How Jesus died – Cross or Stake?
The Watchtower Society believes that Jesus died on an upright ‘stake’, rather than upon a ‘cross’. They teach that the ‘cross’ is a pagan symbol from Babylon and make this issue one of their central controversies with the Christian Church. In support of their viewpoint, we find in the KINGDOM INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION OF THE GREEK SCRIPTURES (KIT), same rather obscure sources have been quoted, making it difficult for their members to verify these ‘facts’. In the KIT article (pages 1155-1157) we find their reference to a book written by a 16th century, Catholic scholar, named Justus Lipsius. His book DE CRUCE LIBER PRIMUS, page 647, featured the picture of a man who had died on an upright stake. In their article, the Society implied that this is how Lipsius believed Jesus died with their statement, “This is the manner in which Jesus died.” However, one of the pages in this book has been translated and shows that Lipsius believed that Jesus died on a cross. The Society also maintains that
