What does the Christian fish symbol mean? Does it matter which way it faces?

Answer 1

The fish became associated with Christianity as a secret code of sorts. "Icthus" is Greek for "fish." During the various persecutions that Christians suffered during the early years of the church, the ichtus was used to identify believers and places of worship.

For example, it was common for people to stop and greet one another along a road. During this conversation, a Christian would draw an arc in the dirt with his sandal or toe. If the other person he was greeting was a Christian, he would draw another arc from his side, with the tail intersecting. This resulted in the fish. If an authority figure were to pass by, they would see a couple of guys with a fish between them, and if he heard the word "ichthus," would likely think they were fishermen.

The Greek letters in the fish symbol you find on cars spell out the word "Ichtus" in the Greek, and each letter means something:

Iota: "Iesous" which means "Jesus"

Chi: "Christos" which means "Christ"

Theta: "Theos" which means "God"

Upsilon: "Uios" which means "Son"

Sigma: "Soter" which means "Savior"

It doesn't matter which way it faces, although most of them with the Greek letters within have it facing to the left.

Answer 2

As the person above me said, it was kind of like a secret symbol of the Christians during the first few centuries when they were being persecuted. one christian would draw half of it with their toe, without being obvious, and if the other one was a christian, they would draw the other half of it. this was a discreet way to communicate with fellow christians. Until recently, it didn't matter which way the fish went, but now, one direction means the fish of Jesus, and the other is the fish of Darwin. I'm not sure when it became the fish of Darwin, but there it is.

Answer 3

The earliest Christians spoke and wrote in Greek. In Greek, the first letter of each word in the phrase: Jesus Christ Son (of) God Savior spelled the Greek word "fish".

It also tied in with Jesus' teaching that he would make his followers "fishers of men".

Because the Christian religion was forbidden, and those caught practicing it were subjects to execution, the early Christians developed several "symbols" for Jesus that were not easily understood by others. The "fish" was one of those.

Made of two curved line, a Christian would casually make one of the curves in the dirt. If another person responded by drawing the other curve of the fish, then they knew they were both Christians.

The way it is faces is not important.

Answer 4

The fish symbol is seen in the Greek word for fish (ichthus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma).

That is an acrostic which means in English:

Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior

Pastor Art

Answer 5

The fish symbol was originally used to identify other Christians under Roman rule. Christians were persecuted under Roman rule, so they would have to meet secretly. One person would draw the top line of the fish ")" and another would come along and draw the bottom line "(" to communicate their faith.
That's what I was told in Sunday school.

Answer 6

You got a lot of uninformed answers so far.

This is going to offend a lot of people, so if you are the sensitive type go elsewhere....

Roman Catholicism derives many of it's beliefs and practices from pagan rituals and symbolism. The sign of the fish is actually an ancient fertility symbol representative of the male sex organ, not the female (The heart at Valentines day is representative of the female genitalia, take a long look.........it is another fertility cult symbol).

Why the fish symbol? In antiquity, people worshiped Nimrod, Semiramis and Tammuz (One of the Pagan patterns for the trinity), I forget just what happened, If I remember right, Nimrod was trying to kill Abram because he realized that Abram was the chosen one of God. Abram's grandfather, Shem, caught up with Nimrod before he could harm Abram and killed him and cut his body into many pieces and sent them all over the known world, except for the male genitalia which Shem threw into the sea, where it was eaten by a fish. Semiramis, Nimrod's wife, Traveled the world to put her husband's body back together and got all the parts exec pt the one Shem cast into the sea, so she used a fish for that part.

So, when you see the Pope and all these cardinals and whatnot parading around in their fish hats, it is really a penis that they are carrying on their heads, not a symbol of Christianity. A fitting symbol for the heads of an apostate church to wear.

For those who wish to learn the truth, the sources below are well worth checking out.

Source(s):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod_%28k...

http://philologos.org/__eb-ttb/default.h...

http://www.lcg.org/cgi-bin/tw/commentary...

http://www.lcg.org/cgi-bin/tw/booklets/t...

http://www.christiananswers.net/dictiona...

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.j...

http://bupc.montana.com/whores

Answer 7

It was an ancient way of identifying Christians to each other. In Greek, the letters IXTHUS were used, which is an anagram (first letters) for the phrase “Jesus Christ is God’s Son, the Savior" - in Greek, of course. I have never heard that the direction matters, though I have never seen it any way except facing left.

Answer 8

The Fish represents the age of Pisces. Many mistakenly believe that it is originally a Christian image. It was however used by Christians as a way to identify each other while they were being persecuted by the Romans.

Answer 9

I like it when it has feet coming out of it and has the letters D-A-R-W-I-N written inside.

I think the legend behind that one was when people in Kansas who believed in scientific evidence supporting common ancestry were being persecuted, the only way they could safely communicate their faith to one another was by this figure in the dirt as they walked past each other. One person would draw an arc, and then the other person would draw the arc, and they'd keep taking turns until it was obvious that they were fellow science lovers.

Unfortunately, I believe the practice had to stop when the Reverend Phelps discovered what was going on and convinced the Kansas legislature to outlaw the practice because it must have been started by f*gs, whom God hates, of course - according to Phelps and his followers.

Answer 10

The symbol of the fish was a way, in ancient times, that christians identified each other.
It does not matter which way it faces.