?FISHY BUSINESS?
Ever seen this sign:
?
On a bumper sticker, name plate, business card, wherever?
You may know that is a symbol used by some Christians as a sign of their faith.
Apparently, it is a simplified representation of a fish, swimming to the left.
Where does this sign come from?
In Greek, the language in which the New Testament was largely written, the word for fish is:
ι̉χθυς (often written in our Roman alphabet as 'ichthus') ...
This Greek word ι̉χθυς is in itself an acronym, consisting of the first letters of:
ι̉ησος χριστος θεου ύιος σωτηρ
In English this means:
Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour
I have given the translation of the words in the same order as that of the Greek words.
The early Christians were, to put it very mildly, not always free to practise their religion.
And so, they needed a secret sign to know each other.
The chose: fish, ichthus, ι̉χθος, as this may be read as a very short confession of their faith.
The following is a part of a surviving mosaic floor, showing this originally secret sign, now worn proudly by many Christians.
