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The early Christians were part of the Roman Empire, which persecuted them. The icthus (Greek for 'fish'), as a word or simple design, came to be used as a secret symbol for Christians to safely identify other Christians.

It's often assumed the fish motif was derived from Christ's remark to his desciples that he would make them "fishers of men". Actually, ICTHUS was used because it reflected the following phrase. Bear in mind that "TH" is one letter in Greek.

Iesous

Christos

THeou

hUios

Soter

"Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior"

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14y ago

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