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Ichthus Christogram/Christian Symbols
272 pages, Paperback
Published May 13, 2025
About the author
J. Daniel Hays
43 books19 followersJ. Daniel Hays (ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary; PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is dean of the Pruet School of Christian Studies and professor of Old Testament at Ouachita Baptist University. He is the author of From Every People and Nation, and he has coauthored Grasping God's Word; Preaching God's Word; Journey into God’s Word; The Story of Israel: A Biblical Theology; Iraq: Babylon of the End Times?; Apocalypse; and The Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy. He teaches adult Sunday school at his local church in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, and preaches frequently throughout the nation.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 18, 2025
Summary: A study of the Ichthus Christogram, showing site examples, and their use.
Archaeologists working in the Mediterranean world from Israel to Rome have notice an eight-spoked wheel carved into walls, floors, pavements, entrances and other locations. Some have assumed that the symbol was a form of gameboard.
However, biblical scholar J. Daniel Hays argues that this is neither graffiti nor a gameboard but rather a Christian symbol. Specifically it is a rendering of ICHTHUS, an acrostic standing for the first letters of “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior” While many of us recognize the word as the Greek for fish and have seen fish symbols containing the word, this is different. The symbol is created by superimposing the letters of “ichthus” on top of each other.
Hays builds his case by discussing first the various symbols used by early Christians. He then discusses gameboards, usually rectangular affairs. The inability to conceive of a game played on an eight-spoked wheel and the locations of many of these wheels argues against the gameboard hypothesis. Rather, he argues that the proliferation of the symbol reflects the Christianization of the Greco-Roman world, post-Constantine.
This raises the question of what purpose the symbol had. A key idea is that Christian symbols were often used at abandoned sites of Greco-Roman worship and ritual, including baths, to serve a cleansing function and to proclaim the victory of Christ over demons associated in the Christian mind of the idols once present. Hays also argues that the symbol had a teaching function, affirming the high Christology behind the statement, particularly as Christological controversies arose.
Then in successive chapters, Hays takes us on a tour of sites around the Mediterranean. He begins in west Turkey, including cities like Constantinople, Laodicea, Ephesus, Samos, and Sardis. Then he tours the Balkan Peninsula with stops at Delphi, Pannonia, Philippi, and Stobi. Following that, he takes us through Israel/Palestine including Bethlehem, Hippos, Jerusalem, Magdala, and Sepphoris. Finally, we end up in Italy, visiting Ostia, Ravenna, and Rome.
In his conclusion, Hays notes that the use of the eight-spoked Christogram throughout the Roman empire is a testimony to the “incredible spread” of the church in the fourth and fifth centuries. This reflected not only their increasing freedom from persecution but the spiritual victory signified by the use of the symbol in former pagan spaces.
Hays provides a number of photographs of the sites he visits and examples of Christograms and other symbols. All in all, he offers a fascinating visual exploration of the history of the earliest Christian centuries.
_______________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Archaeologists working in the Mediterranean world from Israel to Rome have notice an eight-spoked wheel carved into walls, floors, pavements, entrances and other locations. Some have assumed that the symbol was a form of gameboard.
However, biblical scholar J. Daniel Hays argues that this is neither graffiti nor a gameboard but rather a Christian symbol. Specifically it is a rendering of ICHTHUS, an acrostic standing for the first letters of “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior” While many of us recognize the word as the Greek for fish and have seen fish symbols containing the word, this is different. The symbol is created by superimposing the letters of “ichthus” on top of each other.
Hays builds his case by discussing first the various symbols used by early Christians. He then discusses gameboards, usually rectangular affairs. The inability to conceive of a game played on an eight-spoked wheel and the locations of many of these wheels argues against the gameboard hypothesis. Rather, he argues that the proliferation of the symbol reflects the Christianization of the Greco-Roman world, post-Constantine.
This raises the question of what purpose the symbol had. A key idea is that Christian symbols were often used at abandoned sites of Greco-Roman worship and ritual, including baths, to serve a cleansing function and to proclaim the victory of Christ over demons associated in the Christian mind of the idols once present. Hays also argues that the symbol had a teaching function, affirming the high Christology behind the statement, particularly as Christological controversies arose.
Then in successive chapters, Hays takes us on a tour of sites around the Mediterranean. He begins in west Turkey, including cities like Constantinople, Laodicea, Ephesus, Samos, and Sardis. Then he tours the Balkan Peninsula with stops at Delphi, Pannonia, Philippi, and Stobi. Following that, he takes us through Israel/Palestine including Bethlehem, Hippos, Jerusalem, Magdala, and Sepphoris. Finally, we end up in Italy, visiting Ostia, Ravenna, and Rome.
In his conclusion, Hays notes that the use of the eight-spoked Christogram throughout the Roman empire is a testimony to the “incredible spread” of the church in the fourth and fifth centuries. This reflected not only their increasing freedom from persecution but the spiritual victory signified by the use of the symbol in former pagan spaces.
Hays provides a number of photographs of the sites he visits and examples of Christograms and other symbols. All in all, he offers a fascinating visual exploration of the history of the earliest Christian centuries.
_______________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher for review.
Displaying 1 of 1 review