Sign of the Cross
The Sign of the Cross is a ritual gesture in Christianity that involves tracing a cross on one's body, typically from the forehead to the chest and then shoulder to shoulder. Its origins are somewhat unclear, but it is believed to date back to the second century, possibly evolving from early Christians tracing Hebrew and Greek letters that symbolized divinity. The gesture serves as a form of prayer, blessing, and protection, with its use grounded in several biblical passages that reference marks on the forehead as indicators of spiritual identity.
While the Sign of the Cross is predominantly associated with Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, it has also been adopted by some Protestant denominations, including Anglicans and Lutherans. Over time, the gesture has seen variations in practice, such as the number of fingers used and the direction of the movements, reflecting theological debates within Christianity. In contemporary settings, the Sign of the Cross has gained traction among some evangelical groups who view it as a meaningful expression of faith. Ultimately, this gesture continues to hold significance in various Christian communities, embodying a rich history of ritual and belief across differing traditions.
On this Page
Sign of the Cross
The sign of the cross is a ritual Christian gesture of unknown origin. Described as ancient in the second century, the sign probably began with worshipers tracing a Hebrew T or a Greek X (letters that stood for names of God or Christ) on their foreheads and subsequently recognizing the similarity between the shapes of the letters and the shape of the cross. Later, this evolved into forming the shape of a cross from forehead to breast and shoulder to shoulder. Scholars have deduced that the inspiration came from certain biblical passages (Genesis 4:15, Ezekiel 9:4, Revelation 14:1 and 22:4) that speak of a mark on the forehead as a sign of the person’s spiritual identity in the sight of God. Christians continue to use it as prayer, blessing, and protection, albeit with some variations. Although the gesture is identified most closely with Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christians, it is also commonly used by some Protestant denominations, including the Anglican/Episcopal and Lutheran churches. There is some indication of a growing movement among other Protestants to incorporate the sign into private worship.
Brief History
Some historians of religion speculate that the sign of the cross was first used in baptisms. It is likely that believers first began to cross themselves as a liturgical response and gradually made it part of everyday experience. The second century Christian apologist, Tertullian (c. 160/170–215/220), in one of the earliest descriptions of the sign, notes that the cross was traced on the forehead with a single finger, probably the thumb. His description further recommends that making the sign of the cross should accompany even the most mundane of activities such as bathing and dressing. By the fourth century, signing the cross had also become a gesture of benediction used over food and drink. Church historian Sozomen (c. 400–c. 450) describes a bishop who used the sign of the cross in the air as defense against a dragon, and a roughly contemporaneous source offers an account of Saint Nino using the sign of the cross to effect a miraculous healing.
No one can point to a precise moment when Christians began making the sign of the cross with two fingers rather than one, but historians speculate that the purpose of the change was to reflect the two natures of Christ—both fully human and fully divine—in response to the Monophysite heresy (which argued that the nature of Christ was only divine) during the seventh and eighth centuries. The custom of making the sign larger rather than restricting it to the forehead may have begun at the same time as a public declaration of belief. In much the same manner, ninth century debates over the nature of the Trinity probably led to the three-fingered signing as a symbol of faith in the Trinity. Eventually the sign of the cross using three fingers, the index and middle fingers hiding the thumb with the ring finger and little finger folded into the palm, was widely used.
For more than a millennium, Christians in the Eastern and Western Church made the sign with three fingers, moving from forehead to breast to right shoulder to left shoulder. Innocent III (1160–1216) explained that the downward movement signified Christ’s descent from heaven and the right to left movement Christ’s crossing over from the Jews to the Gentiles. At least by the mid-fifteenth century, some in the Western Church had reversed the shoulder movement, moving from left to right to reflect Christ’s ascension into heaven to be seated at the Father’s right hand. By the end of the Middle Ages, this form had become the customary one in the West, but the Eastern Church retained the older form, a difference that persists in the twenty-first century, sometimes with cultural variations. In the West, the three-fingered sign was eventually replaced by the open hand, or five fingers outstretched, later interpreted as representing the five wounds of Christ.
Overview
Within twenty-first century Western culture, the sign of the cross is widely considered a Catholic custom. Most Protestants belong to traditions that have historically rejected anything reminiscent of the "popery" that many early Reformers opposed. The Anglican Church, after yielding to pressure from the Puritans to eliminate vestiges of Roman Catholicism from Church of England services and churches in the seventeenth century, limited the sign of the cross to baptisms until the Anglo-Catholicism movement of the nineteenth century, an off-shoot of the Oxford movement (1833–1845) led by a group of academics and clergy who wished to reform doctrinal laxity and restore Catholic liturgy and worship practices within the Church of England.
The result was the coexistence of "high church" and "low church" elements under the umbrella of Anglicanism. The first took a Catholic view of the sacraments and liturgical worship, including the sign of the cross; the latter was more closely allied with evangelical practices, including dismissal of the sign of the cross. In the twenty-first century, both groups continue to have adherents within the Anglican Church and within the Episcopal Church of the United States, which is part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Lutheran Church has also continued to view the sign of the cross as an acceptable part of worship liturgy and of private devotionals. Martin Luther advocated making the sign of the cross daily in morning and evening worship and recommended that it be taught to children to use in moments of fear and temptation. Contemporary Lutheran congregations include those who customarily use the sign and those who do not. They view the choice to make the sign of the cross or not as part of the individual believer’s religious liberty. A growing number of other Protestants, including some evangelicals, have adopted the sign of the cross as a means of publicly identifying themselves as Christians and as a private act. Spurred perhaps by an ecumenical spirit, these believers have rejected Calvin’s view of the sign of the cross as mere superstition and accepted Luther’s view that it should be part of the Christian’s daily prayers.
Bibliography
Andreopoulos, Andreas. The Sign of the Cross: The Gesture, the Mystery, the History. Brewster: Paraclete, 2006. Print.
Bierma, Nathan. "The Shape of Faith." Christianity Today 27 February 2007. Web. 15 December 2015. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/februaryweb-only/109-22.0.html.
Ghezzi, Bert. The Sign of the Cross: Recovering the Power of the Ancient Prayer. Chicago: Loyola, 2004. Print.
Heiberg, Jeanne. "The Trinity and the Sign of the Cross." Catechist Magazine 48.4 (2015): 34–39. Education Research Complete. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Rancour-Laferriere, Daniel. The Sign of the Cross: From Golgotha to Genocide. Somerset: Aldine Transaction, 2011. Print.
Ristow, Kate. "Ritual Prayer: Exploring, Experiencing, and Celebrating." Catechist Magazine 47.2 (2013): 42–45. Education Research Complete. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
"Sign of the Cross." Priest 69.9 (2013): 98. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Jan. 2016.
Strong, Rowan, and Carol Engelhardt Herringer, eds. Edward Bouverie Pusey and the Oxford Movement. London: Anthem, 2012. Print.
Vlad, Vasile. "The Bodily Forms of the Prayer in Eastern Christian Spirituality." Scientific Journal of Humanistic Studies 5.9 (2013): 166–171. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 December 2015.