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The Cross before Constantine The Early Life of a Christian Symbol
This book brings together, for the first time, the relevant material evidence demonstrating Christian use of the cross prior to Constantine. Bruce W. Longenecker upends a longstanding consensus that the cross was not a Christian symbol until Constantine appropriated it to consolidate his power in the fourth century.
Longenecker presents a wide variety of artifacts from across the Mediterranean basin that testify to the use of the cross as a visual symbol by some pre-Constantinian Christians. Those artifacts interlock with literary witnesses from the same period to provide a consistent and robust portrait of the cross as a pre-Constantinian symbol of Christian devotion.
The material record of the pre-Constantinian period illustrates that Constantine did not invent the cross as a symbol of Christian faith; for an impressive number of Christians before Constantines reign, the cross served as a visual symbol of commitment to a living deity in a dangerous world.
Publisher Name | Fortress Press |
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Author Name | Hagendorf, Col |
Format | Audio |
Bisac Subject Major | REL |
Language | NG |
Isbn 10 | 1451490305 |
Isbn 13 | 9781451490305 |
Target Age Group | min:NA, max:NA |
Dimensions | 00.89" H x 00.05" L x 90.00" W |
Page Count | 246 |