Siga-me

Roberto Henry Ebelt

A few days ago, we had the opportunity to see a fine example of REVERSAL OF VALUES:

Instead of the Christian churches demanding to have their sacred symbols removed from the Brazilian Judiciary facilities, the Judiciary (Judicial System) demanded that Christian symbols be removed from their courtrooms and other facilities. Now, isn’t that a REVERSAL OF VALUES? First of all, it is not fair for Christians to be connected to a system the main characteristic of which is slowness. It is common sense that “slow justice is no justice”.

The Catholic Church and all other Christian denominations have just lost a fine opportunity to take the initiative to ask for the removal of their symbols from the Brazilian Judiciary System.

As a matter of fact, I see the presence of the image of one of the Christian Gods (they are three, namely, Eli or Elohim or Yave, the Father, Jesus Christ, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Trinity that the Catholic Church insists in counting as just one deity) in the courtrooms of any country as a blasphemy. All Christians know, or, at least should know, that the Justice of Men is not the Justice of God, the Father, according to the Son. Period.

A crucifix (from Latin crucifixus meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus (Latin for "body"), as distinct from a cross with no body.

The crucifix is a principal symbol for many groups of Christians, and one of the most common forms of the Crucifixion in the arts. It is especially important in the Catholic Church, but is also used in Orthodox and Eastern Catholic, as well as Anglican, and Lutheran churches, (though less often in other Protestant churches), and it emphasizes Jesus' sacrifice — his death by crucifixion, which Christians believe brought about the redemption of mankind. Western crucifixes usually have a three-dimensional corpus, but in Eastern Orthodoxy Jesus's body is normally painted on the cross, or in low relief. Strictly speaking, to be a crucifix the cross must be three-dimensional, but this distinction is not always observed. A painting of the Crucifixion of Jesus including a landscape background and other figures is not a crucifix either.

Large crucifixes high across the central axis of a church are known by the Old English term rood. By the late Middle Ages these were a near-universal feature of Western churches, but are now very rare. Modern Roman Catholic churches often have a crucifix above the altar on the wall; for the celebration of Mass, the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church requires that, "on or close to the altar there is to be a cross with a figure of Christ crucified".

Marco Palmezzano, crocifissione degli Uffizi

Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead.

Crucifixion was in use at a comparatively high rate among the Seleucids, Carthaginians, and Romans from about the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD.

In the year 337, Emperor Constantine I abolished it in the Roman Empire out of veneration for Jesus Christ, the most famous victim of crucifixion. It was also used as a form of execution in Japan for criminals, inflicted also on some Christians.

A crucifix (an image of Christ crucified on a cross) is the main religious symbol for Catholics, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, but most Protestant Christians prefer to use a cross without the figure (the "corpus": Latin for "body") of Christ. Most crucifixes portray Jesus on a Latin cross, rather than any other shape, such as a Tau cross or a Greek cross. The term crucifix derives from the Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus, past participle passive of crucifigere or cruci figere, meaning "to crucify" or "to fix to a cross".

Have an excellent weekend.