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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Twenty Minutes

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media: Arts

Eclectic arts magazine programme, exploring a range of fascinating subjects

Eclectic arts magazine programme, exploring a range of fascinating people, places and events

Twenty Minutes: The Story of the Cross

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: History

Religion & Ethics

The Story of the Cross

05/04/2012

BBC Radio 3 - Twenty Minutes, The Story of the Cross

Jonathan Coffey on the story of the cross and how it became the symbol of Christianity.

Jonathan Coffey uncovers the story of the cross and how it became the key symbol of Christianity.

During their persecution under the Roman Empire, many early Christians used the sign of the fish as a symbol of faith and identity. It's said that the sign was used to mark secret meeting places or tombs and as a kind of code for identifying and communicating with other Christians. The sign of the fish - or "icthys" - is still used by some Christians today. But it's the simple cross - two intersecting straight lines - that has come to be the dominant symbol of Christianity. In this Twenty Minutes for Easter Jonathan Coffey uncovers the story of how this most profound of symbols came into being.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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