The Cross: History, Art, and Controversy by Robin M. Jensen (review)

• Autores: Diliana. Angelova
• Localización: Journal of early Christian studies: Journal of the North American Patristic Society, ISSN 1067-6341, Nº. 4, 2018, págs. 684-686
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The preface describes the book’s objective as “a modest attempt to cover some ground and to lead the readers more or less chronologically through some of the highlights (and lowlights) of the history of this epic symbol” (ix). Despite evidence (admittedly all indirect and later) about the finding of the cross in Constantine’s time as well as the continued association of Constantine and Helena to the cross (117–19), the imperial gifts of cross relics (Justin and Sophia’s, 110–11), and Heraclius’s campaign to retrieve the relic from the Persians (116), the author concludes that it is “bishops who treasured them [the relics] and occasionally presented them as gifts to secular princes or queens” (73). The author’s resistance to attribute political reasons for the popularity of the cross symbol likewise molds her discussion of the Crusades, the Reformation, the Counter-Reformation and colonialism (Crux Invicta and Crux Perdurans). [...]the Classe cross appears to be a shorthand for Christ as god (an image inaccessible to humans).