For the first 300 years of Christianity, the most recognizable symbol of the faith today was almost entirely absent. No crosses on walls. No crucifixes in worship. No jewelry shaped like Calvary. That wasn’t because early Christians were ashamed of Jesus, it’s because the cross, in the ancient world, was an execution device so brutal and humiliating it was closer to an electric chair than a religious emblem. To Romans it was vulgar. To Jews it signaled a curse. To Greeks it mocked any idea of divine dignity. Leading with the cross would have ended Christianity before it began.

In this episode, we explore why ancient Christians avoided the cross, what symbols they used instead (the fish, the anchor, the Good Shepherd, the Chi-Rho), and how persecution shaped Christian imagination and art. We look at Roman attitudes toward crucifixion, Paul’s insistence on the scandal of “Christ crucified,” early graffiti mocking Christian worship, and the slow, careful theological work it took for the Church to reinterpret the cross as victory rather than horror.

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