How the Cross Expresses God’s Power, Providence, and Eternal View, by Kenneth Joe Galloway

Among all symbols that have passed through human history, none is more paradoxical than the Christian cross. During the Roman Empire of the first century, the cross was not a religious emblem. It was an instrument of state-sanctioned terror—a humiliating form of death reserved only for the most despised of criminals. Furthermore, it was intended to break not just the body but also the human spirit, crushing all hope in the population.

Today, the cross is universally considered a religious icon, and its transformation from a symbol of extreme cruelty to one of love raises a profound theological and historical question: Why was the cross chosen? Of all the methods of execution known to man, including burning, beheading, stoning, hanging, the guillotine, the firing squad, and the modern electric chair, why did the central event of Christian salvation hinge upon this particular device—one of the most public and excruciating methods of execution possible? …