Holy Cross, Life-Giving Tree

A historical perspective of the image of the cross as one of life instead of death

What would Christianity be like if the principle of a new creation were its guiding idea, and the Cross as Life-Giving Tree its central image? After exploring this principle’s deep roots in tradition, worship, and art, this book proposes Hildegard of Bingen’s concept of virditas—“green-ness”—as a way to know it in daily life. It claims the Cross as healer of division, both among followers of Jesus and among th...