After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a lot of of his followers scattered and went underground. Of course, his apostles and nearest disciples were emboldened by the Holy Spirit and set out to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus.
Persecution of those who believed that Jesus was Christ, the Christians, occurred almost without delay and it became necessary for Christians to distinguish one another through the use of symbols. One of the most well known was the symbols of the fish.
This fish symbols has been found by archaeologists in caves and catacombs that were employed as meeting places. It has been found in markings of graves and even in dwelling places. It was a symbol that was recognized by other unfeigned followers but not by those who were not. Why the fish?
There are assorted interesting theories surrounding the use of the fish. First off, Jesus preached mainly in Galilee, a fishing town. Many of His firstborn chosen apostles were fishermen, including Simon Peter to whom he entrusted the keys of the church. Jesus, who taught in parables, told his disciples he would make them fishers of men. There are assorted passages in the New Testament that reference fish.
One very general school of thought concerning the fish comes in the Greek word for fish, IXOYE; iota, chi, theta, upsilon, and sigma. In English the sounds from those letters would be ICHTHUS and you may have heard the fish symbol referred to as the “ichthus fish”. The combining of these letters is an acronym – Iesous Christos Theou Uiou Soter – which translated means Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.
Catholic theology has elaborate on the five words of the acronym into the Jesus prayer, which goes, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
