Friday, December 2, 2011

What does the religous cross with a short cross bar mean?

I have seen a cross which in addition to normal horizontal bar also has an additional, shorter, one above the first one? What is this cross called and what does it symbolize?|||It's a symbol used in the Eastern Orthodox Church. It symbolizes the cross of Jesus. It refers to the sign that Pontius Pilate had nailed there that said "Jesus the King of the Jews."|||Is the shorter bar the board on which the Title of Jesus was written?|||All of the following is from Wikipedia%26gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Ort…





The small top crossbar represents the sign that Pontius Pilate nailed above Christ's head. It often is inscribed with an acronym meaning “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews”; however, It is often replaced or amplified by the phrase "The King of Glory" in order to answer Pilate's mocking statement with Christ's affirmation, "My Kingdom is not of this world".





There is also a bottom slanting bar. This appears for a number of reasons. Evidence indicates that there was a small wooden platform for the crucified to stand on in order to support his weight; in Jesus' case his feet were nailed side by side to this platform with one nail each in order to prolong the torture of the cross.



No comments:

Post a Comment