Download or read book The Cross Before Constantine written by Bruce W. Longenecker and published by Augsburg Fortress Publishers. This book was released on 2015 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Upending a longstanding consensus, Bruce W. Longenecker presents a wide variety of material artifacts to illustrate that Christians made use of the cross as a visual symbol of their faith long before Constantine appropriated it to consolidate his power in the fourth century. Constantine did not invent the cross as a symbol of Christian faith; for an impressive number of Christians before Constantines reign, the cross served as a visual symbol of commitment to a living deity in a dangerous world.