ABSTRACT
Augustine and others have given a verbal theology of the cross and of the beauty of the cross. The cross is not a beautiful thing; it is the symbol of a beautiful act on Jesus part, as self-giving, and on the part of the Father, in raising Jesus from death. When the Christian speaks of the beauty of the cross, it is seen not as a self-contained object or event, but as moment in God's poiesis, an element in the theo-drama of salvation, whose significance is therefore incomplete except in the dnouement of the narrative. The cross is indeed a part of God's plan of salvation; yet there is a contrast. Jesus death on the cross is the work of sinful humanity, opposing God's will; but God nevertheless triumphs, by raising Jesus. The whole is the realization of God's 'plan'; but its elements are different in their relation to God.
