Crosses

[BrokenQuill92]

When crucifixions still took place why would they spend money on wood, an expensive commodity using it to nail up criminals?

[Minimalist]

It was recyclable.

[kılıç_mehmet]

When crucifixions still took place why would they spend money on wood, an expensive commodity using it to nail up criminals?

Not all criminals were crucified.

[BrokenQuill92]

When crucifixions still took place why would they spend money on wood, an expensive commodity using it to nail up criminals?

Not all criminals were crucified.

I know, I'm talking about this specific form of punishment and how it doesn't seem financially wise to kill someone in this fashion

[kılıç_mehmet]

Not all criminals were crucified.

I know, I'm talking about this specific form of punishment and how it doesn't seem financially wise to kill someone in this fashion

Well, it doesn't have to be financially wise, when it presents a grisly show of Roman justice, while the condemned slowly dies from thirst and blood loss over the course of a few days, and is seen by everyone, deterring potential criminals from following in his footsteps.

[Neo-Scholastic]

You reuse the crosses. Take one criminal down put another one up.

[Minimalist]

Not all criminals were crucified.

I know, I'm talking about this specific form of punishment and how it doesn't seem financially wise to kill someone in this fashion

Correct. Most common criminals were sent to the arena for either public execution or given a chance to fight it out. BTW, the "galley-slave" routine from Ben Hur is Hollywood fiction. Roman ships traveled under sail and when they had to be rowed, as in battle, they were rowed by their own crews.

Yet, Mehmet also makes a good point. Crucifixion was a very public statement of Roman power and the idea that they would go through the trouble of crucifying "jesus" only to take him down 3 hours later for a proper burial simply flies in the face of reality. Bodies were left on the cross for the crows to pick over until they rotted off and then were thrown in a garbage pit. The Romans tended to be hard-asses on rebellious slaves and such.

[Chad32]

The fact that criminals were often thrown into a pit with other criminals may be a big reason why they decided to make the cross the holy symbol instead of a tomb. Despite the fact that the idea that he came back is what made him the messiah. Not that he died. Though I've heard that he was buried in his dad's tomb or something.

[Minimalist]

There is a distinction between a cross and a crucifix. The cross was a second century xtian invention - which does not surprise me because the evidence I have seen is that xtianity itself developed in the second century.

The crucifix, however, a cross with a body alleged to be "jesus" dates from the 6th century.

So...somebody got some 'splaining to do!