TWI removed the cross from the top of the steeple of the chapel soon after it purchased the College of Emporia in 1974. Although TWI teaches that Christ's cross was actually a stake (with no cross piece near the top), it made no effort to replace the cross with a stake, either. In fact, TWI downplays the importance of Christ's cross.
What does the Word of God say about those who devalue the cross?
"As I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ" (Philippians 3:18).
Why does the Apostle emphasize the cross? Because,
"(Christ took away the written code,) nailing it to the cross, and having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.... making peace through His blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 2:14-15, 1:20).
TWI removed the cross from the chapel because TWI is not proud of the cross. But the Apostle Paul was:
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world" (Galatians 6:14).
"(I) preach the Gospel-- not with words of human wisdom, less the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:17-18).
Note: The Romans who crucified Jesus used the Latin word crux for cross, which meant an object with two elements, one crossing the other (it therefore could not be a simple stake, which had only one element). They used two other words to describe the two elements of a cross. The stipe was the upright stake which was placed in the ground (permanently, in the case of Golgatha, since it was used for many crucifixions each year). The patibulum was the crossbar, which was tied to the prisoner's shoulders as he was paraded through the streets to humiliate him and to serve as an example for others. The sign, or titulus, indicated the crime the person had committed.
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