<p>1:23 <em>But we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness- </em>The cross was foolishness to the Gentiles and an offence to the Jews. In Roman thought, the cross was something shocking; the very word &lsquo;cross&rsquo; was repugnant to them. It was something only for slaves. Consider the following writings from the period. <br />- Cicero wrote: &ldquo;The very word &lsquo;cross&rsquo; should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes and his ears. For it is not only the actual occurrence of these things or the endurance of them, but&hellip; the very mention of them, that is unworthy of a Roman citizen and a free man&hellip; your honours i.e. Roman citizenship protect a man from&hellip; the <em>terror of the cross</em>&rdquo;. <br />- Seneca the Elder in the <em>Controversiae</em> records where a master&rsquo;s daughter marries a slave, and she is described as having become related to <em>cruciarii</em>, &lsquo;the crucified&rsquo;. Thus &lsquo;the crucified&rsquo; was used by metonymy for slaves. The father of the girl is taunted: &ldquo;If you want to find your son-in-law&rsquo;s relatives, <em>go to the cross</em>&rdquo;. It is hard for us to appreciate how slaves were seen as less than human in that society. There was a stigma and revulsion attached to the cross. This was the offence of the cross.<br />- Juvenal in his <em>6th Satire</em> records how a wife ordered her husband: &ldquo;Crucify this slave&rdquo;. &ldquo;But what crime worthy of death has he committed?&rdquo; asks the husband, &ldquo;no delay can be too long when a man&rsquo;s life is at stake&rdquo;. She replies: &ldquo;What a fool you are Do you call a slave a man?&rdquo;. &nbsp; <br />The sense of shame and offence attached to the cross was also there in Jewish perception of it. Whoever was hung on a tree was seen as having been cursed by God (Dt. 21:23). Justin Martyr, in <em>Dialogue with Trypho, &nbsp;records</em> Trypho (who was a Jew) objecting to Christianity: &ldquo;We are aware that the Christ must suffer&hellip;but that he had to be <em>crucified</em>, that he had to die a death of such shame and dishonour- a death cursed by the Law- prove this to us, for we are totally unable to receive it&rdquo;. Justin Martyr in his <em>Apology</em> further records: &ldquo;They say that our madness consists in the fact that we place a <em>crucified</em> man in second place after the eternal God&rdquo;. The Romans also mocked the idea of following a crucified man. There is a caricature which shows a crucified person with an ass&rsquo;s head. The ass was a symbol of servitude note how the Lord rode into Jerusalem on an ass. The caption sarcastically says: &ldquo;Alexamenos worships God&rdquo;. This was typical of the offence of the cross.</p>