Various objects, that have been dated to be from eras long prior to the Christian era, have been located, marked with crosses of one design or other, in virtually every part of the world. Egypt, India, Syria and Persia have all presented myriad examples of the cross as a religious symbol in pre-Christian times and it may be considered a universal symbol among pre-Christian people. In a great number of cases it has been associated with nature worship.
The roots of the two-beamed cross have been discovered in ancient Chaldea. It was used as the symbol of the god Tammuz in Chaldea and adjacent lands, which included Egypt. By the middle of the 3rd century of the Common Era the churches had either ignored, or had travestied, particular doctrines of the Christian faith in an effort to ingratiate the Christian belief with the pagan masses. This departure from Scriptural doctrine is evidenced in the fact that the pagans were allowed to keep pagan signs and symbols. In this manner, the Tau or T, with a lowered cross piece, was put into practice to symbolize the cross of Christ.
The Greek word that has been depicted cross in many modern Bible translations is stauros. The word meant only an upright stake in classical Greek. Later it came to include an execution stake having a crosspiece. This is supported by The Imperial Bible-Dictionary: The Greek word for cross [stauros], properly signified a stake, an upright pole, or piece of paling, on which anything might be hung, or might be used in impaling [fencing in] a piece of ground. Even the Roman crux, from which our word cross is derived, appears to have originally signified an upright pole.
Numerous figures of crosses are found on Egyptian monuments and tombs, and are considered by many to symbolize the phallus [a representation of the male sex organ]… In Egyptian tombs the crux ansata [cross with a circle or handle on top] is found side by side with the phallus.
J.D. Parsons states in his book The Non-Christian Cross: There is not a single sentence in any of the numerous writings forming the New Testament, which, in the original Greek, bears even indirect evidence to the effect that the stauros actually used in the case of Jesus was other than an ordinary stauros; much less to the effect that it consisted of not one piece of timber, but two nailed together in the form of a cross…
There is scriptural evidence supporting the premise that the cross is a pagan symbol, and therefore should be shunned by true Christians.
1 Corinthians 10:14 Therefore my beloved ones, flee from idolatry.
Exodus 20:4,5 You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heaven above or on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. You must not bow down to them nor be induced to serve them, because I, Jehovah your God am a God exacting exclusive devotion, bringing punishment for the error of fathers upon sons, upon the third generation and upon the fourth generation, on the case of those that hate me.
An idol is an image or symbol that is an object of concentrated devotion, veneration or worship. The first century Christians made no use of the crucifix and no material representation of the cross. The cross has been equated with phallic worship and other detestable practices. In view of the facts presented herein, the cross is truly a detestable symbol. How then, must Jehovah view the use of the cross? Only you can make your determination.
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