Why do Jehovah Witnesses think that the cross doesn't have hands? [duplicate]

Question

They said that the original cross is just a torture stake.

Why do they think that way? Not that I think they're wrong. I am just wondering.

Answer 1

The Jehovah's Witness use of the word stake instead of cross is based on scholarly examination of the original Greek manuscripts.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words:

"stauros denotes, primarily, 'an upright pale or stake.'...Both the noun and the verb stauroo, 'to fasten to a stake or pale,' are originally to be distinguished from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed 'cross.'"

Oxford University’s Companion Bible says:

"The evidence is...that the Lord was put to death upon an upright stake, and not on two pieces of timber placed at any angle."

History shows that the cross is a pagan symbol that predates Christianity, but that the churches allowed its adoption in order to facilitate conversion of pagans. Witnesses reject the cross as a tradition that does not have a Biblical basis.