{"product_id":"the-cross-before-constantine-the-early-life-of-a-christian-symbol-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\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Fortress Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/01\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 244\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\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\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781451490305\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLongenecker, Bruce W.:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBruce W. Longenecker is professor of early Christianity and W. W. Melton Chair of Religion at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, having formerly taught in Britain at St. Andrews, Cambridge, and Durham Universities. Some of his recent books include The Lost Letters of Pergamum (2002); Rhetoric at the Boundaries (2005); and Remember the Poor: Paul, Poverty, and the Greco-Roman World (2010).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Fortress Press","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44939148296307,"sku":"9781451490305","price":69.91,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/files\/img_752b3a49-25d8-45d7-ae95-18f2771b1532.jpg?v=1778249410","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/products\/the-cross-before-constantine-the-early-life-of-a-christian-symbol-9781451490305","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}