The Symbolism of the Cross
The Symbolism of the Cross

Author: René Guénon

Publisher: Sophia Perennis

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 9780900588655

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The Symbolism of the Cross is a major doctrinal study of the central symbol of Christianity from the standpoint of the universal metaphysical tradition, the 'perennial philosophy' as it is called in the West. As Guernon points out, the cross is one of the most universal of all symbols and is far from belonging to Christianity alone. Indeed, Christians have sometimes tended to lose sight of its symbolism of its symbolical significance and to regard it as no more than the sign of a historical event. By restoring to the full spiritual value as a symbol, but without in any way detracting from its historical importance for Christianity, Guenon has performed a task of inestimable importance which perhaps only he, with his unrivaled knowledge of the symbolic languages of both East and West, was qualified to perform.

The Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross

Author: Bert Ghezzi

Publisher: Loyola Press

Published: 2009-06-10

Total Pages: 107

ISBN-13: 0829430768

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Christians worldwide have been blessing themselves with the sign of the cross for centuries. But few who use this simple, familiar gesture know its impact as a powerful prayer. Author Bert Ghezzi shows how this potent prayer engages the Holy Spirit and affirms Christian identity. With insights derived from Scripture, church teachings, and personal experience, Ghezzi encourages people to utilize this powerful sign in their daily life. Drawing on the fascinating history of the sign of the cross, Ghezzi reveals six dynamic truths of the spiritual life that God gives. The Sign of the Cross brings forth an opening to God, renewal of baptism, mark of discipleship, acceptance of suffering, defense agains the devil, and victory over self-indulgence. This inspirational book brings to life the blessings of this ancient prayer and guides Christians to a renewed experience of God.

Devil on the Cross
Devil on the Cross

Author: Ngugi wa Thiong'o

Publisher: Heinemann

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9780435908447

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Devil on the Cross tells the tragic story of Wariinga, a young woman who emigrated from her small rural town to the city of Nairobi only to be exploited by her boss and later a corrupt businessman.

The Cross
The Cross

Author: Robin M. Jensen

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2017-04-17

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 0674088808

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The cross stirs intense feelings among Christians as well as non-Christians. Robin Jensen takes readers on an intellectual and spiritual journey through the two-thousand-year evolution of the cross as an idea and an artifact, illuminating the controversies—along with the forms of devotion—this central symbol of Christianity inspires. Jesus’s death on the cross posed a dilemma for Saint Paul and the early Church fathers. Crucifixion was a humiliating form of execution reserved for slaves and criminals. How could their messiah and savior have been subjected to such an ignominious death? Wrestling with this paradox, they reimagined the cross as a triumphant expression of Christ’s sacrificial love and miraculous resurrection. Over time, the symbol’s transformation raised myriad doctrinal questions, particularly about the crucifix—the cross with the figure of Christ—and whether it should emphasize Jesus’s suffering or his glorification. How should Jesus’s body be depicted: alive or dead, naked or dressed? Should it be shown at all? Jensen’s wide-ranging study focuses on the cross in painting and literature, the quest for the “true cross” in Jerusalem, and the symbol’s role in conflicts from the Crusades to wars of colonial conquest. The Cross also reveals how Jews and Muslims viewed the most sacred of all Christian emblems and explains its role in public life in the West today.

The Cross and the Lynching Tree
The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Author: James H. Cone

Publisher: Orbis Books

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 160833001X

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A landmark in the conversation about race and religion in America. "They put him to death by hanging him on a tree." Acts 10:39 The cross and the lynching tree are the two most emotionally charged symbols in the history of the African American community. In this powerful new work, theologian James H. Cone explores these symbols and their interconnection in the history and souls of black folk. Both the cross and the lynching tree represent the worst in human beings and at the same time a thirst for life that refuses to let the worst determine our final meaning. While the lynching tree symbolized white power and "black death," the cross symbolizes divine power and "black life" God overcoming the power of sin and death. For African Americans, the image of Jesus, hung on a tree to die, powerfully grounded their faith that God was with them, even in the suffering of the lynching era. In a work that spans social history, theology, and cultural studies, Cone explores the message of the spirituals and the power of the blues; the passion and of Emmet Till and the engaged vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.; he invokes the spirits of Billie Holliday and Langston Hughes, Fannie Lou Hamer and Ida B. Well, and the witness of black artists, writers, preachers, and fighters for justice. And he remembers the victims, especially the 5,000 who perished during the lynching period. Through their witness he contemplates the greatest challenge of any Christian theology to explain how life can be made meaningful in the face of death and injustice.

Why the Cross
Why the Cross

Author: John Blanchard

Publisher:

Published: 2010-02

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13: 9780852347386

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For centuries symbols have been used as a means of identification, often in an immediate, compact and powerful way. For some 2,000 years Christianity has had a symbol that is universally recognized - a simple cross. Yet the cross represents not the character, life or teaching of the founder of Christianity, but the gruesome way in which he was put to death while still in his early thirties. For millions today a cross has become little more than a charm or good luck bracelet, tattooed on their bodies or worn as jewellery. The huge gap between the original event and the current symbol therefore raises some massive questions: Why has the symbol remained so universally popular? Was there anything unique about the crucifixion of Jesus? Why was he put to death? What difference can it make to me today? Here is a booklet that answers all these questions - and many more.

Symbolism of the Celtic Cross
Symbolism of the Celtic Cross

Author: Derek Bryce

Publisher: Weiser Books

Published: 1995-11-01

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1609256549

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A guide to the basic symbolism of the Celtic Cross, featuring rare illustrations. Did you know that the basic symbolism of the cross is that of the world axis, or the link between Heaven and Earth? Or that the main feature of the ornamented Celtic Cross, the wheel cross, is not derived from the crucifixion, but from a more ancient symbol the Chi-Rho monogram, which is the name of Christ in the Greek alphabet? In Symbolism of the Celtic Cross, Derek Bryce traces the pagan-Christian link of the essential symbolism of the axis mundi from standing stones and market crosses (at crossroads and not always “crosses” in form) to the inscribed slabs and freestanding crosses of the Celtic-Christian era. He includes rare illustrations of ornamental Celtic Crosses from such places as Brittany, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Cumbria, Ireland, and Cornwall. Bryce explores esoteric aspects of the symbolism, alchemy, and the wisdom of Hermes.

Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power
Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power

Author: René Guénon

Publisher: Sophia Perennis

Published: 2001

Total Pages: 120

ISBN-13: 9780900588471

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Spiritual Authority and Temporal Power is an analysis of cyclical manifestation, and more specifically of the relationship between royal and sacerdotal power. In accord with the Hindu doctrine of manvantaras and Plato's depiction of historical degeneration in the Republic, Guénon views history here as a series of 'revolts' of lower castes against the higher. The kshatriyas (warriors) revolt against the brahmins (priests), thus setting the stage for a revolt of the vaishyas (loosely, the bourgeoisie), as in the French revolution-and, finally, the shudras (the proletariat), as in the Russian revolution (which Guénon does not touch upon in this work). From one point of view, this is a progressive degeneration; from another it is entirely lawful, given the 'entropic' nature of manifestation itself. External, historical descent reflects an inner degeneration: knowledge (the celestial paradise) is eclipsed by heroic action (the terrestrial paradise), which is in turn overrun by the inertia and agitation of the passions. Yet the nadir of degeneration is also the point of renewal: the dawning of the Heavenly Jerusalem-spiritual Knowledge-which begins a new cycle of manifestation.