Jesus was a carpenter
like his earthly father
but most of his friends
and many followers
were fisherman - the
fishing boat is a
symbol of his followers,
there is a cross on the
top of the mast and the
x/p are the first letters
of Christ's name in
Greek.
The Latin Cross reminds Christians that Jesus died
on the cross to save them. This is the main Christian
symbol. There are many different types of crosses.
A symbol of the
holy spirit and
peace. The
dove appeared
at Jesus'
baptism.
The first letters of
Christ in Greek.
The Chi Rho is one of
the earliest cruciform
symbols used by
Christians. It is formed
by superimposing the
first two letters of the
word "Christ" in
Greek, chi = ch and
rho = r.
Alpha and omega - the
beginning and the end of
the Greek alphabet demonstrates that God is
first, and last - eternal!
The symbol of the fish - The fish symbol was
created using the Greek letters which spell out
ICTHUS : Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour.
ICTHUS also means fish - so the fish symbol
was used when the early church was being
persecuted. This was a secret sign scratched on
the walls of buildings or drawn on the floor in the
sand, to tell people where a Christian meeting
was being held. It is still frequently used today.
The Good Shepherd:
Some of the earliest
depictions of Christ show
Him as the Good
Shepherd. This type of
representation is found in
the Catacombs.
Rainbow: Sign of the
Covenant with Noah
Byzantine Cross: used mostly by the Eastern Catholic
and Eastern Orthodox Churches. The second cross-bar at
top is for the INRI inscription; the bottom cross-bar is His
footrest.
Slavonic Cross: used most often by Eastern
Catholics and Russian Orthodox, this Cross is the
Byzantine Cross with the footrest at a diagonal. This
slant is said to represent one of a few things:
the footrest wrenched loose from the Christ's writhing
in intense physical suffering; lower side representing
"down," the fate of sinners, while the elevated side
represents Heaven.
Greek Cross: a very common artistic
representation of the Cross. Crosses such
as this one and the Tau were also popular
because they were easily disguised, an
important feature for persecuted
Christians
Celtic Cross: stone crosses in this form dot the
landscapes of Ireland and Scotland and are associated
with the evangelization of these lands.
The Tau cross is so named from the Hebrew
alphabet's last letter 'X', which was pronounced
'Taw'. This same sound transliterates to the Greek
letter 'T'.
Lamb of God (Latin: Agnus
Dei) is one of the titles given
to Jesus in the New
Testament and consequently
in the Christian tradition. It
refers to Jesus' role as a
sacrificial lamb atoning for the
sins of man in Christian
theology, harkening back to
ancient Jewish Temple
sacrifices in which a lamb
was slain during the
passover, the blood was
sprinkled along the door, and
the whole of the lamb was
eaten
INRI is an acronym of the Latin
phrase
IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆO
RVM, which translates to English
as: "Jesus the Nazarene, King of
the Jews". It appears in the New
Testament of the Christian Bible in
the Gospel of John (19:19). Each of
the other accounts for Jesus's death
have a slightly different sign:
Matthew (27:37) "This is Jesus the
King of the Jews"; Mark (15:26)
"The King of the Jews"; and Luke
(KJV) "This is the King of the Jews".
The title was written in Hebrew and
Greek and Latin.
In Christianity the candle
is commonly used in
worship both for
decoration and
ambiance, and as a
symbol that represent
the light of God or,
specifically, the light of
Christ. The altar candle
is often placed on the
altar, usually in pairs.
Candles are also carried
in processions,
especially to either side
of the processional
cross.