This bit of 'graffiti' has been dated to around 200 C.E. or thereabouts. It is our belief that after the death of the apostles,(end of the first century) Christianity began a rapid decline into apostasy as Jesus and the apostles had foretold. The "weeds" of false Christianity had well and truly sprouted by the second century. So we take nothing from the writings of that period (second century through to the foundation of Roman Catholicism in the 4th century) except perhaps for historic interest but certainly not for Biblical teachings.
And the shape of the thing that Jesus was crucified on is most certainly something of "historic interest", wouldn't you say?
From your link....
"The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion (known in Latin as crux, in Greek as stauros) is generally taken to have been composed of an upright wooden beam to which was added a transom, thus forming a "cruciform" or T-shaped structure.
Most Christian denominations present the Christian cross in this form, and the tradition of the T-shape can be traced to early Christianity and the Church fathers. However, some scholars of the late 19th century have maintained that it was in reality a simple stake (crux simplex). Various authorities have then linked the cross with nature worship and pagan sex rites. This view was adopted by the Jehovah's Witnesses."
I guess you skipped over this part:
As shown above, both those claims are debated by scholars. The word by which the Gospels referred to the gibbet on which Jesus died had more than one meaning. It did not necessarily mean a stake, nor did it necessarily mean a cross with cross-bar,
[96] but Christian writers long before 300 specifically spoke of that gibbet as having a cross-bar, being either cross-shaped or T-shaped.
[97]
A study edition of the
New World Translation supports the denomination's belief by reproducing an illustration from a work by 16th century
philologist Justus Lipsius showing a man suspended by the wrists on a
crux simplex or upright pole.
[98] However, it omits Justus Lipsius' other illustrations of such executions showing a traditional-style cross with cross-bar, in particular that which Lipsius considered to be that corresponding to the execution of Jesus.
[99] James Penton, who was raised as a Jehovah's Witness but was expelled from the group for apostasy in 1981, has claimed that the use of the single illustration by the
Watch Tower Society "demonstrates so clearly how much their scholarship is affected by dogmatism". "Watch Tower scholars falsely leave the impression that Lipsius thought that Jesus was put to death in that way", he wrote. "In fact, Lipsius gives sixteen illustrations of impalement, thirteen of which show stakes with some sort of cross member."
[100]
The "tau" or cross with no intersecting cross piece was originally a religious symbol representing the god, Tammuz. (The initial of his name) It was in existence long before Christ . You can see from the image you posted above, that this is a tau, not a "Christian" cross, as this came later.
Tammuz was a deity over whom apostate Hebrew women in Jerusalem wept. It has been suggested that Tammuz was originally a king who was deified after his death. In Sumerian text, Tammuz is called Dumuzi and is identified as the consort or lover of the fertility goddess Inanna (the Babylonian Ishtar). (
Ezekiel 8:14) This is probably the deified Nimrod.....the God who died in the winter but was resurrected in the spring.
And the upright pole, or stake, was originally a religious symbol representing the
Ugaritic goddess, Asherah, goddess of fertility and mother of the gods. Exodus 34:13 speaks of sacred pillars and Asherah, as well. Also, the Celts often incorporated sacred trees or pillars in their places of worship:
Stone pillars were also prominently situated in Continental Celtic shrines and sanctuaries.' A possibly related concept is that of the bile, an Old Irish word which means a "tree or mast," and especially used to refer to ancient and venerated trees. Sacred assemblies were held beneath these hallowed trees, and it was forbidden to damage them in any way. Sacred places throughout the ancient Celtic world were referred to by the term nemeton, "Sacred Place."" Some of these sites were associated with sacred groves or trees, and it has been suggested that there may be a connection between these sites and the widespread veneration of the World Tree.
Sharon Paice MacLeod. Celtic Myth and Religion: A Study of Traditional Belief, with Newly Translated Prayers, Poems and Songs
Also consider the symbolism of totem poles in some Native American cultures. Additionally, there are
staff gods native to the Pacific islands.
In other words, the "upright stake" that you have Jesus crucified on is nothing more than a pagan symbol of fertility, pagan gods, heathen ancestors and the world-tree.
Easter has its roots here in northern hemisphere paganism.
The Germanic Heathen holiday of Eostre/Ostara does, but not the Christian holy day of Pascha. They're two separate things.
If you like.....apostate Judaism was the forerunner of apostate Christianity. History repeats because people keep doing the things God told them not to do......like making images for use in worship.
Does this sound like it is remotely connected to either the Jewish religion mediated by Moses with its total prohibition on the use of images (Exodus 20:4-5) or the Christianity taught be Jesus and his disciples......or is it more akin to the apostate version that sprang up after the second century? The Romans loved Mithra and incorporated their worship of this deity into what became known as Christmas.
You mean outside of the time that God literally told the people of Israel to make images for use in worship in Exodus 25? Or the time that Solomon filled God's temple with images in 1 Kings 6, and God blessed it and dwelled within it?
He was speaking about the death of Christ, his taking the shame of sinful mankind in the manner of his death....not glorifying the instrument used to murder him.
Jesus was executed
“by hanging on a tree.” (
Acts 5:30,
The New Jerusalem Bible) Both of the words used by Bible writers to describe the instrument of Jesus’ death suggest
one piece of wood, not two. The Greek word
stau·rosʹ, according to
Crucifixion in Antiquity, means
“a pole in the broadest sense. It is not the equivalent of a ‘cross.’” The word
xyʹlon, used at
Acts 5:30, is
“simply an upright pale or stake to which the Romans nailed those who were thus said to be crucified.”
Except that xylon is extremely broad in meaning, and can mean any beam of wood or anything made of beams of wood. Stocks (the things that your feet are fastened in, see Acts 16:24), are also
xyla. A cross is also made up of two poles, or two
xyla.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who lived at the time of the birth of Jesus, described how those condemned to crucifixion were led to the place of execution:
"A Roman citizen of no obscure station, having ordered one of his slaves to be put to death, delivered him to his fellow-slaves to be led away, and in order that his punishment might be witnessed by all, directed them to drag him through the Forum and every other conspicuous part of the city as they whipped him, and that he should go ahead of the procession which the Romans were at that time conducting in honour of the god. The men ordered to lead the slave to his punishment, having stretched out both his arms and fastened them to
a piece of wood which extended across his breast and shoulders as far as his wrists, followed him, tearing his naked body with whips."
[59] Roman Antiquities, VII, 69:1-2
Dionysius here uses the Greek word
xylon (ξύλον) for the horizontal crossbeam (the "patibulum") used in Roman crucifixions; he describes how the hands of the condemned man were tied to it (
χεῖρας ἀποτείναντες ἀμφοτέρας [...] προσδήσαντες) for him to be whipped while being led to the place of execution.
[60]
The Bible relates the method of Jesus’ execution to an ancient Israelite law. The law stipulated:
“If a man commits a sin deserving the sentence of death and he has been put to death and you have hung him on a stake, . . . the one hung up is something accursed of God.” (
Deuteronomy 21:22, 23) Referring to that law, the Christian apostle Paul wrote that Jesus became
“a curse instead of us, because it is written: ‘Accursed is every man hung upon a stake [xyʹlon].’” (
Galatians 3:13)
Paul knew exactly what he meant....shame the Churches don't.
So how does your Bible translate Revelation 18:12? Do you render it here as "stake" or as something else?
γόμον χρυσοῦ καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ λίθου τιμίου καὶ μαργαριτῶν καὶ βυσσίνου καὶ πορφύρας καὶ σιρικοῦ καὶ κοκκίνου, καὶ πᾶν
ξύλον θύϊνον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐλεφάντινον καὶ πᾶν σκεῦος ἐκ
ξύλου τιμιωτάτου καὶ χαλκοῦ καὶ σιδήρου καὶ μαρμάρου,
A pagan to his death, this is the man that changed the course of "the Church"....but hardly for the better. History tells us why. 