IXOYE -- Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior

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It is what it represents to Christians...A hidden meaning behind a simple symbol.

There are many symbols that Christians look to as representative of the Christian faith. Crosses of various forms seem to be the symbol of today. However, to the early Christians, it seems that the symbol of the fish surpassed all others. The figure of the fish was first drawn by early Christians as a secret mark of identity during times of persecution.

Due to often severe times of persecution, the earliest followers of Jesus adopted a secret symbol (the fish - Ichthys). When encountering another traveler on the road or another citizen of the city, a Christian would begin "doodling" with his walking stick in the sand. Eventually, he would draw the first half of the fish. If the other traveler saw this and used his stick to complete the fish, the two would know that the other was a Christian. Pagans did not recognize it but believers would, thus many an early Christian was able to discern friend from foe.

Its popularity among Christians was due principally, it would seem, to the famous acrostic consisting of the initial letters of five Greek words forming the word for fish - Ichthys (IXOYE), which words briefly but clearly described the character of Christ and His claim to the worship of believers: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour. Or - Jesus is the Christ, He is God's Son, He is our Saviour. The word IXOYE (Ichthys), then, as well as the representation of a fish, held for Christians a meaning of the highest significance; it was a brief profession of faith in the divinity of Christ, the Redeemer of mankind.

Eng		Transliteration	English
I	-	Iesous	Jesus
X	-	Christos	Christ
O	-	Theou	God's
Y	-	Yios	Son
E	-	Soter	Savior

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