The History of “Cross” as a Religious Symbol

Abstract

The use of crosses as religious symbols, did not start with Christianity but reaches far back into antiquity. Variations can be found in almost every ancient religions. The cross is usually thought to be an early church symbol but it wasn’t. The reason is because the cross was a symbol of pain and suffering. It is then that the cross became a symbol of conquering death. Constantine also made the cross a popular icon when he reportedly was told by God to put a cross on all of his shields around 320 C.E. In a Christian sense the cross signifies acceptance of sacrifice, suffering and death as well as immortality. There are many shapes of crosses but tewenty of them well known and important in the Christian world. We gived in this paper some information about the cross as a religious symbol before and after Christianity