The Stake is a more pagan symbol than the Cross

by jwfacts 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jwfacts

  I just found an interesting Sumerian myth that I wanted to share.

  The Watchtower claims that the cross was not used by ‘true Christians’ and is of pagan origins.( Watchtower 1989 May 1 p.26 “ It reveres a pagan symbol masquerading as Christian.”) It is incorrect that early Christians did not use the cross. What I find highly amusing is the concept that the cross is pagan, because a stake is more pagan than a cross.

  The idea of Jesus dieing on a stake mimics the ancient Sumerian myth of Inanna. Inanna descended into the nether world. There she was turned into a corpse by the seven judges and “the corpse was hung from a stake” for three days and nights. After this she was resurrected by the instructions of Enki, the god of fertility. ( The Hero with a Thousand Faces , Joseph Campbell, 1973, See also Mythology A Visual Encylopedia , Jo Forty 1999) If the Watchtower Society wants to find pagan concepts in the death of Jesus they need look no further than their own teaching of a stake.

  A stake or pole has as great a sexual connotation as the cross and significant pagan usage. In Christian times the phallus was represented by the pole shaped Obelisk of the Egyptians and Romans and the Hindu Lingam.
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  AuldSoul

  Great point, jwfacts!

  Also the sacred poles erected on the high places and the groves of trees worshipped as phallic fertility symbols are condemned throughout the Bible, but the cross is never condemned.

  Respectfully,
  AuldSoul
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  Honesty

  The Watchtower will say anything to contradict the Bible that they claim to follow:

  1 Cor 1:18-19 For to those who are perishing the message of the cross is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is God’s power.

  For it is written:

  I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts
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  hooberus

  A stake or pole has as great a sexual connotation as the cross and significant pagan usage.

  In the past I searched the Watchtower CD for pagan references to the pole (I think I typed in "upright pole")- sure enough they admit it.
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  hooberus

  Also the sacred poles erected on the high places and the groves of trees worshipped as phallic fertility symbols are condemned throughout the Bible, but the cross is never condemned.

  good point
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  Benjamin Belial

  Yeah, the Old Testament mentions "cutting down their sacred poles."

  Anyway, the Cross is definately a pagan symbol. A stake is pretty generic; I mean, it's a straight line. You could find anything and say it's a comparison to that.

  Look, the scroll bar on my window here is in the form of a stake. What about vampires?

  VAMPIRE HUNTER J

  Seriously though, the Bible has Pagan origins. You can say stake or cross but it all has the same origin. Odin was lashed to a tree after being cut with a spear, I mean you can sit and make comparisons like this all day. Jesus was crucified on a mound. Why a mound? Any relation to the sacrifices people used to make to various mother goddesses... on mounds? Relation to the mound of creation found in various myths?

  I could write a whole essay about Jesus' death being a blood sacrifice to the earth mother on the mound of creation, etc, but I won't. At least not right now.
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  AuldSoul

  Anyway, the Cross is definately a pagan symbol.

  So is the wedding ring and the finger it's placed on. My point is, like the wedding ring, the cross is never specifically addressed as a pagan symbol in the Bible. But upright poles of wood are. Why make such a big deal of pagan origin of the one the Bible never specifically mentions one way or the other as being a pagan symbol?

  Respectfully,
  AuldSoul
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  Benjamin Belial

  the cross is never specifically addressed as a pagan symbol in the Bible. But upright poles of wood are. Why make such a big deal of pagan origin of the one the Bible never specifically mentions one way or the other as being a pagan symbol?

  Because JW's don't go around with poles tied around their necks.
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  jwfacts

  Excellent point AuldSoul. Most things have been used by 'Pagans' at some time or other. But the pole is one of the few things actually mentioned as such in the bible.
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  MegaDude

  I also note that the Watchtower loves to use a watch tower as a symbol of its organization. They put it on their magazines and wear the watch tower symbol on their id tags at assemblies. The cross is simply a symbol also.