I'm sure many of you have seen the fish bumper sticker on the back of many cars and other places. Often times there is an IXOYE in the middle of the fish too. What on earth does this all mean?
During the reign of Emperor Nero in Rome a persecution had broken out against the Christians living in that city. It caused them to flee to the catacombs to meet in secret and to use code words for things of a Christian nature. That symbol is what you may have seen with an "IXOYE" inside of it on the back of someone's car. This was a secret symbol Christian's used to identify each other then. The letters "I", "X", "O", "Y", and "E" are actually an abbreviation in Greek letters standing for Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour.
(...take2)
Among the symbols employed by the early Christians, that of the fish ranks probably first in importance. The earliest literary reference to the symbolic fish is made by Clement of Alexandria, born about 150, who recommends his readers (Paedagogus, III, xi) to have their seals engraved with a dove or a fish. Indeed, from monumental sources we know that the symbolic fish was familiar to Christians long before the famous Alexandrian was born; 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. It is known that in the 1st century when Christians were more openly persecuted the simple "fish symbol" could be scratched in the dust with ones staff. Pagans did not recognize it but believers would, thus many an early Christian was able to discern friend from foe.
The symbol itself may have been suggested by the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fishes or the repast of the seven Disciples, after the Resurrection, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John, xxi, 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 (IXOYE), which words briefly but clearly described the character of Christ and His claim to the worship of believers: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. (See the discourse of Emperor Constantine, "Ad coetum Sanctorum" c. xviii.) It is not improbable 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).
(....take 3)
The fish
outline is a logical symbol for the early Christian church to adopt. Fish are
often mentioned in the gospels. This is what one would expect, if Jesus did most
of his teaching in the Galilee. The synoptic gospels state this, although the
Gospel of John denies it. Fish were a staple in the diet of Galilee.
Some gospel verses which mention fish are:
Mark 1:17: "Come
after Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
Matthew 12:40: "...Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son
of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Matthew 14:17: "And
they said to Him, 'We have here only five loaves and two fish.'"
Luke 5:6: "And
when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was
breaking."
Luke 24:42: "So
they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb."
John 21:6: "And
He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find
some.' So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the
multitude of fish."
1 Corinthians 15:39: "All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of
flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds."
Some Christians believe that a second link between their religion and the fish
symbol is seen in the Greek word for fish (ichthus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta
Upsilon Sigma). That is an acrostic which
has many translations in English. The most popular appears to be "Jesus Christ,
Son of God, Savior"
Iesous (Jesus) CHristos (Christ)
THeou (God) Uiou (Son) Soter (Savior)
or the acronym.....
I=Jesus; X=Christ; O=God's; Y=Son; E=Savior
To clarify.....
An acrostic is
an "arrangement of words in which the first letter of each line ordinarily
combines with others to form a word or words or the alphabet.
The Apostles were often referred to as "fishers of men". Followers of
Christianity were called Pisciculi; the root of this Latin word is "fish". The
symbols of "sacramental fish, with wine and a basket of bread represents the
Eucharist and the Last Supper in Christian art." 2 The symbol was simple to draw
and was often used among Christians as a type of password during times of
persecution by the Roman government. If two strangers met and were unsure
whether each other was a Christian, one would draw an arc in the earth like:
). If the other were a Christian, they would complete the symbol with a reverse
arc: (), forming the outline of a fish.
According to Albatrus.org: "When threatened by Romans in the first centuries
after Christ, Christians used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs,
or to distinguish friends from foes."
In modern times, the fish outline symbol is experiencing a comeback. It is
commonly seen in the form of a bumper sticker or casting mounted on the trunk
lids of cars. The body of the symbol may be empty, or may contain a name
("Jesus" or "ICTUS").
