The Cross before Constantine: The Early Life of a Christian Symbol

by Bruce W. Longenecker

Upending a longstanding consensus, Bruce W. Longenecker presents a wide variety of material artifacts to illustrate that Christians made use of the cross as a visual symbol of their faith long before Constantine appropriated it to consolidate his power in the fourth century. Constantine did not invent the cross as a symbol of Christian faith; for an impressive number of Christians before Constantine's reign, the cross served as a visual symbol of commitment to a living deity in a dangerous world.

Genres: History

261 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2015

About the author

Dr. Longenecker specializes in the origins of Christianity, including the following emphases: Early Christianity in its Greco-Roman context; Jesus-devotion in the Vesuvian towns (Pompeii and Herculaneum); the life and theology of Paul; care for the needy among Christian communities of the Greco-Roman world.

Dr. Longenecker joined the Baylor faculty in August 2009, having taught previously at St Andrews University (Scotland, 1999-2009), Cambridge University (England, 1995-1999) and Durham University (England, 1991-1995).

- Ph.D. in Theology; University of Durham, England (1986-90).
- M.Rel. in New Testament Studies;Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada (1983-86)
- B.A. in Biblical and Religious Studies; Wheaton College, Illinois, U.S.A. (1979-83)

Reviews

[Shaun Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely technical book that bible scholars would find useful for research purposes. The generous amount of pictures complements the thorough research and referencing of modern bible commentators, ancient bible historians and non-canonical books. The amount of background study and seamless arrangement into an extremely easy-to-read format is astounding and commendable. The book most definitely was a labour of love.

Longenecker puts forth a simple proposition, that the cross was recognised and used as a Christian symbol even before used it for his political ends. I'll stop here in case I spoil your enjoyment of being taken through the journey in the unfolding chapters. if you have read the book, it would go a long way into prompting you to reconsider the plausibility of a widely retold Christian myth.

A side observation is that the book is printed on very good quality paper with excellent crisp and solid ink.

I received this book from Augsburg Fortress Press for the purposes of providing an unbiased review. All views are my own.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book off-and-on, but it probably would have been better to read it straight through. In general, there is very little in the way of interpretation in this book. A good portion of the book deals with the misconception regarding the persecution of the early church, and how the symbol/sign of the cross is understood in light of that misconception. Longnecker's goal appears to be to show the following: rather than the cross being unused by pre-Constantinian Christians who were avoiding persecution and death, the cross appears to have a substantial (though not universal) use among diverse groups of Christians through the Roman Empire. His method for argumentation is to show that cross shapes from that time period are indeed Christian. I am not familiar enough with the interpretation of archaeological evidence to weigh Longnecker's arguments thoroughly, but if he does well in this regard--I should leave it to others to decide--I think Longnecker makes his point well. Where more work could be done is on the meaning attached to the cross shapes by various Christians. The final chapter (before the conclusion, that is) gives tantalizing hints to this effect, but it would have been far more interesting to have a book-length version of this chapter.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent survey of Christian use of the cross symbol in the first three centuries, and its pre-Christian usage in second temple Judaism.

[Christopher Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Longenecker makes a compelling case that the cross was a widespread Christian symbol before the 4th century. Reading about that may or may not sound like a compelling book to you, but along the way, he unpacks some fascinating details--the "cross" in Jewish literature and symbolism, misconceptions about early Christian society, a great chapter on the cross in the material record, and a good dose of Pompeii at the end.

The other thing is this book is relatively short--188 pages. You can fly through this and feel like you've tackled a very specific and interesting subfield. Overall, a great read and reference tool for the future.

[Michael Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in conjunction with a Bible study on the same topic, this is a great book! The consensus opinion--refuted in this book--is that "the cross" had little to no use or function in early Christianity until Constantine appropriated it as a symbol of the Roman Empire. Not so!
You'll especially be intrigued by the discovery of a cross on the wall of a bakery in Pompeii, destroyed in 79 A.D. (earlier than much of what is written in the New Testament)!
Well worth reading and sharing.

[Victoria Gaile]

One Amazon reviewer described it as more of an art history book - given how much I liked Sacred Shock: Framing Visual Experience in Byzantium, that sounds appealing to me.

[Christopher Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author does a great job of shattering the myth the cross had no place in Christian symbolism before Constantine by analyzing the extensive evidence to the contrary both in early Christian writings and among ancient artifacts from the early days of the Christian church.

[Mark Suriano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting study!

An interesting and nuanced study that addresses a frequent assumption that the cross played no significant role in pre-Constantinian Christianities.