Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior

One of the most common things associated with being a Christians is the symbol of the fish. We see it everywhere: cars, bookstores, its even the name of the popular Christian radio station on our area. But I wonder how many people actually know the meaning behind the symbol? Until recently I did not, and I think it is so fascinating that I just have to share. So here is a little blurb about "The Fish":

Among early Christian symbols, that of the fish ranks probably first in importance. While the use of the fish in pagan art as a purely decorative sign is ancient and constant, the earliest reference to the symbolic fish is made by Clement of Alexandria who recommends his followers to have their seals engraved with a dove or a fish. Clement did not give any reason for this recommendation, from which it may
be safely be inferred that the meaning of both symbols was unnecessary. Indeed, from lots of sources we know that the symbolic fish was familiar to Christians long before the Clement was born in 150 AD; in such Roman monuments as the Capella Greca and the Sacrament Chapels of the catacomb of St. Callistus, the fish was depicted as a symbol in the first decades of the second century. The symbol itself may have been suggested by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes or on the shores after the Resurrection at the Sea of Galilee(John 21:9), but its popularity among Christians was due principally, it would seem, to the famous acrostic consisting of the initial letters of five Greek words forming the word for fish (Ichthys), which words briefly but clearly described the character of Christ and His claim to
the worship of believers:

"Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter", which means
"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."

It is probable that this Christian formula originated in Alexandria, and was intended as a protest against the pagan apotheosis of the emperors; on a coin from Alexandria of the reign of Domitian (81-96) this emperor is styled Theou Yios (Son of God). The word Ichthys, then, as well as the representation of a fish, held for Christians a meaning of the highest significance; it was a brief profession of faith in the divinity of Christ, the Redeemer of mankind.

Believers in this mystic Ichthys were themselves : "little fishes", according to the well-known passage of Tertullian: "we, little fishes, after the image of our Ichthys, Jesus Christ, are born in the water". The association of the Ichthys with the Lord's Supper is strongly emphasized in the epitaph of Abercius, the second century Bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia. During the Lord's Supper this idea is expressed repeatedly in the pictorial form; the food before the banqueters is usually bread and fish on two separate dishes. The peculiar significance attached to the fish in this relation is well brought out in such early drawings as the Fractio Panis scene in the
cemetery of St. Priscilla, and the fishes on the grass, in closest proximity to the baskets containing bread and wine, in the crypt of Lucina.

The fish symbol was not, however, represented exclusively with symbols
of Communion; quite frequently it is found associated with such other symbols as the dove, the anchor, and the monogram of Christ. The type of fish depicted calls for no special observation, save that, from the second century, the form of the dolphin was frequently employed. The reason for this particular selection is presumed to be the fact that, in popular culture of the time, the dolphin was regarded as friendly to man. Besides the Communion paintings of the catacombs a considerable number
of objects containing the fish-symbol are preserved in various European museums, one of the most interesting, because of the grouping of the fish with several other symbols, being a carved gem in the Kircherian Museum in Rome. On the left is a T-form anchor, with two fishes beneath the crossbar, while next in order are a T-form cross with a dove on the crossbar and a sheep at the foot, another T-cross as the mast of a ship, and the good shepherd carrying on His shoulders the strayed sheep. In
addition to these symbols the five letters of the word Ichthys are
distributed round the border.

So you see, the next time you see a bumper sticker of the fish I hope it will mean so much more to you: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.