116 CANON J. A. M^cCULLOCH, D.D.^ ON 



the symbolic glorification of the Cross, are all to be found in this 

 remarkable passage. 



Among the orthodox the use of the sign of the Cross was general 

 at a comparatively early period, both in pubhc ritiial — ^^Baptism, 

 Confirmation, etc. — as well as in private custom, covering the 

 whole field of human life and action.* The sign was believed to 

 be an effective remedy against demons and diseases, and many 

 phrases, whether used literally or metaphorically, show a growing 

 reverence for the Cross. It was a trophy against demons," 

 " a healer of diseases," " a purifier of leprosies," " a victory over 

 the devil," " a destroyer of altars," " a demolisher of temples." 

 The sacred symbol was seen everywhere in nature and in art — 

 in the human face, in a ship with sails, in a hammer ; and it was 

 discovered in certain passages of the Old Testament through 

 the method of allegorical interpretation.^ S. Ignatius speaks 

 curiously of Christians as stones prepared by the Father for His 

 temple, drawn up on high by the Cross of Christ as by an engine, 

 the Holy Ghost being the rope to which they are attached. J 

 How soon actual crosses began to be used is uncertain, but 

 Cassian, towards the end of the fourth century, ridicules certain 

 monks who carried wooden crosses around their necks, as a 

 literal " taking up the Cross and following Christ."§ A portable 

 Cross, found in a Christian tomb at Rome, bears the inscription, 

 " The Cross is life to me ; death, 0 enemy, to thee." More 

 and more, however, the Cross tended to be regarded in a super- 

 stitious way, and many miracles were attributed to the use of 

 the sign of the Cross by saints. This increasing superstitious 

 veneration of the Cross was no doubt natural where the spiritual 

 values of Christianity were but dimly understood, but there 

 can hardly be any doubt that here both Gnostic beUef and practice 

 exercised a strong influence upon popular Christianity. The 

 popularity of the Apocryphal Acts, in which this veneration is 

 so marked, among Christian readers, suggests one means by which 

 this influence might be exerted. 



* Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechesis, xiii, 36. 



t Cf. Ep. oj Barnabas, 8, 9, 12; Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, 97; 

 Apology, i, 55. 



X Ignatius, Ad Ephes., 9. 

 § CasBian, Collat, viii, 3. 



