Anyone know what this sculpture is of the "torture stake?"

by charity7 36 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • charity7
    charity7

    Hey guys! I'm new on this site and am a non JW here married to a JW. My husband's family are active members and they daily post articles on facebook from JW.org which I know is meant for me to see and read. One that was posted the other day was the whole cross or torture stake issue. This was the picture in the article and I was wondering if anyone knows what this sculpture is from? It would be greatly appreciated!

  • shepherdless
    shepherdless

    Hi charity7

    I am also a non-JW married to a JW.

    I don't recognize that sculpture. It is either Greek or Roman, with that Corinthian column to the right.

    My short answer to the whole cross/torture stake issue is to point out that JW is the only Christian religion where you are required to believe the wooden implement was a particular shape.

    The long answer is set out in detail in the following old thread:

    https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/92381/facts-on-crucifixion-stauros-torture-stake

  • smiddy
    smiddy

    Welcome Charity 7

    ,Jehovahs Witnesses like to make a big deal about the instrument of Jesus crucifixion and by doing so cloud the reason for his crucifixion in Christian belief.

    Its a pity they dont make such a fuss about the name of GOD they claim to believe in and its more correct pronunciation of Yahweh instead of Jehovah a name a Catholic spanish monk came up with in the 13th century.

    Hebrew never had a J sounding letter.

    You could almost believe JW`s worship the Torture Stake instead of the cross the way they harp on it.

    Edit to add:This statue hung in the pleasure palace of one of the caesers of rome as romans were known for using the torture stake.

  • scratchme1010
    scratchme1010

    At first I was going to say that based on the architecture of the column in the back, it looks like it's Roman, or roman inspired, I'd say. The structure is not an ancient structure at all. If you look at the wall you can clearly see that there's no way any ancient structure would look like that or would be made of those materials. Then the walls reminded me of a place I was last October. A simple Google search lead me to:


    That is a sculpture named "The Torment of Marsyas", from the Department of Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities: Hellenistic Art (3rd-1st centuries BC), Museum of Louvre, Paris, France.

    I agree with smiddy regarding the obsession that the WT has with Jesus of Nazareth not being crucified. I don't get it. I hope this shed some light.

    My stance is that to me that's not relevant. If you believe or not in Jesus, how is his sacrifice affected by the position in which he was murdered?

  • Cold Steel
    Cold Steel

    The Romans also frequently used stakes with crossbeams. Jesus didn't carry the entire cross as is frequently seen in art, but only the crossbeam. Constantine's mother, who became a fervent convert to Christianity, went to Jerusalem and attempted to find the actual cross Jesus was crucified on. It's highly unlikely the Romans used simply a stake if she was looking for the entire cross. Her son was the emperor. He knew what kind of devices were used for killing and torture all over the empire, plus he claimed to have seen the cross in his mystical vision, and he was only a few hundred years removed from Jesus' crucifixion.

    Most Christians say it doesn't matter how Jesus was crucified, but there have been enough early drawings, illustrations of crucifixions, that we can say upright stakes were not used during Roman crucifixions in 30-35 A.D.

    The real problem with the religious sect is that it has all the aspects of a man-made religion. It was created by men without the instrumentality of God. Anciently God played an active part in bringing about His purposes. Now we're told He plays a passive role in letting man create an organization, then subsequently choosing it as He allegedly did in 1919.

    The question is why God changed?

  • Anders Andersen
  • redpilltwice
    redpilltwice

    Wow Anders, very good tips...

    HAHAHAHAHAHHAHH!

    I'm sorry... Welcome Charity.

  • shepherdless
    shepherdless

    Well resolved, scratchme.

    It appears Marsyas was a legendary Greek who was strung up and whipped to death. Looks like another pathetic JW deception effort to support Watchtower nonsense, can be dismissed.

  • redpilltwice
    redpilltwice

    Whipped to death???

    Holy s%¥t THAT is brutal.

    But not very clever to borrow a torture stake from Greek mythology in order to prove a religious point as part of "the truth".

  • truth_b_known
    truth_b_known

    It looks like the poor fellow is not impaled to the tree, but bound to it by straps.

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