Neapolitan

In a certain sense you are right, the cross and crucifixions in ancient time has the same horrific image to the people then as the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. Whether God "endorsed" it is a tough question for me, because crucfixion is evil and how can God "endorse" an evil, and on the otherhand most theologians will say it was in God's will from from the fall or of man (or from all eternity) that Jesus was to be crucified. I don't know the mind of God, so I don't focus on whether or not God "endorse" it or not, but rather I focus on the inner spiritual life of Jesus during his suffering and death. To me Jesus' suffering (which is sometimes called the Passion of Christ) was the perfect example of His virture (Justice, Fortitude, Prudence and Termperance.) The crucifixion was one of the worst hardship anyone could endure in the ancient times. The fact that Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified shows that He shared in the suffering of other people, during His time and even through time no matter what the hardship is.... So the crufix as jewelery is symbol of Jesus' love.... The term carrying ones "cross" has come to mean the endurance of a hardship.

So I hoped that helped you in some way. Maybe I could explain it better, I don't know. It's hard to condense two thousand years into one paragraph. I know it might sound strange and many people would disagree.

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