In 2005, a new religion was created. The Pastafarians worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster, who created the world as well as planted the evidence supporting evolution. The religion was created in protest to the decision in Kansas that required intelligent design be taught as an alternative to evolution. Regardless of your own thoughts on this, you have to admit that it is pretty funny. It has become so popular that you might even see the FSM logo on cars, parodying the ichthus. This made me wonder, where did this tradition of the ichthus come from? And how did it become so popular that protesting against Christianity means replacing the emblem on your car?
The fish as a symbol for Christianity probably arose from the frequent references to fish in the New Testament. When Jesus feeds the 5000 in Matthew 14:17, He only has five loaves and two fish. Jesus prompts a miraculous catch of fish for His disciples when He first meets them in Luke 5:6 and again after His resurrection in John 21:6. In Mark 1:17 Jesus tells Simon and Andrew that He can make them fishers of men, which might make a symbol of a middle-aged, overweight man with a beer and fishing pole a more accurate symbol than the ichthus. I’d put it on my car.
The most common story about the origin of the ichthus symbol is that Christians drew half of it in the dirt and another believer came along and drew the other half, effectively communicating their beliefs in secret to avoid arrest. This usage is very possible, but it is unlikely that the ichthus truly originated for this purpose due to two reasons. First, there are no ancient writings or other archaeological evidence to suggest this purpose. Second, most of the ancient drawings of fish found relating to Christianity have scales and are more elaborate than the one found on the back of SUVs today. It seems that the ichthus with two lines that we know today came along later. Others have suggested that the ichthus (fish drawing, not the symbol) might have been drawn in dirt or scratched on walls to indicate the direction of an underground church meeting. It is believed that the Romans used a similar symbol to indicate a funeral and so Christians could have used that as an excuse if they were caught.
There are many who think that the fish as a symbol was taken over by Christians from pagan religions when Christianity became the official religion of Rome. Though the fish was used as a symbol in pagan religion before Christianity, the Christians seemed to have adopted it long before Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome. 
The earliest extra-biblical reference to fish and Christianity comes from Clement of Alexandria who lived from about 150 to 215 AD. Clement recommends to his readers that they have their seals engraved with a dove or a fish. He doesn’t give any explanation for why, so it is assumed that his readers already understood the significance of the fish. This means that the fish as a Christian symbol came along even before Clement’s writings.
Another interesting aspect of the ichthus history is it use as an acrostic. Ichthus is simply the Greek word for fish, spelled Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma (ΙΧΘΥΣ). The acrostic goes as follows:
- Ι = Iesous which means Jesus
- Χ or CH = Xristos or Christ
- Θ or TH = Theos or God
- Υ or U = Huios which means Son
- Σ or S = Soter which means Savior
When combined the acrostic reads “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.” Whether or not this was the reasoning for Christians to choose the fish or if the acrostic was used later is unclear. There are ancient coins found around Alexandria which refer to the Roman emperor Domitian (81-96 AD) as “Son of God.” Christians may have devised the acrostic in protest.
The modern day, simplistic version of the ichthus supposedly originated in Australia as a chalk drawing at Sydney University. The Evangelical Union at Sydney University tried to spur curiosity about the symbol which they drew all over campus and ultimately hoped that curiosity lead to evangelism. The symbol was then popularized throughout other areas of Australia and eventually made its way onto cars, businesses, t-shirts and pretty much any other mass-produced consumer good that Christians might buy. Whether or not anyone has ever seen your ichthus, immediately repented and professed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior remains to be seen. Many think that the fish should always be oriented with its head to the left. This follows the same shape as the Greek letter alpha and symbolizes Revelation 1:8 where the Lord refers to Himself as the Alpha and Omega.
Evolutionists combated the popularity of the ichthus using a fish with legs, which symbolizes the “missing link” between fish and land animals in evolution or possibly the tiktaalik. Christians retaliated using a bigger fish with the word “truth” inside and it was eating the Darwin fish, perhaps parodying the “survival of the fittest.” The battle wages on today in what is known as the Fish Wars. But watch out for the newest competitor, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
References:
- Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
- Symbolism of the Fish
- Ichthys
- Fish (Ichthus) as an Early Christian Symbol
- Matthew 14:17
- Mark 1:17
- Luke 5:6
- John 21:6
- Revelation 1:8