ICHTHYS - THE CHRISTIAN FISH SYMBOL
I’ve got a picture here. Do you know what it is?
<>< (www.epworthsteeple.org/symbols.htm). Yes, it’s a symbol of a fish. But it’s more than that, it’s a Christian symbol going back to the time of the first years of the Christian church. In the first century Christians were a persecuted minority and they had to worship and witness in secret. When a stranger met someone on the road he would draw the top part of the fish symbol in the dust. If the other person drew the lower part, both knew that they were in good company.
But why did they use the fish symbol? The Greek word for fish is Ichthys. The letters of the Greek word form an acrostic: I starts the Greek word Iesous, CH for Christos, Y for Yeos, and
S for Soter, which in English means Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
There are some Christians today who wear on their labels the symbol of a fish to tell others that they are Christians.
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