Old Question: Why should Latter-day Saints not wear crosses?

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Question: Why should Latter-day Saints not wear crosses?

Introduction to Question

Today’s members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have shied away from wearing the cross on their necks or displaying it in their homes as a symbol of Jesus Christ’s atonement and have encouraged others who convert to the Church to not wear crosses either.

The Church has, for a long time, held an institutional policy of not placing crosses on their chapels, temples, and other official buildings. This has, for a long time, caused confusion among some Latter-day Saints but primarily Christians of other faiths. Isn’t the cross a symbol of the resurrection?

Leaders of the Church have responded that we prefer to worship the living Christ and that the cross tends to symbolize Christ’s death. Leaders have also stated that the symbol of Christ and his atonement as Latter-day Saints should be our lives and the way that we conduct them on a daily basis.

But in more recent years, this discouragement from wearing the cross and/or displaying it has begun to be examined and challenged as a mere cultural accretion with no solid basis in either scripture nor the official statements of Church leaders— most notably through the work of BYU professor John Hilton III but also through the work of historian Michael G. Reed.

Are these gentlemen right in asserting this? We examine this question in this article—concluding that there is basis in scripture and the statements of Church leaders for Latter-day Saints to adhere to this norm.

We’ll use a recent article by John Hilton III as the basis of our response. The article is an adaptation from the first chapter of Hilton’s book Considering the Cross: How Calvary Connects Us With Christ (2021). Dr. Hilton is correct in regards to his account of the history behind Latter-day Saints and their use of the cross. However, he is off about the normativity of not wearing and/or displaying crosses today. The article that Hilton wrote for LDS Living which the editors published on February 9, 2022 can be found here. We can't reproduce the entire article here so we ask that you first read Hilton's article by clicking on the link and then coming back to read our response.

Response to Question

Hedging on Hilton’s Reading of Sources

The first thing to note in relation to Hilton’s article is a clear bias in how he interprets sources. First, the Gordon B. Hinckley quote. It’s quite counterintuitive to suggest that Hinckely is not subtly suggesting that all Church members should refrain from wearing the cross. Returning to his statement, he says that “[t]he lives of our people must become the only meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship” (emphasis added).

Second, the statements from David O. McKay, Bruce R. McConkie, Joseph Fielding Smith, and Marvin J. Ashton should be taken more seriously since, while their statements are not placed in official Church publications nor given over the pulpit at General Conference, they still reflect the position/attitudes of top general church leaders about crosses and the appropriateness of Latter-day Saints wearing them. They give the interpretive lens that we should be viewing, for instance, the statements of Gordon B. Hinckley and the Gospel Topics article currently on the Church's website. Ashton specifically says "We [i.e. top Church leaders] … try to teach our people" to not wear crosses.

Third, there are other statements from official Church publications that Hilton does not bring up in the course of his article. Notably, there is this statement from the book True to the Faith authored and published by the Church. Keep in mind that True to the Faith is endorsed by the First Presidency in its opening pages, is hosted on the Church’s website, has been cited numerous times in General Conference since its publication, and is a part of the handful of books that the Church allows their missionary force to read and cite to answer the questions of those that are considering joining the Church. The Church has clearly endorsed the contents of the book. If this is not an official statement in an official publication, then there's no telling what is.

From that book:

The cross is used in many Christian churches as a symbol of the Savior’s death and Resurrection and as a sincere expression of faith. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we also remember with reverence the suffering of the Savior. But because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith. Your life must be the expression of your faith. Remember that when you were baptized and confirmed, you covenanted to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ. As your associates observe you, they should be able to sense your love for the Savior and His work. The only members of the Church who wear the symbol of the cross are Latter-day Saint chaplains, who wear it on their military uniforms to show that they are Christian chaplains (emphasis added).

This is clear direction from the Church that they do not want their members wearing and/or displaying crosses.

Further, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated the following in the October 2022 General Conference. After explaining several reasons for why Latter-day Saints "do not emphasize the cross", Elder Holland gave what he considered to be the most important reason:

Lastly, we remind ourselves that President Gordon B. Hinckley once taught, "The lives of our people must [be] ... the symbol of our [faith]." These considerations—especially the latter—bring me to what may be the most important of all scriptural references to the cross. It has nothing to do with pendants or jewelry, with steeples or signposts. It has to do, rather, with the rock-ribbed integrity and stiff moral backbone that Christians should bring to the call Jesus has given to every one of his disciples. In every land and age, He has said to us all, "If any man [or woman] will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." This speaks of the crosses we bear rather than the ones we wear. To be a follower of Jesus Christ, one must sometimes carry a burden—your own or someone else's—and go where sacrifice is required and suffering is inevitable. A true Christian cannot follow the Master only in those matters with which he or she agrees. No. We follow Him everywhere, including, if necessary, into arenas filled with tears and trouble, where sometimes we may stand very much alone.

It's hard to imagine that Elder Holland is doing anything besides emphasizing that Latter-day Saints do not wear the cross in part because they wish to make their lives and the crosses they bear more important than the ones that many wear. He is subtly telling Latter-day Saints exactly how to interpret "making our lives the only meaningful expressions of our faith". Holland seems to have been giving a mild response to Hilton as Hilton is cited in the seventh citation of Holland’s discourse.

Fourth, Hilton has misquoted his sources. The Gospel Topics article that he quotes near the beginning of his article contains this passage right after discussing how Latter-day Saints "do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith":

Our lives must be the expression of our faith. When we are baptized and confirmed, we covenant to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. The way we live our lives should demonstrate our love for the Savior and His work. [Emphasis added]

It’s clear that Hilton is misinterpreting and misrepresenting his sources and likely deliberately (but not for any nefarious reason).

Why Follow This Counsel

Some may still be troubled by the counsel to not wear and/or display a cross and to encourage others to not wear a cross given that there is no indication from scripture that we should refrain from using crosses.

Perhaps the best scriptures that we can cite are Jesus' words about how it will be known that we are his disciples. As he said, "[a] new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

Following the standard can be supported by other scripture. Scriptural injunctions that may support refraining from using the cross include being a peculiar people so as to encourage interest in the Church and thus success in missionary work, practicing meekness/lowliness of heart/humility/easiness to be entreated before the prophets who have asked us not to wear them, and being anxiously engaged in a good cause without God compelling you to do something by explicit revelation,

Returning to peculiarity, the scriptures repeatedly testify that God’s covenant people should be a peculiar people (Deuteronomy 14:2; 26:18; Psalms 135:4; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9) and that we should be unspotted from the world (James 1:27; Doctrine and Covenants 59:9). By being given and following a strong discouragement of wearing the cross, we can achieve the goal of being peculiar. Not wearing the cross becomes a social identifier—signifying that we are the Lord’s people and wish to be separate from the world.

This separateness can be essential in moving missionary work forward. People are interested in the Church because of the Church’s prohibition of wearing the cross (and other things obviously). Thus, we can achieve more convert baptisms by doing things that go against cultural grain. We can also achieve greater member retention. Indeed, one of the concerns of those that leave the Church is that they perceive that the Church isn’t unique enough among the world’s organizations, and they go elsewhere seeking to be unique and to be seen. Not wearing the cross, while annoying for some at times, can have delayed and even unseen consequences that can be beneficial for us as a people.

The success in being a peculiar people is found precisely in the protests against these "little, cultural rules" that we adhere to as a Church. We've succeeded in being peculiar when news media and even the broader religious world give these rules attention.

Jesus said that we should be a light on a hill and show forth our good works among men and women (Matthew 5:16). This is one way we can do that.

You may not think that God would give commandments just to have us stand out from others, but that's almost certainly what he did in the Old Testament with, for instance, its laws against tattoos in Leviticus 19:28. It very much is a part of the revelation on the Word of Wisdom in Doctrine and Covenants 89. In the last verse, the Lord alludes to when the Israelites put lamb's blood above their doors during the Exodus so that they could identify themselves as the Lord's covenant people before he sent the destroying angel over them. Parts of the Word of Wisdom are about health. The closing verses of the revelation attest to that. But it's also about being a peculiar people.

Finally, the cross wasn't a symbol of the earliest Christians. The earliest extant use that we have of the cross in relation to Christianity come from graffitos (and other art) and literature dating to the second century AD. Widespread use of the cross and/or ichthys as a symbol of Christian discipleship didn't arise until the fourth century AD. Jesus did not somehow expect his followers to wear the cross.

Why the Flip Flop?

Some may be concerned to find out that this practice has not been with the Church since the beginning. However, we do emphasize living prophets and their prerogative in changing Church standards. Hilton agrees. But also, recall Doctrine and Covenants 56:4: "Wherefore I, the Lord, command and revoke, as it seemeth me good; and all this to be answered upon the heads of the rebellious, saith the Lord." The Lord could command us all tomorrow to wear blue shirts indefinitely. We couldn't go anywhere or do anything without wearing a blue shirt. Two weeks later, the Lord could rescind the commandment and it would mean nothing about the validity of revelation. Changing commandments does not mean that morality is relative. It just means that there may be a reason for that commandment that we may not fully understand. In this case, what could that reason be? How about the scriptural reasons laid out above? President McKay clearly felt that we needed to distance ourselves a little more from Catholicism and Protestantism. Let's allow him and other Church leaders the authority to direct us. It can even be argued—and strongly!—that, given the historical and current moral scandals that Catholicism and Protestantism have found/currently find themselves in, that is is desirable to create one or more layers of separation like this to get away from being too closely associated with them. The cross is their quintessential symbol. What better way to create separation than by eschewing wearing or displaying it?

Why Can't We Just Focus on the Heart?

Some have said that the Church's standard is against biblical teaching. These critics cite 1 Samuel 16:6–7. Samuel is being directed by the Lord to anoint a new king over Israel among the sons of Jesse: David. Samuel finds Jesse and sees one of his sons Eliab. Samuel then states while looking at Eliab "Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him." To this the Lord responds "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

Those who criticize the Church on these scriptural grounds assume that the scripture is justifying wearing a cross because what is most important is that you don't judge other people for expressing themselves.

The scripture here does not justify making love only attitudinal. The Lord has sized up the heart of Eliab to see if Eliab will do whatever the Lord asks him to in the position of king. As we have learned, love is a matter of action for the scriptures: what you do.

This stance taken by critics deemphasizes the need to show love to the Lord and the prophets by being meek and lowly of heart. As Christ said in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Love, to Jesus, is about action. I can say I love God and the prophets until I'm blue in the face but it won't actually mean anything until I do something to show my love for them.

While we should never withhold friendship or love from those that convert to the Church with an affinity for the cross nor from those that are already members of our Church and decide one time to wear one, we also shouldn't be permissive of breaking prophetic counsel.

What About Things Like CTR Rings, Garments, Tie Pins, and Other Objects the Church Doesn't Single Out?

Some might object that since the Church doesn't explicitly object to CTR rings, tie pins, or other objects that Latter-day Saints use to express their faith, this challenges the view that the cross should be eschewed in Latter-day Saint worship and practice. Those familiar with the history of CTR rings will learn that they were created to help children to choose the right and not as an official (or even semi-official) symbol of our faith. Another article written for LDS Living explains this. They, along with things like the Angel Moroni, have certainly come to be major symbols associated with our faith to the world, but that was by the public's design and not Church leaders' nor members'. More challenging is the garment which is a non-personal "outward expression of an inner commitment to follow the Lord Jesus Christ." What leaders of the Church probably mean is that they want to make our lives and the way we conduct them the only meaningful, outward, public expression of our faith. Even if that principle doesn't play out in a perfectly logical way in the actual world, it's clear that they just want us to not use the cross as a symbol of our faith because of imagery associated with it and because they want to create a layer of separation between us and other religions and there's the other scriptural reasons already outlined that are compatible with and strengthen the case for following that direction. It's a perfectly fine request.

How to Show New Converts, Visitors, and Curious Church Members Love and Respect

Hilton's concerns seem to be borne out of concern and disappointment for the many times that people have decided that they didn't want to convert to our faith or stay active in our faith because they became offended at some of the comments from Church members regarding the cross. That is a totally valid concern and one we should pay close attention to. How do we relate to those that convert to our faith and want to wear the cross or those that are active in our faith but don the cross out of curiosity and other sentimental appeal?

First, we should not make, as Hilton and Eric Huntsman rightly point out, the shortsighted argument that the cross only represents the dead/dying Christ. Symbols can and do have different meanings to different people. Of course, just because the cross means something important to them, that does not mean that we, as Latter-day Saints, can choose to view it differently and, indeed, the cross is a symbol of Christ's death. We can choose to emphasize that he lives today by rejecting the displaying or wearing of crosses. Joseph Fielding Smith's point about daggers and swords quoted in Hilton's article is entirely relevant to considerations about the symbolism of the cross and we can use his rationale when explaining our aversion to the cross. However, it may be best to entirely eschew the point in any discussion about the cross until the person that currently embraces the cross—whether a prospective convert or a member of the Church that decides to wear it out of curiosity— is in a place where they can be more receptive to our way of viewing the cross instead of their own.

The best argument to make is this: "We recognize the cross as the place where Christ culminated his atonement and He is the center of our worship. However, our First Presidency has given us direction that we should not wear the cross and, recognizing them and the authority they have as our leaders, we choose to follow them. They have told us that the we should make our lives and the way that we conduct them the symbol of our worship of Jesus Christ."

Emphasizing that the way we live our lives should be the symbol of our worship of Christ is perhaps the most pastoral and effective approach in dealing with this issue. Indeed, it is also the way that Christ wanted us to symbolize our worship of him. As he said, "[a] new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." We can share this scripture with our investigators and visitors when they have concerns about the cross.

We often think that the only way to resolve a concern that someone has with a particular standard of the Church is to argue against that standard. We do this as a means of showing solidarity with that person and compassion towards them. Resolving concerns like these is most of the time not a matter of changing/arguing against the standard itself, but the way that we talk about and advocate for it as well as at what time/occasion we deploy our arguments in favor of following that standard.

Above all else, know what is true and then speak it with absolute love and by the Spirit.

Conclusion

While this is a standard that may be annoying at times, when we humbly follow it, it can have delayed yet still beneficial consequences in helping us build Zion and prepare for the Savior's Second Coming.

Notes