The Cross​—Symbol of Christianity?

FOR centuries multitudes have accepted the cross as a symbol of Christianity. But is it really? Many who have sincerely believed so are quite surprised to learn that the cross is not at all unique to Christendom. On the contrary, it has been widely used in non-Christian religions all over the world.

For example, in the early 1500’s, as Hernán Cortés and his “Christian” army prepared to attack the Aztec Empire, they carried banners proclaiming, “Let us follow the sign of the Holy Cross in true faith, for under this sign we shall conquer.” They must have been surprised to find that their pagan enemies venerated a cross not unlike their own. The book Great Religions of the World says: “Cortés and his followers recoiled from human sacrifices of the Aztecs and what seemed like satanic parodies of Christianity: . . . venerating crosslike symbols of wind and rain gods.”

In an editorial in the newspaper La Nación, writer José Alberto Furque points out that in the second half of the 18th century, there began “a fiery and exciting debate among anthropologists and archaeologists on the origins and meaning of the cruciform signs” they were finding across much of Central and South America. Apparently some had been so eager to protect the status of the cross as a uniquely “Christian” symbol that they propounded the theory that somehow the Americas had been evangelized before Columbus’ landmark voyage! This farfetched notion had to be discarded as unfounded.

In time, further discoveries in the field put all such debate to rest. Furque notes: “In a work published in 1893 by the Smithsonian Institution, it was established that the cross was already venerated . . . long before the arrival of the first Europeans in North America, which confirms the theory . . . that such a symbol appeared in all communities as part of cultic worship of the forces that originate life.”

The Bible shows that Jesus was not executed on a conventional cross at all but, rather, on a simple stake, or stau·rosʹ. This Greek word, appearing at Matthew 27:40, basically means a simple upright beam or pole, such as those used in building foundations. Hence, the cross never represented true Christianity. Jesus Christ identified the real symbol, or “mark,” of true Christianity when he told his followers: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among yourselves.”​—John 13:35.