In the Church of the...
Illustration
In the Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher) in Jerusalem beneath Mt. Calvary, is the Chapel of Adam. One can see the rock with a crack in it, which is why that spot was not quarried with the rest of the site centuries ago. (Two crusader kings, Godfrey and Baldwin I, repose with the chapel.) In the Greek (Eastern) tradition, this is the site of the Garden of Eden and the skull and bones of Adam (and Eve) were discovered there. Even though the tradition can't be true, it conveys a truth summed up in this Pauline idea of Jesus, the Second Adam born of a virgin, as Adam was created from virgin earth, fulfilled the vocation of our first parents to be the priests of nature, and offering themselves and the universe to God in obedience. Since, by man, came God's rejection, and thereby enslaving himself to sin, suffering and death; so by man came salvation and redemption. In Christ crucified and risen, human nature and our image of God is fully restored.
The traditional Eastern crucifix has affixed to it, usually beneath the feet of the Christus, a skull and crossbones, to symbolize this story of redemption summed up by Calvary and Adam's Chapel.
The traditional Eastern crucifix has affixed to it, usually beneath the feet of the Christus, a skull and crossbones, to symbolize this story of redemption summed up by Calvary and Adam's Chapel.
