Re: The Early Christians: In Their Own Words

To believers living in the time of the early church and of the Apostle 
Paul, the cross was the one and only proclamation:3 Christians knew only 
one way, that of being nailed to the Cross with Christ. Only dying his 
death with him, they felt, could possibly lead to resurrection and to the 
kingdom.4 No wonder that Celsus, an enemy of the church, was amazed at the

centrality of the resurrection among the Christians.5 The pagan satirist 
Lucian was surprised that one who was hung on the cross in Palestine could

have introduced death as a new mystery: dying with him on the cross was
the 
essence of his bequest.6 The early Christians used to stretch out their 
hands as a symbol of triumph, imitating the arms extended on the cross.