Subject: Re: a quick question
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 09:12:39 -0600
From: Stan Barker <sdbarker@[shields-research.org]>
Organization: SHIELDS
To: (Intentionally left blank)
xxx wrote:
Came across your website and I would like to ask a question, if you have time to answer it.
What is the church's stance on wearing the cross, or displaying the cross???
thanks
[Response]
I am unaware of an official "stance" by the Church on this
issue. However, one LDS leader has offered his opinion as
follows:
The Wearing of the Cross
From Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol.4, p.16:
Question: "Having been reared in a Latter-day Saint community, I have never had occasion to give serious thought to
this question of the wearing of the cross until I moved to the mission field.
Answer: While we have never questioned the sincerity of Catholics and Protestants for wearing the cross, or felt that
they were doing something which was wrong, it is a custom that has never appealed to members of the
[LDS] Church. The motive for such a custom by those who are of other churches, we must conclude, is a most sincere and sacred gesture.
To them the cross does not represent an emblem of torture but evidently carried the impression of sacrifice and
suffering endured by the Son of God. However, to bow down before a cross or to look upon it as an emblem to be
revered because of the fact that our Savior died upon a cross is repugnant to members of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints.
p.17
To many, like the writer, such a custom is repugnant and contrary to the true worship of our Redeemer. Why should we
bow down before a cross or use it as a symbol? Because our Savior died on the cross, the wearing of crosses is to
most Latter-day Saints in very poor taste and inconsistent to our worship. Of all the ways ever invented for taking life
and the execution of individuals, among the most cruel is likely the cross. This was a favorite method among the
Romans who excelled in torture. We may be definitely sure that if our Lord had
been killed with a dagger or with a sword, it would have been very strange indeed if religious people of this day would have graced such a weapon by
wearing it and adoring it because it was by such a means that our Lord was put to death.
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I hope this helps answer your question.
Stan Barker
==============================
Please visit the SHIELDS web site often.
http://www.shields-research.org/
"It's not the Tanners we hate, just Tannerism."
==============================
"Ignorance is a breeding ground for prejudice."
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