Ichthys, Ichtus

The Ichthys or Ichtus(Greek meaning fish) is a popular Christian symbol these days.  But, do you know it’s origin and why it’s so popular?  Glad you asked.  It dates back to early 1st/2nd Century Anno Domini(AD).  The early Christians were being persecuted by several groups of the day and had to start using the Ichthys symbol as sign of who they were without others knowing exactly what this meant.  They would put this symbol in front of caves where they would meet, commune and fellowship together. 

Another fascinating aspect of the word Ichthys is broken down this way:

I(Iota)       X(Chi)                           O(Theta)   Y(Upsilon)    E(Sigma)

Iesous      Christos                       Theou       Yios             Soter

Jesus     Christ(anointed)      God’s     Son           Savior

There are a lot of Catholic information that has more details about the ‘Jesus Fish’, as well as wikipedia .  Anyway, I wanted to share some of the more pertinent stuff that I found personally cool. 

Enjoy the read and your day!