Christian symbols

Christian Symbols and Their Meaning

From its earliest days the church has pointed to Christ with signs. A fish scratched on a wall, an anchor cut into a tomb, a lamb, a dove, a cross: each one carries a truth of the faith in a form the eye can hold and the heart can remember. Here are the major Christian symbols, with honest histories that keep genuine early evidence apart from later legend, the Scriptures that ground them, and the way each one leads back to Jesus.

Symbols were never meant to be worshiped. They are fingers pointing to the one they name. In the centuries when believers could not always speak openly, a simple sign could confess the whole gospel in silence, and it still can. Choose a symbol below to read its story.