Christian Crosses

From religionfacts.com:

The cross is one of the earliest and most widely used Christian symbol. In the most broad sense it symbolizes the religion of Christianity (and so appears at the top and left of this page). More specifically, it represents and memorializes Christ's death. A great variety of crosses has developed, some with specific symbolic meaning and others that have simply become culturally associated with certain groups.

The simplest and most common Christian cross is the Latin cross. It may not have come into use until the 2nd or 3rd century. The empty cross, usually favored by Protestants, reminds Christians of the resurrection, while the crucifix, with the body of Jesus on it, favored by Catholic and Orthodox churches, is a reminder of Christ's sacrifice.

The Greek cross, with arms of equal length, is the most ancient cross.

The cross of Calvary or Graded Cross has three steps leading up to it, which can represent the hill of calvary or faith, hope, and love.

The Celtic cross is distinguished by the circle around the cross bar and intricate designs throughout.

The Russian Orthodox cross consists of three bars, the lowest bar low and slanted. The top bar represents the "INRI" sign placed over Jesus' head. The meaning of the slanted bar is not known for sure, but probably represents St. Andrew's cross (which looks like an X). St. Andrew is believed to have introduced Christianity to Russia. The crosses in the above right picture sit atop the domes of the Kremlin. Note that they have a slightly different lower bar.

The papal cross is the official symbol of the papacy, and may be used only by the Pope. The three bars of the cross most likely represent the three realms of the Pope's authority: the church, the world, and heaven.

The baptismal cross has eight points, symbolizing regeneration (see Numbers). It is formed by combining the Greek cross with the Greek letter chi (X), the first letter of "Christ" in Greek.

The budded cross is a common form of the cross. Its trefoils represent the Trinity.

The conqueror's or victor's cross is the Greek cross with the first and last letters of "Jesus" and "Christ" on top, and the Greek word for conquerer, nika, on the bottom. The lines over the top letters indicate that they are abbreviations.

The triumphant cross with orb represents Christ reign over the world. It is often shown atop Christ's scepter in Christian art.

An inverted cross is the cross of St. Peter, who, according to tradition, was crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die the same way as Christ. As Catholics believe the pope to be a successor of St. Peter, the inverted cross is frequently used in connection with the papacy, such as on the papal throne and in papal tombs [photo]. It also symbolizes humility because of the story of Peter. The inverted cross has more recently been appropriated by Satanists as a symbol meant to oppose or invert Christianity.







References

1.Color illustrations on this page are the work of Walter E. Gast.

2.Carolle E. Whittenmore, ed., Symbols of the Church.

3.W.E. Post, Saints, Signs, and Symbols.

4.George Wells Ferguson, Signs & Symbols in Christian Art.

5.Frederick Rest, Our Christian Symbols.