Where did the Christian fish symbol originate?

Question

I have heard so many answers such as:
1. the fishers of men deal
2. the story of the fishes and loaves
3. that when Christians were being persecuted, they would draw half of the fish sign in the dirt, and if the person they were meeting or with drew the other half then they would know that they were Christians and not going to persecute them (code).

What is the truth?

Answer 1

It's from the Greek word for fish:

IXOYE

I - Jesus
X - Christ
O - God's
Y - Son
E - Savior

These letters hid a secret message about Christ to the early believers. They would scratch this symbol in the ground to identify other believers.

So the answer is # 3

Hope this helps

-Primo

Answer 2

#3 is almost correct.
The Greek word for fish is ichthus. Late in the first Century the Christians needed a way to hide from persecution and still be able to worship Jesus Christ so they came up with an acrostic. By using the letters that form the word fish they were able to disguise their Christian message and created a way to let other believers know that they could worship and meet at the place where the sign of the fish was. Iesous CHristos THeou Uios Soter is Greek for "Jesus Christ God's Son Savior". When a Christian saw the letters ICHTHUS or saw the fish symbol they knew it stood for CHristos THeou Uios Soter. This was their code of secrecy and freedom.

I just wanted to add that this primo guy that answered earlier is partially correct in his explaination but he has no clue on the propper Greek spelling.

Answer 3

The normal explanation is that ichthus, the Greek word for fish, is also (coincidentally) the acronym for Jesus Christ God's Son (is) Saviour (well, it works in Greek - Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter, as I recall). As this fits in neatly with all the fisher of men stuff it obviously seemed a good idea as a symbol.

Of course, it's possible that early Christians just liked the idea of using a fish and thought up the words it would stand for later. Still, Jesus Christ God's Son (is) Saviour does sum up the core beliefs of mainstream Christianity pretty well.

Answer 4

The fish simbolizes christianity, because of the "fishers of men" thing. But it first came about in early christianity when the romans were heavily persicuting the christians. A way those christian members would find out if someone was truly christian was one person would draw the first half of the fish. (the upward curve), and then the second person would draw the other half with it, (the downward curve), creating the fish.

Answer 5

They used the first letters of the following Greek words ...Jesus Christ,Son of God,Savior....which spells the greek word for fish....so they started drawing the fish as a symbol for Christianity.

Answer 6

I've heard most of those as well, but it may have come into usage much later as did the cross.

It appears that this sign has no traceable origin but I strongly favor the theory that is was used as a marker for the next meeting....

Interestingly the skull and crossbones used to be a Christian symbol of mortality...

Answer 7

The Greek word for fish, ichthys, makes an acrostic (in Greek) for the phrase "Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior."

(I think acrostic is the proper term. Maybe it's anagram)

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Answer 8

It was adopted in the sixth century and is the astrological sign of Pisces. From 498 CE to 2,654, the spring equinox occurs in the Pisces constellation

Answer 9

I agree with 2 and 3. I've heard them both, and they seem plausible in the bible.

Answer 10

It's a pagan symbol for the Age of Pisces, the astrological age we are currently in and have been since around 1 AD.