Christian symbolism
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Christian symbolism is defined as the investing of outward things or actions with an inner meaning the expression of Christian ideas. In a greater or less degree symbolism is essential, to every kind of external worship. Christianity has borrowed, without hesitation, from the common stock of significant symbols known to all periods and to all regions of the world. Religious symbolism is effective precisely in the measure in which it is sufficiently natural and simple to appeal to the intelligence of the people. The choice of suitable acts and objects for this symbolism is not so wide that it would be easy to avoid the appearance of an imitation of other traditions even if there had been a deliberate attempt invent an entirely new ritual.[1]
Symbols drawn from pre-Christian traditionsCommon in most Christian religious symbolism are emblems, figures or ideas drawn from the cultures which saw the origin of Christianity.[2] These symbols existed in those cultures and have been adopted and imbued with Christian meaning. The phoenix would come to stand for the Resurrection, the Egg represented rebirth. These are two examples of the incorporation of pagan symbols for use in Christian art and customs.[citation needed] Many Christian symbols were derived from specific allegories found in the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament.[3] Their use in Judaism predated the birth of Christ. Trees appear with symbolic meaning throughout Hebrew tradition. From the symbolic tree of knowledge of good and evil, through which the Fall of man and the curse of death came, to the tree of life - access to which mankind has been cut off - to promises concerning the root of Jesse, the branch, the Messiah, who would be hung on a tree to bear the curse, and would be raised up again for the healing of the nations.[3] Early Christian symbolsElemental symbolsElemental symbols were widely used by the early Christian church. Water has specific symbolic significance for Christians. Outside of baptism, water may represent cleansing or purity. Fire, especially in the form of a candle flame, represents both the Holy Spirit and light. The sources of these symbols derive from the Bible; for example from the tongues of fire that symbolised the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and from Jesus' description of his followers as the light of the world; or God is a consuming fire found in Hebrews 12.[3] IchthysAmong the symbols employed by the early Christians, that of the fish seems to have ranked first in importance. Indeed, from monumental sources such as tombs we know that the symbolic fish was familiar to Christians from the earliest times. It can be seen in such Roman monuments as the Capella Greca and the Sacrament Chapels of the catacomb of St Callistus. The fish was depicted as a Christian symbol in the first decades of the second century.[4] The symbol itself may have been suggested by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes or the repast of the seven Disciples, after the Resurrection, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.[5] Its popularity among Christians was due principally, it would seem, to the famous acrostic consisting of the initial letters of five Greek words forming the word for fish (Ichthys), which words briefly but clearly described the character of Christ and the claim to worship of believers: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, meaning, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.[4] Tomb paintingsChristians from the very beginning adorned their catacombs with paintings of Christ, of the saints, of scenes from the Bible and allegorical groups. The catacombs are the cradle of all Christian art. The first Christians had no prejudice against images, pictures, or statues. That idea has been abundantly dispelled by all students of Christian archaeology. The idea that they must have feared the danger of idolatry among their new converts is disproved in the simplest way by the pictures even statues, that remain from the first centuries.[6] Early Christians accepted the art of their time and used it, as well as a poor and persecuted community could, to express their religious ideas. From the second half of the first century to the time of Constantine the Great they buried their dead and celebrated their rites in these underground chambers. The Christian tombs were ornamented with indifferent or symbolic designs -- palms, peacocks, with the chi-rho monogram, with bas-reliefs of Christ as the Good Shepherd, or seated between figures of saints, and sometimes with elaborate scenes from the New Testament.[6] Other Christian symbols include the dove (symbolic of the Holy Spirit), the sacrificial lamb (symbolic of Christ's sacrifice), the vine (symbolising the necessary connectedness of the Christian with Christ) and many others. These all derive from the writings found the New Testament.[3] Other decorations that were common included garlands, ribands, stars landscapes, which had symbolic meanings, as well.[6] Cross and crucifixImage:Gerokreuz full 20050903.jpg
The Crucifix, a cross with corpus, a symbol used in Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and Roman Catholicism in contrast with some Protestant sects, which use only a cross.
The cross, which is today one of the most widely recognised symbols in the world, was used as a symbol from the earliest times. This is indicated in the anti-Christian arguments cited in the Octavius of Minucius Felix, chapters IX and XXIX, written at the end of that century or the beginning of the next,[7][8] and by the fact that by the early third century the cross had become so closely associated with Christ that Clement of Alexandria, who died between 211 and 216, could without fear of ambiguity use the phrase τὸ κυριακὸν σημεῖον (the Lord's sign) to mean the cross, when he repeated the idea, current as early as the Epistle of Barnabas, that the number 318 (in Greek numerals, ΤΙΗ) in Genesis 14:14 was a foreshadowing (a "type") of the cross (T, an upright with crossbar, standing for 300) and of Jesus (ΙΗ, the first two letter of his name ΙΗΣΟΥΣ, standing for 18),[9] and his contemporary Tertullian could designate the body of Christian believers as crucis religiosi, i.e. "devotees of the Cross".[10] In his book De Corona, written in 204, Tertullian tells how it was already a tradition for Christians to trace repeatedly on their foreheads the sign of the cross.[11] The Jewish Encyclopedia states:
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