Early Christians used a wide variety of symbols to express their faith. At times, these symbols provided a sort of secret language among believers. When a Christian met a stranger, he could draw one-half of the ichthys or ‘fish’ and wait to see if the stranger would complete the drawing. Christian symbols include the Chi-Rho, Alpha and Omega, anchor, fish, cross, dove, six-point star, pelican and others.
Chi Rho
The Chi Rho is a Christian symbol for “Christ” written by superimposing the two Greek letters “Chi (X)” and “Rho (P).” Chi and rho are found at the beginning of the Greek word Χριστῷ, which translates to “Christ” in English. The XP Christogram sometimes appears with Alpha (Α or α) and Omega (Ω or ω) which are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
Learn more: UMC.org/ChristianSymbols
*Mary Helen Marigza is a lifelong United Methodist, a past missionary with the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, and a current member of Belmont United Methodist Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Marigza created a set of Christian Symbols out of recycled church window glass to tell people about the meaning behind common religious symbols.
This video was produced by United Methodist Communications in Nashville, TN.
Contact is Joe Iovino.
This video was first posted on March 16, 2021.
