Christianity Today Denies the Cross…literally…on Resurrection Weekend
Earlier today, Christianity Today published an article suggesting that Jesus was not crucified on a cross but was instead bound with ropes in a manner that diverges from the traditional understanding of His death. This hypothesis, presented on the eve of Resurrection Sunday, is not only historically implausible but also scripturally baseless and culturally subversive. The claim undermines one of Christianity’s most central symbols—the cross—and aligns with a broader pattern of ideological deconstruction aimed at eroding historic Christian faith.
HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE CROSS
The historical record of Roman crucifixion is robust, and the evidence overwhelmingly supports the use of a wooden cross as the instrument of Jesus’ execution. Crucifixion was a well-documented Roman practice, reserved for slaves, rebels, and non-citizens, designed to maximize suffering, humiliation, and deterrence. The idea that Jesus was crucified using ropes alone, without a cross, contradicts both primary sources and archaeological findings.
Roman crucifixion typically involved a wooden structure, most commonly a cross consisting of a vertical post (stipes) and a horizontal beam (patibulum). The condemned often carried the patibulum to the execution site, where it was affixed to the stipes. Ancient sources, including Roman historians and writers, describe this process in detail. For example, the Roman philosopher Seneca (c. 4 BCE–65 CE) wrote of crucifixion victims with “outstretched arms” on crosses, noting variations but affirming the use of a crossbeam. Similarly, the historian Tacitus refers to crucifixion as a standard punishment, with victims affixed to wooden structures.
Archaeological evidence further corroborates this. In 1968, a significant discovery in Jerusalem revealed the remains of a crucified man, Yehohanan, from the first century. A seven-inch iron nail was found driven through his heel bone, indicating attachment to a wooden cross. Another find in Cambridgeshire, England, in 2017, confirmed a similar method, with nails securing the victim’s feet to a cross. These findings align with the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion, which describe nails piercing His hands and feet (John 20:25–27).
NON-CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY
Non-Christian sources from the first and second centuries also affirm that Jesus was crucified on a cross. The Jewish historian Josephus, in his Antiquities of the Jews , mentions Jesus’ crucifixion under Pontius Pilate, consistent with Roman practices involving a cross. The Roman historian Tacitus, in Annals, confirms that Jesus was executed by crucifixion, a punishment synonymous with the cross in Roman contexts. Even the satirical Alexamenos Graffito, a Roman caricature mocking a Christian worshipper, depicts a figure on a T-shaped cross, indicating that the cross was widely associated with Jesus’ death by the early second century.
The notion of a rope-based execution lacks any such corroboration. While ropes were sometimes used to bind victims to the cross before nailing (as noted in the Acts of Andrew, where ropes secured the apostle’s arms and feet without nails), there is no evidence of a crucifixion method relying solely on ropes. The Christianity Today hypothesis appears to cherry-pick ambiguous references to ropes in ancient texts, ignoring the broader context of crucifixion as a nailed, cross-based execution.
Early Christian writers consistently describe Jesus’ crucifixion on a cross. Ignatius of Antioch, in his Letter to the Ephesians, likens the cross to a “crane” that lifts believers to God, with the Holy Spirit as the “rope” and faith as the “pulley.” This metaphorical language presupposes a physical cross. Tertullian, in An Answer to the Jews, describes the cross as having a central pole and crossbeam, comparing it to a ship’s mast with a “unicorn” (midway stake). Clement of Alexandria refers to the cross as the “Lord’s sign,” symbolized by the Greek letter tau (T), which represented the cross’s shape.
These early sources, written within a century or two of Jesus’ death, reflect a uniform tradition of crucifixion on a cross. The rope hypothesis, by contrast, emerges from modern speculation, lacking any ancient attestation.
SCRIPTURAL AFFIRMATION OF THE CROSS
The New Testament provides clear evidence that Jesus was crucified on a cross, with nails piercing His hands and feet, fulfilling Old Testament prophecies and establishing the cross as the central symbol of redemption. The rope hypothesis contradicts these texts and undermines their theological significance.
The four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—describe Jesus’ crucifixion in terms consistent with a cross. John 20:25–27 is particularly explicit, where Thomas demands to see the marks of the nails in Jesus’ hands and side, and Jesus invites him to touch them. The Greek word for “nails” (ἧλος, hēlos) denotes metal spikes, not ropes. Psalm 22:16, prophetically applied to Jesus, speaks of His hands and feet being “pierced,” a term (כָּרָה, karah) that implies a sharp instrument like a nail, not a rope.
The Gospels also describe Jesus carrying the cross (John 19:17) or its crossbeam (Matthew 27:32), consistent with Roman practice. The inscription “King of the Jews” was placed above Jesus’ head (Matthew 27:37), implying a cross with a vertical and horizontal structure, as a rope suspension would not accommodate such a sign. Furthermore, the breaking of the thieves’ legs (John 19:32) to hasten death assumes a cross, where victims pushed up to breathe, a mechanism incompatible with rope suspension.
FULFILLMENT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
The cross fulfills specific Old Testament prophecies that the rope hypothesis cannot account for. Deuteronomy 21:23 declares that anyone “hanged on a tree” is cursed, a passage Paul applies to Jesus in Galatians 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” The Greek word ξύλον (xylon), used here and in Acts 5:30, can mean “tree,” “wood,” or “cross,” but in the context of Roman crucifixion, it refers to the wooden cross. The “tree” imagery connects Jesus’ death to the redemptive act of bearing humanity’s curse, a theological motif that requires a physical wooden structure, not a rope.
Psalm 22, quoted by Jesus on the cross (“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”; Matthew 27:46), describes a scene of piercing and public execution, with the victim’s garments divided (v. 18), mirroring the soldiers’ actions (John 19:23–24). Isaiah 53:5 speaks of the Messiah being “pierced for our transgressions,” reinforcing the imagery of nails, not ropes. These prophecies anchor the cross as the instrument of atonement, a truth central to Christian theology.
The cross is not merely a historical detail but a theological necessity. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross symbolizes God’s victory over sin and death, a truth embodied in its physical form. Colossians 2:14–15 declares that Jesus “canceled the record of debt that stood against us” by nailing it to the cross, where He “disarmed the rulers and authorities.” The act of nailing, both literal and metaphorical, underscores the cross’s role as the site of cosmic reconciliation.
A rope-based execution lacks this symbolic weight. Ropes suggest impermanence and flexibility, whereas the cross’s rigid, unyielding structure reflects the enduring, unchanging nature of Christ’s sacrifice. The rope hypothesis thus dilutes the theological power of the cross, reducing it to a speculative anomaly.
From the earliest days of Christianity, the cross was revered as the instrument of salvation and a symbol of faith. Early Christian traditions, art, and practices affirm this, contradicting the rope hypothesis and highlighting its disconnect from historic Christianity.
THE CROSS, FROM THE EARLIEST AGES
By the second century, Christians were making the sign of the cross as a devotional practice. Tertullian, in De Corona (204 CE), describes Christians tracing the cross on their foreheads, a tradition that presupposes its centrality. The Epistle of Barnabas (c. 70–130 CE) interprets the number 318 in Genesis 14:14 as a typological reference to the cross (T = 300) and Jesus (IH = 18), showing early recognition of the cross’s shape and significance.
The cross’s shape, often depicted as a tau or Latin cross, became a visual shorthand for this victory, appearing in catacombs, amulets, and liturgical objects. The rope hypothesis, by contrast, lacks any symbolic resonance in early Christian thought, rendering it alien to the faith’s foundational imagery.
The Christianity Today article’s timing—published on the eve of Resurrection Sunday—suggests more than mere scholarly speculation. It aligns with a historical pattern of subversive ideologies targeting the symbolic imagery of their opponents to weaken their cultural and spiritual authority. By questioning the cross, Christianity Today engages in a form of deconstruction that undermines historic Christianity’s core identity.
Read more at Insight to Incite here…
About Author
