The Cross and Crown (a cross passing through a crown) is a Christian symbol used by various Christian denominations. It has also been used in heraldry. [1] [2] The emblem is often interpreted as symbolizing the reward in heaven (the crown) coming after the trials in this life (the cross) (James 1:12).
In addition to Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian uses, [3] the symbol also appears in the seal of the Church of Christ, Scientist, where it is surrounded by the words "Heal the Sick, Cleanse the Lepers, Raise the Dead, Cast Out Demons", from the Gospel of Matthew, 10:8. [4]
The symbol is also associated with Freemasonry, specifically the Knight Templar degree of the York Rite of Freemasonry. The symbol is also known as "Knight Templars Blood-Red Passion Cross and Crown". The cross and crown symbol is often surrounded by the phrase "In Hoc Signo Vinces", which is Latin for "By this sign thou shalt conquer". This is a reference to the story of Constantine, who reportedly had a vision of a Chi Rho symbol, and a voice saying "By this sign thou shalt conquer". [5] [6] [7]
The symbol was used particularly by the Bible Student movement. [8] [9] The symbol was also featured in the early publications and memorabilia of the International Bible Students Association. First appearing on the cover of the January 1881 issue of Zion's Watch Tower, [10] the cross and crown were surrounded by a wreath of laurel leaves, and the symbol was also used on lapel pins, buttons (metal and celluloid) and pendants of various designs. However, not all of its uses by the I.B.S.A. included the wreath of laurel leaves. Although Charles Taze Russell's gravesite is marked by a pyramid memorial erected by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society [11] [12] [13] with an illustration of the Cross and Crown symbol, the Watchtower Society later discontinued using the cross and crown some years after, viewing it as a "pagan symbol" – their doctrine for some time since is that Jesus was executed not on a cross but on an upright stake.
The Cross and Crown symbol is also the key emblem of the Royal Black Institution (a sister organisation of the Orange Order), a Protestant fraternity, with structural and symbolic similarities to Freemasonry.[ citation needed ]
The Cross and Crown symbol was also used by the Rexist Party.[ citation needed ]
The Cross and Crown symbol also appears on the cover of the 1998 book, The Power of the Cross , by Tim Lahaye.[ citation needed ]
Lutheran composer J.S. Bach's cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12 (1714) contains an aria "Kreuz und Krone sind verbunden, Kampf und Kleinod sind vereint" ("cross and crown are bound together, conflict and jewel are united") [14] which has been connected with Luther's rendering of 1 Corinthians 9:24-25. [15]
Charles Taze Russell, or Pastor Russell, was an American Adventist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of the Bible Student movement. He was an early Christian Zionist.
A number of corporations are in use by Jehovah's Witnesses. They publish literature and perform other operational and administrative functions, representing the interests of the religious organization. "The Society" has been used as a collective term for these corporations.
Joseph Franklin Rutherford, also known as Judge Rutherford, was an American religious leader and the second president of the incorporated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. He played a primary role in the organization and doctrinal development of Jehovah's Witnesses, which emerged from the Bible Student movement established by Charles Taze Russell.
The Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, founded by Paul S. L. Johnson in 1920, is a non-sectarian, interdenominational religious organisation that arose as an independent offshoot of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society after the death of its founder, Charles Taze Russell. It is active in many countries, including the United States, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, Germany, Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, India, Africa and the Caribbean.
The coat of arms of Victoria is the official heraldic symbol of the Australian state of Victoria. Victoria was the second state of Australia to gain arms, granted on 6 June 1910 by royal warrant of King George V. The state had been named in 1851 after his grandmother, who reigned at the time. The current version of the arms was granted 28 March 1978 in the royal warrant issued by Queen Elizabeth II.
Pyramidology refers to various religious or pseudoscientific speculations regarding pyramids, most often the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Some "pyramidologists" also concern themselves with the monumental structures of pre-Columbian America, and the temples of Southeast Asia.
Kingdom songs are the hymns sung by Jehovah's Witnesses at their religious meetings. Since 1879, the Watch Tower Society has published hymnal lyrics; by the 1920s they had published hundreds of adapted and original songs, and by the 1930s they referred to these as "Kingdom songs" in reference to God's Kingdom.
The Bible Student movement is a Millennialist Restorationist Christian movement. It emerged in the United States from the teachings and ministry of Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916), also known as Pastor Russell, and his founding of the Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society in 1881. Members of the movement have variously referred to themselves as Bible Students, International Bible Students, Associated Bible Students, or Independent Bible Students.
The Dawn Bible Students Association is a Christian organization and movement, and a legal entity used by a branch of the Bible Student movement.
Studies in the Scriptures is a series of publications, intended as a Bible study aid, containing seven volumes of great importance to the history of the Bible Student movement, and the early history of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Frederick William Franz was an American religious leader who served as president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, the legal entity used to administer the work of Jehovah's Witnesses. He had previously served as vice president of the same corporation from 1945 until 1977 when he replaced Nathan H. Knorr as president. He was also a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses, which assumed over-all control of all Jehovah's Witness corporations in 1976.
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in Warwick, New York. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, administer and disseminate doctrines for the group and is often referred to by members of the denomination simply as "the Society". It is the parent organization of a number of Watch Tower subsidiaries, including the Watchtower Society of New York and International Bible Students Association. The number of voting shareholders of the corporation is limited to between 300 and 500 "mature, active and faithful" male Jehovah's Witnesses. About 5,800 Jehovah's Witnesses provide voluntary unpaid labour, as members of a religious order, in three large Watch Tower Society facilities in New York. Nearly 15,000 other members of the order work at the Watch Tower Society's other facilities worldwide.
The eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses is central to their religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in heaven as king since 1914, a date they believe was prophesied in Scripture, and that after that time a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in God's selection of the Bible Students associated with Charles Taze Russell to be his people in 1919. They believe the destruction of those who reject their message and thus willfully refuse to obey God will shortly take place at Armageddon, ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.
The winged sun is a solar symbol associated with divinity, royalty, and power in the Ancient Near East.
"Faithful and discreet slave" is the term used by Jehovah's Witnesses to describe the group's Governing Body in its role of directing doctrines and teachings. The group is described as a "class" of "anointed" Christians that operates under the direct control of Jesus Christ to exercise teaching authority in all matters pertaining to doctrine and articles of faith.
The Photo-Drama of Creation, or Creation-Drama, is a four-part audiovisual presentation produced by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania under the direction of Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Bible Student movement. The presentation presents their beliefs about God's plan from the creation of the earth through to the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
Tracing boards are painted or printed illustrations depicting the various emblems and symbols of Freemasonry. They can be used as teaching aids during the lectures that follow each of the Masonic Degrees, when an experienced member explains the various concepts of Freemasonry to new members. They can also be used by experienced members as reminders of the concepts they learned as they went through the ceremonies of the different masonic degrees.
George Storrs was a Christian teacher and writer in the United States.
Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a setting of Jesus' words in a vocal work such as a Passion, an Oratorium or a Cantata. Conventionally, for instance in Protestant music of the Baroque era, the vox Christi is set for a bass voice.
Joseph Augustus Seiss was an American theologian and Lutheran minister. He was known for his religious writings on pyramidology and dispensationalism.
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