Sunday 12 January 2014

A Fishy Story: The Darwin Fish

The Darwin fish is a parody of an early Christian symbol. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.



Joel Kontinen

Early Christians, who often faced severe persecution, used the fish or Ichthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ) symbol so they could identify their fellow-believers without fear of imprisonment or even death at the hand of pagan Romans.

The followers of Jesus refused to worship Caesar as lord, so they were often regarded as enemies of the state.

Atheists would claim that their worldview is entirely secular. However, the advent of the Darwin fish in the 1980s suggests that there is more to it.

It might be a parody, but the very idea that they have to resort to parody speaks volumes about the anti-Christian faith of Darwin’s disciples.

Evolution, it seems, not only has a religious dimension. It is a worldview vying with Christianity – albeit one that offers no hope for a world direly in need of hope.