# What is the earliest example of Jesus on the cross? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 14, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910 "2013-03-14T13:11:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/1 "2013-03-14T13:11:03Z")
It’s my understanding that the early Christians didn’t like the idea of Jesus having been crucified, and so didn’t display him on the cross. When did that change? I’ve seen some pretty gory examples of it. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/2 "2013-03-14T14:18:31Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > It’s my understanding that the early Christians didn’t like the idea of Jesus having been crucified, and so didn’t display him on the cross. When did that change? I’ve seen some pretty gory examples of it. It’s not so much that they didn’t like it; more that they were following a “Risen Savior” than a dead body. Early first to third generation followers were more tuned into the time he spent on Earth after death and his awaited and expected return. A cross is a much better symbol for that than a crucifix. Crosses start to appear (I believe) around the 1st Century AD in religious art and crucifixes more around the 4th century. Why? Some write it off to Rome going from pagan to Christian and the artistic (and gory) traditions of their art being applied. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/3 "2013-03-14T14:39:09Z")
The Alexamenos Graffiti shows a crucified many with a donkey’s head and the inscription reading “Alexemenos worships his god”. It seems to be a parody/comment on Christian worship. I’ve seen it reproduced in several books, and Wikipedia has it. The problem is that its date isn’t established. It’s apparently from sometime in the 1st to 3rd century AD. If that helps: [![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jesus_graffito.jpg) ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jesus_graffito.jpg) > **[Alexamenos graffito](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexamenos_graffito)** > > The Alexamenos graffito (also known as the graffito blasfemo, or blasphemous graffito): 393  is a piece of Roman graffito scratched in plaster on the wall of a room near the Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy, which has now been removed and is in the Palatine Museum. It may be meant to depict Jesus; if so, it competes with an engraved gem held in the British Museum as the earliest known pictorial representation of the Crucifixion of Jesus. It is hard to date, but has been estimated to have The image d... edited to add: The Wikipedia sartisvcle on crucifiction says that there are questionable examples from before the 4th century, but that certainly by then the subject started to appear: > **[Crucifixion in the arts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_in_the_arts)** > > Crucifixions and crucifixes have appeared in the arts and popular culture from before the era of the pagan Roman Empire. The crucifixion of Jesus has been depicted in a wide range of religious art since the 4th century CE, much of which has included the appearance of mournful onlookers, the Virgin Mary, angels, Pontius Pilate and even antisemeitc depictions of deicidal Jews. In more modern times, crucifixion has appeared in film and television as well as in fine art, and depictions of other histo... ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/4 "2013-03-14T15:12:43Z")
The idea that the earliest Christians would find crucifixion so repugnant that there would be a natural disinclination to portray the crucifixion in art is not supported by the New Testament writings. Paul proudly boasts that he preaches Christ crucified. Matthew has Jesus saying anachronistically, “Unless you take up your cross you can not follow me.” John has Jesus talking about seeing him “lifted up” (on the cross and in the ascension) as a sign of salvation. John also has Jesus telling doubting Thomas to touch the wounds in his hands and sides. Revelation talks about the martyrs in heaven washed in the blood of The Lamb. And so, the crucifixion becomes a focal point of devotion precisely because it was overcome by Christ in the resurrection. And this happened very early, at least in preaching and writing. When that devotion first manifested itself in art is unknown, although, it would be much more likely for the Gentile Christians to do than the Jewish Christians. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/5 "2013-03-14T15:21:38Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > It’s my understanding that the early Christians didn’t like the idea of Jesus having been crucified, and so didn’t display him on the cross. Where did you get this understanding from? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/6 "2013-03-14T15:25:14Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Where did you get this understanding from? I’ve come across it in books on early Christianity and Christian art. One such book claimed that earliest dpiction of Christ is as the beardless “Good Shepherd” (who is not crucified, of course). I never understood why this shpould be thought a depiction of Christ, rather than simply the figure of The Good Shepherd from the parable. > **[Good Shepherd](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Shepherd)** > > The Good Shepherd (Greek: ποιμὴν ὁ καλός, poimḗn ho kalós) is an image used in the pericope of John 10:1–21, in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34:11–16. The Good Shepherd is also discussed in the other gospels, the Epistle to the Hebrews, the First Epistle of Peter and the Book of Revelation. > In the Gospel of John, Jesus states "I am the good shepherd" in two verses, John 10:11 and 10:14. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/7 "2013-03-14T16:03:49Z")
Probably, as you cite says, from the Gospel of John: “I am the Good Shepherd.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/8 "2013-03-14T16:07:55Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Probably, as you cite says, from the Gospel of John: “I am the Good Shepherd.” But, as even the Wikipedia article says, there’s no reason not to think that many of the depictions were meant to anything but a generic “Good Shrpherd”. It’s not as if they’re labeled “Jesus”. Assuming that they must represent Jesus seems an unwarranted assumption. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/9 "2013-03-14T17:08:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But, as even the Wikipedia article says, there’s no reason not to think that many of the depictions were meant to anything but a generic “Good Shrpherd”. It’s not as if they’re labeled “Jesus”. Assuming that they must represent Jesus seems an unwarranted assumption. They’re likely a representation of the good shepherd in the story Jesus told and not Jesus himself as _the_ Good Shepherd, since he himself wasn’t an actual shepherd. Unless the image of a good shepherd was a timeless Ancient Near East image that predates Jesus? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/10 "2013-03-14T17:15:19Z")
[quote=“moriah, post:9, topic:652910”] They’re likely a representation of the good shepherd in the story Jesus told and not Jesus himself as _the_ Good Shepherd, since he himself wasn’t an actual shepherd. [QUOTE] Precisely my point. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/11 "2013-03-14T17:29:04Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > . . . Unless the image of a good shepherd was a timeless Ancient Near East image that predates Jesus? I once attended an art history class in which the teacher showed comparative slides of Apollo as the Good Shepherd, then Christ as the Good Shepherd. It was a community college, but it sounded decently researched. ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/12 "2013-03-14T18:47:06Z")
Christianity wasn’t technically legal in Rome until the 300s, so some plausible deniability/ vagueness in the religious art wasn’t a bad idea for a while. “No, officer, that’s just a shepherd. And we just, well, we really like fish and wine.” It’s not surprising that early Christian artworks are adapted from various other religious (Mithraism, Roman religions, Judaism, etc). ---
**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/13 "2013-03-14T20:15:43Z")
> [@moriah](#): > > The idea that the earliest Christians would find crucifixion so repugnant that there would be a natural disinclination to portray the crucifixion in art is not supported by the New Testament writings. > > Paul proudly boasts that he preaches Christ crucified. > > Matthew has Jesus saying anachronistically, “Unless you take up your cross you can not follow me.” > > John has Jesus talking about seeing him “lifted up” (on the cross and in the ascension) as a sign of salvation. John also has Jesus telling doubting Thomas to touch the wounds in his hands and sides. > > Revelation talks about the martyrs in heaven washed in the blood of The Lamb. > > And so, the crucifixion becomes a focal point of devotion precisely because it was overcome by Christ in the resurrection. And this happened very early, at least in preaching and writing. When that devotion first manifested itself in art is unknown, although, it would be much more likely for the Gentile Christians to do than the Jewish Christians. Well, yeah, but I believe the New Testament canon wasn’t set until 300 AD or so. And I don’t think anyone knows exactly when the gospels were written. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/14 "2013-03-14T20:48:10Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Well, yeah, but I believe the New Testament canon wasn’t set until 300 AD or so. And I don’t think anyone knows exactly when the gospels were written. The canon wasn’t set until then, but the early writings such as those of Paul were written and distributed well before that. And even the gospel of John, which is thought to be the last one written, was completed a couple of hundred years before that as well. And, as **moriah** says, the early Christians had no hesitation in describing Jesus as having been crucified. I suspect most of the official art work depicting Jesus came about after the Edict of Milan officially ended the persecution of Christians in the Roman empire. Before, there wouldn’t have been many sponsors for Christian art, so most of it would have been by amateurs with an interest in plausible deniability - hence the fish symbol. The earliest depiction of Jesus being crucified that I can find (apart from the graffito **CalMeacham** mentions) is a [plaque](http://phdiva.blogspot.com/2011/08/early-images-of-crucifixion.html) from around AD 420. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2013, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/15 "2013-03-14T23:19:21Z")
> [@tullsterx](#): > > Well, yeah, but I believe the New Testament canon wasn’t set until 300 AD or so. And I don’t think anyone knows exactly when the gospels were written. “Setting the canon” was a process of declaring which documents would be part of an official set of holy scriptures. The documents were written well before that. Most of the letters from Paul were actually from Paul. So, that had to be written sometime between 30 - 60 AD. Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke also wrote Acts of the Apostles in which he talks about “we did this and we did that.” The ‘we’ is he and Paul. And since Luke copied from Mark, that dates Mark to about the 50s and Luke in the 60s/70s. Other types of detective work puts Mathew at about 70-80s and John at 90-120s. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/16 "2013-03-15T01:56:51Z")
Yup. I think the truth here is not that the early Christians didn;t like to depict Jesus crucified; it’s that they didn’t like to depict him at all. This may be partly a heritage from Judaism, with its strictures against images, and partly a prudent measure of self-preservatation at a time when the church was persecuted. When they did start to produce depictions, as others have pointed out those depictions were ambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/17 "2013-03-18T12:07:18Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Yup. I think the truth here is not that the early Christians didn;t like to depict Jesus crucified; it’s that they didn’t like to depict him at all. > > This may be partly a heritage from Judaism, with its strictures against images, and partly a prudent measure of self-preservatation at a time when the church was persecuted. When they did start to produce depictions, as others have pointed out those depictions were ambiguous. As a modern corollary, the Mormons don’t like to depict the crucifiction, either. Not even the cross – their church spires terminate in rods, with no cross on the end. You won’t find a cross in their official logo, on the decorated walls of their temples, in their chapels, tabernacles, in the illustrations for the Book of Mormon, or around Temple Square. LDS folk say it’s becsause they celebrate the _Resurrected_ Christ. The only depiction of a cricifiction I’ve ever seen on Mormon grounds was a single depiction in one of the Salt Lake Visitor’s Centers. And I suspect the only reason that it’s there is because they were trying to appeal to non-LDS Christians, who relate to and expect such a picture aas a fundamental part of their faith. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/18 "2013-03-18T20:16:59Z")
> [@capybara](#): > > Christianity wasn’t technically legal in Rome until the 300s, so some plausible deniability/ vagueness in the religious art wasn’t a bad idea for a while. “No, officer, that’s just a shepherd. And we just, well, we really like fish and wine.” It’s not surprising that early Christian artworks are adapted from various other religious (Mithraism, Roman religions, Judaism, etc). Sounds reasonable. The teacher supposed that both the pagans and the Christians were using the same pool of artists, and that the artists tended to suggest variations on what they were used to painting. (Most of his slides were on tomb walls in the catacombs of Rome.) He had no research to back that up, it was just something he thought was reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/19 "2013-03-19T00:14:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > LDS folk say it’s becsause they celebrate the _Resurrected_ Christ. > > The only depiction of a cricifiction I’ve ever seen on Mormon grounds was a single depiction in one of the Salt Lake Visitor’s Centers. And I suspect the only reason that it’s there is because they were trying to appeal to non-LDS Christians, who relate to and expect such a picture aas a fundamental part of their faith. They must have added that crucifix after I left the church as we definitely didn’t have crosses. We took pride in that. That would be an interesting question as to when the Mormons started to disdain them. Humm. Life was so much more difficult in the ancient world bg (before [google](http://www.sltrib.com/ci_12256269)). > [@](#): > > It’s no accident that Mormon steeples, temples and necks are free of Christian crosses. > > LDS leaders long have said the cross, so ubiquitous among traditional Christians, symbolizes Jesus’ death, while Mormons worship the risen Christ. Some Latter-day Saints go even farther, condemning the cross as some kind of pagan or satanic symbol. > > Now a historian at California State University in Sacramento claims in a just-completed master’s thesis that Mormon aversion to the cross is a relatively recent development in LDS history, prompted in part by anti-Catholic sentiments. > > "It first started at the grass-roots level around the turn of the 20th century, " Michael Reed argues in the thesis, “The Development of the LDS Church’s Attitude Toward the Cross.” > > “It later became institutionalized during the 1950s under the direction of LDS Prophet David O. McKay,” Reed writes. > > Before that, Reed says, many members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints used and promoted the revered Christian symbol as a potent expression of personal and collective faith. > > (snip) Uncomfortable with the cross as divine message, Reed later sought answers in Mormon Doctrine , a book by the late Bruce R. McConkie. McConkie, vehemently anti-Catholic, equated the cross with the Bible’s satanic “mark of the beast.” So, while the cross wasn’t ever really a strong part of Mormonism from the beginning, it wasn’t until the 1950s that its use would became the scandal it is now. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910/20 "2013-03-19T00:25:43Z")
Grammar Nazi nitpicking: There’s only been one example of Jesus on the cross. The question should be what was the earliest depiction of Jesus on the cross. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-earliest-example-of-jesus-on-the-cross/652910.md?page=2)