The Taxila Cross

There are two further pieces of evidence that might seem to suggest a St. Thomas connection with Pakistan , the one epigraphical, the other social. The epigraphical evidence is an interesting cross found at Taxila and now lodged in the Anglican cathedral at Lahore , where it is known as the Taxila Cross. The social evidence concerns a fakir community which is said to be connected with Thatta, Sind , and to claim that it has its origins in St. Thomas .

The Taxila Cross was at one time a very emotional issue in Christian circles. It was found in 1935 in a field near the site of the ancient city of Sirkap . The local zamindar gave it to Mrs. C. King who then presented it to the cathedral at Lahore . It is a very small cross.^[1]

When the C.O.P. Church ( Church of Pakistan ) was inaugurated on 1 November 1970 , The Pakistan Times carried the following report:^[2]

The United Church has taken as its symbol the Taxila Cross which dates back to the Second Century A.D. and was recovered from the old city of Sirkap some forty years ago. The discovery of the Taxila Cross and some other objects of the same date give clear indication of the Christian Church having been in this part of the world. . . "Adopting the Taxila Cross as our Symbol, we want to establish the fact that the Christian Church is not a recent addition in this country. Its heritage and past go back to the early centuries of the Christian era. This is a very bold claim and deserves some investigation.

Albert Schweitzer has remarked that one of the weaknesses in many historical lives of Jesus is the need some writers experience to discover themselves in the Jesus they portray.^[3] Our desire similarly to discover echoes of ourselves in the past should not be permitted to push us to accept relics like the Taxila Cross simply because it would be very nice to do so. We are convinced indeed that there were Christians in Pakistan in the very early part of our era, but the proof does not depend on the relic we discuss now. Even if we accept its Christian authenticity and even if it were correctly dated (which is still uncertain), nothing more is proved other than that somebody in Sirkap possessed a Christian symbol. It'iObes not follow necessarily that the possessor was himself a Christian.

In December 1970, Dr. B.L. Haines reacted very strongly to the Pakistan Times report with a short article on the relic, published by Al-Mushir. His article (see note no.35) is well argued and reaches three conclusions;

1.      There is no certainty that the Taxila Cross in the Cathedral at Lahore is a genuine Christian relic.

 2.      If the cross is a genuine artefact from Taxila, then it is only one of a number of pre-Christian and Buddhist crosses which were found there.

 3.      The Taxila Cross is interesting but it is not the kind of evidence that is suitable in the reconstruction of ancient history.

 The first of these is incontrovertible. The second is perhaps too sweeping. It is true that many cruciform ornaments dating from the sixth century B.C. are to be found at Taxila, but some may date as late as the third or fourth century A.D. Yet it still remains doubtful whether any of the Taxila crosses are of Christian provenance. The third may be too harsh and restrictive. His general thesis, despite these restrictions, holds firm.

 An aspect of the topic that Dr. Haines does not discuss is the possibility of relating the Taxila Cross to other Indian cross relics. Mingana's study of the early spread of Christianity in India lists five such crosses.^[4] It appeared in 1926 and, understandably, does not consider the Taxila Cross. These five crosses share with the Taxila Cross one common characteristic in that they are more or less equilateral. This charac teristic may not be regarded as distinctively Christian since such equilateral crosses are common enough in pre-Christian and Buddhist cryptography.^[5] Since it is the only characteristic the Taxila Cross shares with the others, we may not escape the conclusion that on its own it can tell us very little at all. Even if we could establish that it is a genuine Christian relic, it could give us historical information only if related to another set of clues.^[6]

From the book written by

Fr. John Rooney M.H.M

Shadows in the Dark ( Pakistan Christian History Monograph No. 1)

Christian Study Center , Rawalpindi 1984. pp 42-45.