Symbols

Symbol of the Fish

The earliest followers of Jesus were persecuted and forced to worship in hidden locations. Often these believers would scratch the secret symbol of a fish in the ground to help them identify other Christians. The fish, a common food of the day, was often used and referenced by Jesus during His ministry.

The letters, which make up the Greek word for fish 'i-ch-th-u-s' also spell out this message:

Jesus

Christ

God's

Son

Savior

Monograms of the name of Jesus Christ

IHS - These are the first three letters of  the name Jesus when written in Greek but transliterated in to English.  The Greek  name Jesus is pronounced 'Iesous' .  The first three letters in Greek are: Iota (I) , Eta (looks like an H in Greek) , Sigma (in English is transliterated to 'S' but in Greek is written ).

XP - These are the first two letters in the name 'Christ' written in Greek. In Greek 'Ch' is written as X (the character 'Chi') and the 'r' is written as P (the character 'Rho').