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The Fish
For many years following Jesus' ascension to heaven, the Christian church grew at a rapid pace. Christians became the subjects of persecution from both the Romans and the Jews, so in many places, it was a dangerous thing to be known as a Christian.
When two strangers would meet, if one of them was a believer, he or she would draw a small arch on the ground with their foot or a walking stick.
If the other person was not a believer, then they would simply dismiss it as a marking that had no meaning. The person who first drew the arch would continue with whatever they were discussing, or simply state their greetings and walk away. They would have probably avoided any discussion about Jesus Christ or their faith in him. |
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On the other hand, if the second person was a believer as well, they would recognize the symbolic greeting, and would add a second curved line, completing the symbol of the fish.
This was a simple method for early Christians to identify each other, and avoid persecution. It was easy to draw, easy to erase if not recognized, and would be easily dismissed by anyone who did not know what it meant. In a way, the symbol of the fish is the early Christian church's First Impression. |
The Greek Meaning
Further to the symbolic meaning above, the Greek word for "fish" is "ichthys". This is the most commonly used word in the New Testament for "fish". The Greek letters that make up the word are, I-ch-th-y-s (Iota, Chi, Theta, Upsilon, Sigma).
Some time around the 16th century, Christians began using this word as an acrostic for the primary declaration of Christian faith: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, meaning "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior".
Fishing Online
More recently, many organizations or companies that are founded or built on Christian principles, or that are owned or run by believers will use the symbol of the fish on some of their material, as a way of indicating the company's ethical grounding. Other Christians may recognize the symbol, and be more willing to associate with a company that operates on principles that are Christian in origin. If you notice the symbol of the fish on a company web site, printed material, or at the bottom of a company email, you will probably also be able to click on the image or a nearby link which will describe the meaning of the fish. It is also a good opportunity for businesses to share the gospel message without having it be a primary area of their web site.
In much the same way that "smiley's" or "emoticons" are used in an email message, such as the infamous "happy face" smiley :-) the fish symbol can also be part of your email signature using the greater than > and less than < symbols like this:
<><
If you wish to add this symbol to your email message, with a link back to this page, you can add the following code to any HTML email signature.
<a href="http://www.gtalondon.org/firstimpressions/thefish.php"><><</a>
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