Identification symbol
The symbol “ichthys” became widespread during the period of the formation of Christianity, when adherents of monotheism in the Roman Empire were subjected to widespread persecution. The first images of the secret symbol “ΙΧΘΥΣ” appeared in the Roman catacombs (for example, Priscilla’s dungeon) in the 2nd century, where Christians held their meetings in secret from the authorities. Sometimes the code symbol was not the word “ichthys,” but an image of a fish.
Sometimes, when strangers met, one of them casually drew an arc on the ground, and if the other complemented this simple drawing with a second intersecting arc, turning the lines into a fish, both understood that they were adherents of Christianity.
Often such fish served as pointers for initiated people to the location of the church, which ceased to be a secret after 313, when Emperor Constantine announced the adoption of Christianity as the state religion.
The symbol of Christ carrying the sacrament was the image of a fish carrying on its back a basket of bread and wine, which decorated the catacombs of St. Callista.
On a fragment of the wall of the baptistery pool, kept in the Tunis Museum, there is a mosaic “Baptism”, where Jesus is represented as a dolphin, above which the Holy Spirit, represented as a dove, hovers. Meanwhile, a dolphin chained to an anchor in Christianity personifies Christ crucified on the cross.
Miracles involving Jesus and the fish
It could not but be influenced by the fact that the symbol of the Son of God is a fish, and the fact that the Bible describes how Jesus Christ fed many people one time with seven loaves and fish, and the next time with five loaves and two fish.
Saint Paul the Merciful narrates about this event in his writings, speaking about how the Savior fed the people with five loaves of bread and two fish, and calls Christ himself the true bread and fish of the living water.
Having examined some evidence that the image of a fish is inextricably linked with the name of Jesus Christ, which is in the Holy Scriptures and the works of researchers, we can conclude that the fish became a symbol of the Savior during his earthly life.
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Holy Scripture about the connection between Jesus Christ and fish
The connection between Jesus Christ and fish goes much deeper than the fact that they are acronyms.
It should be borne in mind that Jesus Christ delivered many of his sermons in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee (the modern name is Lake Kinneret), accordingly, there were many fishermen among those who listened to him. This circumstance led to the fact that among the apostles (disciples of Jesus Christ) there were many fishermen who were close to the fishing theme. He communicated with his students in a language they understood and appealed to simple, in their understanding, terms, trying to turn them from simple fishermen into fishermen of human souls, that is, by popularizing the teaching to convert people to their faith. The Gospel of Matthew indicates that Jesus Christ likened the kingdom of heaven to the sea, and people to all kinds of fish. In the same Gospel (7: 9–11), the description compares Christ to a fish, and the devil to an adder (serpent).
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The writer Tertullian, at the dawn of Christianity, in his work on the Sacrament of Baptism, compares people with small fish, and the Son of God with a fish (ikhthus), and the Kingdom of God with water, where only fish can live.
Modernity
Interest in the ichthys symbol revived among Christians at the end of the 20th century. Some Protestants, indicating their religious affiliation, placed a special sticker on their car with an image of a fish, inside of which was the inscription “ΙΧΘΥΣ.” In defiance of them, atheists who adhere to the evolutionary theory of the origin of life began to stick on their cars a fish with small legs, inside of which the word “Darwin” was written. In response, New Testament supporters released stickers showing Darwin's fish with its legs upside down, indicating that their views on the nature of the origin of the Universe were untenable.
But the believers went the furthest, not refuting the evolutionary theory, but seeing in it just another providence of God, since they came up with a sticker that combines all points of view. Their fish was decorated with the inscription "ΙΧΘΥΣ" and equipped with legs.
Gospel symbolism
The important symbolism of the fish is narrated in the pages of the Gospels, which describe the life, deeds and death of Jesus Christ. The sign “ichthys” refers to many New Testament episodes where fish and fishermen appear, and therefore there are many versions of why this particular creature was chosen by the first Christians as the personification of the Messiah.
Citing various testimonies, it is perhaps necessary to begin with the fact that the disciples-apostles who surrounded the Savior, many of whom were fishermen, were called by him in the Gospel of Matthew (4:19) and the Gospel of Mark (1:17) “fishers of men.” According to the Gospel of Matthew (13:47), Christ likens the Kingdom of Heaven to “a net that was cast into the sea and caught fish of all kinds.” The early Christian writer Tertullian, reflecting on the Sacrament of Baptism, wrote: “We are little fish, led by our ikhthus, we are born in water and can only be saved by being in water.”
The fish is spoken of when referring to the moment when Christ fed the people in the desert: “He took five loaves and two fish, looking up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to distribute to them; and he divided the two fish among everyone. And they all ate and were filled” (Gospel of Mark 6:41-42).
By the way, Saint Paul the Merciful, Fr.
Another episode tells of the meeting and meal of the Savior and his disciples on the shore of Lake Tiberias, which took place after his Resurrection: “And when morning had already come, Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus says to them: children! do you have any food? They answered Him: no. He said to them: cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will catch it. They cast, and could no longer pull out the nets from the multitude of fish... When they came to the ground, they saw a fire laid out and fish and bread lying on it. Jesus says to them: Bring the fish that you have now caught... Jesus says to them: Come, dine. None of the disciples dared to ask Him: Who are you?, knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus comes, takes bread and gives them fish also” (Gospel of John 21:4-13).
In the Gospel of Luke (11:11) you can find the line: “Which father among you, when his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? or, when he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake instead of a fish?”, from which the interpreters concluded the opposition between the fish, as pure power, and the adder, as the personification of the devil.
Saint Ambrose, relying on the Gospel of Matthew (17:24-27), which tells of a fish caught by the Apostle Peter with a coin in its mouth, intended for donation to the Temple of Jerusalem, associated the image of ichthys with the Redemption.
Mysterious acronym
In the ancient Greek language there is a word Ίχθύς, which in Russian is written as “ichthys” and means fish. At the same time, it is a monogram (acronym) of the name of Christ and consists of the initial letters of his full name in Greek. In Russian this is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior. Instead of this name, the sign of a fish was often depicted, which in short form expresses the confession of Christianity.
Since, due to the persecution of faith in the early stages, images of Christ were an unacceptable subject, the indicated acronym appears in the 2nd century in the Roman catacombs. The symbol of fish in Christianity appeared long before the cross began to be used. After all, a terrible and shameful execution was previously associated with him. It only acquired its current meaning in the 4th century, when the crucifixion was abolished. At a certain period, both symbols were equivalent.
