What is the Cross?

The Cross as Destroyer

The cross had a rather gruesome place in the history of punishment.  Originating in Persia, it was used by the Romans as a deterrent -- against mutinous troops, conquered peoples, and to wear down cities under siege.  Those condemned to it would be flogged first, forced to carry the cross or one of its beams, then nailed or tied to it where it would take many hours, sometimes days, to die a painful death.

In keeping with their purpose, crosses were mounted in public squares or along busy highways to serve as a warning for passersby.  During the Christian persecutions by Nero, the crucified were burned along the roads as human torches.

The Cross as Salvation

But with Jesus' death, the cross was transformed into a vehicle of salvation.  On it, the Son of God died; and by means of His death, rose again, making it possible for all to join Him in eternal life.  This miraculous event is why the Armenian cross often features rays shooting out from its center (agn in Armenian, for "eye"); with leaves, or wheat and grapes flaring from its base; or with other ornamentation meant to emphasize its life-giving character.

The cross also began to signify kinship and common life with our Lord.  We are asked to take up His cross and follow Him so that in this symbolic death, we truly become alive (Mark 8:34-35).

In early centuries, the cross began to figure prominently in Christian piety. People signed their foreheads (the earliest mention of that activity coming from the great Church father Tertullian in the late 2nd century).  It appeared in the catacombs.  After Christianity was established as a state-sanctified religion in the early 4th century, the cross began to appear on buildings and altars and on clerical vestments. 

It was as late as the 11th century that the crucifix appeared (the cross adorned with the dead Christ), a form of the cross never adopted by the Armenian Church.  We continue to emphasize, in the spirit of the Early Church, the cross as a symbol of redemption.