CROSS (kros), (Gr. erravp6s. stow-ros).
(1) Origin and Form. This word is derived from the Latin crux. Respecting the origin of its Greek representative there is some diversity of opinion. According to Eustathius and Hesychius, the Greek .,tanros, cross, is so called from its standing erect, or from its standing with its arms Horizontal. Latin etymologists also derive the word from the Greek word his'-tay-mee, to place. In its general acceptation the cross is an instru ment of punishment, and, metaphorically, punish ment itself, as well as the pain which it inflicts, and generally any severe suffering or heavy trial. Instead of stauros the Greek word skolops, stake, is sometimes found as equivalent to the Latin Crux.
In its simplest form, consisting of two pieces of wood, one standing erect, the other crossing it at right angles, the cross was known at an early age in the history of the world. Its use as an instru ment of punishment was probably suggested by the shape so often taken by branches of trees, which seem to have been the first crosses that were employed. Trees are known to have been used as crosses (Tertull. Ap. viii :16), and to every kind of hanging which bore a resemblance to crucifixion, such as that of Prometheus. Andromeda, etc., the name was commonly applied. Among the Scy thians, Persians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, and the ancient Germans, traces are found of the cross as an instrument of punishment.
(2) The Simple Cross. According to Lipsius and Gretser there were in general two kinds of crosses: (1) Crux simplex and (2) crux com posita or compacta. The first consisted of a stake on which the criminal was fastened or by which he was impaled. For the first kind of punishment a tree or a specially prepared stake was used, on which the criminal was bound, and either left to perish or immediately put to death. For impaling (infixio) a long and sharpened piece of wood (pale) was employed, on which the criminal was put as on a spit.
(3) The Compound Cross. Of the crux com posita or compound cross there were three sorts: 1, crux decussata ; 2, crux cornmissa ; 3, crux im missa. The crux decussata is also called An
drew's cross, because tradition reports that on a cross of this kind the Apostle Andrew suffered death. Jerome (Comment. on Jerem. c :31) de scribes this cross, saying in effect that the name indicates two lines cutting each other after the manner of the letter X. So Isidorus Hisp. (Orig. 1, 1, 3) says that the letter X denotes a cross and the number ten.
The classic work upon the cross and the cruci fixion of Jesus is Justus Lipsius's (d. 16o6) Dc Cruse, 1595.
(4) The Crux Commissa. The crux commis sa, Lipsius states, was formed by putting a cross piece of wood on a perpendicular one, so that no part of the latter may stand above the former. Of the crux immissa, or, as others prefer to term it, crux capitata, the following is given as the description :—a cross in which the longer piece of wood or pale stands above the shorter piece which runs across it near the top. It is tinguished from the preceding by the part of the longer beam which is above the shorter or trans verse. This form is found in paintings more fre quently than any other, and on a cross of this kind our Saviour is believed by Lipsius to have suffered death. But in 1878, Herman Fulda, pas tor near Halle, Germany, issued a work entitled Das Kreuz and die Kreuzigung, which maintains that Lipsius and all his followers are wrong. This statement he fortifies by a fresh examination of the sources. According to Fulda, the cross of Jesus was a post. His hands were nailed on either side of it ; his feet, the knees being much bent, were fastened by a stout cord to this post, but not nailed, and they, together with the nailed hands, supported the body. Owing to haste, he deems it probable that the customary "seat" fastened to the cross as a partial support was wanting. Fulda finds in this extremely painful position one reason for the speedy death of Jesus, which occasioned Pilate's incredulity. (See CRUCIFIXION.) The three forms of the cross enlarged are as fol lows (the first is the usual form ; the second is probably the oldest).