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Doctrine changes · Claim record

Between 1928 and 1936 the cross was reclassified: the pins were called objectionable in 1928, idols in 1933, pagan in 1934, and in 1936 the book Riches taught that Jesus died on an upright stake rather than a cross.

Claim ID claim-doctrine-chg-cross-stakeConcerns 1 January 1936Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 1 January 1936 Verified

Between 1928 and 1936 the cross was reclassified: the pins were called objectionable in 1928, idols in 1933, pagan in 1934, and in 1936 the book Riches taught that Jesus died on an upright stake rather than a cross. God’s Kingdom Rules!, 2014The Watchtower, 15 May 1995

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation quotes members recalling that they gave the emblem up willingly: “We easily gave it up when we realized what it represented.”

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

God’s Kingdom Rules!, “The King Refines His People Spiritually”

2014 · p.104 · chap. 10, par. 12 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“For many years, the Bible Students viewed the cross as an acceptable symbol of Christianity. … they proudly wore a cross-and-crown pin as an identifying badge. To them it signified that if they proved faithful to death, they would receive the crown of life. Beginning in 1891, a cross-and-crown symbol appeared on the cover of the Watch Tower.”

The chapter's timeline box records the successive steps: cross-and-crown pins called “objectionable” at a 1928 assembly, called idols in Preparation (1933), the cross called pagan in The Golden Age of 28 February 1934, and the stake teaching published in The Golden Age of 4 November 1936 and in Riches (1936).

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Document opened on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; the wording was read in full and the page number taken from the library's own page markers.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-d-kr-2014-ch10-cross

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “Part 1—Flashes of Light—Great and Small”

15 May 1995 · p.20 · pars. 19-20 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“For many years the Bible Students made the cross prominent as a symbol of Christianity. They even had a “cross-and-crown” pin. … The book Riches, published by the Society in 1936, made clear that Jesus Christ was executed, not on a cross, but on an upright pole, or stake.”

The same retrospective records that the cross was used as a Christian symbol, appeared on the cover of the magazine, and was replaced in 1936 by the teaching that Jesus died on an upright stake.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Document opened on wol.jw.org on 19 September 2026; the wording was read in full and the page number taken from the library's own page markers.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-chg-d-w-1995-0515-p1-cross

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-doctrine-chg-cross-stake/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.