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Ichthys – Baptism
You have seen it many times on bumpers, but what does it mean? I am referring to the fish sign symbolizing Christ and Christianity.
It was a well-known fish acrostic that considers each letter of the Greek word (ichthys) to signify one word of the title Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior (Iēsous Christos Theou huios sōtēr).
Opatus, an ancient African theologian, made the connection between this acrostic and baptism: “This is the fish, which in baptism is introduced into the waves of the font, so that what was water may also be called a fish pool because of the fish. The name of this fish according to its Greek appellation ichthys contains a host of holy names in its individual letters, being in Latin, Jesus Christus dei filius Salvator.”
This gives a deeper meaning to Jesus’ claim the apostles would be “fishers of men”. Whenever they taught someone who was baptized, they would be baptized confessing Jesus the Son of God who saved them from their sins. This baptism resulted in them being raised out of – or caught – the water.
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