What’s with the Ichthus?
We often see “Ichthus” symbolizing Christianity. We see it in our bibles, shirts, mugs, doorposts, and etc. When you see that symbol, you know for a fact, it is a Christian thing. But did you ever wonder why Ichthus, and what’s the story behind it?
Ichthus is the greek word for fish. Jesus said to peter and other disciples that he will make them fishers of men. In layman’s term, that means; “you will be my means to catch people through evangelism and discipleship“. However, doing these things become harder and harder in the early church. The first three hundred years of the early church’s existence was the peak of great persecutions and prosecutions. As a result, Christians were forced to gather and meet secretly.
To hide their identity as Christians does not mean they are ashamed of Christ. Rather, it shows their love for Christ and others. Their reason for existence is Christ alone, and to share him to others. And if they publicly declare that they are disciples (mathetes) of Jesus, that would mean instant death. So to hide their identity means, staying alive for Christ -so that they could be Jesus’ means to catch people through evangelism and discipleship.
As the disciples increase in number, knowing who the real followers of Jesus became a hard task because they could not ask every person they meet if they were a Christian. So, they made a code. They used the symbol fish or Ichthus. This is the code: when a Christian meets a stranger who is also a seemingly Christian, to confirm his identity, he will write to the ground the half part of the ichthus.
If that person is a real Christian, he must know the code, and must complete the ichthus symbol. Completing the symbol means, yea, I’m one of you! I’m a follower of Christ! If the person responds, praise God! If he did not; no big deal.
Some group of people made an acrostics equivalent for the word Ichthus. And it becomes more interesting for me. Here it is:
(Chart from widepond.com)| Greek Letter |
Letter Name |
English Equivalent |
First Letter in |
English Translation |
| Ι | Iota | I | Iēsous | Jesus |
| Χ | Chi | Ch | Christos | Christ |
| Θ | Theta | Th | Theou | God’s |
| Υ | Upsilon | U | Huios | Son |
| Σ | Sigma | S | Sōtēr | Savior |
so ICHTHUS means = Iesous Christos Theou HUios Soter, meaning Jesus Christ God’s Son our Savior.
