{"product_id":"the-cross-before-constantine-bruce-w-longenecker-9781451490305","title":"The Cross before Constantine: The Early Life of a Christian Symbol","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis book brings together, for the first time, the relevant material evidence demonstrating Christian use of the cross prior to Constantine. Bruce W. Longenecker upends a longstanding consensus that the cross was not a Christian symbol until Constantine appropriated it to consolidate his power in the fourth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLongenecker presents a wide variety of artifacts from across the Mediterranean basin that testify to the use of the cross as a visual symbol by some pre-Constantinian Christians. Those artifacts interlock with literary witnesses from the same period to provide a consistent and robust portrait of the cross as a pre-Constantinian symbol of Christian devotion.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe material record of the pre-Constantinian period illustrates that 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Bruce W. Longenecker\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1451490305\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781451490305\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Fortress Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 244\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 5.90w x 0.70d","brand":"Bruce W. Longenecker","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44058541228287,"sku":"9781451490305","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6da18e3f-fe7c-46c5-96d1-2ee60f3eb9fa.jpg?v=1685053154","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-cross-before-constantine-bruce-w-longenecker-9781451490305","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}