Article: Sign of faith: the fish as symbol.

The fish has been both a sacred food and a sacred symbol in a variety of pre-Christian religious cults, from Carthage, Egypt, and Syria, to Eleusis, Greece, and Gaul. It was associated with fertility and abundance. The fish has similar significance in Chinese, Indian, and Japanese traditions. The ancient Jews preferred fish for the meal which ushered in the Sabbath. And it was in the society of fishermen that Jesus established his first circle of disciples.

Christians associate fish with two of the most familiar of Christ's miracles, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (found in all four Gospels) and the filling of the disciples' nets (Luke 5 and John ...

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