Protestants Deny Christ On The Cross

....And What That Reveals About Their Theology of Suffering.

Or rather, their lack of it.

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Walk into most any Traditional 15th or 16th or 18th century-built Catholic church, and you’ll see the crucified Christ — bleeding, pierced, crowned with thorns. 

It’s more than art. 

It’s a reminder that there is no salvation without the Cross of Christ's suffering.

Period.

This is referred to as the Theology of Suffering.

By contrast, walk into Protestant churches and they usually display a bare cross, and many of the more recent Protestant sects won't have any cross at all.

To those that do have one, it's a symbol of winning and the "good" of Christ.

In their mind, Jesus's death and suffering are after-thoughts..."he's no longer on the cross," they'll tell you.

The crucifix, then, is seen as, unnecessary and even offensive, just another, "graven image" - a misunderstood phrase that they apply to any symbol or icon of which they disapprove.... especially if it is connected to the Catholic Church.

The Blood of the Lamb mentioned in Revelation 7, has little meaning, in this view.

While they claim this attitude focuses attention on Christ’s resurrection, it also willingly creates three very troubling scenarios:

1. It wipes out Christ's own commandments to us. 

2. It removes the visible reminder of His Passion and suffering — which He said must occur.

3. It turns a blind eye on our own sufferng in this life - which He said will be part of our Christian existence.

Lets take a deep dive to see why this lack of Suffering Theology is dangerous.

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I. Catholics: Salvation Requires the Cross

Catholics believe that Christ's suffering wasn't just substitutionary — it was invitational. 

“Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:38)

The Church teaches that our suffering has meaning when it is united to Christ. 

Catholics are called to offer up their sufferings — NOT to avoid them. 

Fasting, penance, and the Way of the Cross are not outdated traditions; they are tools of transformation. 

In this view:
No cross, no salvation.

I. Protestants: Faith Alone, the Cross is a Past Event

Protestants hold tight to a manufactured theology known as, "sola fide" — salvation by faith alone. 

While the cross has some importance to them, it is often treated as merely a symbol of past events, rather than a present participation. 

The focus is on only one part of  Christ’s total mission, not on what the believer must endure in His name.

They also forget (or never knew) that Martin Luther added the word, "alone," to HIS version of the Bible...which he insisted was published. Thus, it made it into subsequent Bibles that derive from his version.

Because of this, the concept of offering suffering, or using trials for spiritual growth, is largely absent. The Christian life for them is more about winning in the moment, and not about endurance, more about, "being blessed," than sacrifice. 

Some writers have likened this notion to winning a carnival prize, just by showing up.

This has led many Protestant traditions to bypass or dismiss a theology of suffering entirely.

II. Modern Catholic Churches: Following the Same Path?

Disturbingly, even modern Catholic churches are now replacing the crucifix with a Risen Christ, separated from the cross — a strange and confusing image. 

This is a recent innovation of MEN, one that is not found in tradition or Scripture. 

It's a modern, "feel good," move which empties the cross of its pain, blood, and sacrifice.

Christ didn’t rise on the cross — He died on it. 

To place a resurrected body on or adjacent to the instrument of torture is to distort the message of Calvary. 

It's a temptation to skip the meaning of Good Friday and rush straight to Easter Sunday.

But -  there is no resurrection without death.
No glory without suffering.

You cannot have the one without the other...even if you find it distasteful.

III. The Cross Is Not Just a Symbol — It’s a Way

Christianity without the crucifix risks becoming shallow amd worldly. 

The bare cross may proclaim Christ is risen — but it does not tell us what it cost.

And more importantly, it does not remind us of what it will cost US!

Jesus calls us not just to believe in Him, but to follow Him — carrying our own crosses. A theology without the crucified Christ leads to a Christianity without endurance, without penance, without transformation.

So what is The Cross which Jesus says in Luke 9:23  to take up?

“If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23)

Here's what “taking up the cross” means:

1. Self-denial: Putting God’s will above your own desires, even when it’s uncomfortable or painful.

2. Suffering with purpose: Accepting the trials, humiliations, sicknesses, or rejections that come your way — not as punishment, but as a chance to grow in holiness by uniting them with Christ’s suffering.

3. Dying to sin: Turning away from pride, lust, greed, and anything that separates you from God.

4. Living for others: The cross is not just personal suffering — it’s also love in action, like forgiving enemies, serving the poor, or persevering in a difficult vocation.

In short:
The cross is your personal share in Christ’s redemptive mission — and embracing it daily is the true path to holiness.

"No cross. No salvation. No suffering. No sanctification. No crucified Christ — no true Christianity." - St Louis Montfort

How were Catholics prior to 1960 were taught how to carry their cross ?

1. Daily Offering of Suffering

Catholics were taught to “offer it up” — whether pain, sickness, insults, or poverty — uniting their sufferings with Christ for the salvation of souls and reparation for sin.

> “Offer it up” was a common phrase passed on by mothers and priests alike.

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2. Friday Penance and Fasting

Catholics abstained from meat on Fridays year-round and observed strict fasts during Lent and vigils. This was a practical and communal way of embracing the cross.

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3. Devotion to the Stations of the Cross

Practiced especially during Lent, the faithful meditated on Christ’s suffering and offered their own trials in union with His Passion. This devotion was encouraged in nearly every parish.

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4. Mortification and Discipline

Saints and laypeople alike practiced voluntary mortifications: cold showers, sleeping on hard surfaces, self-denial of pleasures — not out of self-hatred, but to grow in virtue and share in Christ’s suffering.

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5. Acceptance of Illness and Death

Before the rise of secular medicine and the prosperity gospel, Catholics embraced sickness, suffering, and death with a supernatural outlook, receiving the Last Rites and viewing death as a participation in Christ’s final agony.

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6. Religious Vocations

Priests, monks, and nuns gave up marriage, possessions, and personal comfort to live lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience — the evangelical counsels — for the love of God and the salvation of souls.

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7. Persecution and Martyrdom

Even in modern times: Catholics in Mexico (Cristero War), Spain (Spanish Civil War), and Nazi Europe bore intense persecution, dying rather than renouncing the faith — literal examples of carrying the cross to the end.

How is a Protestant way of Life Without the Theology of the Cross?

1. Theology: “Faith Alone” — No Redemptive Suffering

Protestant View: Salvation comes by faith alone (sola fide). Suffering is not seen as redemptive or participatory in Christ’s Passion. There's no “offering it up,” and little theology of penance or mortification.

Result:
Suffering is avoided, not embraced. Comfort, personal assurance, and blessing become central.

Example:
In many Evangelical communities, illness or hardship is often seen as a lack of faith or a spiritual failing, not as a cross to carry.

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2. No Sacrament of Confession or Penance

Without sacramental confession, there’s no imposed penance to spiritually "make up" for sins in union with Christ's suffering.

Result:
Less emphasis on repentance through suffering or discipline.

Example:
In Protestant regions, you rarely see practices like fasting, kneeling in contrition, or doing acts of reparation.

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3. No Monastic or Ascetical Tradition

Protestant reformers rejected monasticism — no monks, nuns, or religious orders that embrace the cross through poverty, chastity, and obedience.

Result:
No visible witness of lifelong sacrifice and penance for the world.

Example:
Countries like England, Germany, and Scandinavia dissolved monasteries after the Reformation. Centuries of ascetical witness vanished nearly overnight.

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4. Culture of Prosperity and Individual Comfort

In many Protestant-majority societies (especially in the U.S.), the cross is often replaced with a focus on prosperity, productivity, and individual happiness.

Result:
Suffering is not salvific — it’s something to eliminate, not sanctify.

Example:
The “Prosperity Gospel” in American Evangelicalism teaches that true faith leads to wealth and health — the opposite of embracing the cross.

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5. Sunday Worship Without Sacrifice

With no Mass or Eucharistic offering, Protestant worship lacks the re-presentation of Christ's Sacrifice on the altar. Communion is symbolic, not sacrificial.

Result:
The central act of Christian suffering — the Cross — is not visibly or ritually reenacted.

Example:
A typical Protestant service may include songs, preaching, and prayer — but no altar, no crucifix, no visible connection to Calvary.

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6. Architecture: Empty Cross, No Tabernacle, No Saints

Protestant churches are plain. The crucifix is replaced with a bare cross or nothing at all. Saints — icons of sacrificial lives — are rejected.

Result:
The very environment avoids discomfort, mystery, and reminders of suffering.

Example:
Compare a medieval Catholic cathedral (with stations of the cross, relics, candles, and crucifixes) with a modern Protestant auditorium-style church: comfort over contemplation.

List of References

1. Matthew 10:38; Luke 9:23 – Jesus commands us to take up our cross daily.

2. 1 Peter 2:21; Romans 8:17 – Suffering with Christ is necessary for glory.

3. St. Augustine, Sermon 96 – Each person bears his own cross through trials.

4. St. Thomas Aquinas, Catena Aurea – Taking up the cross means enduring tribulation for God.

5. St. Louis de Montfort, Letter to the Friends of the Cross – No cross, no salvation.

6. Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, Bk 2, Ch. 12 – In the Cross is life and sanctification.

7. Baltimore Catechism (1885), Lesson 7 – Christians must patiently bear suffering as a path to salvation.

8. Pope St. Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907) – Condemns modernism and defends the theology of suffering.

9. Council of Trent, Session VI – Justification involves faith and cooperation through suffering and grace.

There is a ruling by Pope Pius XII in his Encyclical, Mediator Dei, of 20 November 1947, in Section 62, repudiating such Resurrefixes.

“But it is neither wise nor laudable to reduce everything to antiquity by every possible device. Thus, to cite some instances, one would be straying from the straight path were he to wish the altar restored to its primitive tableform; were he to want black excluded as a color for the liturgical vestments; were he to forbid the use of sacred images and statues in Churches; *were he to order the crucifix so designed that the divine Redeemer’s body shows no trace of His cruel sufferings*” ~ Pope Pius XII, Mediator Dei.

Edited from a FB post.