What do the cross and the fish mean?

Answer 1

Icqu~ = "ichthus" Is the Greek word for fish. However this became an acronym for the words in Greek meaning " Jesus Christ God Son Saviour" During the early Christian era when Rome was the dominant government in the areas populated by the Christians, it could be dangerous to be known as a Christian. According to one tradition, the Christians of that time invented the "Christian Fish" as a way to identify themselves to each other; while talking with one another they could draw one arc of the simple fish drawing in the sand and a fellow Christian would know to draw the other arc to form the fish and quickly wipe it out. The sign of the cross may have been used this way as well.

Some other suggested reasons for the cross and fish as Christian symbols include:

• The cross: According to The Bible, Jesus was crucified. Crucifixion at that time meant the hanging of a body on the combination of a horizontal beam for the arms to be stretched across, and a vertical beam for the trunk of the body to be aligned with. As the Christian faith began to expand into areas where the indigenous population were used to employing special symbols or artifacts in their worship, some of the Christians sought to substitute the symbol of the Christian Cross for the pagan symbols. As a justification to the rest of the Christians they suggested that the symbol of the cross could help Christians remember the sacrifice that Christ made.

  The fish: The fish is a little harder. The name of the fish is 'ICHTHUS' because of the letters IXOYE that appear within it. However, those letters were added much later than when the fish was first used. According to folklore, Christians in the early centuries, during time of persecutions, would draw fish in the ground to point the way to their church meetings. Then a follower of Christ could find the meeting by following the fish drawings.

• Jesus told the disciples to be fishers of men,winning souls to Jesus.
• In the universal language of mind, the cross is this. the horizontal bar represents our physical experiences, whereas the vertical bar represents our understanding derived from those experiences. Fish represents spiritual food or knowledge.
• The word cross actually means a stake or a pole, as the Romans did not care to waste two pieces of wood on such a man as Jesus, as He was not very high in the popularity polls. The symbolism is still there, as his hands were overlayed one on top of the other, as were his feet. IF his hands weren't overlayed, the nails/spikes would have ripped through his flesh, but the combination of the bones in the hands kept the nails there. The reason why the bones were broken on those crucified were because of the fact that the crucified had trouble breathing, and would push off of the nail that nailed theiir feet to the pole, trying to lift themselves up to get some more air. The sign of the fish is the sign of Jonah, which makes the cross and the fish related. Jesus often referred to the sign of Jonah, as Christ was in the tomb for 3 days and 3 nights, and Jonah was in the belly of the great fish/whale for 3 days and 3 nights, with Christ being dead, and Jonah being dead or very close to it. It makes even more sense when you consider the fact that both of them rose from the dead and preached and told people about God and salvation, upon their resurrection. Jonah was used to saved the entire captial city of Assyria, Ninevah, and Christ was seen by over 500 people in his resurrected body.
• What the early Christians would do when they met someone who they thought might be a Christian, would be to draw a line on the ground with their foot, or a stick. It would be either curved or straight--curved for a fish, straight for a cross. Anyone who wasn't a Christian would just think it was a line; you acted real casual when you did it. But if the other person was a Christian, he'd complete the fish or the cross, and they knew it was safe to talk about Jesus then.

When all is said and done however, the significance of the symbols of the cross and the fish are only the meanings contemporary Christians attach to them. They have no inherent meaning or significance beyond that. A fairly large fraction of Christians have never even seen the fish symbol used in connection with Christianity, especially those who were aligned with the Greek Orthodox church.

Answer 2

Jesus has asked His followers (Christians) to be fishers of men. So the fish is a symbol of who we are Christians

Note: -- and we should share the "Good News" be fishers of men.

Answer 3

what dose the cross means?

Answer 4

It means GOD or maybe JESUS. +