Stake vs. Cross

From article by Ray Aldridge-
While I was a practising Jehovah’s Witness it always puzzled me as to why practically all other beliefs confirmed that Jesus was crucified on a cross when it was so clear to us that it was a stake. At the time I never really fully critiqued this issue until recently, so felt it was a good opportunity to review this particular chapter while this was fresh in my mind.
The chapter rightly starts by defining Cross as the Device on which Christ was executed, and then goes on to explain that the original Greek word used was “Stauros”, which we all agree with.
However, it then goes on to explain that in classical Greek this word meant merely an “upright stake”, and then unpacks a list of references to try and support this, namely P.Fairbairn, liddel & Scott, the companion Bible, encyclopaedia Britannia, Bible Dictionaries etc.
This is all fine in the context that Stauros could mean Stake, but what is missing here is more importantly how did this word develop over time and more specifically in terms of how the Romans applied it when it came to this form of punishment.
Let’s then be factual here:
Firstly Stauros over time developed into a number of different “devices” namely stake, cross etc and it was common that the Romans use of the Cross over the stake was the “preferred form of punishment”.
Why? Well it was simply due to the fact that the cross would significantly prolong the life of the victim.
Quoting research contained at F.T. Zugibe, 1984 Death by Crucifixion, Canadian Society of Forensic Science 17(1):1-13.6 it shows that on a cross, rather than a rapid death from asphyxiation death it can take hours or days to die from hypovolemic shock. On the other hand, death on a stake is rapid. Summarising research by P. Barbet 1953 Les Cinq Plaies du Christ 2nd ed. Paris: Procure du Carmel de l’ Action de Graces;
“Eye Witness accounts by prisoners of war in Dacchu during WWII reported that victims suspended from beams by their wrist, which were tied, expired within ten minutes if their feet were weighted or tied down and within one hour if their feet were unweighted and the victim was able to raise and lower himself to permit respiration. Death in this manner, which is one form of crucifixion, was the result of suffocation.”
The length of time Jesus and the other two survived after impalement shows they were likely supported on a cross by a sedile.
Secondly, just because as the chapter alludes to, the cross originated from “pagan” roots, but that as it may, has nothing to do with the fact that Romans simply used it as a preferred choice, and it was purely for punishment purposes and not to carry out any act that would link to pagan rituals etc. The chapter just goes on to quote various uses of a cross or similar symbols, but this to me is just a smoke screen from the fact just mentioned and therefore has no relevance. You could say the same for a circle, just because it was used in so many pagan activities, does that make it wrong to use it in any other way?
Thirdly, a bit of a side note but very relevant; If Jehovah’s Witnesses Organisation was Gods Spokesman from the day it was founded, then why would they have actually taught that Jesus was executed on a cross for a good part of 50 years?
Fourthly, despite the chapter not referring to any verse that specifically confirms or provides any clue, are there any scriptures that help prove which device Jesus was crucified on?
Again amazingly the chapter fails to recognise a number of key scriptures, which help hugely that it must have been a cross.
The accounts at Matthew 27:26, 31-37, Mark 15:14-26, Luke 23:26-38, and John 19:1-22 all show that Jesus was forced to follow the practice of carrying the stauron to Golgotha. As seen from Dionysius quoted later, it was a Roman practice for the victim to carry the crossbeam, or patibulum to site of execution. There the patibulum was affixed to an upright stake.
John 19:17 “And, bearing the torture stake for himself, (bastazón hautó ton stauron), he went out to the so-called Skull Place, which is called Gol´go·tha in Hebrew.”
In the Watchtower publication Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life there is only one nail and it goes through the wrist and not the hands, due to it being a stake, not a cross. Compare this to what Thomas stated at John 20:25; “unless I see in his hands the print of the nails and stick my finger into the print of the nails and stick my hand into his side, I will certainly not believe”.
Jesus was crucified with two nails, one in each hand, not a single nail through the wrist. That separate nails were in each hand is made clear by the use of the word ‘nails’ not ‘nail’. This suggests that Jesus had his arms separated on a cross, not together on a stake as represented in Watchtower publications.
Matthew 27:37 also supports the idea of a cross rather than a stake when it says;
“Above his head they had put the charge against him in writing: ‘THIS IS JESUS, KING OF THE JEWS’ “.
Finally, the chapter attempts to prove that Christians idolize the Cross, and why would one want to make a replica of the instrument of execution?
Yes we can agree with the verse sited for this, 1 Corinthians 10:14, that we should flee from idolatry, but as we factually know Christians over the world believe intrinsically that the cross as purely a holy symbolic of what Jesus did for us and that he also asks us to carry our “cross” as a way to explain that we need to “die in our old selves” and be renewed in Christ. So it is more about the cross representing a spiritual approach toward Christ and his work of salvation.
Moreso, no Christian bows down to a cross or in any way “worships” the cross, so again this notion of idolatry is simply unfounded.
This review only covers the key areas in brief, but there is exhaustive evidence to support that Christ was executed on a cross, so you have to ask yourself, taking into account all of the above and the total evidence that is readily available, why do Jehovah’s Witnesses stick to their belief of the Stake?
For me, I can only conclude that it is both deliberate, and divisive, to try and find another way to discredit all other beliefs where possible, so that it can somewhere strengthen their case that they are the only true religion. Sadly here, it simply does not hold up and I hope the evidence provided will help you to demonstrate the real truth in the cross.
http://www.watchtower.exposed/?page_id=187#sthash.mkGkW3N7.dpuf

1 Year On And Life Is Great!!!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We have left the WT organization for about a year.

Life has been great and for the first time in our lives, we lead a purposeful weekends, travelling things together, having sufficient rest, going out with new friends, catching up with fellow ex-JWs, parents and relatives. Life is simply Great!

Looking in from the outside, things are not as rosy as before. Recent Zone Visit talk by Anthony Morris III is waking a lot of brothers and sisters up by this reckless speech, spewing personal opinions as opinions from Jehovah. They simply cannot be Jehovah mouth piece. We hope more people will wake up. We still are bombard with questions by those we met who are still in as to why we “leave the Organization?” It is as if our original explanation is not clear enough. Perhaps, it is. Therefore, we have revised our reasons into bite size morsels.

We examine verifiable evidence to arrive at sound conclusion for our religious belief.

“Make sure of all things” (1Th 5:21), serve God with a “power of reason” (Rom 12:1) and be like the Boreans …search the scriptures to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the Truth” (Acts 17:11). If this is the Truth, it will stand up to close scrutiny.

Reasons why Jehovah is not behind this Organization

1) Constantly changing teachings marketed as God’s Truth

Claim that teachings are “revealed by Jehovah” and “comes from Jehovah”, yet consistently there are flip flop teachings. See WT 7/15/13

”For a number of years, we thought that…”, “Upon further examination, we perceived that…”, “Previously we thought that…”, “In the past, we have stated… however a further consideration of prophecy indicates that an adjustment in our understanding is needed”, “In the past, our publications have said…a further careful study indicate that our understanding of Jesus’ words needs to be clarified”. Jehovah does not lead us to wrong teachings and then correct it subsequently. God’s word is truth and with God, he never changes or casts shifting shadows. (Jn 17:17; Jas 1:17). These are shifting teachings from imperfect men. The obvious and only conclusion we can draw from this is that Jehovah and his holy spirit is NOT responsible for the constant changes in the Bible understanding as present by the Watchtower and its Governing Body members.

Please research on “1914” teachings, “Organ donation” and “Generation” teachings.

2) Faithful and Discrete Slave is a parable! Read Matthew 24 in its entirety about the parable of the fig tree, men in Noah’s day, 2 men working in the field, 2 woman working at the mill, a watchful homeowner faithful slave, evil slave, 5 wise virgins and 5 foolish virgins, a master going on long trip…etc. It is a simple parable to drive home the point of watchfulness in the last days.

This parable is used by men to exercise control over their members, claiming divine approval.

“We need to obey the faithful and discreet slave to have Jehovah’s approval.” Watchtower 2011 Jul 15 p.24 Simplified English Edition

“Since Jehovah God and Jesus Christ completely trust the faithful and discreet slave, should we not do the same?” Watchtower 2009 Feb 15 p.27

“At that time, the lifesaving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.” Watchtower 2013 Nov 15 p.20

These grandiose claims have important implications. Obedient to such men equates obedient to Jehovah! Such claims are similarly found in Mormons, Scientology, Heaven’s Gate, whereby certain men in leadership role claims to speak from God. Obedient is enforced.

3) False Prophecies

You may refer to older books online and read about the false prophecy that were marketed as “without doubt”, “ certainty”, “God’s date and not ours”, “firmly settled in the scriptures”.

Google, 1914, 1925, 1975…etc. Fact is this. 1914 was taught to be the end of this system. Early bible students taught that Jesus came invisible on 1874 and this system will end on 1914. Eventually only in the mid 1930s, 1874 date was abandoned and revised in understand of 1914 was adopted. That means that in 1914, the Bible students did not know that Christ is ruling as King till much later, when their beliefs was revised in the1930s.

Often, the eagerness with which these false/ wrong messages were spread was praised. Even when such prophecy failed, they quickly excused themselves, claiming they presumptuously “have wrong expectations”, “eagerness for the Lord’s coming”, “over zealousness”, “impatient” etc.

Could Jehovah use any organization to promote falsehood and wrong expectation? Deuteronomy 18: 20 – “The prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak, that prophet must die.” Errors and constant changes in understanding make it apparent Holy Spirit does not guide Watchtower doctrine.

4) Warning against Higher Education

The Bible contains many examples of very intelligent, well-educated men—some who even received extensive education from those who were not worshippers of God. Paul was an expert in law and probably knew a thing or two about the literature of the Gentiles as well. He was not restricted to Bible knowledge alone, as he was able to quote from a Gentile poet to communicate his message to philosophers in Athens. Luke was a doctor. Matthew was a tax professional. Daniel was a prominent government official and received higher education from the Babylonian royal court. Joseph was second in authority to the Great Pharaoh of Egypt and is also a food administrator. He no doubt is highly educated in Egyptian culture. Moses was in a similar position in his younger days in Egypt. Solomon was known for extraordinary wisdom. Such education put these individuals in a unique position to provide help to their fellow worshippers when the opportunity presented itself.

Given the number of examples mentioned, it is hard to imagine how the Bible can be used to justify limiting one’s education.

5) Child Abuse

The Watch Tower Society was held responsible for the abuse suffered by Candace Conti, and has been ordered to pay total damages of US$28 million.

There are many other similar cases of Society covering up and not reporting cases to authority. Note that elders are specifically told by the Society to “leave the matter in Jehovah’s hands” if a child abuser continues to deny wrongdoing. This is a clear negligence on the organization’s behalf as the elders are merely following society’s direction.

Last week another case another abused victims was again awarded damage of USD 13.5 million by WT society. See http://www.silentlambs.com.

We gathered that the organization is more concern about upholding the rules and iamge of the organization than the welfare of the flocks.

There are at least 11 new legal cases of child abuse lined up for 2014. No wonder Society sold the HQ in such a hurry.

6) If one leave the organization where should they go?

This is reminder in Watchtower 1975 Sep 1 p.531 “Where could we turn if we would leave God’s organization today? There is nowhere else! (John 6:66-69)”

“Furthermore, suppose a person was to separate himself from Jehovah’s people. Where could he go? There is nowhere else to go but to “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion, or into the clutches of Satan’s political “wild beast.” (Revelation 13:1; 18:1-5) Watchtower 1988 Mar 15 pp.18-19

At John 6:68, Peter actually asked Jesus “Lord, whom shall we go away to?” This is the essence of true Christianity. It is not about an organization but about being a true follower of Jesus (1Pet 2:21). The question is not where, but whom.

Freedom comes from belonging to Christ, not membership in an organization. He is the true vine and we Christians are the branches (John 15:5). He is the door we need to go through to be saved (John 10:9).

We no longer believe that Watchtower speaks the truth and has the True God’s backing.

Many exJws came to understand that there is no Organization on earth that can represent the True God. Not one. The way to God is through Christ and it’s that simple. We identify Christ followers by their individual fruitage, not affiliation to any church or Organization.

There are many other things that are equally shocking about the Watchtower and it is too long to list here. Feel free to find out on your own via your personal research. May God open your eyes through Christ. We are blind once and we know how it feels. Now we see.

We are genuinely happy and we are finally set free (John 8:32). We pray that one day you will be freed too. We learnt that there are other bibles translations which are well translated, reliable and easy to read. We have benefited much spiritually. Till then, continue to read the Bible daily.

Agape, JN WH