What's the deal with that fish symbol?

Question

I see it all around, the : <><

Why a fish, and what does it originate from?

Answer 1

The fish outline is a logical symbol for the early Christian church to adopt. Fish are often mentioned in the gospels. This is what one would expect, if Jesus did most of his teaching in the Galilee. The synoptic gospels state this, although the Gospel of John denies it. Fish were a staple in the diet of Galilee.

Some gospel verses which mention fish are:

Mark 1:17: "Come after Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
Matthew 12:40: "...Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."
Matthew 14:17: "And they said to Him, 'We have here only five loaves and two fish.'"
Luke 5:6: "And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking."
Luke 24:42: "So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb."
John 21:6: "And He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.' So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish."
1 Corinthians 15:39: "All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fish, and another of birds."

Some Christians believe that a second link between their religion and the fish symbol is seen in the Greek word for fish (ichthus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma). That is an acrostic which has many translations in English. The most popular appears to be "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior" [Iesous (Jesus) CHristos (Christ) THeou (God) Uiou (Son) Soter (Savior)]. Alternative meanings (in order of decreasing popularity on the Internet) are:

"Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior."
"Jesus Christ, of God, the Son, the Savior"
"Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Savior."
"Jesus Christ, God's Son, our Savior"
"Jesus Christ God Son Savior"

An acrostic is an "arrangement of words in which the first letter of each line ordinarily combines with others to form a word or words or the alphabet."

Answer 2

The fish symbol is probably in reference to what Jesus once said in Matthew 4:19 - "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Implying that all His followers are fishermen. As far as the symbols within the fish: AEXIOU, that is Greek for "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."

Answer 3

It originated after Jesus left..while christians were being prosecuted...they needed a symbol to help identify another christian......so one would draw a curved line on the ground with his or her foot and if the other guy was a christian..he too would draw one. the net effect of the two lines intersecting looks like a fish.

Answer 4

When the Christians were being persecuted and met in secret this Greek word was a put on buildings to let them know that this was a Christian meeting place.
Its an acronym:
Ichthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ, Greek for fish) which is a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name. It compiles to "Jesus Christ God's Son is Saviour" or "Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour", in ancient Greek "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ"
In Greek:
I is the first letter of the word for Jesus
CH first 2 letters for Christ
TH first 2 letters for God
Y first letter for son.
S is the first letter for savior.

Answer 5

Fish is a symbol of Jesus Christ because the fish figure prominently in the New Testament.

Jesus multiplied the fishes and he said to his Apostles, who were fishermen, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

Christians used the fish mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company.

Answer 6

It's called a Jesus fish and it's a symbol of Jesus loving of fishes; he ate them all the time, don't you remember?

Answer 7

i heard that it came from a code that the early christians had when meeting to avoid persecution. one guy would draw and ark in the sand and another would finish it makeing a fish shape

Answer 8

hey hatethi. the person only asked a question about the fish symbol. you never answwered the question. fish must really set you off.

Answer 9

Pisces the sun sign originally but it is also associated with Jesus. Steve N above me has a good answer for the Jesus part.

Answer 10

JESUS TELLS US TO BE fishers of men

Mark 1:16-20
says:

“While walking alongside the sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting their nets about in the sea, for they were fishers. So Jesus said to them: ‘Come after me, and I shall cause you to become..... fishers of men.

what does this mean?

its to fulfill the commandment of jesus in matthew 28:19-20..
to make diciples of all nations


that is to preach until the end.....matthew 24:14


so that all will benefit from gods everlasting life that he promised.....(john 17:3)

then they need to get accurate knowl;edge....1 tim 2:4’