How has the "Christian fish" evolved?

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Seeing a Christian fish on the bumper of a car as seen in the picture to the left has become a common sight. The fish is now recognized for being a symbol of Christian faith. People use the sign to proclaim that they are a believer of Jesus Christ. However, that was not the case before the Christians adopted the symbol and created the meaning for it that we know today. The symbol has pagan roots and was the most unlikely symbol to be a part of the Christian faith. The symbol had several different meanings over the centuries, including reincarnation, fertility, sexuality and connections to Greek goddess'. 

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The “Christian fish” is called an Ichthy, which is a Greek word for fish. However, the first century Christians put their own meaning on the word. They made an acronym of the word; connecting  the saying, Iesous Christos Theou Yious Soter which translates to Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. Not only did the meaning of the fish have significant meaning but the symbol alone had biblical beliefs. The actual fish symbol most likely came from the parable of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves. There is also evidence the idea of the symbol came from Jesus calling his disciples “fishers of men”. Nevertheless, the symbol was incredibly clever because the fish had roots of pagan beliefs. Therefore it was not suspicious to see the symbol  because of the pagan meaning it was connected with.

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   While Christians were being persecuted, they would use the Ichthy to mark meeting places and tombs. Being a Christian in the early church era was extremely dangerous and they could be murdered for there beliefs if they were found out. Therefore, using the Ichthy was a secretive way for Christians to be able to have meeting places only known to believers and be able to congregate without persecutors finding them. Along with this, Christians would use the symbol to distinguish between enemies and fellow believers when traveling. One person would draw half of the fish in the dirt and if the other person was a Christian they would finish drawing the other half. Although the fish is not used the same way it used to be, many Christians will put the fish as a bumper sticker or wear it as jewelry to represent their faith in the 21^st century.

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 However, the fish did not always have biblical meaning. Before the Christians adopted the symbol as their own, it had extremely pagan roots. Ichthys had several different meanings throughout history. One belief was that Ichthys represented a “womb”. Atargatis, shown on the right, was known as a Canaanite goddess of fertility and  was known for having a snakelike essence. Ichthy was sacred to her and represented a womb that birthed the snakelike essence into the world.

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However, even though the fish now has biblical meaning, the world has tried to mock the symbol. I believe people do this because Christians have made the symbol part of their faith, and the world wants to make fun and alter the meaning of the fish symbol. The picture to the left featuring what looks similar to a Chrisitan fish but instead has feet and the words Darwin written inside it, is an attempt of people mocking Christianity. Evolutionists are openly ridicule God and proclaiming that evolution is the correct belief.

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Despite the slight jab at Christians, some came back with a picture of the Christian fish eating the Darwin fish, such as the picture to the right.

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Along with these two images came another attacking Christianity. A t-rex is seen eating the Christian fish declaring that evolution triumps the Christian faith. 

Certain media websites have declared this dispute between Christianity and Evolution a war between the fish. Although the world is fighting to alter the meaning of the fish, the symbol stands strong as a representation of Christian faith.


* Google Images