Jesse, and this was the Christ."[16]

Further on in the same work, Justin Martyr, alluding to the statement
in the Israelitish Law "Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree,"
states that


"It was not without design that the prophet Moses
when Hur and Aaron upheld his hands, remained in this
form until evening. For indeed the Lord remained upon
the tree almost until evening."[17]

Tertullian writes concerning the Christ "With the last enemy Death did
he fight, and through the trophy of the cross he triumphed"[18]; and
elsewhere tells us that "Cursed is every one who hangeth on a tree" was
a prediction of his death.[19]

There is also in existence a long essay by Tertullian which starts by
discussing the efficacy of "the sign" as an antidote. The sign of the
cross as traced upon the forehead in the non-Mosaic initiatory rite of
baptism seems to be what is referred to; and no representation of an
instrument of execution, or cross-shaped symbol of wood or any
material, is once mentioned.[20]

In another of Tertullian's works we come across the passage "In all the
actions of daily life we trace upon the forehead the sign."[21]

His famous reference to the Sun-God Mithras reads as follows:--