deep Christian meaning. As St. Paul would say, “May I never boast of
anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has
been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). For Christians, the
cross only has significance because Our Lord Jesus Christ died upon it.
Apart from this fact, the cross has only a pagan or historical significance.
Thus, we see the value of the Catholic practice of placing an image of Our
Lord upon crosses to form the image of the Crucifix. It is a means to
“preach Christ crucified” and to show forth “the power of God and the
wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23).
Many Protestants use crosses in their churches and homes but object to
having crucifixes because they regard three-dimensional images to be idols
in breach of their second commandment. However, there exists a strange
inconsistency in all this, for if one peruses their children’s Bible-story
books one would discover many two-dimensional pictures of the
crucifixion!
Second objection: “Crucifixes should not be used because we worship
Christ risen, not crucified.”
Christ ought to be worshipped both as crucified and as risen. This is the
spirit shown by St. Paul in Galatians 6:14 and 1 Corinthians 1:23 quoted
above. Indeed, Christians should worship Him in all the stages of His
incarnation as He is the divine Son of God at all times. The above objection
fails to give full significance to the Crucifixion as the event (rather than the
resurrection) that paid the price for our sins. St. Paul himself said, “For I
decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).
There are some who claim that Our Lord Jesus Christ was in fact not
crucified on a cross at all, but instead was impaled to a punishment stake
with His two hands nailed together above His head rather than stretched
outwards to His right and left. The Jehovah’s Witnesses have been
propagating this position since 1930 (previously, from their foundation in
1879 they had held the Catholic position). Needless to say, there is nothing
in Scripture to support such a novel view. Rather there are numerous quotes
that can be cited to the contrary, for example:
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