he had a warlike and +faithful people under him. + +Moreover by reversing so far as lay in his power as ruler of Gaul the +traditional policy of Rome towards Christianity, and setting himself +forward as a champion of a non-national religion which had been +persecuted because it was non-national, Constantine was secure of the +enthusiastic backing of all the Christians to be found in the dominions +of his various rivals. + +In A.C. 310 Constantine either executed his father-in-law the Emperor +Maximian, or caused him to commit suicide; and the first of his five +rivals was disposed of. + +In A.C. 311 the Emperor Galerius died from disease, and Constantine's +most formidable competitor, and one who undoubtedly had a better claim +than himself to the position of sole emperor, thus opportunely made way +for the ruler of Gaul. + +In A.C. 312 Constantine marched at the head of the Gauls against the +Emperor Maxentius, defeated him near the Milvian Bridge outside Rome, +and entered the Eternal City in triumph. Maxentius is said to have been +drowned in the Tiber; and the Senate decreed that Constantine should +rank as the first of the three remaining Augusti. + +In A.C. 313 the Emperor Maximin fought the Emperor Licinius; but his +forces were defeated, and he soon afterwards died. + +Some ten years or so later Constantine went to war with his only +remaining rival, Licinius, defeated him, and became sole emperor, A.C. +324. + +That despite his great qualities as a ruler the character of +Constantine was not perfect, can be easily seen from the fact that, not +content with executing the Emperor Licinius after accepting his +submission, he murdered the young Licinius; a boy certainly not over +twelve years of age, and according to some authorities two or three +years younger than that. He also put his own son Crispus to death, and +other relations as well. + +We are told that Constantine was so tortured by the memory of these and +other crimes that he applied to the priests of the Gods of Rome for +absolution, but that they bravely said that there was no absolution for +such sins, whereupon this worshipper of the Sun-God turned to his +friends the Christians and they gave him what he desired.[44] + +This statement seems somewhat improbable, however, as one would imagine +that the Pagan priests, when called upon by one who was Pontifex +Maximus and therefore their spiritual superior as well as the supreme +emperor, would not have scrupled to invent some purifying rite--if they +had none such--warranted to blot out the stain of every crime and +thoroughly appease offended heaven. + +However this may have been, these terrible crimes of Constantine, all +committed many years after his alleged conversion to our faith, show +how badly advised we are to so needlessly go out of our way to claim as +a Christian one who refused to enter the Christian Church till he was +dying and possibly no longer master of himself. + +It is said that this refusal of his to be baptised till he was weak and +dying and surrounded by Church officials who would perhaps have spread +the report that he had been baptised even if they had not then at last +been able to induce him to take the decisive step, was due, not to want +of belief, but to excess of belief; Constantine's idea being that the +longer he put off the rite in question, the more crimes would it wash +out. Or, in other words, that delay would enable him to sin with +impunity a little longer. + +This may possibly have been the case, but it should at the same time be +borne in mind that whether Constantine called him Apollo or Christ, it +seems probable that it was the Sun-God to whom he referred. For +everything tends to show that this astute emperor, who so naturally +wished to establish and mould a religion which all his subjects of +whatever race or nationality might be reasonably expected to become in +time willing to accept, acted during his reign as supreme ruler of the +Roman World, if not from first to last, as if the Christ were but +another conception of the Sun-God he was brought up to worship as +Apollo and all countries venerated under some name or other. + +This point is not only demonstrated by the fact that upon his coins +Constantine repeatedly declared that the Sun-God was his invincible +guide and protector and the giver even of the victory foreshadowed by +the alleged vision of the cross or Monogram of Christ above the +meridian sun, but is also clearly shown by certain incidents connected +with the founding towards the end of his life of the new metropolis +which in less than a century equalled Rome in all save antiquity. + +New Rome, or, as we now call it, Constantinople, the city of +Constantine, was built on the site of, and often called by the name of, +Byzantium. It was not designed till A.C. 324, and was not dedicated +till A.C. 330, or, as some think, an even later date: Constantine dying +in the year A.C. 337. + +We are told that Constantinople was dedicated to the Virgin Mother of +God.[45] This should remind us of the fact that long before our era, +and right down to the time when Constantine selected Byzantium as the +site of a new capital, that place was considered dedicated to the +Virgin Queen of Heaven. + +Now in the central place of honour in his new metropolis, one would +naturally expect Constantine to erect something or other to the honour +of the God to whom he attributed his victories. + +Whose, then, was the statue Constantine towards the end of his life, +and about twenty years after his alleged conversion to our faith, +erected in the centre of the Forum of New Rome? + +It was a statue of the Sun-God Apollo; or, as some explain it, a statue +of himself adorned with the attributes of the Sun-God. + +In fact, taking the career of Constantine as a whole, there is nothing +inconsistent with the supposition that he was a Christian only in so +far as, out of policy or conviction, he acted as if he considered the +Christ to be one of many conceptions of the Sun-God. For although, as +has been mentioned and will be shown in a later chapter, Constantine, +upon the many varieties of coins he issued, repeatedly acclaimed the +Sun-God as his companion and the author of his triumphs, he never once, +except in so far as he may have considered the God we Christians +worship to be the Sun-God, so attributed his victories to the Christ. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CROSS AND CRESCENT. + +Before passing in review the evidence regarding the symbol of the cross +derivable from Roman coins and other relics of antiquity, a few +introductory remarks are necessary regarding the too often forgotten +fact that the ancients naturally looked upon the Giver of Life as +bi-sexual; no life being known to them which was not a result of the +conjunction of the Male and Female Principles. + +The necessarily bi-sexual character of the creator of both the Male and +Female Principles, was, it should be remembered, borne in mind by the +thinkers of old all the while they accommodatingly spoke of the Sun-God +or Giver of Life as being a personification of the Male Principle and +gave him a Bride or Virgin Mother to represent the Female Principle. + +Moreover, just as the disc of the Sun, or the star-like form which the +ancients often used to signify the radiate or impregnating Sun, +naturally came to be recognised as the symbol of the Male Principle, so +the Crescent, as signifying the increasing Moon and the lesser of the +two great lights of heaven, in like manner came to be adopted as the +natural symbol of the Female Principle. + +In this connection it will not be amiss to draw attention to the symbol +of the conquerors of the city founded by Constantine. For though +misleadingly called "the Crescent," that symbol is, as the reader +cannot very well fail to be aware, not a mere crescent; but one which +has within its horns what we consider to be a star-like form and +therefore call a star. And though it is possible that it was not +knowingly adopted as such by the Moslems, this dual symbol was a +combination of the ancient symbols of the Male and Female Principles. + +An erroneous account of the origin of this symbol as a Moslem symbol is +given in all our works of reference which deal with the matter, as if +their compilers copied one from another without troubling to consider +the evidence for themselves. + +The incorrect but widely accepted explanation in question, is to the +effect that the so-called _star_ and crescent had its origin as a +Moslem symbol in the capture of Byzantium or Constantinople by the +Turks in A.C. 1453; our works of reference stating that it was then +adopted by Mahomet II., as the symbol of the famous city he had taken +from the Christians. + +But was the "star and crescent" the symbol of the City of Constantine? +It would appear not. + +Ancient Byzantium was, as stated in a previous chapter, considered, +long before our era and right up to the days of Constantine, as +dedicated to the Virgin Queen of Heaven; whose symbol was a crescent. +And when Constantine rebuilt and renamed Byzantium, he dedicated New +Rome--or, as we now call it, Constantinople--to the Virgin Mother of +God and Queen of Heaven; whose symbol, as can be seen upon reference to +both ancient and modern representations of the Virgin Mary, is also a +crescent. It would therefore appear that the symbol of the city is more +likely to have been a simple crescent than the so-called _star_ and +crescent. Such a conclusion is entirely borne out by the evidence. For +though the so-called star and crescent can be seen upon three or four +coins struck at Byzantium before such a place as New Rome was thought +of, this proves little if anything; inasmuch as the symbol in question +was a very common one in days of old, and occurs frequently upon coins +struck elsewhere. + +Moreover the question is what the symbol of Constantinople was at the +time it was captured by the Turks. And an inspection of the coins +issued by the Christian rulers of that city during the thousand years +and more it was in their hands, will reveal to the enquirer that though +the crescent with a _cross_ within its horns appears occasionally upon +the coins of the Emperors of the East, and in one or two instances we +see a cross of four equal arms with each extremity piercing a crescent, +it is doubtful if a single example of the so-called "_star_ and +crescent" symbol can be found upon them. + +We learn from other sources also that the symbol of the imperial +Christian Metropolis captured by the Turks nearly five hundred years +ago and ever since retained by them, was a simple crescent. And there +is no doubt whatever that the dual symbol of the Moslems was adopted by +them, not when they brought about the downfall of Constantinople as a +Christian city, but centuries before, as a result of the conquest of +Persia. + +It was in the year A.C. 641 that the battle of Nehavend, ever after +called by the Moslems the _Victory of Victories_, laid at the feet of +the followers of the Prophet the kingdom of Iran or Persia, and brought +to an end the Sassanian Monarchy. + +Now the coins of the Sassanian kings then and for the previous two +centuries bore upon them, with scarcely an exception, the so-called +"_star_ and crescent"; and it was as the symbol of this Zoroastrian +dynasty and of the fair land of Iran, that the Moslems adopted it as +their own. What the star-like object (star-like, that is, in _our_ +opinion) represented upon the coins of Iran or Persia when placed +within the horns of a crescent, was, of course, the Sun. The +supposition of certain writers that the dual symbol represented the two +crescent-presenting orbs, Venus and the Moon, is entirely mistaken. For +though the conjunction of the two crescent-shaped and feminine lights +of heaven, was of old, like the combination of the symbol of the +Sun--as representing the Male Principle--with that ever feminine symbol +the Crescent, held to signify Increase and Life, we are dealing with +what was admittedly a Mithraic symbol. And not only was the star-like +object in question the symbol of the Sun-God Mithras, but it was, as +any student of the coins of the Sassanian dynasty can see, substituted +for the disc. + +Upon the Sassanian coins the so-called star, in reality a +representation neither of a star nor of a planet but of the radiate +Sun, seems to have been first substituted for the round disc as a +representation of the Sun, by Perozes, about A.C. 457; the disc in the +horns of a crescent being the symbol on the coins of his father +Isdigerd II. and other predecessors. But the dual symbol miscalled the +"star and crescent" was one even then of great antiquity, as will be +shown in a later chapter dealing with Phoenician relics discovered in +Cyprus and elsewhere. + +The primary signification of the dual symbol in question, often +accompanied on the Sassanian coins by a prayer that the monarch might +"increase," or flourish generally, was undoubtedly _Life_. And it is +clear that the conjunction of the Crescent as the symbol of the Female +Principle of Life with the star-like figure which represented the +radiate, life-giving, or impregnating Sun, must have not only signified +Life, but also the necessarily bi-sexual Giver of Life. + +We are thus brought to the conclusion that the Cross and the so-called +Crescent are more or less allied in signification. + +Nor is this noteworthy fact to be wondered at. For only words and forms +divide the faiths of Mankind, and at heart the one object of our +desires is Life. Even those who piously lay down their lives for others +here, do so in the hope of being rewarded with longer life and more +blissful life hereafter. + +Another point which is too often overlooked, is that if the followers +of the so-called Crescent have, as would appear to be the case, +forgotten the meaning of their symbol and the fact that it alludes to +the bi-sexual nature of the Creator, we followers of the Cross may all +unconsciously be in a very similar position regarding our symbol. And +as the Cross as the recognised symbol of the Christ is not of older +date than the conquest of Rome by the Gauls, and more or less resulted +therefrom, it is clear that the same remark applies if we consider the +Moslems to have adopted their symbol as that of the land they conquered +from the Sassanian kings, rather than as one with the primal and +natural interpretation of which they were content. + +Anyway the cross as well as the "star and crescent" is more or less a +bi-sexual symbol, as will be clear to those who understand how the +cross came to be recognised ages before our era as the natural symbol +of Life. And a good illustration of the fact in question still exists +in the Caroccio crucifix of Milan; in which relic we see, under the +usual inscription, an androgynous Christ upon a cross, with a man's +head but half the body of female form, and with, instead of a cloth or +fig-leaf, the phallic _crux ansata_, or Egyptian cross or symbol of +Life, placed sideways, and as if the oval represented the female organ +of reproduction, and the _tau_ or incomplete cross that of the other +sex. + +Like the Red Cross of to-day, the Carocco bi-sexual crucifix, once so +common in Italy, was a symbol of Life and Salvation in two senses; it +not only being considered so in itself, but being also used on the +battlefield as a rallying point for wounded soldiers, signalling to +them that bandages, drugs, and surgical aid, could be obtained where it +towered aloft. + +These references to the fact that in days of old many very naturally +came to the conclusion that the Creator and Giver of Life and only +Saviour must be bi-sexual, should remind us Christians that our +assertion that the Infinite Spirit is "Our Father" is not from all +points of view an improvement upon the ideas of the ancients. For they +also, and rightly, conceived what we wrongly ignore, _viz._, that the +Infinite Author of all existence must also be "Our Mother." + +In this respect Protestants have if possible gone even further astray +than members of the Greek and Roman Churches. For in the veneration +paid by the latter to Mary of Nazareth as the Bride of God, the Mother +of God, the Star of the Sea, and the Queen of Heaven, can be seen a +survival, however toned down or distorted, of the old idea that the +Deity must necessarily be of both sexes. + +Even the plainly evident fact that, while in pre-Christian days the +symbol of the cross represented the two sexual powers in conjunction, +it has in Christian times come to be considered the symbol of Life as +being the symbol of the SON of God, should, moreover, lead us to note +that our religion scarcely does justice to the part played in the +economy of Nature by the fair sex. This is doubtless due to the fact +that the moulding of our creed and the interpretation of things hard to +be understood has for the most part been in the hands of the sex which, +as the author belongs to it, may by way of contrast be called unfair. + +What, for instance, can be more unfair than the assumption that God, if +incarnated as one of the genus Homo, must have been born a male? Yet +that assumption is at the very basis of modern Christianity. + +Moreover, even granting that the Deity was specially incarnated in +Jesus the Nazarene and therefore as a male, why should we, as if +supposing that a passing form could stamp its sex upon an Infinite +Spirit, speak of "God the Son" yet never of "God the Daughter?" + +The fact is that the natural disabilities and disadvantages of the +childbearing sex have from the first resulted in the power of the male +sex to rule the roast, and one result of the predominance thus ensured +to the male sex by the laws of Nature has of course been a similar +predominance for the opinion that the Creator is of the male sex. + +Some enthusiastic champion of her sex, alluding to the fact that the +opposing sex now has a monopoly of the priesthood, may even go so far +as to ask with a special meaning, Has not Man from the beginning made +God in his own image? + +The male sex did not always have a monopoly of the priesthood, however; +and in few if any instances did the priests of old go so far as to +teach that the Creator, whom out of compliment to the Deity--or +themselves--they naturally spoke of as belonging to the stronger sex, +was a male and _only_ a male. Nor did they even assume such a thing. +Though the different gods and goddesses were spoken of as belonging to +this or that sex, more than one were regarded as in reality +androgynous; and the fact that the Creator and Giver of Life must of +necessity be so was very generally recognised. + +As a matter of fact it is by no means certain that the Creator is not +represented as being androgynous even in our Bible. For in the account +of the Creation which the Jews brought with them from Babylon, the +Creator is represented as saying "Let _us_ make man in _our_ image"; +and a race which like the Jews solemnly declared that there was but one +God, could only, it would seem, have accepted such a declaration as a +divine revelation if they conceived the God supposed to be speaking to +be androgynous, and addressing the other part of himself. This would +account for the emphasis laid upon the statement that man was created +"male _and_ female," like, or in the image of, the Creator. + +In any case it is clear that if God be not female as well as male, Man +was _not_ created in the likeness of God. + +The theory of the ancients that Man himself was created an androgynous +being, capable, like the Creator, of creating life in himself, but was +afterwards divided into halves, one of which is ever seeking to find +the other, need only be mentioned. + +Suffice it to add that it can scarcely be said to have been altogether +progress in the right direction, which has led us mortals to call the +Author of all Life "Our Father," to the utter obscuration of the +equally important fact that the Deity in whom we live and move and have +our being must also be "Our Mother." + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE CORONATION ORB. + +The fact that though we Christians fail to do the matter justice, the +ancients upon the contrary recognised that the Creator and the Giver of +Life cannot be rightly spoken of as belonging to one sex and one alone, +is not the only fact which those who examine relics of antiquity, such +as the coins of the Roman Empire, with a view to ascertaining what +evidence is derivable from them that bears upon the history of the +symbol of the cross, should ever bear in mind. Another point to be kept +in view is the evolution of the Christian symbol now known as the +Coronation Orb. + +This compound symbol, which plays so prominent a part in the regalia of +a Christian Monarch, also crowns the topmost height of many a Christian +Temple including both St. Peter's at Rome and St. Paul's at London. And +it is noteworthy that it bears a certain resemblance to the +representation of the Apex, once worn by the Salian priests and +afterwards by the Pontifex Maximus and the Flamens generally, which +appears upon ancient coins of the _Fabia_ gens; the office of _Flamen +Quirinalis_ having been hereditary in the Fabia family. + +Upon other coins also, what is said to be meant for the pontifical apex +occurs as a round ball surmounted by something very like a cross, in +the hand of a female figure representing Rome; exactly as the so-called +Coronation Orb is to be seen upon coins of later date in the hand of +this or that Christian Emperor. + +The evidence as a whole, however, favours the supposition that the +Coronation Orb, instead of having been derived from the Apex of the +Pagan priests and thus signifying the claim to priesthood or headship +of the church so often made by monarchs, is a development of the round +object, frequently unsurmounted by anything, so continually to be met +with upon ancient coins of Rome in the hand of this or that God, +Goddess, or Ruler. + +This being the case, it is a matter of very considerable importance +that we should be quite sure what the round object in question used to +signify, and should base our assurance upon the results of personal +investigation rather than upon the assumption that the popular +explanation is necessarily the correct one. + +Though the round object in question was, as stated, in days of old +often used as a symbol by itself, it was sometimes, and, as time rolled +on, more and more frequently, surmounted by a small female figure with +wings; which figure was a representation of Victory. This figure was, +after the establishment of Christianity as the State Religion of the +Roman Empire, gradually, and only gradually, supplanted by the figure +of the cross. + +Although several writers of note assume that the initiative in this +direction was taken by Constantine himself, the first step seems to +have been taken upon the death of Constantine, when a coin or medal was +issued on which the deceased monarch is called a God and is represented +as holding a round object surmounted by the so-called Monogram of +Christ; a symbol continually referred to by Eusebius and other writers +of the fourth century as a cross. + +Later on an instance occurs of the Monogram surmounting a round object +held by a female figure representing Rome. This is upon a coin issued +by Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine. + +Passing on to the reign of Valentinianus II., we find that that Emperor +issued a coin upon which a round object surmounted by a cross is to be +seen in the hand of Victory herself. This would appear to have been the +first instance in which what we should call a cross, supplanted the +representation of Victory as a small female figure with wings, as a +symbol surmounting the round object which we are considering. + +A similar coin was issued by Theodosius I., surnamed the Great; the +last of the Emperors of Rome whose rule extended throughout the whole +of the Roman world. + +The instances named are, it will be understood, the exceptions to the +general rule during a considerable period. And upon many of the coins +of the Emperors mentioned, as well as upon those of the intervening +Emperors, the round object held by those rulers is surmounted by either +a Victory or a Phoenix; usually by the former, but in several instances +by the latter. + +The first ruler who caused _himself_ to be represented as holding a +round object surmounted by an ordinary cross, was Theodosius II., +Emperor of the East. + +The fact that for a long time the Victory, the Phoenix, and the Cross, +were made use of as symbols which might be substituted one for another, +is worthy of special note. For the facts that the round object held by +Theodosius II. is as often surmounted by a Victory as by a Cross, and +that a Victory instead of a Cross was often used by succeeding +Christian Emperors, tend to show that the Victory, the Phoenix, and the +Cross were allied in signification, and equally connected with the +round object the nature and meaning of which we are about to enquire +into. + +The reader may possibly object that no case has been made out for such +enquiry, inasmuch as not only did the cross in course of time entirely +supplant the Victory, but the round object from first to last, and +whether unsurmounted by anything or surmounted by a Victory or a +Phoenix or a Cross, signified the world upon which we dwell, the round +world, and nothing but the world. + +Such is, of course, the popular assumption; based upon what we are +taught in school books and in standard works of reference. But, as a +matter of fact, in many cases the round object admittedly signified an +apple; the Golden Apple of the Hesperides: a well known phallic symbol. +Whenever a round object unsurmounted by anything is to be seen in the +hand of either the Sun-God Hercules or Venus the Goddess of Love, it +admittedly may have been, for it admittedly often was, a +representation, not of the world, but of the Golden Apple. And not only +does it so occur upon a very large number of coins, but in some +instances we see the Victory surmounting it; recalling to our minds the +fact that victory, as signifying the triumph of Life over Death, had a +phallic as well as a martial meaning, and is achieved every time that a +man is born into the world as a result of the tasting of the fruit of +the Tree of Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + +Moreover, though the fact is now for some reason or other ignored, the +so-called Coronation Orb of Christian Monarchs was itself once known as +the Golden Apple. It is so referred to in important Latin documents of +the Middle Ages; for instance in the famous Bull of Charles IV. +regarding the Imperial elections, wherein we read of the right of the +Counts Palatine of the Rhine to carry the symbol in question at the +coronation of their Emperor. And to this very day the so-called +Coronation Orb is known throughout Germany and Austria as +_Reichsapfel_, the Imperial Apple. + +It is therefore by no means certain that the round portion of the +Coronation Orb which thus caused the name of "the Golden Apple" to be +given to this compound Christian symbol, is not, like the cross above +it, to some extent a phallic symbol. + +Every one should know the classic story of the Golden Apple; how the +tree which bore the Golden Apples grew up in the Garden of the +Hesperides in honour of the wedding of Hera, a goddess who more or less +personified the female sex; how the Golden Apples are variously said to +have been dedicated to the Sun (Hellos), to the Sun-God (Dionysos), and +to the Goddess of Love (Aphrodite); how the Sun-God Hercules as one of +the twelve labours which represented the months, slew the Serpent which +guarded the tree, and plucked the fruit; and how the Goddess Eris, who +alone of all the deities was not invited to the nuptials of Peleus and +Thetis, revenged herself by throwing among the guests a Golden Apple +inscribed "To the fairest," and Paris awarded it to the Goddess of +Love, Aphrodite or Venus. + +The story of the Garden of the Hesperides is at heart one with that of +the Garden of Eden; for it is obvious that the same phallic meaning +underlies each, and that they are but different versions of the same +allegory. + +It may here be called to mind that it has this century been discovered +from the cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia, that Eden was the name +given by Babylonians in days of old to the plain outside Babylon, +whereupon, according to the legends of that city, the creation of +living beings took place. Also that much evidence has accrued which, +impartially weighed in the balance, leads clearly to the conclusion +that the all-important commencement of Genesis, which forms as it were +the very basis of both the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures, was +borrowed by the Jews from Babylon. And that it was in reality a +_Babylonian_ tradition or series of traditions of far older date than +any writing of purely Jewish origin, has not only been amply proved by +recent discoveries, but might indeed have been guessed from its +reference to the Tower of Babel or Babylon. + +Nor is this all, for among the age-old relics discovered in Western +Asia is a pictorial representation of the allegorical Temptation and +Fall. + +Upon this noteworthy piece of evidence the Tree of Knowledge or Life, +with which the figure of the cross was identified by the early +Christians; the Serpent, which in all countries and every age has been +more or less identified with the sexual powers; the Man; the Woman; and +the Apple; are all represented. And it is important to note that, +according to the cuneiform inscription upon another time-worn relic in +the British Museum, the Babylonians of old, at a time when the +descendants of Jacob or Israel were without scriptures of their own, +had a tradition to the effect that the fate of our first parents--who, +thanks to a wicked Serpent of Darkness, tasted of the forbidden fruit +which grew in the "Garden of the Gods"--was placed in the hands of +"their Redeemer." + +It should also be pointed out that this voice from the dim and distant +past distinctly states that the Redeemer in question was--the Sun-God. + +In ancient days the so-called forbidden fruit or apple seems to have +borne somewhat the same symbolic meaning that the egg did. But while +the apple not only represented Life, but also, and primarily, that +union between two sexes or principles which produces life, the egg more +or less lacked the latter meaning, and, on the other hand, signified +Existence in a wider sense than the apple did. + +The _Cosmos_ itself was an egg according to the conceptions of many of +the ancients; and few ideas were more widely spread, or can be traced +further back, than the one that the whole visible creation emerged from +the original Chaos or Darkness in the shape of an egg. + +The egg also, and above all, signified the Sun-God, as the acknowledged +Giver of Life and Saviour of Life. Hence the prominent part which it +played in the various religious mysteries of the ancients, and also the +fact that the Egyptians represented the Sun-God Ra as giving forth such +utterances as "I am the Creative Soul of the celestial abyss. None sees +my nest, and none can break my egg." The egg referred to, was of course +the Sun itself. + +Even our Christian custom of exchanging eggs at Easter is more or less +derived from Sun-God worship, being a survival from customs practised +long before our era at that particular period of the year, the time of +the Vernal Equinox or Pass-over of the Sun, when the Orient Light +crosses the Equator to rise once more in the Northern Hemisphere. + +Nor are these the only facts connecting the egg with Sun-God worship, +for the Sun-God Apollo was of old represented as born from the egg of +Leda, and the Sun-God Osiris was also said to have been born from an +egg. + +Moreover the Chinese believe that the first man was born from an egg, +the Orphic hymns speak of the "First-Begotten One" as "egg-born," and +the Greeks fabled that their Sun-God Dionysos sprang from the cosmic +egg. + +As to the origin of the Coronation Orb, it is noteworthy that no finer +or more natural symbol of Power could have been fixed upon than a +representation of that ball of fire which was so frequently spoken of +in bygone ages as "the Orb," and from which all earthly life and power +may be said to proceed. + +However the available evidence certainly seems to show that the round +object we are considering is more likely to have signified the cosmic +egg than the solar orb. + +In any case the object in question cannot be shown to have represented +the world upon which we dwell and that alone; and nothing is more +likely than that so famous a symbol should, like the cross which now +adorns it, have more or less signified Life. + +It should also be pointed out that this symbol of Power may have +signified, not so much that the Ruler who used it laid claim to +world-wide dominion, as that he held in his hand power over the lives +of others; and, possibly, also that he claimed to be, as the vicegerent +of the Sun-God and Giver of Life, the only legitimate Saviour of his +country. + +The facts that the symbol was used in clays of old by others than the +Emperors whose sway extended over the whole of the Roman Empire, and is +nowadays considered the rightful symbol of every Christian Monarch +however limited the area over which his power is felt, should also be +borne in mind; though not of much value as evidence, as even petty +rulers have been known to boast that they held the world in their +grasp. + +It should however be remembered that though the ancients, struck by the +dome-like appearance of the sky and the circular movements of the +constellations, conceived the cosmos or universe to be spherical, and +in some instances even constructed celestial globes upon which to +record the movements of Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars, it is doubtful +if a single one of them considered the world upon which we dwell to be +spherical. Also, that many a Christian Monarch has used the Coronation +Orb as a symbol of power, and yet believed the earth to be otherwise +than a globe in shape. + +In this connection it should be pointed out that the round object which +the ancients represented Atlas as supporting upon his shoulders, +usually in the presence of Jupiter, was not as is vulgarly supposed the +earth, but the heavens; Hesiod telling us that Atlas bore heaven with +his head and hands, Ovid that upon Atlas rested heaven and all the +stars, and other writers of bygone ages that Atlas was a king who first +taught men that heaven had the shape of a globe. + +It is of course possible that the ancients may have conceived the earth +to be otherwise than spherical, and yet, because the horizon which +appears to limit its extent seems to be circular, or for some other +reason, have considered a round object to be a representation of it. + +Even where, however, the ball-like symbol we are considering may have +represented something other than the Golden Apple, the probability is +that it seldom if ever represented the earth. + +For as, though the ancients may have conceived and spoken of the world +we live upon as being "round" in the same sense as a circular coin is +round, they did not think of it as being a globe, it is obvious that +the ball-like symbol in question is much less likely to have signified +the--in their belief--non-globular earth, than it is to have been a +representation of something which they did consider to be globular. + +Such is the nature of the evidence which tends to show that we +Christians may be mistaken in supposing that our famous symbol the +Coronation Orb represents the round world upon which we dwell, +surmounted by the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died. + +Although, however, most points have now been touched upon, including +the important fact that the so-called Coronation Orb of Christian +Monarchs used to be called, even by Christians, the Golden Apple, the +idea that it may have been the _crux ansata_, or Egyptian symbol of +Life (an upright oval, perhaps signifying the female principle, set +upon the top of the _tau_, or {image "t.gif"} cross, and thus turning +into a complete cross what is really an incomplete one, and may be +supposed to have signified the male principle), _reversed_ (_e.g., +Archaeological Journal_ xlii. 164), should at least be mentioned. It +ought, however to be pointed out that the Orb is even more like the +ancient symbol of the planet sacred to Venus, the Goddess of Love, +reversed. + +Even this point does not exhaust the subject in hand; for the fact that +in days of old we used to represent the Christ as the Pagans +represented the Sun-God, _viz._, as standing by the Tree of Life and +holding a round object meant for the phallic apple, has not yet been +dealt with in any way. + +It is however desirable that before discussing the matter further we +should ascertain the nature of the evidence, regarding this and kindred +subjects, derivable from the coins of the Roman Empire. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +ROMAN COINS BEFORE CONSTANTINE. + +Bearing in mind the matters mentioned in the two last chapters, let us +now pass in review the coins struck by the Romans, and make a note of +such features as may, directly or indirectly, bear upon the history of +the cross. + +The first cross we meet with on the coins in question, is upon one of +Julius Caesar; who was appointed _Flamen Dialis_ B.C. 87, _Pontiff_ +B.C. 74, Military Tribune B.C. 73, Quaestor B.C. 68, _Pontifex Maximus_ +B.C. 63, and Dictator B.C. 49. + +The cross in question consists of the name _C. Cossutius Maridianus_ +arranged as a cross of four equal arms. And it should be noted that it +is admitted, even by such well-known authorities as Mr. C. W. King, +M.A., that the name was so arranged out of compliment to the official +in question _because his name had reference to the meridian sun_.[46] + +Upon a coin struck by Caesar's heir, the almost equally famous Augustus +(Consul B.C. 43, Emperor B.C. 29--A.C. 14), about twenty years before +our era, we see a head of the Sun-God Bacchus upon one side; and on the +reverse a man presenting a military standard, the banner of which is +ornamented with a St. Andrew's cross. + +Two other coins of the same reign and about the same date, have upon +them representations of military standards bearing the same symbol. + +Upon another coin struck by Augustus we see a crescent with a star or +radiate sun within its horns, the ancient phallic symbol adopted by the +followers of the prophet Muhammad centuries later. + +A similar symbol occurs upon the coins of Hadrian (A.C. 117-138). + +Upon two coins of Antoninus Pius (A.C. 138-161) we see the Sun-God +Hercules plucking the Golden Apple from a tree around which the +traditional serpent is coiled. + +On another coin of the same reign the Sun-God Hercules can be seen +holding a round object which admittedly represents the Golden Apple; +that symbol both of the Sun-God as (1) the bi-sexual Giver of Life and +(2) the personification of the Male Principle, and of the Goddess who +represented (1) the Love of the two sexes and (2) the Female Principle. + +Upon another coin Jove holds a similar looking object. + +Many coins issued in the name of Annia Galeria Faustina the wife of +Antoninus Pius, and by Marcus Aurelius (A.C. 161-180), and in the name +of his wife Annia Faustina, have upon them representations of Venus the +Goddess of Love holding a round object which is admittedly meant for +the Golden Apple. The favourite legends are _Venus Victrix_, _Venus +Felix_, and _Venus Genetrix_, and of phallic import; and in one +instance the Goddess of Love holds an infant wrapped in swaddling +clothes as well as the phallic apple. + +Other coins of Marcus Aurelius or his wife have upon them +representations of Eternity as a female figure holding a round object. +In some cases the round object is surmounted by a Phoenix. + +Upon a coin struck by Lucius Aurelius Verus (A.C. 160-169) that ruler +is to be seen holding a round object surmounted by a Victory. + +On the coins of Commodus (A.C. 180-192) sometimes Jove and sometimes +the Emperor holds a small round object. A Victory in some cases +surmounts it. + +Venus holding the Golden Apple--that is, a round object which in such +instances is admitted to have represented the Golden Apple--is to be +seen upon many coins issued in the name of Lucilla, the sister of +Commodus. + +Upon coins issued by Caius Pescennius Niger a small round object +surmounted by a Victory is to be seen in the hand of Jove. On a coin +struck by Septimus Severus (A.C. 193-211) we see Rome represented as a +female figure with a shield at her side marked with a cross. + +Upon another coin we see the Goddess of Love holding a round object +admittedly meant for the Golden Apple, while a child is stationed at +her feet. The legend is _Venus Genetrix_. Among the coins issued in the +name of Julia Domna, the wife of the last named Emperor, are nearly a +dozen varieties upon which Venus is represented as holding a round +object. A crescent occurs upon the reverse in some instances. + +Upon several coins of Caracalla (A.C. 211-217) we see that Emperor +holding a small round object surmounted by a Victory; upon others he is +to be seen holding a Victory only. + +Various coins issued in the name of Fulvia Plantilla the wife of +Caracalla, show us the Goddess of Love holding a round object. The +legends are _Venus Felix_ and _Venus Victrix_. + +In the reign of Elagabalus or Heliogabalus (A.C. 218-222) a coin was +struck on which we see the Goddess Astarte, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or +Venus, holding a cross. + +Venus holding a round object is to be seen upon many coins issued in +the names of Soaemias the mother of Elagabalus, his wife Julia Aquilia +Severa, Julia Mamma the mother of Alexander Severus, and his wife +Orbiana. + +On a coin of the Emperor Decius (A.C. 249-251) struck at Maeonia, we +meet with the so-called "Monogram of Christ" upon a Roman coin in the +form {image "monogram3.gif"} for the first time. + +Upon a coin of Trebonianus Gallus (A.C. 251-254) Eternity is +represented as a female holding a small round object. + +On another coin of this reign we see a Phoenix instead of a Victory +upon the round object held by the Emperor. + +Many of the coins of ancient Rome acclaim the Sun-God as the Saviour, +and upon a coin issued by Gallienus (A.C. 254-268) we see the Sun-God +Apollo holding a cross. + +Upon a coin issued by the younger Valerian we see the Sun-God holding a +small round object. + +A coin struck by Tetricus (A.C. 267-264) has upon its reverse a +representation of the Sun-God holding a round object, while in the +field near the Sun-God is a cross. + +On a coin issued by Claudius II. we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a +round object admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + +Upon a coin issued by Aurelianus we see the Sun-God holding a round +object surmounted by a crescent. + +On a coin issued by Vabalathus we see the Sun-God Hercules holding a +round object admittedly representing the Golden Apple. + +Upon a coin of Numerianus (A.C. 283-284) we see the Goddess of Love +holding a round object surmounted by a Victory. Such instances as this +should be specially noted, as nothing distinguishes the round objects +so surmounted from those held by Venus which admittedly represent the +Golden Apple, and the present fashion of our symbol the Coronation Orb +or Imperial Apple is due to the fact that a century later Theodosius +II. Emperor of Constantinople started the idea of substituting a cross +for the Victory. + +Upon several coins of Carinus (A.C. 282-284) we see the Sun-God holding +a small round object. + +On other coins of this reign Eternity appears as a female holding a +small round object surmounted by a Phoenix. + +Upon the coins issued in the name of Magnia Urbica, wife of Carinus, on +which we see Venus holding a small round object which admittedly +represented the Golden Apple, the Crescent frequently accompanies the +representations of the Goddess of Love. + +On coins issued by Diocletian (A.C. 284-305) we see both Jove and the +Sun-God holding a small round object; like the Emperor himself. A +Victory in some cases surmounts it. + +The Sun-God Hercules holding a round object which admittedly signified +the Golden Apple is to be seen on other coins issued during this reign. + +Among the coins issued by Diocletian's co-Emperor Maximian, is one +bearing a representation of the Sun-God Hercules in the Garden of the +Hesperides near the Tree encircled by the Serpent he slew. The Sun-God +holds a round object representing a Golden Apple plucked from the Tree +in question. + +On the reverse of another coin bearing the names both of Jove the +All-Father and Hercules the Sun-God, we see the latter represented as +holding a round object, admittedly meant for the Golden Apple. + +In some cases where Hercules holds the Golden Apple-for instance, upon +a coin bearing the legend _Herculi invicto Aug_.--the Golden Apple is +surmounted by a Victory. + +A coin issued by Constantius Chlorus, the ruler of Gaul and father of +Constantine the Great, represents the Sun-God Hercules in the act of +plucking a Golden Apple from the famous Tree. + +A coin issued in the joint names of Galerius and Constantius Chlorus, +bearing the legend _Genio Populi Romani_, has in the field on the +reverse side a cross, which takes the place occupied upon otherwise +similar coins by a star-like object not improbably representing the +sun. + +Such are the more striking features of the evidence which can be +obtained from the Roman coins issued prior to the accession of +Constantine to the throne of Gaul. + +The reader will have seen that the symbol of the cross occurs several +times upon the coins in question, and in almost if not quite every +instance in connection with the Sun-God. + +The fact that upon a coin of Julius Caesar, and therefore before our +era, a cross admittedly occurs as a symbol of the sun, will also have +been remarked. + +It will also have been noticed in how very large a number of cases the +round symbol which was a precursor of our Coronation Orb admittedly +signified the Golden Apple, and therefore was of phallic import. + +Another point which the reader cannot very well fail to bear in mind, +is that where the Goddess of Love, as the representative of the sex +whose felicity lies in motherhood or the victorious production of life, +is seen carrying the symbol in question, the surrounding legend is +Venus _Genetrix_, or _Victrix_, or _Felix_, or some variation or other +of the same; and that the said legends are obviously phallic in +signification. + +If we also keep before us the fact that the Golden Apple whether held +by the Sun-God or his complement the Goddess of Love, was at times +surmounted by the figure of Victory for which Christian Emperors +gradually and only gradually substituted the figure of the cross, it is +curious to note that in early Christian representations of the Christ +he is often to be seen with the Apple or forbidden fruit of the Tree of +Life or of the knowledge of good and evil. + +When the Christ is in such cases depicted as a youth, the phallic apple +is usually to be seen lying near him; but when the Christ is +represented as a man, it is placed in his hand. + +For instance a good example of the Christ holding the fruit of the Tree +of Life is reproduced for us in the well known work on the likeness of +Jesus by the late Thomas Heaphy.[47] Here we see, in a picture which +occurs upon a glass ornament found in the Catacombs of Rome in the tomb +of a Christian named Eutychia, an illustration of the Christ standing +by the side of the Tree of Life. The rays of the Sun surround the head +of the Christ, and in his hand is the phallic Apple. + +It will have been remarked that the round object to be seen upon +innumerable Roman coins in the hand of this or that ruler or deity, and +popularly supposed to have always represented the round world upon +which we dwell although it is at the same time believed that the world +was not then considered to be round, frequently occurs in the hand of a +female figure representing Eternity. It is self-evident that a +representation of the world we live on is less likely to have been so +placed than a symbol of Life. + +A still more striking fact, which cannot fail to have been noticed by +the reader of the evidence from the coins of ancient Rome quoted in the +earlier part of this chapter, is that in several instances a Phoenix +and not a Victory surmounts the so-called orb. For the story of the +Phoenix was derived from the Egyptian City of the Sun.[48] And the +fabulous bird in question was, according to Tacitus as well as +Herodotus, specially connected with the temple of the Sun-God at +Heliopolis. + +Upon this point it may be added that the famous story of the Phoenix +seems to have been known to the writer of _Job_; the Septuagint version +of _Job_ xxix. 18, being "I shall die in my nest and shall multiply my +days as the Phoenix" according to some of the best authorities. + +The various ages allotted to this allegorical bird had reference to the +calendar; as indeed we learn from Pliny, who tells us that + + "The revolution of the Great Year in which the seasons + and stars return to their former places, agrees with the + life of this bird."[49] + +This is borne out by the periods spoken of as the lifetime of the +Phoenix; as among them are one of 600 years, the Great Year referred to +by Josephus and others, and one of 1,461 years, which was the Sothic +period of the Egyptians. + +It is also clear that, like the Victory and the Golden Apple it +surmounted, the Phoenix and its wonderful egg were not only connected +with the Sun-God, but also had a phallic signification. + +The problem as to whether bird or egg first existed scarcely applies to +the fabulous Phoenix and its equally fabulous egg, and need not be +discussed here. Suffice it to say that the round object from which that +Christian symbol the Coronation Orb is descended, though it may at +times have more or less represented the world upon which we dwell, +seems to have primarily signified, as associated with each other in +idea, both the Golden Apple of Love and the Phoenix-like life principle +enshrined in the Egg, both the egg-like _Cosmos_ or Universe and +Eternity; but in all, and through all, and above all, the basis of all +power whether finite or infinite, _viz._, Life. + +It is therefore not surprising to find that the monarchs of ancient +days claimed to rule by divine right as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, to +whose favouring influence all earthly life is traceable; and caused +themselves to be represented, upon Roman coins as receiving the Golden +Apple, and upon Egyptian monuments as receiving the Cross, from the +Sun-God, as the symbol of their authority. + +Yet another point to be borne in mind, is that we Christians are +expressly taught that God the Father and God the Son are as nearly +identical as the ancients considered the Central Fire, which they +deemed the Parent of all things, and the Warmth and Light issuing +therefrom to be; or the Sun's disc and the emanations therefrom; the +Christ being represented as saying "I and My Father are one" and "He +that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." For though we describe ours as +a _co-equal_ Trinity, no such identity with either God the Father or +God the Son is affirmed of God the Holy Ghost, and it is remarkable +that in our ancient illustrations of the Three Persons, both the First +and the Second are represented as holding the so-called globe and +Cross, while the Third, even where depicted as of human shape like the +other two, is not. + +The fact is that the co-equality of the Holy Spirit of a God who is +Himself, as Jesus declared, a Spirit, is an idea which did not find +much acceptance among Christians till a comparatively late date and is +the outcome of confused thought. And the separate personality of this +Spirit of a Spirit being entirely a Christian conception, and without a +counterpart in the theology of the ancients, few if any Pagan symbols +such as the so-called globe and the cross would have been associated +with it in any case. + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE COINS OF CONSTANTINE. + +We are more or less in the habit of assuming that just as Paul, the +founder of the catholic faith, was converted, not altogether by reason +but as it were by force and with the rapidity of a flash of lightning, +under the rays of a meridian sun ("About _noon_ suddenly there shone +from heaven a great light round about me," _Acts_ xxii. 6; "At +_mid-day_," _Acts_ xxvi. 13), so Constantine, the establisher of that +faith as the State Religion of the empire in which Paul was so proud of +his rights as a citizen, was in similarly rapid fashion converted by +the appearance of a miraculous "cross" of light and an accompanying +legend above a meridian sun ("At _mid-day_," Eusebius, _Vit. Const. +I._). + +But, as has already been pointed out, this alleged vision of +Constantine is said to have taken place during his march upon Rome in +the year A.C. 312; and during the remaining twenty-five years of his +life he acted rather as if he were converting Christianity into what he +thought most likely to be accepted by his subjects as a catholic +religion, than as if he had been converted to the teachings of Jesus +the Nazarene. + +The fact is that Constantine was favourable to our religion out of +policy rather than conviction; and if after refusing so long he did +indeed, a quarter of a century after the alleged vision, consent to be +baptised when ill and dying, policy doubtless swayed him even then. +Anyway, as has already been stated and will now be seen, the evidence +of his coins conclusively shows that the God to whom Constantine from +first to last attributed his victories, was--the Sun-God. + +Upon one coin issued by Constantine we see upon the reverse a nude +figure crowned with rays, with the right hand elevated toward the east, +and a round object in the left hand. In the field is a cross widened at +the extremities, and the surrounding legend is a significant one, _Soli +Invicto Comiti_. This coin was struck years after the alleged +conversion of Constantine, and the combined reference to the Sun-God +and use of the cross are worthy of special notice. + +Upon two somewhat similar coins of Constantine the cross is placed +within a circular wreath of bay or laurel. + +On another coin with the same legend we see the same nude figure +crowned with rays, representing the Sun-God and carrying a round +object; while in the field we see the Gaulish symbol, sometimes called +a cross, which by the addition of a loop was, as we shall see later on, +turned into the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +Upon a coin with the anything but Christian legend _Marti +Conservatori_, is a cross with four equal arms. + +On a somewhat similar coin with the same legend, the helmet on the +reverse is ornamented with the so-called Monogram of Christ. + +Upon another coin we see Mars leaning on a shield adorned with the +so-called Monogram of Christ, the legend being _Marti Patri +Conservator_. + +On a coin issued in the name of his son Crispus during the reign of +Constantine, we see two Victories holding a shield upon a pedestal +marked with a cross of four equal arms. + +A similar cross appears upon a coin issued during this reign in the +name of another son of Constantine. + +Upon a coin bearing the inscription _Constantinus Max. Aug._ we see +upon the reverse a cross of four equal arms. + +On an otherwise similar coin a compound _tau_ cross of four equal arms, +{image "taucross.gif"}, appears. + +Upon a well-known engraving of a coin in the _Annales Ecclesiastici_ of +Baronius, the {image "monogram3.gif"} form of the so-called Monogram of +Christ appears upon the helmet of Constantine. Some authorities, +however, state that this is copied as the familiar {image +"monogram3.gif"} in error; what appeared on the helmet being the +Gaulish symbol {image "asterisk.gif"} with a dot representing a star +near the top of the vertical bar. Such a dot can be seen in a similar +place upon two or three coins bearing the legend _Virtus Exercit_. + +On another coin the legend _Gloria Exercitus_ surrounds two soldiers +holding military standards, between which is the symbol of the cross. + +On a somewhat similar coin the compound tan cross, of which we have +already noted an example, occurs between the standards. + +A cross of four equal arms appears upon a coin bearing the legend _Pax +Publica_. + +A coin issued during the reign of Constantine the Great in the name of +his son Constantine, has upon its reverse a cross of four equal arms, +the extremities of which are rounded. + +On an otherwise similar coin the compound tau cross appears. + +Upon a coin bearing the inscription _Constantinus Max. Aug._ a cross of +four equal arms occurs near a soldier armed with spear and shield. + +On the reverse of one coin we see two soldiers holding military +standards, and between the standards the so-called Monogram of Christ +appears. + +A coin of similar type was issued during the reign of Constantine the +Great in the name of his son Constantine. + +Upon a coin which on the obverse bears the inscription _Constantinus +Max. Aug._, we see upon the reverse Victory carrying a palm. In the +field is the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}. The surrounding motto is +_Victoria constantini Aug._ + +Several coins with the legend _Gloria Exercitus_ have upon the same +side two soldiers with a labarum or military standard between them, +upon the banner of which is the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}. + +On a coin with the legend _Victoria Caesar NN_ we see Victory carrying +a palm. In the field is the Gaulish symbol {image "asterisk.gif"}. + +The reverse of another coin has the legend _Constantinus Aug._, and +represents Constantine as holding a labarum or military standard +terminating in a round object. Upon the banner is the symbol {image +"monogram4.gif"}. + +On a coin bearing upon its obverse the inscription _Constantinopolis_, +we see upon the other side a figure of Victory and a cross of four +equal arms. + +On another coin bearing the same legend we see upon the reverse Victory +standing upon a ship, and to the left the so-called monogram. + +Upon another coin we see the same symbol above the wolf and twins of +the city of Rome. + +A rare coin bears upon the obverse the inscription _Constantinus Max. +Aug._, and on the reverse, surrounded by the legend _Spes Publica_, a +labarum or military standard the handle or base of which transfixes a +serpent. Upon the banner three globules are embroidered, and the symbol +{image "monogram3.gif"} appears above the cross-bar from which the +banner hangs. + +Upon one medal or coin of Constantine we see the significant legend +_Soli Invicto Aeterno Aug._ inscribed around the quadriga of the +Sun-God Phoebus. + +On another piece struck by Constantine the Great, the Sun-God is given +the title _Comes Aug._; Companion, Guardian, or Saviour, of the +Emperor. + +Upon several coins we see the legend _Comiti Aug. NN_, and, surrounded +by the same, the Sun-God holding a small round object. + +On numerous other coins also, the Sun-God is represented as holding a +small round object. + +Other significant Sun-God legends to be met upon the coins of this +alleged Christian Emperor, are _Comis Constantini Aug., Soli Invicto, +Soli Comiti Augg. NN, Soli Invicto Com. D.N._ and the like. + +Upon a coin bearing the legend _Soli Comiti Aug. N._ we see the Sun-God +presenting Constantine with a small round object surmounted by a +Victory. + +On a coin with the legend _Pax Augustorum_, Constantine holds a +standard ornamented with a cross. + +Upon another coin Constantine is to be seen holding what is said to be +a representation of the Zodiac. + +On a coin issued in his own name, as upon others already mentioned as +issued in the names of his sons, we see two Victories supporting a +shield upon an altar ornamented with a cross. + +Upon a somewhat similar coin the altar is ornamented with the star-like +object which in days of old so often stood for the radiate sun. + +A coin with the inscription _Divo Constantino_, and on the reverse the +legend _Aeterna Pietas_ and a representation of Constantine holding a +round object surmounted by the symbol {image "monogram4.gif"}, though +usually included in the coins of that Emperor was evidently struck +after his death and deification. + +The same remark applies to a somewhat similar coin, which has an +additional symbol in a plain cross in the field to the right of the +Emperor-God. + +It should be noted that the question here arises as to how far it is +fair of us to claim this cross and so-called Monogram of Christ as +Christian and at the same time denounce as Pagan the deification of +Constantine referred to upon the same coins. + +As to the coins of Constantine the Great as a whole, it need only be +remarked once more that while upon many of the pieces struck by him +Constantine attributed his victories to the Sun-God, not upon a single +one of them did he attribute them to the Christ; while it was ever the +Sun-God and never the Christ whom he alluded to on his coins as his +Companion, Partner, Guardian, or Saviour. + +This being so, how can we honestly claim that the so-called Monogram of +Christ, and other forms of the cross, were ever placed upon his coins +by Constantine as symbols of the Christ, yet never as symbols of the +Sun-God? + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +ROMAN COINS AFTER CONSTANTINE. + +Passing on to the Christian successors of Constantine the Great, we are +at once met with the significant fact that Constantine the Second +issued many different coins bearing a representation of the Sun-God +holding a small round object; and, as the surrounding legend, _Claritas +Reipublicae_. + +Another coin of this son of Constantine the Great, and one which +deserves special attention, has upon its reverse a Cross and a Crescent +in juxtaposition, as if the cross signified the sun. + +A very similar coin has the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the +military standards. + +Upon another coin we see on the reverse both this Christian Emperor and +the Sun-God; the former holding a small round object, and the latter +crowning him. The surrounding legend is _Soli Invicto Comiti_. + +The reverse of another coin bears the same Sun-God legend, and +represents the Sun-God as holding a small round object. + +Upon another coin we see Constantine holding a small round object +surmounted by a Victory. On the reverse is the symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"}. + +Constans I., another son of Constantine the Great, issued a coin on +which he is represented as holding in one hand a simply formed labarum +or military standard consisting of a straight pole terminating at the +top in a crossbar, from which hangs a banner bearing the symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"}; while in the other hand he holds a small round object +surmounted by a _Phoenix_. + +Constantius II., yet another son of Constantine the Great, issued a +coin on which is the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the letters +{alpha} and {omega} (? APX{omega}); the legend being _Salus Aug +Nostri_. + +On another coin is Constantius II. as the Sun, upon one side; and upon +the other the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} between the letters alpha +and omega once again. + +Nepotianus, a nephew of Constantine the Great who took Rome in A.C. 350 +but was killed as an usurper the same year, issued a coin on the +reverse of which, surrounded by the legend _Urbs Roma_, is a female +figure representing Rome and holding in her hand a round object +surmounted by the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"}. + +The symbol {image "monogram4.gif"} frequently occurs upon the coins of +Valeus (A.C. 364-378). And upon one coin of this Emperor we see the +letter P surmounting a cross; surrounded by the legend _Gloria +Romanorum_. + +Upon a coin of Valentinianus II. we see Victory holding a round object +surmounted by a cross, the legend being _Victoria Augustorum_. + +On the coins of Theodosius I. (A.C. 378-395) we find representations of +the Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Phoenix, and of the +Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a Victory; as also of +Victory holding a round object surmounted by a cross. + +This Emperor Theodosius I., better known as Theodosius the Great, after +securing sole control of the Roman Empire brought about the final +disruption of the world-wide dominions of Rome by bequeathing them in +two portions to his sons Arcadius and Honorius; the elder, Arcadius, +becoming Emperor of Constantinople and the East, while the younger, +Honorius, became Emperor of Rome and the West: A.C. 395. + +Less than a century later, _viz._, between the years A.C. 475 and 480, +the Western Empire was finally extinguished by Odoacer; the Eastern +Empire surviving it nearly a thousand years, lasting as the latter did +from the partition in A.C. 395 to the capture of Constantinople by +Mahomet II. in A.C. 1453. + +It was, as stated in a previous chapter, upon the coins of an Emperor +of the East, _viz._, Theodosius II., that the first example occurs of a +representation of an Emperor holding a round object surmounted by a +cross; though, as has been noted, instances of Victory carrying an +object so surmounted had previously occurred. And it need only be added +that the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"}, +often the centre of a circle or surrounded by a circular wreath of bay +or laurel, continually occur upon the coins of the Eastern Empire, the +symbol {image "asterisk.gif"} frequently, and the undisguised solar +wheel, {image "solarwheel1.gif"} upon the coins of Eudoxia, Theodosius +II., Leo I., and others. + +The evidence of the coins of the Roman Empire given in this and the two +preceding chapters, coupled with the too-often forgotten fact that the +only form of cross which could possibly be a representation of the +instrument of execution to which Jesus was affixed was the very last +form of cross to be adopted as a Christian symbol, cannot, it will be +seen, lead the unprejudiced enquirer to any other conclusion than that +the cross became the symbol of Christendom because the advent of +Constantine and his Gauls made it a prominent symbol of the Roman +Empire. And that the symbol in question was not altogether unconnected +with Sun-God worship, should be equally clear to the reader. + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE MONOGRAM OF CHRIST. + +The so-called "Monogram of Christ "--a term which has at one time or +another been applied to each of the symbols {image "solarwheel1.gif"} +or {image "asterisk.gif"}, {image "monogram1.gif"} or {image +"monogram3.gif"}, and {image "monogram2.gif"} or {image +"monogram4.gif"}, as but variations of one and the same +symbol--deserves a chapter to itself. + +Though not first placed upon the coins of the Roman Empire by +Constantine any more than was the right-angled cross of four equal arms +or the so-called St. Andrew's cross, the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} +was, like the {image "x.gif"} cross and the many varieties of +right-angled crosses of four equal arms, first brought into prominence +as a Roman symbol by the Emperor in question. + +From the evidence at our disposal it would appear that Decius was the +first Roman ruler to make use of this form of the so-called Monogram of +Christ. Anyhow, as has already been remarked, this symbol {image +"monogram3.gif"} occurs upon a coin of the Emperor Decius struck at +Maeonia about A.C. 250; and therefore more than half a century before +the days of Constantine. And it is noteworthy that it was as a Pagan +symbol that the {image "monogram3.gif"} thus first appeared upon the +Roman coinage. + +The coin in question is a bronze one, and the "Monogram of Christ" +occurs in the centre of a Greek inscription surrounding a +representation of the Sun-God Bacchus; and, apparently, as an +amalgamation or contraction of the two Greek letters equivalent to our +R and CH, _viz._: the Greek letters P and X.[50] + +Why these particular letters should have been contracted, is, however, +uncertain; and the question arises as to whether the {image +"monogram3.gif"} first arose as a contraction of such Greek letters, or +as an amalgamation of the Roman letters P and X, or as the cross {image +"x.gif"} _plus_ the Greek P (our R) as the initial letter of the Greek +name for Rome. + +Moreover if it be decided that the symbol first arose as a contraction +of certain letters, yet further questions arise; _viz._; in what order +those letters were first read, and what word they first represented. + +Before going into such matters as these, however, it is important that +we should fully realise how certain it is that the so-called Monogram +of Christ was originally a _Pagan_ symbol. For even if this be not +considered demonstrated by its occurrence upon a Roman coin long +before, according to our Church, the Christ caused Constantine to use +it as the military standard of the Gauls, it is clearly shown by its +occurrence upon many relics of pre-Christian date. + +The so-called "Monogram of Christ" can be seen, for instance, upon a +monument of Isis, the Virgin Mother of the Sun-God, which dates from +the second century before our era.[51] Also upon the coins of +Ptolemaeus; on one of which is a head of Zeus Ammon upon one side, and +an eagle bearing the {image "monogram3.gif"} in its claws upon the +other.[52] The symbol in question also appears upon Greek money struck +long before the birth of Jesus; for instance upon certain varieties of +the Attic tetradrachma. And the {image "monogram4.gif"} occurs upon +many different coins of the first Herod, struck thirty years or more +B.C. + +Whether the Pagan {image "monogram3.gif"} and the Pagan {image +"monogram4.gif"} originally had the same signification or not, is +uncertain. + +Almost equally uncertain is the date at which we Christians first +adopted these Pagan symbols as Christian symbols because they could be +interpreted as formed of the two first letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma}, _Christos_, Christ. + +The probability is that Christians had at least drawn attention to this +possible interpretation of the symbols in question before the days of +Constantine. But this scarcely renders less noteworthy the fact, shown +further on, that the favourite symbol of the Gaulish warriors, the +solar wheel {image "solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "solarwheel2.gif"}, was +sooner or later altered by their leader into {image "monogram1.gif"} or +{image "monogram2.gif"} to please the Christians; while the symbols +{image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"} were also made use +of by Constantine. + +Which form of solar wheel, monogram, or cross, was that actually +carried by the Gauls in triumph within the walls of Rome and set up by +their leader in the heart of the Eternal City, is not quite certain. +But it is clear that as both the {image "monogram3.gif"} and the {image +"monogram4.gif"} appeared upon coins struck before our era, Constantine +cannot very well have been ignorant of the fact that these were +originally Pagan symbols, when he favoured the addition of a loop to +the top of the vertical bar of the Gaulish solar symbols {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} or {image "asterisk.gif"} and {image +"solarwheel2.gif"} or {image "plus.gif"} in order that what his Gaulish +army venerated as triumphal tokens might be accepted as symbols of +victory by his Christian supporters also. + +That this Gaulish monarch did so alter, and for the reason named, the +symbol or symbols venerated by his troops, is admitted by, amongst +others, that well known writer the Reverend S. Baring Gould, M.A. For, +referring to the solar wheel as a symbol of the Sun-God venerated by +the ancient Gauls, this author tells us that Constantine + + "Adopted and adapted the sign for his standards, and the + _Labarum_ of Constantine became a common Christian + symbol. That there was policy in his conduct we can + hardly doubt; the symbol he set up gratified the + Christians in his army on one side and the Gauls on the + other. For the former it was a sign compounded of the + initial letters of Christ, to the latter it was the + token of the favour of the solar deity."[53] + +As the fact that both the {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} were in use as symbols before the commencement of our +era thoroughly disposes of our contention as Christians that the +so-called "Monogram of Christ" had its origin in the formation of a +monogram out of the two first letters of the Greek word +XPI{sigma}TO{sigma} (_Christos_, Christ), it is clear that these +symbols must have had some other origin. + +Assuming that the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and {image +"monogram4.gif"} had the same origin, and the same signification, and +that if the {image "monogram4.gif"} was a combination of two letters +the Greek or Latin T (instead of X) was not one of them; or rather, as +these would be very considerable assumptions, more or less confining +our attention to the {image "monogram3.gif"} as the more likely of the +two to have arisen as a combination of the Greek letters P and X; let +us in passing briefly enquire into the origin of the so-called Monogram +of Christ as a Pagan symbol. + +If we seek for that origin as a combination of the first two letters of +some other Greek word than Christos, _Christ_, and for the moment +assume the letters P and X to have occurred in the same order as in +that word, we see at once that the monogram may have been derived +either from the word Chrestos, _Good_, or the word Chronos, _Time_, or +the word Chrusos, _Gold_. + +There is, by the way, another curious connection between the three +Greek words in question. For the name of the famous god Kronos or +Cronos was often spelt XPONO{sigma} _i.e._, Chronos.[54] And this god +Chronos--the father of Zeus; and more or less a personification of +Time, the Old Father from whom we are all descended--was identical with +Saturn, while the Saturnian Age was, as in Virgil's fourth eclogue, +ever that spoken of as the Golden age when the ancients were referring +to what they pictured as the good old times. + +It will not do, however, to assume that if the symbol we are +considering first arose as a combination of the Greek letters P and X, +they were of necessity taken from, and representative of, a word in +which they occur in the same order as in _Christos_. And the fact that +in the {image "monogram4.gif"}, if not also in the {image +"monogram3.gif"}, the P is the leading feature, gives emphasis to the +point in question. + +If we suppose that the so-called monogram arose as a combination of the +Greek letters in question occurring in the order P X, the student of +such matters can scarcely fail to note that the letters in question +occur in that order as the centre both of the word APXH, the _Head_, +_Chief_, or _First_; and also as the centre of the kindred word +APX{omega}, _to be first_, the only remaining letters of which, and +therefore the first and the last of this word as of the old Greek +alphabet, are, as will be seen, Alpha and Omega, the letters so +continually placed on either side of the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} +in Christian times. + +In this connection it should be pointed out that according to some of +the best authorities the first {image "monogram3.gif"} which occurs +upon any Roman coin, coming as it does after the letter _alpha_ in a +Greek inscription, should be taken with that letter as forming the PX +of APX, the latter being an abbreviation of some form or other of the +title _Archon_. This title was that given to the dignitary who was at +one and the same time the chief magistrate of the state and its chief +priest, and it may be worth remark that as Bacchus was the deity +worshipped in Lydia, the Archon in question would therefore have been +the chief priest of the Sun-God. + +Several writers have, in their zeal for our religion, outrun their +discretion, and gone so far as to assume that the existence of the +so-called monogram of Christ upon this coin of the Emperor Decius is +due to some Christian having been employed in turning out the coin in +question, and having in _his_ zeal surreptitiously introduced a symbol +of his faith. But though gravely supported by more than one great +authority, this is obviously an absurd position to take up. And in any +case the facts remain that it was in this instance placed over a +representation of the Sun-God, and had for centuries been in use as a +Pagan symbol. + +Passing on, however, we have next to note that, as before hinted, even +if the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} arose as a combination of two +letters, though we know that symbol to have been often used as a +contraction of the Greek letters P and X (our R and CH), there is no +proof that it arose as a combination of two Greek letters; and the +symbol may have arisen as a combination of the Roman letters P and X. + +It should therefore be pointed out that in the inscriptions which have +come down to us from the Gaulish Christians of the sixth, seventh, and +eighth centuries after Christ, the symbols {image "monogram3.gif"} and +{image "monogram4.gif"} are continually used as contractions of the +Latin word PAX, _Peace_. For though the fact that the Monogram was +often so interpreted by Christians centuries A.C. can by no means be +considered evidence that it was thus that it first arose as a Pagan +symbol centuries B.C., such a possibility should be kept before us. + +But did the so-called Monogram of Christ first come into being as a +combination of two letters; Greek, Roman, or otherwise? + +Even this is not certain, for this pre-Christian symbol may originally +have been a cross, as a symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, _plus_ the +Greek letter P as the initial character of the word "Rome" in what may +be called the court language of the time. + +Such an explanation would more or less account for the variations +{image "monogram3.gif"} and {image "monogram4.gif"}; these being +obviously the natural ways of adding the letter P, signifying Rome, to +the crosses {image "x.gif"} and {image "plus.gif"} respectively. + +All the foregoing references to the origin of the so-called monogram as +a Pagan symbol of pre-Christian date, are but speculations however. Its +origin cannot be ascertained for certain. + +The revival of this pre-Christian symbol, and the prominence given to +it upon the coins of the Roman Empire, _are_, however, traceable. And, +as has been shown, they are traceable to Constantine; who induced the +Christians to accept as the Monogram of the Christ, and therefore as a +Christian as well as a Gaulish symbol of victory, the Solar Wheel +venerated by the Gaulish conquerors of Rome. + +Nowadays the so-called Monogram of Christ is almost always reproduced +for us as {image "monogram3.gif"} or {image "monogram4.gif"}; but the +fact that Constantine sometimes so used it should not blind us to the +facts that it was at first usually the centre of a circle, like the +spokes of a wheel; and that the undisguised solar wheel {image +"solarwheel1.gif"} appears upon not a few of the coins issued by the +Christian successors of Constantine, while since his reign the solar +wheel {image "solarwheel2.gif"} and many an artistic variation of the +same have been Christian symbols, and when in our ornamentation of +ecclesiastical properties we omit the circle we as often as not make +the cross itself wheel-like by rounding the extremities and widening +them till they nearly meet. + +Moreover it should not be forgotten that it was evidently one form or +other of the solar wheel of the Gauls, _plus_ the politic loop to one +of its spokes, which Constantine and his Gaulish warriors are said to +have seen above the meridian sun, with the divinely written legend EN +TOYT{omega} NIKA, _By this conquer_, attached. For though that +miraculous symbol is referred to as a "cross," the Monogram itself was +so referred to; and Eusebius, after telling us that the Christ appeared +to Constantine and commanded him to make a military standard for the +Sun-God worshipping Gauls, "With the same sign which he had seen in the +heavens," expressly describes this as composed of "Two letters +indicating the name of the Christ, the letter P being intersected with +X at the centre." And on this particular Labarum of Constantine, as on +the majority of the Labara represented upon his coins, the {image +"monogram3.gif"} was the centre of a circle or circular wreath, like +the spokes of a wheel.[55] + +In any case the fact that the symbol {image "monogram3.gif"} was a +Pagan one centuries before the Christ is said to have made it a +Christian one for the Sun-God worshipping Gauls to follow on to +victory, coupled with the facts that they are said to have seen it +above the mid-day sun, and that it was admittedly a politic adaptation +of the Solar Wheel, show us how much Eusebius and other Christian +chroniclers both invented and suppressed, and also how largely the +influence of Sun-God worship permeated and moulded our religion. + +In this connection it may be noted, as a curious fact rather than as +evidence, that according to some authorities the so-called Monograms of +Christ were in earlier ages Monograms of the Sun-God Osiris.[56] Also +that both Socrates and Sozomen tell us that when the temple of the +Sun-God Serapis at Alexandria was pulled down, the symbol of the Christ +was discovered upon its foundations and the Christians made many +converts in consequence a somewhat significant statement. + +Moreover we are told that upon every _Dies Solis_, or in other words +upon that day of the week which throughout the Roman Empire was held +sacred to the Sun-God and throughout Christendom is called Sun-day, +Constantine made his troops, assembled under what was admittedly a +solar symbol, recite at a given time, which was probably dawn or +mid-day, a prayer commencing "We acknowledge thee to be God alone, and +own that our victories are due to thy favour."[57] Who could this God +have been but the Sun-God, seeing that it was to the Sun-God that +Constantine upon his coins ever attributed his victories? And what is +more likely than that, wishing to take a friendly view of the deity +worshipped by their supporters the Christians, it was as conceiving the +Christ to be but the latest addition to the many conceptions of the +Sun-God, that Constantine altered the solar symbols of his troops into +the so-called Monograms of Christ, and that his troops accepted the +alterations? + +And, passing from the symbol to the deity represented, let us remember +that it is recorded that various Christian paintings of ancient times +bore upon them the dedicatory words _DEO SOLI_. For this remarkable +legend means both "To God alone" and "To the Sun-God," both "To the +Sole God" and "To the God Sol;" and forcibly reminds us, not only of +the prayer which Constantine caused his troops to repeat, but also of +that fine address to the "universally adored" Sun-God commencing + + "Latium calls thee Sol because in honour thou + art Solitary, + After the Father."[58] + +Now, as will be shown further on, a cross of some description or other +was in every land accepted as the symbol of the universally adored +Sun-God. And while not a single one of the many books forming the New +Testament states that Jesus was executed upon a cross-shaped +instrument, and the _first_ crosses Christians used as signs or symbols +bore every form but that which a cross-shaped instrument of execution +would have borne, the Christians of the fourth century, as we have +seen, went out of their way to claim even the so-called Monogram of +Christ as a cross; Eusebius so carefully speaking of it as such even +where he relates that Constantine and his soldiers saw it above the +meridian sun, that one might not unreasonably imagine him to be +claiming it as Christian because it was more or less cruciform and +therefore more or less like the world-wide symbol of the Sun-God. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE CROSS OF THE LOGOS. + +Having made clear the part played by Constantine in the prominence +given in his lifetime to the cross as a symbol of the Roman Empire and +therefore of what he made its State Religion, and having also shown +that while the Christian chroniclers of those days are silent +concerning the various forms of crosses placed by Constantine upon his +coins they went out of their way to allude to the so-called Monogram of +Christ as a cross, to claim it as such, and even to associate it with +the sun, let us now turn our attention again to the pre-Christian +cross. + +So great was the veneration in which that phallic and solar symbol the +cross was held in the ages which preceded the birth and death of Jesus, +that the philosophers of those days even went so far as to declare that +the cross was the figure of the Life or Soul of the Universe. + +Though it is a matter of very considerable importance, we Christians +for some reason or other ignore the fact that long before our era +commenced philosophers thus conceived the figure of the cross to be the +symbol of the _Logos_ of God. + +Now although, following the Gospel of St. John, we have made it a main +article of our belief that the Logos, really the Thought _plus_ Speech, +of God, became about the year B.C. 4 specially incarnate in the person +of Jesus the Nazarene, we ought not to forget that, being the one Power +by which all that ever came into existence was created and all that +exists is sustained, the Logos in any case ever was, is, and will be, +incarnate in every sentient being. + +As the Logos of God (or, as the Authorised Version of the Bible into +English most inadequately renders it in the first chapter of St. John's +Gospel, the _Word_ of God) was by the philosophers called the +"Intellectual Sun" and the "Light of the World",[59] being, as a +personification of the _Thought_ and _Speech_ of the All-Father, a +personification of Wisdom and Reason (which, in an even more real sense +than the emanations of the physical sun, form the "Light of the World," +or, as the original text of the New Testament puts it, the "Light of +the _Cosmos_"), the fact that pre-Christian philosophers affirmed that +the cross was the symbol of the said "Light of the Cosmos," is +obviously one which every writer concerning the cross as a Christian +symbol ought in common honesty to deal with. + +That pre-Christian philosophers did so affirm, can be seen by turning +to the _Timaeus_ of Plato, where, referring to the begetting of the +Universal Soul (whom Philo, another pre-Christian philosopher, speaks +of as the "Second God"; and as God's "Beloved Son," "Image," +"Ambassador," "Mediator," and "First-Begotten"), Plato says + + "Such was the whole plan of the Eternal God about the + God that was to be:--and in the centre he put the soul + which he diffused throughout the body:--and he made the + Universe a circle moving in a circle. Having these + purposes in view he created the world a blessed God:--he + made the soul on this wise--joined--at the centre like + the letter X."[60] + +Concerning this pronouncement of the great Teacher he so revered, +Proclus wrote as follows + + "Two circles will be formed, of which one is interior + but the other is exterior. One of these is called the + circle of the Same and one the circle of the Different, + or of the Fixed and of the Variable, or rather of the + Equinoctial Circle and of the Zodiac. The circle of the + Different revolves about the Zodiac, but the circle of + the Same about the Equinoctial. Hence we conceive that + the right lines are not to be applied to each other at + right angles but like the letter X, as Plato says, so as + to cause the angles to be equal only at the summit but + those on each side and the successive angles to be + unequal. For the Equinoctial Circle does not cut the + Zodiac at right angles. Such therefore in short is the + mathematical discussion of the figure of the (Universal) + Soul."[61] + +Even the Fathers of the Christian Church admitted that their ideas of +the Son of God and of the cross being his symbol, were more or less +derived from pre-Christian philosophers. For we find Justin Martyr +remarking that Plato declared that + + "The Power next to the Supreme God was figured in + the shape of the letter X upon the universe."[62] + +And in another place this famous Father states that + + "Whereas Plato, philosophising about the Son of God, + says God expressed him upon the universe in the shape + of the letter X, he evidently took the hint from Moses, + who took brass and made the sign of the cross and + placed it by the holy tabernacle, and declared that if + people would look upon that cross and believe they would + be saved."[63] + +The value of all this evidence is so obvious that its mere parade is +almost sufficient. + +It should however be pointed out that this cross {image "x.gif"}, being +avowedly adopted by the pre-Christian philosophers as the symbol of the +"Logos" or "First-begotten" of God in preference to the {image +"plus.gif"} because the zodiac or pathway of the Sun does not "cross" +the equator at right angles, was clearly a solar symbol. And it may be +added that though Justin Martyr is careful to claim this particular +solar cross as a symbol of the Christ, no one claims that Jesus was +executed upon an instrument so shaped; while the story that St. Andrew +was affixed to an instrument of execution so shaped, is admittedly a +worthless legend. + +This claim of Justin Martyr that the solar cross of the philosophers +was a pre-Christian symbol of the Christ, is, when considered in +connection with the fact that nearly all the Fathers allude to the +figure of the cross, _any_ kind of cross, as a life-giving symbol from +time immemorial, significant of much. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN EUROPE. + +That the symbol of the cross was widely venerated in Europe long before +our era, is well known to archaeologists. Of Britain in those days we +know next to nothing, history being almost silent upon the subject and +relics conspicuous by their absence. The cross is however a conspicuous +feature upon certain funeral urns which are said to date back to the +period in question. And it is noteworthy that both it and the solar +wheel occur upon several of the earliest British coins; which whether +issued as some say before, or as others aver after, the advent of +Julius Caesar, were admittedly of pre-Christian date. Evidences of the +veneration of the cross in France before our era are so numerous and +easily ascertainable, that it will only be necessary to refer the +reader to the _Collection Roujou_, the pages of the _Revue de +Numismatique_, and the writings of Messieurs De la Saussaye, Lenormant, +De Saulcy, E. Lambert, and other French authorities. + +If, continuing our journey eastwards, we pass over the border into the +northern provinces of Italy, we find equally striking evidence of the +pre-Christian veneration of the symbol in question. + +Let us take for example the evidence furnished by the remarkable +discoveries made in the pre-Christian cemetery unearthed at Gola-Secca. +For upon a very large proportion of the articles discovered in the +ancient tombs of the cemetery in question, a cross of some kind is the +prominent feature. + +Particulars of these articles can be found recorded in the literary and +scientific journals of France. And the conclusion arrived at by the +authorities upon such matters cannot be better put than in the revised +edition in book form of an article in the _Revue Archeologque_ by +Monsieur G. de Mortillet. + +After referring to the relics of so much of ancient Gaul as is +comprised in modern France, a subject he takes leave of in the words-- + + "But the pre-Christian cult of the cross was not + confined to Savoy and the environs of Lyons. A glance at + the coins of ancient Gaul is sufficient to show that it + existed in nearly every part"-- + +M. de Mortillet, crossing the frontier and dealing +with the said tombs of Gola-Secca near Milan +in Italy, sums up as follows + + "One sees that there can be no doubt whatever concerning + the use of the cross as a religious sign for a very long + time before Christianity. The cult of the cross was well + spread over Gaul before its conquest and already existed + in Emilia in the Bronze Age, more than a thousand years + before Jesus Christ." + +Let us pass on to yet another country, Switzerland. Here also we find +unexceptional evidence of the general recognition of the cross before +our era as a symbol which should above all others be venerated. + +The Lake Dwellings of Switzerland may be said to have been brought to +light by the extraordinary drought experienced in the years A.C. +1853-4; for though piles and ancient remains were found upon the shores +of various lakes before that date, no great heed was paid to them till +the drought in question lowered the waters of the lake of Zurich and of +other lakes to an unprecedented extent, and certain discoveries due +thereto led to the matter being thoroughly investigated by +antiquarians. + +The result was that many relics of the Lake Dwellers were found. And, +placed upon those relics by this forgotten race of hoary antiquity as +the sign they venerated, was the symbol of the cross. + +These relics, preserved for us by the sediment carried into the lakes +by various rivers, cannot be less than 3,000 years old, are not +improbably 4,000 years old, and may quite possibly be 5,000 years old; +some authorities--Monsieur Morlot for instance--estimating their age at +from 6,000 to 7,000 years. Suffice it to record the fact that these +relics are admittedly pre-Christian. + +Upon the articles in question, as on those discovered in the +pre-Christian tombs of Gola-Secca, the cross is stamped as a symbol of +life, of good omen, and of salvation. Even dies for stamping articles +with the cross have been discovered among the remains of the Lake +Dwellers. And the crosses are of three kinds; (1) the right-angled +cross of four equal arms, of which so many variations, some enclosed in +circles and some with the extremities widened and rounded, are used as +Christian symbols; (2) the other cross of four equal arms, known as the +St. Andrew's cross or _Chi_ cross; and (3) the Fylfot or Svastika +cross. + +The last named cross is a peculiar one of quite unmistakeable design; +and there are two varieties, {image "svastika1.gif"}, and {image +"svastika2.gif"}, of which one is obviously an impression or reverse +view of the other. + +The names _Fylfot_ and _Svastika_ are very generally applied to both +these symbols. The term _Svastika_, an Indian one, is however applied +by the inhabitants of Hindostan to one only; they calling the other +_Sauvastika_. And it is curious to note that the meanings attached to +these names, though, like the symbols allied in nature, are, also like +them, the reverse or negative or complement of each other. + +For instance we are told by Sir G. Birdwood that the right handed +Svastika signifies the Male Principle, the Sun on its daily journey +from East to West, Light and Life; and that the left-handed Svastika +signifies the Female Principle, the Sun in Hades or the Underworld on +its journey from West to East, Darkness and Death.[64] + +This more or less official pronouncement may be taken as a fairly +accurate one, although it is obvious that the annual as well as the +diurnal movement of the Sun should have been referred to; the half year +between the Vernal Equinox and Autumnal Equinox representing Light and +Life, and that between the Autumnal Equinox and Vernal Equinox Darkness +and Death, just as clearly as do the half days between sunrise and +sunset, sunset and sunrise. But it is to be feared that even those who +remember how often Death and Darkness are referred to as periods of +Gestation, will have some difficulty in seeing how a sign or symbol of +the Female Power of Generation can have signified Death. + +The fact of course is that the symbol in question represented both Life +and Death, and represented the latter only in a minor sense and owing +to the fact that the Female Principle of Life was regarded as the +necessary reverse, negative, or complement of the Male Principle; which +latter, having of the two the better claim to be considered the starter +of life, was the one more particularly identified with Life and +therefore with the vernal Sun-God. + +It would also appear that the two symbols in question to some extent +signified Fire and Water; Fire being of course the Male Principle, Day, +Summer, Light, and Life; and Water the Female Principle. This still +further illustrates the point dealt with above; for though Water is the +negative of Fire, yet Fire cannot produce Life without the aid of +Water. + +Returning however to our consideration of the cross as a symbol of Life +of pre-Christian date and origin, and having already dealt with the +lands now known as Britain, France, Italy, and Switzerland, let us now +consider the evidence of Greece. + +At Mycenae and elsewhere Dr. Schliemann discovered, among other relics +of a bygone age, not only articles marked with the Svastika cross and +the cross of four equal arms, but even seals and dies giving +impressions of such crosses; thus demonstrating how large and prominent +a part the symbol of the cross played in pre-Christian times among +those in whose classic tongue the earliest known copies of the +Christian Scriptures were written centuries later. + +It is also remarkable that Dr. Schliemann found golden crosses in the +previously unopened tombs he discovered and explored at Mycenae; as +many as five such crosses having in some instances been placed with a +single body by those who sealed up the vaults in question thousands of +years ago and many centuries before the commencement of our era. + +As few if any unrifled tombs of so ancient a date have been discovered +in Greece and first explored by a trustworthy investigator, and as, +moreover, it would only have been with the bodies of important +personages that crosses of so valuable a material as gold would have +been buried, these discoveries, coupled with the self-evident fact that +crosses of more perishable material may have been buried with the +bodies of less distinguished people, and by this time, like both the +bodies and the tombs which enclosed them, have gone to dust, are most +remarkable. And they entirely corroborate the testimony borne by the +coins of ancient Gaul, the contents of the tombs of Gola-Secca, and the +remains of the Lake Dwellers of Switzerland, to the veneration paid +long before our era by the inhabitants of Europe to the cross as the +recognised symbol of Life. Nor as the symbol only of the life which +ends in the grave, but also of the glorious hope that as the Sun, from +whom we derive that life, whether considered from a daily or yearly +point of view sinks but to rise again, even so we who owe our brief +lives to the Sun-God, may, like the Giver of Life and only Saviour, +rise from one life to another. + +For whether the ancients were or were not unphilosophic enough to +believe in the resurrection of bodies whose constituent atoms are +continually changing and in time form part of other bodies, it is +absurd to assume that they did not at times like ourselves conceive and +dwell upon a hoped-for, if unexpected and improbable, Life-to-come. + +Moreover it is with us, as it was with them, a _hope_; and it is +disingenuous to label as Christian what was pre-Christian, and to claim +as ours what has been common to the reasoning minds of suffering men +and women of all eras. + +It is equally disingenuous on the part of us Christians to keep in the +background the noteworthy fact that even in pre-Christian ages the +symbol of that hope was--the cross. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN ASIA. + +If, leaving Europe, we pass on into Asia, we find that not only have +the two varieties of Svastika crosses for thousands of years played a +prominent part as a religious symbol in Hindostan, Thibet, and China, +but that other kinds of crosses also were in bygone ages venerated by +their inhabitants. + +For instance our Eastern Empire is strewn with the remains of ancient +temples built, like those of Christendom in later days, in the shape of +a cross; and we are told that the oldest of its rock-hewn caves were +planned after the same figure. It is also well-known that isolated +stone crosses of pre-historic date are to be seen in various parts of +India. + +The evidence of Hindostan is however outweighed by that obtainable from +the antiquities of Western Asia, concerning some of which Sir A. H. +Layard wrote: + + "The crux ansata, the tau or sign of life, is found in + the sculptures of Khorsabad, on the ivories of + Nimroud--which as I have shown are of the same + age--carried too by an Assyrian King."[65] + +We have also to note the equally significant facts that the recognised +symbol of the Phoenician Goddess of Love--Astarte, Ashtoreth, or +Ishtar, the Bride of the Sun-God--was a cross; that a cross was also +associated with the Phoenician Baal or Sun-God; and that the circle and +cross, now the symbol of the planet held sacred to the Goddess of Love, +frequently occurs upon the ancient coins of Western Asia and was not +improbably more or less akin in signification to the crux ansata of +Egypt. The fact that upon very ancient remains still existing the Baal +is represented as crowned with a wheel-like nimbus of rays should also +be mentioned. + +The cross more especially connected with the Phoenician "Bride of the +Sun-God" in ancient days, was, as can easily be seen upon reference to +ancient coins, where it occurs in the hand of the goddess in question, +a long handled cross such as is frequently to be seen in our pictorial +representations of John the Baptist. + +As John the Baptist was an Asiatic and to some extent a pre-Christian +Asiatic, we can here, without wandering very far from the matter in +hand, pause to consider the question why we Christians represent John +the Baptist, who had nothing to do with a cross, as holding a cross; if +it be not that while Jesus was supposed to represent the Sun in its +annual ascension, John was supposed to represent the Sun in its annual +declension? What other rational explanation have we of the facts, (1) +that John is represented as saying that he baptised with water but that +Jesus would baptise with _fire_ (where the rains of winter and the heat +of summer may be referred to); and (2) that the Christian Church in +framing its calendar fixed upon what we call Midsummer day as the +birthday of John the Baptist, and upon the clay which bears the same +relation to the other solstice as the birthday of Christ, as if wishing +to illustrate that other remarkable pronouncement of John, thus placed +at the point where the days begin to shorten, concerning Jesus, thus +placed where the days begin to lengthen, "He must increase but I must +decrease"? + +The probability that to its original signification of Life, that of +Salvation was added to the cross as a recognition of the fact that the +salvation of Earth-Life in general and of Mankind in particular is due +to the fact that at the Vernal Equinox the Sun-God "crosses" to save, +summer and the fruits of the earth and therefore salvation and increase +being due to the fact that the Sun then crosses the Equator, is +supported by evidence from all quarters. And if we refuse to admit that +Christianity is permeated with the ideas of Sun-God worship, we not +only have no rational explanation to offer of the prophecies put by the +Evangelists in the mouth of John the Baptist to the effect that Jesus +would baptise with _fire_ and would _increase_, but also none to offer +of many another prominent feature of our religion; such as, for +instance, the fact that while pretending to reverence all the Ten +Commandments we deliberately make a point of breaking one of them in +order to keep as a day of rest not the seventh day but the first, the +day which from time immemorial was held sacred throughout the Roman +Empire as _Dies Solis_, the Day of the Sun. For to aver as we do that +Jesus was not made the subject of a Sun-God allegory, but purposely +rose from the underworld on the Day of the Sun, at the time of the +Vernal Equinox, in order to annul a commandment previously laid down by +God and substitute a new one in silence, is only to make ourselves +ridiculous. + +Returning however to the matter more particularly in hand, it should be +pointed out that the crux ansata mentioned by Layard is not the only +kind of cross to be found upon the relics of ancient Babylonia and +Assyria. For the cross of four equal arms and the solar wheel are also +to be met with. + +Moreover, as all visitors to our museums should be aware, the monarchs +are represented as wearing in the place of honour round their neck and +on their breast, a Maltese cross. And this cross, worn by the kings +centuries before our era as the symbol which should above all others be +venerated, or as best signifying their power over the lives of their +subjects and their position as vice-gerents of the Sun-God, is admitted +by all the best authorities to have been the sign and symbol of the +Sun-God.[66] + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE PRE-CHRISTIAN CROSS IN AFRICA. + +Passing on to Africa and a consideration of the _crux ansata_ or +so-called 'Key of the Nile,' we find that this variety of cross had +much the same significance attached to it by the ancients as had the +more widely accepted varieties. + +As a matter of fact no one acquainted with Egyptian antiquities who +enquires into the matter in thorough going fashion, can in the end fail +to be convinced that the Egyptian cross was a phallic symbol having +reference to the sexual powers of generation and to the Sun, and being +therefore a symbol both of Life and of the Giver of Life. + +The connection between the crux ansata and the Sun-God in the minds of +the inhabitants of the Land of the Nile in pre-Christian days, is very +clearly set forth by an illustration of Khuenaten in the act of +distributing gifts to his courtiers which faces page 40, volume I., of +Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson's "_Manners and Customs of the Ancient +Egyptians_." For this monarch--also known as Amenophis IV.--and his +wife are both represented as receiving the crux ansata from the +Sun-God, and the Sun is marked with the crux ansata as its peculiar +symbol. + +Upon Plate IV. facing page 43 of the same famous work, we see Seti I. +surmounted by the Sun; two crosses adorning the latter. The crosses +are, moreover, attached to two serpents issuing from the sun; and these +were in ancient days phallic signs representing the sexual powers. + +On page 405 is a representation of the Egyptian god Khem, or Amen-Ra +Generator; the Egyptian Priapus, or god of Generation. The names of +this phallic deity show his connection with the Sun. + +It is noteworthy that this particular conception of the Sun-God is +accompanied by emblems of the sexual organs of reproduction, and that +he bears a St. Andrew's cross upon his breast. + +Upon page 24 of volume III. of the same work is another representation +of Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator. In this case also he is accompanied by +phallic and solar emblems and wears a St. Andrew's cross upon his +breast. + +On page 26 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson tells us that + + "Khem was considered the generating influence of the + sun, whence perhaps the reason of his being connected + with Amen-Ra: and in one of the hieroglyphic legends + accompanying his name he is styled the sun; that is the + pro-creating power of the only source of warmth, which + assists in the continuation of the various created + species." + +Upon Plate XXII., facing page 44 of volume III., are three different +instances of the crux ansata being attached to the sun as the symbol of +the Sun-God. + +Upon page 46 is another instance of the crux ansata being attached to +the solar serpent issuing from the sun's disc. + +On Plate XXIII., facing page 52, is another illustration of the +reception of the crux ansata from the Sun-God. + +Upon page 82 Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson rightly observes that it is +absurd to speak of the crux ansata or Egyptian cross as the _Key of the +Nile_, inasmuch as this cross "is less frequently seen in the hand of +the God Nilus than any deity of the Egyptian pantheon." + +Upon the remarkable Plate XXXI., facing page 136, we see inscriptions +describing the reigning Pharaoh as the "Vice-gerent of the Giver of +Eternal Life"; or, in other words, of the Sun-God. Other expressions +applied to the Pharaoh are "Giver of Life and Strength like the Sun"; +"Who gives all Life, Stability, and Health like the Sun"; and "Approved +of the Sun and Giver of Life like the Sun." + +It is thus clear that ages before our era the cross was venerated in +Egypt as in other lands as the symbol both of Life and of the Giver of +Life; and that the deity worshipped as the Giver of Life, and ever +associated with that salutary symbol the cross, was the Sun-God. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +EVIDENCE OF TROY. + +Dr. Schliemann has told us that in his researches upon the site of Troy +he found that in pre-Christian if not indeed pre-historic times the +cross was, in that classic locality as elsewhere, a phallic emblem and +the symbol of life; as well as a solar emblem and the symbol of the +holy fire with which life was more or less identified. For instance on +page 337 of his _Ilios_ (1880 edition) Dr. Schliemann describes a +leaden idol discovered by him and of great antiquity. He tells us that +it was female in character and had the vulva marked with the triangle, +a symbol of the Feminine Principle. And he points out that within the +triangle was the Svastika cross. + +On page 521 Dr. Schliemann describes an ancient terra cotta vase, with +the characteristics of a woman upon it, and on the vulva a St. Andrew's +cross. + +Upon page 523 is a reference to another vase of similar design. Here +also a cross appears to mark the vulva. + +On page 353 Dr. Schliemann admits that the Svastika cross drawn within +the triangle marking the vulva, shows that this cross was a sign of +generation in ancient and pre-historic times. This remark should +evidently have been applied by him to the St. Andrew's cross as well, +for he shows that also to have been used as a sign of the organ of +generation, as has been shown above. + +We are here reminded of the fact, already noted, that the Egyptians +represented their God of Generation, Khem, or Amen-Ra Generator, as +wearing a conspicuous St. Andrew's cross. And as Khem was the Egyptian +Priapus it ought also to be pointed out that it was in ancient times +the practice to erect wooden crosses to this conception of the Sun-God. + +An illustration of one example of the crosses erected to Priapus can be +seen in figure XI. of plate XXIX. of that well-known work, _Antique +Gems and Rings_.[67] And the phallic nature of such crosses cannot be +denied. + +Returning, however, to the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann upon the site +of Troy, we find on page 350 of _Ilios_ that both varieties of the +Svastika cross are extraordinarily common upon the articles he +discovered. + +As an Indian symbol the Svastika cross can only be traced back as far +as the fourth or fifth century B.C.; and its occurrence upon these and +other relics of earlier ages and other lands, shows us that it is +inaccurate and misleading to speak of it as "Indian." + +The origin of the Svastika cross, whether the {image "svastika1.gif"}, +or the {image "svastika2.gif"}, is unknown; but Dr. Schliemann quotes +with approval Professor Max Muller's remarks to the effect that Mr. +Thomas our distinguished Oriental numismatist + + "Has clearly proved that on some of the Andra coins and + likewise on some punched coins depicted on Sir W. + Elliot's plate ix. _Madras Jour. Lit. and Science_, vol. + III., the place of the more definite figure of the sun + is often taken by the Svastika, and that the Svastika + has been inserted within the rings or normal circles + representing the four suns of the Ujjain pattern on + coins. He has also called attention to the fact that in + the long list of the recognised devices of the + twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the sun is absent; but + that while the eighth Tirthankara has the sign of the + half-moon the seventh Tirthankara is marked with the + _Svastika, i.e._, the sun. Here then, I think, we have + very clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands + pointing in the right direction, was originally a symbol + of the Sun, perhaps of the vernal sun as opposed to the + autumnal sun, the _Sauvastika_, and therefore a natural + symbol of light, life, health, and wealth. That in + ancient mythology the sun was frequently represented as + a wheel is well known. Grimm identifies the Old Norse + _hjol_ or hvel, the A.-S. _hvehol_, English 'wheel,' + with {kappa|upsilon with + tonos|kappa|lambda|omicron|rho}, Sk. Kakra, wheel; and + derives jol, 'yule-tide,' the time of the winter + solstice, from hjol, 'the (solar) wheel.'" + +Both the {image "svastika1.gif"} and the {image "svastika2.gif"} occur +upon the famous footprints of Buddha carved upon the Amaravati Tope, +and Dr. Schliemann remarks that we find the Svastika or Sauvastika +cross + + "In Ezekiel ix. 4, 6, where--in the form of the old + Hebrew letter Tau--it is written as the sign of life on + the forehead, like the corresponding Indian symbol. We + find it twice on a large piece of ornamental leather + contained in the celebrated Corneto treasure preserved + in the Royal Museum at Berlin; also on ancient pottery + found at Konigsberg in the Neumark and preserved in the + Markisches Museum in Berlin; and on a Bowl from Yucatan + in the Berlin Ethnological Museum. We also see it on + coins of Gaza, as well as on an Imperial coin of Asido; + also on the drums of the Lapland priests." + +It is noteworthy that in the neighbourhood of Troy, as in Cyprus and +other places, a cross of four equal arms, like our sign of addition, in +days of old shared with the Svastika crosses the veneration of the +people and was evidently more or less akin to those crosses in +signification. Dr. Schliemann tells us that this cross of four equal +arms "occurs innumerable times on the whorls of the three upper +pre-historic cities of Hissarlik," and that if, as Burnouf and others +suggest, the {image "svastika2.gif"} and {image "svastika1.gif"} +represented primitive fire machines, this other cross "might also claim +the honour of representing the two pieces of wood for producing the +holy fire by friction." + +Elsewhere in the same work Dr. Schliemann quotes with approval the +opinion of Professor Sayce that the Svastika cross, {image +"svastika2.gif"} or {image "svastika1.gif"}, "was a symbol of +generation." + +As phallic worship and Sun-God worship were admittedly always closely +connected, it is not surprising to find that Dr. Schliemann also very +highly commends a dissertation on the {image "svastika2.gif"} and +{image "svastika1.gif"} by Mr. Edward Thomas, whose conclusion is that + + "As far as I have been able to trace or connect the + various manifestations of this emblem, they one and all + resolve themselves into the primitive conception of + solar motion, which was intuitively associated with the + rolling or wheel-like projection of the sun through the + upper or visible arc of the heavens." + +It may therefore be considered proven that the inhabitants of classic +Troy like those of the Land of the Nile and other countries, recognised +a close affinity between the productive forces and the sun, and were +one in accepting a cross of some description as the natural symbol +whether of Life or of the Giver of Life. + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +EVIDENCE OF CYPRUS. + +Although now, owing to the march of events, the island of Cyprus is out +of the way and seldom visited, it was once otherwise. For in days of +old it occupied a favoured position between the countries then foremost +in the arts of civilisation. + +In those days Cyprus was a centre of Phoenician enterprise. And, as we +are told in that fine work _'Kypros, the Bible, and Homer: Oriental +Civilisation, Art and Religion in ancient times,'_ "The oldest extant +Phoenician inscriptions, _themselves the earliest examples of letters +properly so called_, come from Cyprus." + +As, moreover, when face to face with the relics of the Phoenicians we +are, as Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter also remarks, "In the very midst of +ancient Canaanitish civilisation as depicted in the Old Testament," it +will be seen that a study of the antiquities of Cyprus should have a +special interest for us Christians. + +Let us therefore see what the ancient remains found in the island in +question, and others referred to in the work mentioned as illustrative +of the same, can tell us regarding phallic worship in general and the +pre-Christian cross in particular. + +One of the first points to be noted in the illustrations supplied by +Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter is in a cut of an ancient Cyprian coin on +Plate X.; upon which coin we see over a temple gateway the phallic +symbol since adopted by the Moslems, and commonly spoken of as the +'_star_ and crescent' although, as already shown, it originality +represented the radiate Sun or Male Principle in conjunction with the +Crescent moon or Female Principle. + +Upon Plate XIX. we see several examples of the Svastika cross occurring +upon an ancient Cyprian vase. + +On Plate XXV. we are shown a gold leaf taken from an ancient grave, +upon which the Svastika cross occurs. + +Figure 10 upon the same plate shows us a gold leaf discovered at +Amathus upon which we see the Sun and Moon in conjunction, the Sun in +this instance being represented as a disc in the horns of the crescent. + +Upon Plate XXVI. we have representations of stone pillars at Atheniaon, +upon the capitals of which are phallic emblems, including that of the +Sun as a disc within the horns of the Crescent moon. + +On Plate XXX. we have in figure 7 a cut of an important cylinder now +stored in the Berlin Museum, upon which are represented both the Sacred +Tree and the Ashera. The winged Sun-disc appears over the former and +the Crescent moon over the latter. + +Figure 11 upon the same plate shows us a Masseba representing the Male +Principle, surmounted by the star-like form which represented the +radiate Sun; and an Ashera, representing the Female Principle, +surmounted by the Crescent moon. + +Just as in modern Christianity we make a distinction without alleging +much difference between the Father and the Son, even so in ancient +times a distinction of a similarly vague kind was made between the +All-Father _Fire_ and His Image and First-begotten Son _Light_. The +disc of the Sun seems to have represented the former and the Sun-star +or radiate Sun the latter where both were represented in one +illustration, as for instance in figure 12 on the plate last mentioned. + +The illustration in question is an important one. On the left is an +Ashera under a Crescent moon; in the centre is a Masseba under the +Sun-star or radiate Sun; and on the right is an altar under a sun disc. + +The phallic meaning of all this is evident; and a kind of Trinity is +presented to us, _viz._ (1) The Female Principle and perhaps the +primeval Darkness, needing impregnation or illumination ere the same +can cause aught to be; (2) the Male Principle and Light, the First-born +Son of Fire; and (3) Fire itself, the one origin of all things and +Father of Spirits, made manifest unto mortals by His First-born Son, +and best symbolled, as is Light, by the Solar Orb. + +On Plate XXXI. we have in figure 4 a representation of the goddess +Ishtar, the bride of the Sun-God. Over her we see the phallic symbol of +the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + +On Plate XXXII. we see in figure 23 the Svastika cross under a tree, in +a representation of a scarab from Ialysos. This cross coupled with the +presence of two bulls, one on either side of the tree, seem to show +that the Male Principle is referred to. + +On Plate XL. we have a cut of a votive arm, holding in its hand that +phallic symbol the apple, and obtained from the sanctuary of Apollo at +Voni. + +On Plate LVIII. in representations of the stone capitals of two votive +pillars from the shrine of Aphrodite at Idalion, we see various phallic +emblems; including the familiar Sun disc and Crescent moon in +conjunction. + +The same remark applies to Plate LIX., where two more such pillars are +illustrated. + +Upon Plate LXIX. are given no less than 134 illustrations of ancient +religious symbols, and the phallic character of nearly if not quite all +is plainly apparent. + +In twelve of these the presence of the Sun or the Crescent Moon as the +case may be, points out that in the former event the Male Principle of +Life, and in the latter the Female Principle of Life, is referred to. +In six other cases the presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in +juxtaposition shows that both those Principles are referred to. And in +four other examples the presence of the Sun and Crescent moon in +conjunction shows that the union of those Principles is referred to. + +Besides the numerous Masseboth and Asheroth, respectively representing +the Male and Female Principles, we see numerous examples of the +triangle which represented the female _vulva_ and of the diamond shaped +symbol which represented the female _pudendum_. + +Among the remaining symbols is the cross of four equal arms. + +Upon Plate LXXV. is an illustration of a vase painting in red figures +from a Stamnos from Vulci Panofka. The representation is one of the +Sun-God Dionysos upon a cross. + +The said cross, which like various Christian crosses of the Dark and +Middle Ages has projecting branches and foliage, seems to have been +more or less connected with the Tree worship of ancient times. + +On Plate LXXVI. we are given thirteen examples of Sacred Trees +discovered in the groves of Astarte-Aphrodite and Tanit-Artemis-Cybele, +being clay copies of the Sacred Trees erected at the entrances to the +temples. As Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter states, these evidently phallic +symbols undoubtedly played a part in the worship of the Sun-God +Tammuz-Adonis and his bride Astarte-Aphrodite. + +Upon Plate LXXVII. we have a cut of an important Phoenician seal, where +we see (1) a man kneeling in adoration to a Divine Trinity connected +with the winged disc of the sun, and (2) a priest worshipping three +symbols. The three sacred symbols in question are (1) the Ashera or +symbol of the Female Life Principle; (2) the Masseba or symbol of the +Male Life Principle; and (3) a combination of the Ashera and Masseba +symbols representing the two Life Principles in conjunction. + +On Plate LXXIX. we have in figure 14 a representation both of the +Sacred Tree and of the combined Ashera and Masseba. Over the latter we +naturally see the radiate Sun and Crescent moon in conjunction. + +In figure 16 on the same plate are representations of an Ashera and a +Masseba, respectively surmounted by a Crescent moon and a radiate Sun. + +A similar remark applies to figure 17. A sacrificing priest can be seen +in this and the last named instances. + +On Plate LXXX. we have in figure 1 a representation of a holy pillar, +the volute capital of which has on it a Crescent moon within the horns +of which is a disc plainly marked with a cross. This is taken from an +ancient cylinder of Hittite origin. + +On the same plate we see in figure 7 a Sun column from Tyre, upon which +we see the Crescent and disc in conjunction as in the last case, but +without the cross. + +On Plate CXVIII. we have in figure 8 a cut of a fine vase from Melos +ornamented with a Svastika cross. + +Upon Plate CXXXIII. we have, in figures I to 4, representations of a +sacred Boeotian chest or ark. On the front are seven Svastika crosses +(some of each variety) and one ordinary cross like our sign of +addition. On the lid we see two serpents surrounded by eight Svastika +crosses (some of each variety) and eight crosses formed of tau crosses, +{image "taucross.gif"}; besides two other crosses. + +On the back are eight Svastika crosses (some of each variety) and eight +other crosses. + +In figure 6 we have a cut of a chest from Athiaenon upon which two +Svastika crosses will be noticed. + +In figure 8 of the same plate is an illustration of one side of another +sacred chest or ark from Athiaenon, on which two Svastika crosses of +the other variety can be seen. + +Upon Plate CLV. we have in figure 9 a cut of an important Cyprian +Graeco-Phoenician Amphora discovered in an ancient grave at Kition and +now stored in the British Museum. The object represented upon it is a +Sacred Tree marked at the bottom with a St. Andrew's cross and +surrounded with Svastika crosses. + +On Plate CLXXIII. we see in group 19 various objects discovered in +ancient graves; one bearing several ordinary crosses and also several +Svastika crosses, one bearing a Svastika cross of the other variety, +and a third bearing Svastika crosses of both kinds. + +Upon Plate CXCII. are cuts of various Cyprian coins, the phallic symbol +of the circle and cross occurring upon Nos. 1, 9, and 10. + +Leaving the Book of Plates and turning to the illustrations given with +the Text of the valuable work we are considering, we discover upon page +62 a cut showing the impression of a chalcedony cylinder from the +collection of the Due de Luynes, where the Sun is represented by a +Cross of four equal arms. + +Upon page 85 we have in figure 117 an illustration of an inscribed +cylinder, now belonging to the Bibliotheque Nationale of France, in +which, as Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter remarks, the priest or king +represented is raising his arm + + "In adoration in the direction of the Cross suspended in + the air before him, a holy object we often meet on + Assyrian and Babylonian monuments." + +This cross, like that last named, is more like a Greek cross than a +Maltese cross. + +On page 148 we have in figure 150 an illustration of a coloured image +of Aphrodite or Astarte discovered in an early Graeco-Phoenician tomb +at Kurion. This representation of the Goddess of Love and Bride of the +Sun-God is marked with several Svastika crosses, and is yet further +evidence of the phallic and solar character of that symbol. + +Such is the evidence of the phallic worship and Sun-God worship of the +Phoenicians and their neighbours, of the close relationship between +such phallic worship and Sun-God worship, and of the part played in +connection with the same by the pre-Christian cross, borne by a work of +research so free from bias against the views of the Christian Church +that it has prefixed to it a letter of warm commendation from that +veteran statesman and theologian, the author of the ultra-orthodox +"_Impregnable Rock of Holy Scripture_." + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +MISCELLANEOUS EVIDENCE. + +The most noteworthy features of the available evidence illustrative of +the real origin and history of the symbol of the cross have now been +placed before the reader, but a number of more or less miscellaneous +facts directly or indirectly throwing additional light upon the subject +have still to be drawn attention to. + +For instance, no mention has yet been made of the _Hermae_ of bygone +ages. And although their origin may have had no connection with the +symbol in question, it is noteworthy that some at least of the early +Christians discovered in the more or less cruciform outline of the +Hermae a reason or excuse for paying them homage, while very similar +figures are to be seen illustrated upon Christian antiquities, such as +the mosaic of which the great cross of the Lateran forms the principal +feature. + +The Hermae venerated by the ancient Greeks were pillars, usually of +stone and quadrangular, surmounted in most instances with a head of +either Hermes or Dionysos; and with a peculiar transverse rail just +below the head, much used for hanging garlands upon, which made the +whole look more or less like a cross. + +These pillars were erected in front of temples, tombs, and houses; but +more especially as sign posts at cross roads; and whether the head at +the top was that of Hermes the Messenger of the Gods, or, as was very +often the case, that of Dionysos the Sun-God, a phallus was always a +prominent feature. + +Moreover these phallic and often solar erections called Hermae, +undoubtedly more or less cross-shaped owing to the transverse rail, +were worshipped as conducive to fecundity. + +It is also worthy of notice that the cross is well known to have been +venerated in America before even the Norsemen who preceded Columbus set +foot upon that afterwards rediscovered continent. + +For instance a cross surrounded by a circle was in use among the +ancient Mexicans as a solar sign, another cross was a solar symbol of +the natives of Peru from time immemorial, and we are also told by the +authorities that a cross of four equal arms with a disc or circle at +the centre was the age-old Moqui symbol of the Sun.[68] + +Other noteworthy points are that the cross occurs upon Runic monuments +in Europe long before Christianity was introduced into the regions +containing them; that ancient altars to the Sun-God Mithras bearing the +sacred symbol of the cross have been discovered even in England; and +that the Laplanders of old when sacrificing marked their idols with the +symbol of the cross, using the life blood of their victims for that +purpose.[69] + +It should also be pointed out that on a coin of Thasos bearing +representations of a phallic character connected with the worship of +the Thracian Bacchus, a Svastika cross is a prominent symbol; that upon +ancient vases the headgear of Bacchus is sometimes ornamented with the +cross of four equal arms; that upon a Greek vase at Lentini, Sicily, an +ancient representation of the Sun-God Hercules is accompanied by no +less than three different kinds of crosses as symbols; and that upon an +archaic Greek vase in the British Museum, the Svastika cross, the St. +Andrew's cross, and the other and right angled cross of four equal +arms, appear under the rays of the Sun. Nor should it be forgotten that +though the Svastika cross has almost died out as a Christian symbol and +was perhaps never thoroughly acclimatised as such, it often appeared +upon Christian ecclesiastical properties of the Middle Ages, and, +either as a Pagan or Christian symbol, continually occurs in the +catacombs of Rome. + +We are told that circular wafers or cakes were used in the mysteries of +the Sun-God Bacchus, and, being marked with a cross, resembled the +disc-like wafers of the Christian Mass. Whether this was so or not, it +is noteworthy that a cross is said to appear upon the representation of +a circular wafer used in the mysteries of Mithras which occurs upon an +ancient fresco at Rome. + +In this connection it may be mentioned, as a series of curious +coincidences, that in the Zoroastrian religion long before our era the +Sun-God Mithras bore much the same relation to the All-Father that the +Christ does in ours, and is referred to in the Zend Avesta as the +_Incarnate Word_; that Mithras is said, like the Christ, to have been +born in a cave; that the Fathers admitted that the new-born Sun had +been worshipped in the cave at Bethlehem to which the story of the +birth of Jesus referred; and that in framing its calendar our Church +fixed upon the recognised birthday of Mithras, the _Natalis Invicti_ of +the Roman Brumalia, as the birthday of the Christ. + +It is also noteworthy that the Christ is thus said to have been born as +well as to have risen again the third _or fourth_ ("_After_ three +days," _Matt_, xxvii. 63; _after_ "Three days and three nights," Matt, +xii. 40) day. For the birthday of Mithras and afterwards of the Christ, +known to us as Christmas day, seems to have been fixed upon as the +third or fourth day after the winter solstice, and as that upon which +the sun's resurrection from the south was first discernible after its +apparent cessation of movement or death. + +In this connection it should be added that Lucian records the fact that +the Sun-God referred to by the Fathers as worshipped at Bethlehem was +lamented as dead once a year and always acclaimed as alive again the +third day; that in several places in the Zend Avesta we meet with +passages which show that the Mithras worshippers of old believed that +at the death of a man his spirit sits at the head of the corpse for +three days and three nights, and then, at dawn, rises free from all +earthly attachments; and that we say that the execution of Jesus took +place at the time of the Passover or Vernal Equinox, while instead of +the prophesied "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth" +(_Matt_. xii. 40) the period between the death and burial on Good +Friday evening and the resurrection before dawn on Easter Sunday is +just about that during which the Sun's disc is at the Vernal Equinox +transfixed by the Equator, _viz._, 32 2/3 hours. + +The question why the Cock so often, like the Cross, surmounts the +steeples wherewith we adorn our Christian churches, is brought before +us by the fact that it was in ancient days a well-known symbol both of +the generative powers and of the Sun-God; often appearing as such upon +the top of a sacred pillar in Assyrian and Babylonian representations +of priests in the act of sacrificing or worshipping. It was probably as +the "herald of the dawn" that this bird became a symbol of the Sun-God, +and it would seem that we place its effigy aloft with the same idea in +view. + +Another point to be noted is that in the Kunthistorisches Museum at +Vienna is an ancient vase upon which is a representation of the Sun-God +Apollo bearing upon his breast as his one ornament and symbol a +Svastika cross. + +We are reminded of the facts that we Christians were once in the habit +of alluding to the cross as the Tree of Life, and that the ancients +dressed up the trunks of trees and worshipped them as symbols of life +and growth, by an Attic vase of the fifth century B.C. Upon this is a +red coloured painting of a tree so dressed, on which is to be seen near +the top a head of the Sun-God Dionysos, and surrounding the trunk a +shirt or garment covered with crosses. + +As to the evidence obtained from the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii, +it is said that much which is of a phallic character has been, from +quite worthy motives, kept in the background. An important fact has +however been mentioned by Mr. C. W. King, M.A., in his well known work +on the _Gnostics and, their Remains_, and this at least can be +commented upon. He tells us that the Cross and the Phallus were found +placed in juxtaposition upon the walls as meaning one and the same +thing, and he goes on to add that + + "This cross seems to be the Egyptian Tau, that ancient + symbol of the generative power and therefore transferred + into the Bacchic mysteries." + +The foregoing are the last of the evidences throwing light upon the +origin and history of the symbol adopted by our religion as its own, +which the author thinks it necessary to bring forward in support of his +contention. And however much of the evidence sought out by the author +and in this work marshalled by him into something like order may seem +by itself to be untrustworthy or worthless, no reader can reasonably +deny that it has been proved that the cross was a well known symbol of +Life long before our era, and that as a whole the evidence tends to +show that it became such as a phallic symbol, and therefore as a symbol +of the Sun-God. + +And what is the moral of the real, as distinguished from the imaginary, +history of the symbol of the cross but this: that from the beginning +nought has caused the beliefs of men to assume an appearance of radical +difference, save the difference in the name or dress with which this or +that set of men have clothed similar ideas? + +For, as has already been hinted, Humanity has ever had but one God and +but one Religion. And as from one point of view Life is but another +term for the Real Presence, and Death but another term for the +withdrawal of Deity, it may be said that that God is Life, and that +Religion the desire for Life, more Life, and fuller Life. Moreover, as +has been said before, this universal worship of Life is discernible +even in the willingness of some to sacrifice what remains to them of +mortal life in the hope of thus being enabled to lay hold of a life +immortal which is not for all. + +The worship of Life is natural, and must of necessity continue. Let us +however render it nobler by recognising its catholicity; and by +contemptuously refusing to either seek or accept a life of bliss +hereafter which any of our brothers and sisters are, either in our +imagination or in reality, to be debarred from sharing. + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +SUMMARY. + +At the commencement of this work it was shown that, as the Greek text +of the writings forming the New Testament testifies, not one of the +Apostles or Evangelists ever stated that Jesus was executed upon a +cross-shaped instrument of execution. The circumstances under which the +figure of the cross became the symbol of our religion, were then made +clear. And, having since demonstrated the existence in pre-Christian +ages of a widespread veneration of the figure of the cross as the +symbol of Life and of the Sun-God, which may have given rise to the +desire to associate Jesus therewith, little remains for the author to +do save draw the notice of the reader to the admissions of other +writers concerning the rise of the cross as the symbol of Christianity; +for the sake of brevity more or less confining his attention to two +well known works upon the history of religious art. + +It should first however be pointed out that though we Christians affirm +that crucifixion was a form of capital punishment made use of in days +of old, and abolished the fourth century after Christ by Constantine +because Jesus was so executed, we cannot exactly prove that the +_staurosis_ thus abolished was crucifixion, or even that it included +crucifixion. For various as are the different forms of 'death by the +stauros' of which descriptions have come down to us from pre-Christian +ages and the first three centuries of our era, no relic of that date +bears a representation of an instrument of execution such as we cause +to appear in our sacred pictures, and even if, regardless of the more +exact meaning of the word stauros, we suppose the term staurosis to +have included every form of carrying out the extreme penalty by means +of affixion or suspension, we meet with no description of such an +instrument of execution as we picture. Therefore even if we were to +exclude from the staurosis abolished by Constantine all forms of +transfixion by a stauros, we could not, upon the evidence before us, +fairly say that what that astute Emperor abolished was what is usually +understood by the term crucifixion. + +It will not be necessary to quote again the admission of the Reverend +S. Baring-Gould, M.A., to the effect that the so-called Cross of +Constantine or monogram of Christ was but the symbol of the Sun-God of +the Gauls with a loop added by their crafty leader to please the +Christians, but it may be pointed out that this fact is also admitted +in _Chambers's Encyclopaedia_; where we read that + + "The so-called cross of Constantine was not really a + cross but a circle containing the X P I, the first three + letters of the name of Christ in Greek; and was merely + an adaptation of a symbol of a Gaulish solar deity." + +And it may be added that the fact that the Monogram of Christ and the +ordinary cross so frequently used as symbols by Constantine upon his +coins and elsewhere, and thus made symbols of the Roman Empire in the +first half of the fourth century, were at first Pagan rather than +Christian symbols, also seems to be borne out by Dean Burgon in his +_Letters from Rome_, where he states + + "I question whether a cross occurs on any Christian + monument of the first four centuries."[70] + +Passing on however to the representative works on Christian Art already +referred to, we first come to Mrs. Jameson's famous _History of Our +Lord as exemplified in works of art_. + +Upon page 315 of Volume II. the gifted authoress, after confessing that +the cross was venerated by the heathen as a symbol of Life before the +period of Christianity and referring to St. Chrysostom, who flourished +half a century after Constantine, admits that + + "It must be owned that ancient objects of Art, as + far as hitherto known, afford no corroboration of the use + of the cross in the simple transverse form familiar to + us at any period preceding or even closely succeeding + the words of St. Chrysostom." + +That is to say, although Constantine introduced the Monogram of Christ +and the cross of four equal arms before St. Chrysostom was born, and, +making them symbols of the Roman Empire, would, whether a Sun-God +worshipper or a Christian, in any case have imposed them upon what he +established as his State Religion, it was not till after these solar +symbols of the Gauls were accepted as Christian that such a cross as +could possibly have been a representation of an instrument of execution +was introduced. + +As to the crucifix, we are told that though this is said by some to be +referred to in the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa--a Bishop of Tours who +lived in the sixth century, and also in the injunctions of the often +quoted council of Greek bishops A.C. 692 called the "Quini-sextum" or +"in Trullo," the evidence is + + "Insufficient to convince most modern archaeologists + that a crucifix in any sense now accepted was meant." + +In other words, not only is it clear that the cross as a representation +of the instrument of execution upon which Jesus died was not introduced +till after the days of Constantine, but it is also evident that the +crucifix, the earliest known representation of that execution, was not +introduced till centuries later. + +Other noteworthy admissions are made in the work above quoted from, but +we must pass on to the Dean of Canterbury's comparatively recent work +upon the same subject. + +Dean Farrar states upon page 11 of his _Life of Christ as represented +in Art_ that "Of all early Christian symbols the _Fish_ was the most +frequent and the favourite." + +The Fish; and not the Cross. + +Moreover the Dean significantly adds upon the next page, that the Fish + + "Continued to be a common symbol down to the + days of Constantine." + +And the significance lies in the fact that the introduction by +Constantine of the solar symbols venerated by the Gauls, may account +for the displacement of the symbol of the Fish from favour. + +Upon page 19 Dr. Farrar goes on to say that + + "Two symbols continued for ages to be especially common, + of which I have not yet spoken. They were not generally + adopted, even if they appeared at all, until after the + Peace of the Church at the beginning of the fourth + century. I mean the cross and the monogram of Christ." + +Here again, it will be seen, the Dean admits that the cross, as the +symbol of our religion, came in with Constantine. + +Directly after the passage last quoted Dean Farrar very misleadingly +remarks: "It must be remembered that the cross was in itself an object +of utter horror even to the Pagans." For the exact reverse is the +truth, inasmuch as in almost every land a cross of some description had +been for ages venerated as a symbol of Life. + +The fact of course is that the Dean here and elsewhere, like other +Christian writers, does not take the trouble to distinguish between the +symbol of the cross and the death caused by execution upon a stauros; +which instrument, by the way, was, as has been shown, not necessarily +in the shape of a cross, and appears to have been in most cases a stake +without a transverse rail. What the Pagans held in utter horror was the +awful death caused by transfixion by or affixion to a stauros, whatever +its shape; the symbol of the cross was, upon the contrary, an object of +veneration among them from time immemorial. + +On page 23 Dr. Farrar, alluding to the use of the transient sign of the +cross by the Christians of early days, makes the admission + + "That it did _not_ remind them of the Crucifixion only + or even mainly is proved alike by their literature and + other relics." + +Exactly so: for the non-material sign traced by them (and by us) upon +the forehead in the _non-Mosaic_ initiatory rite of baptism and perhaps +also upon the breast or in the air at other times, seems to have been +the survival of a Pagan and pre-Christian custom. + +Upon page 24 Dean Farrar admits that + + "The cross was only introduced among the Christian + symbols tentatively and timidly. It may be doubted + whether it once occurs till after the vision of + Constantine in 312 and his accession to the Empire of + the East and West in 324." + +Further on upon the same page the Dean of Canterbury, passing without +notice from symbols to instruments of execution and making no +distinction whatever, states that + + "Crosses were of two kinds. The _Crux Simplex_, 'of + one single piece without transom,' was a mere stake, + used sometimes to impale, sometimes to hang the victim + by the hands." + +Exactly so. + +But, to bring this work to a conclusion with what is the crux of the +whole matter, is it not disingenuous in the extreme upon the part of +those of us Christians who know better, to hide the fact that it may +have been upon some such cross as the Dean here refers to, that is, +upon no cross at all, that Jesus was executed? Is it not dishonest of +us to place before the masses Bibles and Lexicons wherein we ever +carefully translate as "cross" a word which at the time the ancient +classics and our sacred writings were penned did not necessarily, if +indeed ever, signify something cross-shaped? Is it not gross disloyalty +to Truth to insist, as we do in our versions of the Christian +Scriptures, upon translating as "crucify" or "crucified" four different +words, not one of which referred to anything necessarily in the shape +of a cross? + +Another point which should be mentioned, though such matters cannot be +discussed here, is that the questions whether Jesus did not prophesy +that the final Day of judgment would come before those whom he +addressed should die, and did not solemnly declare that his mission was +to the descendants of Jacob or Israel and to them alone, undoubtedly +affect our story. + +As to the Gospel of the Cross, have not we Christians by, in our +imaginations, limiting its saving effects to the few who are able to +believe in it, all the centuries that we have re-echoed the cry "the +Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" _forced_ upon the same the unutterably +selfish meaning that the kingdom at hand for the many who simply cannot +believe is that of Hell? Was _that_ what Jesus meant, and all that the +so-called cross effected? + +Moreover, whether the message of Jesus which we proclaim and variously +interpret was or was not a gospel--that is, "glad tidings "--to all +men, and from an unselfish point of view, what possible good purpose +can be served by insisting upon supplementing the simple story of his +stressful life, his magnificent love for the afflicted and suffering, +his equally magnificent hatred of qualities not altogether dissimilar +from that which enables some of us to claim to be not only admirers but +also genuine followers of a Communist who declared that those who would +follow him must first sell all their possessions and give the proceeds +to the poor;--what good purpose can be served by supplementing this, +and the account of the final conflict of Jesus with the officials of +his native land and his subsequent execution upon a stauros or stake +not stated to have had a cross-bar attached, by the adoption and +culture of a partisan and misleading fiction regarding the origin and +history of the symbol of the cross? + + + +THE END. + + + +--------------------- +FOOTNOTES +[1] _e.g._, _Iliad_, xxiv. 453; _Odyssey_, xiv. 11 +[2] _e.g._, Thuc. iv. 90; Xen. _An._ v. 2, 21. +[3] _Gal._ iii. 13; I _Pet._ ii. 24; _Acts_ v. 30; _Acts_ x. 39; + _Acts_ xiii. 29. +[4] _e.g._, Hdt. iii. 125. +[5] _e.g._, Thuc. vii. 25. +[6] Livy, xxviii. 29. +[7] Minucius Felix, _Oct._ xxix. +[8] _De Praescrip_. xl. +[9] _Oct._ xxix. +[10] _Ad Nationes_, xiv. +[11] Poed iii. II, 59. +[12] _Nicodemus_ i. +[13] _Nicodemus_ vii. +[14] _Nicodemus_ viii. +[15] _Apol_, i. 55. +[16] _Dial. cum Trypho_, lxxxvi. +[17] _Dial. cum Trypho_, xcvii. +[18] _Against Marcion_, iv. 20. +[19] _Against Marcion_, iii. 18. +[20] _Scorpiace_, i. +[21] _De Corolla_, iii. +[22] _De Proescrip_, xl. +[23] _Apologiticus_, xvi. +[24] _Ad Nationes_, xii. +[25] xxxvi. +[26] _Testimonies against the Jews_, ii. 21. +[27] _Testimonies against the Jews_, ii. 22. +[28] _Apud Gretserum_, ii. +[29] _Epist. ad Romanos_, Lib. vi. +[30] _Christ in Art_, p. 23. +[31] _Against Heresies_, i. xxiv. +[32] _Against Heresies_, II., xxii. 4-5. +[33] _Vit. Const. I._ +[34] _Vit. Const. I._, 28, 29, 30. +[35] _Vit. Const. I._, 29. +[36] _De Mart. Pers._, c. 44. +[37] _Vit. Const. I._, 31. +[38] _Vit. Const. I._, 37. +[39] _Vit. Const. I._, 40. +[40] _Vit. Const. II._ 7-9. +[41] _Vit. Const. III._ 3. +[42] _Vit. Const. III._ 49. +[43] _Opera S. Cyrilli_ cura Ant. Touttee 351 Menaeum Graecum + ad diem 7 Maii. +[44] zosimus ii. +[45] Both Zonaras and Cedrenus bear testimony to this effect. +[46] _Early Christian Numismatics_. +[47] _The Likeness of Christ_, p. 20. +[48] Herodotus II., 73. +[49] Pliny, x., 2. +[ ] 2 Tacitus, _Annal_. Vi., 28. Editorial note: There is no reference + in the text to this footnote #2 at the bottom of page 130 +[50] An engraving of the coin can be seen in Duruy's _Histoire + des Romains_, Torn. vii. +[51] Bockh, C.I.G. n. 4713 b. +[52] Berlin Collection 428. +[53] _Strange Survivals_, 286. +[54] _e.g._, Arist. _Mundi_. +[55] Bar. _Ann_. A.C. 312. +[56] Basnage, iii., 23. +[57] Eusebius, _Vit. Const._ iv. +[58] Martianus Capella. +[59] _e.g._ Philo, _De Somniis_, i. +[60] _Timaeus_, 34-36. +[61] _Theol. Plat._ +[62] _Apol._ +[63] _Apol._ +[64] _Report on the Old Records of the India Office_, London, + 1891, x., xi. +[65] _Nineveh_, ii. 213. +[66] _e.g._, C. W. King, M.A. _Early Christian Numismatics_; + Professor Rawlinson; &c., &c. +[67] C. W. King, M.A. +[68] _First Annual Report U. S. Bureau of Ethnology._ +[69] Ol. Varelli, _Scandage Runic;_ Ans. Rudbeckins, _Atlant.: + e.g._ an altar discovered ac Rudchester, Northumberland: Sheffer, + _Lapponic_. +[70] _Letters from Rome_, 1862, p. 210. + +------ +For those who do not have access to the images used in the above text, +here are some crude representations of them.--(Editor) + + + +x.gif + +X X + X X + X X + X + X X + X X +X X + + + +t.gif + +XXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + X + X + X + + + +plus.gif + + X + X + X +XXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + + + +asterisk.gif + +X X X + X X X + X X X + X + X X X + X X X +X X X + + + +solarwheel1.gif + + o ooooo o + o X o + o X X X o +o X X X o +o X X X o +o X o +o X X X o + o X X X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + + +solarwheel2.gif + + o ooooo o + o X o + o X o +o X o +o X o +oXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXo +o X o + o X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + + +monogram1.gif + + o ooooo o + o XXX o + o X X X X o +o X XXX X o +o X X X o +o X o +o X X X o + o X X X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + +monogram2.gif + + o ooooo o + o XXX o + o X X o +o XXX o +o X o +oXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXo +o X o + o X o + o X o + o ooooo o + + +monogram3.gif + + xxx +X x x X + X xxx X + X x X + x + X x X + X x X + X x X + + +monogram4.gif + + XXX + X X + XXX + X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X + X + X + + + +svastika1.gif + + X XXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXX X + + + +svastika2.gif + + XXXXXXXXX X + X X + X X + X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X + X X + X X + X XXXXXXXXXX + + + +taucross.gif + + XXXXXXX + X + X X X + X X X + XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX + X X X + X X X + X + XXXXXXX + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Non-Christian Cross, by John Denham Parsons + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NON-CHRISTIAN CROSS *** + +***** This file should be named 9071.txt or 9071.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/9/0/7/9071/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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