TY  - BOOK
AU  - Longenecker,Bruce W.
TI  - The cross before Constantine: the early life of a Christian symbol 
SN  - 9781451490305
AV  - BV160 .L66 2015
U1  - 246 23
KW  - Crosses
KW  - Christian art and symbolism
N1  - Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-206) and indexes; The cross in its place -- The cross and non-Christian society -- The cross in a Jewish cradle -- The cross in textual images -- The cross in the material record -- The cross in a Pompeii bakery -- The cross in the literary record -- The cross and its advocates -- A very short conclusion
N2  - "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."--Back cover
ER  -