Symbology of the Cross

I had a thought walking home today across Hythe Bridge in Oxford about the cross and it's representation in Protestant theology and liturgy....

What I was thinking about tonight walking home was the symbology of the cross as a representation of the Christian faith. Through about five minutes of internal discussion I reached the, at this point loosely held, conclusion.

The cross is insufficient symbologically. I purposefully use the Pauline language and mean this to be heretical in a religious sense. It is not the cross that tore the veil between myself and divinity but the work done upon it. In this sense, I find myself identifying with the traditionally Catholic depiction of the cross in which the passion of the Christ is addressed. This is why...

I feel that, particularly in the western Protestant tradition, we have and are continuing to lose our identification with the suffering of Christ. The absolute violence of what happened seems conspicuously overlooked. What does the cross mean? Is it simply a abstract expression of geometry employed as a unifying symbol; or a portrait of the suffering of Jesus? Symbol and representation, or perhaps intentional non-representation? In identifying, praying with, or simply looking upon the Christian cross, one is engaging in a type of knowledge production about it in the context of all Christendom. What it represents, but also what it doesn't represent. What of the message of Christ is excluded from the empty cross?

While I believe that the empty cross is generally meant to symbolize the work that is finished to most Christians, in my mind it does not adequately express the work that was done. If Christians were compelled to become more fully Christian subjects by systematically exposing themselves to the Passion of the Christ and not just the Resurrection, what would that mean? The somberness of our faith, or what CS Lewis called the "Weight of Glory" might be artificially abated by viewing and contemplation of an empty cross. There have been many empty crosses throughout history, but only one on which the Son of Man was crucified. How much of the weight of glory are we willing to assume?

Paul writes to the Corinthians

This is what I've been thinking about in this regard for some time now and will continue to unpack over the next several weeks.

Paul's first letter to the Corinthians:

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas; still another, "I follow Christ."

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

In the context of Church unity what does this mean?

That they may all be one

²⁰"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Several weeks ago I was reading through the Gospel of John and was really challenged by the John 17:21. The Gospel of John goes into more detail than the synoptic Gospels in regards to Jesus' final prayer at Gethsemane. John chapter 17 closes out Jesus' ministry on Earth right before the trial and crucifixion and this is how He chose to end the ministry. In this final prayer Jesus prays 3 times for unity in the Church and equates this unity to the Church's connection to himself and the Father.

In respect to the current state of the Church, I struggle with how to best operate in agreement with this desire of the heart of Christ. From dogmas to denominations, within the body of Christ, we often seem to look for ways to distinguish or differentiate ourselves in opposition to the complete unity that Christ calls for. Although many denominations have been birthed out of legitimate grievances with an established religious institution, (Protestantism in general) they are then used to further the divide between believers in Christ. Having experienced what I will call "denominationalism" (churches degrading other denominations, even sometimes from the pulpit), I question the validity of the very idea of denominations. Several questions that I would like to discuss moving forward.

1. Do denominations in the "Christian Church" (full body of believers in Jesus Christ as atonement and Savior) serve a valid purpose, or are they simply a sectarian development of the Enemy to breed discord in the Body of Christ. (I realize this is a strong statement.)

2. In all areas of our lives, social, political, religious, etc... we as humans identify ourselves by association ie... who we think like, who we act like, who we look like, etc... In respect to the Church, this tendency to identify with others who believe like US or ME, instead of WHO we believe in troubles me. Do denominations proliferate because we are trying to find identity within a religious group when our identity should find it's culmination in Christ, who unifies us all as one?