From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!CAD:tektronix!tekmdp!bronze!randals
Newsgroups: net.followup
Title: Re: re: X in Xmas - (nf)
Article-I.D.: bronze.390
Posted: Fri Jan 14 14:25:34 1983
Received: Mon Jan 17 03:52:03 1983

Regarding the acronym "Ichytos" and zifandel!barry's question...

According to what I remember, the word for "fish" in Greek just
happened to have the right letters to make a neat acronym for the
early Christian movement.  I don't know Greek letters that well,
but the English translations of the five words that formed the
acronym were:

	Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour

The symbol of the fish had a number of interesting uses back then.
Not only was Christ identified as the "Fisher of Men", but there
was a more practical use of the symbol.  Since the Romans didn't
like this new-fangled religion thing that was cropping up, fellow
believers used the fish sign to identify themselves (like the bumper
stickers you see now-adays with the two-lined fish and the Greek
letters inside).

When two people would meet on the street, and one of them wanted
to know if the other was a Christian, he would draw one line of the
fish in the sand/dirt with a stick.  If the other likewise replied,
then they began communicating.  What an interesting sign/countersign!

There.  That's all I can remember.  I hope it helped.


Not afraid to tell a fishy story,
Randal L. Schwartz
Tektronix Microcomputer Development Products
Beaverton, Oregon, USA

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