Christian Faith And The Cross

Constantine is known to have claimed seeing a vision of the cross which was an indication of divine help. And if his soldiers were to paint the symbol of the cross on their shields then, victory would be granted. His victory over the Roman Empire begun what was to be the Christianization of the conquered territory. But it was during the rise of the Carolingian monarchy that seems to have changed the history of war rituals. Doris Bergen mentions three factors that contributed to this change. These were, interest in performance of liturgy, nature of warfare had changed and ambition of the new monarchy which believed that both their activities were divinely sanctioned and that the ruler bore personal responsibility for subjects’ minds and souls. The revival of liturgy credited to the Carolingians and the application of a different kind of warfare in the middle east by the warriors of the first crusade that resulted in great success, would later give birth to what Doris calls “A new kind of war, a crusade, and with it, the liturgical rites that

Charles B. Hodge, Jr., is a prolific writer and a minister of the Church of Christ. He closes each chapter of The Agony & Glory of the Cross with “The Cross…there is no other way!” Thus, I have taken Reverend Hodge’s declaration for the title of this review. He further explains his thesis of the importance of the cross: “Jesus could not save Himself and still be our Savior. There is no way but the cross.” The unique approach to teaching the New Testament – and Christs’ journey to Calvary – requires several readings, analysis, and return to biblical text.

The cross could be interpreted as a positive icon for the Spaniards, yet villainous to the Indians. The focal point the filmmaker might have made, however, was the cross bringing order to a “daunting” people.

Conversion to Christianity in Medieval Iberia invoked ambivalent feelings among Christians at the time. Christians in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries intended to convert Jews and Muslims through kind words and religious teachings from the Bible. This idea of peaceful conversion, nevertheless, evolved and Christians began converting non-believers through violence and compulsion. Also, even after individuals were converted, Christians did not always fully trust their motivations, and believed they would revert into their old religions. While Marian miracles did help alleviate these tensions, thousands of vicious acts were committed against Jews and Muslims during this time period. In this essay, I am going to examine the idea of conversion from the Christian perspective, and how Christians were able to tempt Jews and Muslims to convert. I am also going to compare the contradictory nature of conversion through peaceful and violent means. This comparison will showcase how the Roman Catholic Church 's stance on peaceful conversion was overcome by local Christian communities.

The Cross as the symbol of Christianity was embraced as late as in the fourth century. It is certain that the Rood of Christ was often likened to a tree which can be known when the Rood said, “That was very long ago, I remember it still, that I was cut down from the edge of the wood, ripped from by my roots” (lines 28-30). The Ruthwell Cross, runic characters, being the most striking example of a combination of Celtic artistic tradition known as being interwoven with human and animal figures, biblical scenes and other things that were Christ based later developed into the poem of The Dream of the Rood, all form together to give you an overtly Christian

Material expressions in relation to iconoclasm and religious imagery can be extremely crucial for an individual amongst the Christian church. Some may

Discussion Board 1 Luther and Bonhoeffer used the cross as their theology. However, many may beg to differ. I believe the “theology of the cross” is a good foundational for a starting point for understanding Christian leadership. Moreover, looking at the cross shows us the personality and character of God.

A starting point exists and has always existed at the Church's radical center: in Christ. Only one agenda distinctly manifests partisanship for Christ. There exists but one banner hung over worship: a human on a cross. Jesus calls the Church to lay down, not just its burdens, but its banners as well. In Christ, lies the only context in which secular agendas can find a place in the liturgical life of the Church.

Transitioning to symbolism, The Cross upholds the values of hope and strength. To fully understand the symbolic importance of the cross, we must analyze it as its original state; a

Imagine having a couple of seconds before your house completely collapse, you only have the time to grab one item, if this ever to occur to me it would be my cross that I wear around my neck everyday. The cross I wear around my neck everyday has sentimental meaning to me, this is because my grandfather purchased it for me when I was very young, not only does it help me think of him but it helps to remember how much he does for me, and how he helps to shape my life. My cross is also of meaning to my faith, being Catholic shows how we are connected to God as one, how he guides our path, this helps me to also feel as if God is watching over me and helping me to choose the right path. Finally it helps to represent who I am as a person, it helps

However, while Mr. Gibson’s film has stirred these feelings, they are far from young; misinterpretations of religious scriptures have influenced historic interpretations of religious beliefs and events.  As outlined in the Criteria for the Evaluation of Dramatizations of the Passion, a publication of the Bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs (BCEIA) of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, early generations of Christianity tended to focus on the immediate involvement of Jews in Jesus’ crucifixion, ignoring both the prominent members of the Jewish community that opposed his crucifixion, such as Nicodemus, and the manipulation of the Jewish populous by Jesus’ opponents.  Furthermore, these depictions have also failed to acknowledge diversity among the Jewish community, which would have created strong accord between Jesus and Jews on some of his concerns, aside from the strong majority of the Jewish populous that remained uninfluenced by Jesus’ opponents, and opposed his death 2.

The crucifix is located above the main entrance of the catholic church. The crucifix is a cross with the figure of the body of Jesus Christ attached to it. This is a very common Catholic symbol that is often placed in most catholic churches. The crucifix tells me that this is a catholic church because it is a symbol of sacrifice. IN addition, this symbol tells us me that Jesus sacrificed his life for us.

Everything from which the cross-Christ and his crusaders presume to save was made by god and indeed is a rebellion on god’s will, they otherwise impute to Satan. “Their Kingdom of Christ” is to change god’s creation preferring “the wrong.” According to theism, god made them inferior , i.e., psychic and/or bodily cripples. He is the real goal of their vengeance of “putting all in the wrong." Their crucifixion of the world (The Gospel of Philip) is a deputy war on god of the “enemies of god” (see: Ro 5:10). Since they cannot get god, they take vengeance on those who god prefers in the views of the would-be gods. For instance, the cross perpetrators’ mass-murder on the witches committed for centuries, mostly was the deadly grudge of the ugly

Many Americans flocked to see Mel Gibson’s movie, “The Passion of the Christ.” On over 2.000 screens across America the viewed the “harrowing depiction of Jesus' last 12 hours in wide-screen vivid color.” (Allen 2004) People viewed images of Jesus being flogged, crucified and left to die. This violence caused some Christians discomfort with theology, and some Jews’ fear that it will “incite violence against them because of its portrayal of Jews’ involvement in Jesus’ death.” (Allen 2004)

The most impactful and visual image is when someone is nailed on to the cross. Yes, here I am talking about the story of Jesus Christ facing the crucifixion. In the movie, Son of God, the crucifixion of Jesus is powerfully illustrated. The movie focus on the narration of Jesus Christ from birth, life, sacrificial death, resurrection and the ascendance. However, the Hollywood encouraged by the church focused on the scene where Jesus was flogged and then carried his cross up on to the “skull.” Where he was physically nailed and placed upon that cross and suffered a humiliating death. This film played throughout many movie theaters around the United States and even the world. Therefore, many people witness the crucifixion of Jesus on the big