Which way is up?
(Puzzle 023)
| Should it be |
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The image below on the left is a version of the Chi-Rho Cross. The image below on the right is the emblem of the United Methodist Church.
There is no mystery about either of those crosses, but what puzzled us was which of these two, if either, is the meaning of a cross seen in the Epworth Church in Matthews, Indiana.
That church happens to be a United Methodist Church, but the cross there is believed to pre-date that Church's emblem by many, many years. We're not great believers in things happening by coincidence and therefore conclude that the symbol shares both meanings equally.
The crossed Chi-Rho combines the two earliest Christian symbols; one that signifies the Name of Christ with the other that points to the actual Cross of Calvary. The other cross (top left), while close in representation to the United Methodist Cross, is similar to the Russian Orthodox Cross; the leaning of Christ toward the Good Thief, symbolising the victory of Grace over sin.
There's more written about this on our Epworth Cross page.