All of us have often seen the Christian fish symbol on the back of cars. It is usually very simple and abstract consisting of two intersecting arcs joined at one end. Most of us call it the Jesus fish, but its real name is the “ichthys.” People started placing it on cars in the mid-1970s, and this was motivated by its use by the early Christians. They considered it a sacred symbol and used it to mark tombs and meeting places. An archeological example is pictured below.

There are many ways to associate the fish symbol with Christianity: some of the Disciples were fishermen, Jesus called them to be fishers of men, Jesus fed the multitude with two fish and five loaves, the resurrected Jesus appeared to the Disciples grilling fish on the shore, and He used the fish as a “Sign of Jonah.” The fish was also used as a communion symbol. My favorite association comes from a Greek acrostic used by the early Christians, whose primary common language was Greek. One symbol emphasizing this is pictured above.

The Greek word for fish is ichthys and in the Greek alphabet is spelled ΙΧΘΥΣ. Here is the acrostic:
•Ι (Iota) is the first letter of Iesous, Greek for “Jesus.”

•Χ (Chi) is the first letter of Christos, Greek for “anointed.”

•Θ (Theta) is the first letter of Theou, Greek for “God’s.”

•Υ (Upsilon) is the first letter of yios, Greek for “son.”

•Σ (sigma) is the first letter of soter, Greek for “Savior.”

Converting to English we see that the symbol stands for the wonderful phrase “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” What a great reminder of God’s unconditional love for all of us!

Jim