As soon as they saw me all the sardines swam away leaving me alone in the sea as a subject of ridicule and fun. The chief-sardine said: "Oh it's him again ... let's get away as soon as possible!" and they all left at once!
Now sardines are not as clever as dolphins are they? Why else would they get into a tin and leave the key on the outside?
Every other canned fish you buy, tuna, salmon, pilchard and so on, you have to open with a can opener. But sardines ... they have a key on the outside. Why?
Unless of course you buy those tins with a ring pull. Again, on the outside ... so the sardines can't pull the ring and get out.
Anchovies aren't that much cleverer either. They thought they'd avoid capture by being so salty that no one would ever eat them. They were wrong. They've now become a delicacy much sought after and more fished than before. Who'd ever heard of anchovies on pizza before they became salty?
Come to think of it, most fish are somewhat stupid. They have the whole ocean to swim in and yet they swim into cans and tins and put a label on the outside to make themselves more marketable.
And now about the original question ...
Why is the FISH a symbol of Christianity?
The symbol of a fish was found on ancient Christian monuments and buildings. It represents Christ.
The Greek word for "fish" is ICHTHUS.
If we take the letters of that word they provide the first letters of other Greek words.
Iesous Christos Theou Uios Soter
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour
So the symbol of the fish suggests all this to a Christian. It may well have been a secret sign used by early Christians to identify each other.
This is so interesting, Victor. There seems to be so many different meanings to the fish symbolism. I've read about the relevance of fish to water and baptism and new birth, etc, but I wonder if it's also significant that fish all live in the same environment so they're all equal? And they seem to have a type of physical freedom like a soul.
ReplyDeleteYour story is a great analogy, too - lots of parallels there.
I enjoyed your post!
God bless, Victor:-)
Hi Vicky,
DeleteI'd read the significance of the word ICHTHUS in some book. In the UK you can buy lapel badges in the shape of the fish and it says the same significance on the package.
God bless.
Thanks for the lesson on fish Victor!
ReplyDeleteThanx Daily Grace. In Britain fish and chips are a favorite food. I should have mentioned that in the post. I wonder if you have fish and chips in the US.
DeleteGod bless.
I had forgotten this- nice reminder
ReplyDeleteThank you Melanie.
DeleteGod bless.
I'd never really thought about this Victor. Thank you for enlightening us! Perhaps one day you will go swimming with the dolphins!
ReplyDeleteThank you Noreen. I hope the dolphins don't swim away from me.
DeleteGod bless.
I read that if they saw eachother in public, one would draw half the fish in the sand and if the other drew the remaining part, they knew they were both believers.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right, Sandi. It was a secret sign of early Christians.
DeleteGod bless.