Book Excerpt: 1st Century Cross Veneration

Saint Ignatius And The Epistle of Barnabas On Ritual Use Of The Cross

Did 1st century Christians have crosses in their Churches? Were these cross-images venerated? In my upcoming book Early Icons, I will argue that the surprising answer to both questions is yes.

Several pre-Nicene Christian sources point to an apostolic origin for the practice of venerating the cross, in writings by figures who bridge the first and second centuries. In this excerpt from my book, I will build off of the relationship between the cross and battle standards shown in the previous excerpt. This section provides additional evidence (not previously covered in my series with Seraphim or earlier on Substack) that Saint Ignatius and the Epistle of Barnabas portray early Christian veneration of the cross in the rituals occurring within the Church.

Interested readers will find in the full book a preview of additional evidence from Saint Justin Martyr indicating a second century belief that Christ Himself authorized the making of honorable cross images.

Excerpt from Chapter 3: St. Ignatius and the Cross as Standard

Veneration of the Standard-Cross in St. Ignatius

The above considerations from Roman history and early Christian writings make it extremely likely that Saint Ignatius was aware of the significance of describing the cross as a “standard.” The concept of a standard in the Roman context is that of an intrinsically honorable object. It would be understood that such terminology automatically meant that an object was to be venerated (by those who were associated with it). Therefore, the fact that Saint Ignatius uses this term to refer to the cross at all implies that he believed in showing ceremonial honor to the image of the cross.

Additionally, there are two claims in Smyrneans I about the use of the cross which corroborate that it is to be venerated: its being lifted up for all ages, and its unitive function towards Jews and Gentiles.

Saint Ignatius’ language of “set up” should be more precisely worded “raise up” (ἵνα ἄρῃ) and is identical to that used in Matthew 27:32: “And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.” (ἠγγάρευσαν ἵνα ἄρῃ τὸν σταυρὸν) This makes the identification between the standard and Christ’s cross even clearer, and emphasizes the physicality of what is being described (already implicit in the language of “standard” as an inherently public sign, distinguished from symbols more generically). The lifting up is also spoken of as being “for all ages”, suggesting an object of remembrance that has permanent visibility. This is all best explained if what Saint Ignatius says includes the exaltation and elevation of the physical image of the cross as crafted by Christians to represent the true cross.

The other striking claim that is made about the cross as standard is that it is raised up "to all His holy and faithful [followers], whether among Jews or Gentiles, in the one body of His Church." According to Joseph Lightfoot, this is a reference to the Septuagaint version of the Prophecy of Isaiah.