Crucifix

A crucifix is a cross which has an image of the crucified Christ upon it, as mentioned in Galatians 3:1 "before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified" (RSV). In earlier centuries, the unadorned cross was the primary Christian emblem, but crucifixes began to be used during the early Middle Ages, primarily as a means of countering certain heresies based on forms of Gnosticism, Docetism and Manicheanism which denied that God could be incarnate and suffer actual death.

Crucifixes are found in Catholic churches. They are less often found in Protestant churches, and almost never in Evangelical or fundamentalist churches, on the belief that Jesus Christ is no longer on the Cross, but has ascended into Heaven.

Claude Monet and other painters frequently evoked the imagery of the crucifix.

See also[edit]

• Christian Cross
• Crucifixion