[lit-ideas] icthus & persecution

From: Julie Krueger <juliereneb@xxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2011 18:27:45 -0500
*Ichthus (ikh-thoos) or ichthys is the Greek word simply meaning "fish".*

*The Greek spelling for ichthus is  -- These are the first letters of the
Greek words Iesous (Yeshua) (Iota), Christos (Chi), Theou (Theta), Uios (
Upsilon), and Sotor (Sigma).  The English translation is IXOYE.  The five
Greek word stand for the English words meaning, "Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Savior" or "Jesus Christ God's Son Savior**".*

*This symbol was used primarily amongst Christians of the early church years
(1st and 2nd century A.D.) The symbol was introduced from Alexandria, Egypt;
which at the time, was a very heavily populated seaport. It was the port in
which many goods were brought over from the European continent. Because of
this, it was first used by the peoples of the sea as a symbol of a familiar
deity, in this case, Jesus Christ.*

*The symbol was later used as a means of identifying or acknowledging a
fellow believer in Christ without the need for any verbal communication
being exchanged. Why was this necessary?*

*During the reign of Emperor Nero (54 A.D.- 68 A.D.), and throughout the
reign of subsequent evil emperors of the Roman Empire, Christians were
commonly persecuted, tortured, and put to death because of their faith in
Christ Jesus. Emperor Nero himself personally despised Christians. He blamed
them for the great fire of A.D. 64 which burned nearly half of Rome. It was
during Nero's persecutions that both Peter and Paul are thought to have
perished.*

*Spread throughout the empire, Roman soldiers were stationed everywhere to
keep order and to act as police. This included keeping a watchful eye on the
happenings of the daily lives of the people. Often times, when a soldier
spotted a Christian, he would report it to his superiors who in turn would
be ordered to arrest the Christian and to be brought in for interrogation.
The Christian would then be harassed and tortured in order for them to
recant and to submit to the many polytheistic religions of Rome. In most
cases death would be the final end.*

*In order to prevent this unnecessary capture and persecution, Christians
would often draw an ichthus in the dirt, mud, sand, or on the walls of caves
to let another Christian know that he too was a fellow believer of Christ
and that it was safe to talk about their faith without the fear of being
turned in.*
*Julie Krueger
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[lit-ideas] icthus & persecution

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