Finding Jesus (TV) – The True Cross (ep. 5/6)

We have now entered Holy Week and the series takes on the subject of the cross.

 

Does the wooden cross that Jesus was crucified upon exist? Did Helena (mother of emperor Constantine) really discover the true cross? Hacked up into pieces and spread around the world, are any of the wooden relics really part of the true cross? Where did these come from?

 

There are over a thousand supposed fragments of the cross. They are everywhere! They can't all be real. John Calvin was one of the first to question their authenticity. Charles de Ferry mapped out the relics and claims that all the relics out together could only account for 10% of the cross, meaning it is possible for the relics to be from the Cross.

 

Brief background on Helena and Constantine, and his conversion to Christianity. A scandal in the Constantine house. His son Crispus has an affair with Constantine' second wife and put to death. But Fausta may have manufactured the affair to favor her own sons as heir. She is placed in a chamber to be killed by heat exposure. Helena may have seen her son as lost by his sins of murder. Her search may have had to do with penance. (Really, this early in Christian history? But then, these are Roman converts from paganism.)

 

Dramatized scenes of Helena' search in Jerusalem. It is now a secular, pagan city. Nothing is left of the Jewish past. Her search allows her to enter into the passion and footsteps of Jesus.

 

Emperor Hadrian in 135 built a pagan temple over the spot of Jesus' crucifixion. The Legend of Helena in finding the true cross emerges around 350. In the legend Helena digs in this spot and three crosses are uncovered. One of these is supposedly the actual cross on which Jesus died. Helena divides up the cross into pieces.

 

This is the moment when the Cross turns from a symbol of defeat and death to something to be revered, something that Christians are willing to accept as part of their devotion and religion.

 

Testing of one of the relics located at Waterford, Ireland. Given by the Pope around a thousand years ago.

 

Back to Helena. She builds churches to commemorate various aspects of Jesus' life. She begins the traditions of having specific Christian buildings (i.e., churches) for public meeting. Prior to this Christians generally met in private. Helena turns Palestine into the Holy Land.

 

Is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the right spot? Did Helena really find the true Cross? Helena dies not long after her return to Rome. Constantine dies after a few more years. He became a Christian but did not act like one for most of his life. But there is evidence he may have had a full conversion in his final year.

 

Back to testing the Waterford Cross. Dates to 1100AD. It is too recent to be the True Cross. It does match the fate of the container and inscriptions. That doesn't mean there aren't others that may be.

 

This episode was about Helena, Constantine, when Christianity became recognized by the Empire, and the origins of the cross as the symbol of Christianity. It was a fascinating look into early Christianity via the means of the True Cross. This episode, unlike the earlier ones, did not quote a single Bible text.