GAINESVILLE — In the Christian faith, symbols are everywhere — from the pews in the sanctuary to the communion altar and on colorful stained glass windows.

But these symbols haven’t recently begun to adorn churches, they have been prominent for centuries.

"The world religions text book that we use identifies symbols as one of the five major components of religion, along with ritual, myth, doctrine and ethics," said James F. Sennett, associate professor of philosophy and humanities at Brenau University. "So generally in religious studies, symbol is one of the great dimensions, defining characteristics in any religion."

Sennett, who was formerly in the ministry and has been teaching for 16 years, added that it is important to differentiate a Christian symbol and a sign.

"A sign is just a message and the sign itself carries no import at all," he said. "A symbol is a sign that for some reason becomes a part of the message itself. So the symbol isn’t simply delivering a message, there is a very important way in which the symbol is the message.

"Contemplation of the symbols can become very meaningful and a meaningful part of the worship."

The Rev. Fred Wendel, pastor at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Flowery Branch, said symbols are an outward sign of inward faith.

"In the Catholic church we call these symbols or signs sacramentals," Wendel said. "We believe that signs and symbols are sacred actions that have a spiritual effect. They connect us more deeply to what we believe.

"The sign of the cross that we make before and after prayer is very important. ... It symbolizes obviously two things; our belief in one God in three persons, and so it’s always a reminder to us to what we believe about that cross, the cross is our hope and our salvation."

The cross is the most prominent of Christian symbols, but others like the lamb, the fish, the butterfly and multiple monograms can be seen throughout history.

"They (symbols) remind us where we have come from and give us hope of where we are going," said Jones, the pastor of congregational care and older adults at Gainesville First United Methodist Church. "The symbols remind us why we believe what we believe and also can strengthen our faith with the hope of what they represent.

"Even with the cross, the cross is such a tragic symbol in many ways ... through that cross we did indeed have redemption for all of our sins and the promise of eternal life."

Monograms

Christian monograms like Iota Eta Sigma, the Chi Rho symbol and Alpha and Omega are popular symbols that have history dating back to ancient times.

"One thing that has always been interesting to me about both symbols (Iota Eta Sigma and Chi Rho) is that they are abbreviations," Sennett said. "But as a matter of fact, in the ancient Roman civilizations and Greek civilizations was a form of reverence, it was like you aren’t worthy to speak or write the full name."

Iota Eta Sigma, Sennett said, are "the first letters in the name of Jesus in Greek."

The Chi Rho also is an abbreviation with the use of Greek letters.

"This is simply Christos, the Greek word for Christ, and so it is the first two letters," Sennett said.

Another two-letter symbol is the Alpha and Omega, which comes directly from Revelation 1:8 (New International Version), "‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’"

"A variation of the Alpha and Omega that shows up sometimes in the middle ages is an Alpha Mu Omega. Of course Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, Mu is the middle letter ... this shows three things — that God created the universe, keeps it going and will one day bring it to an end."

Lamb

According to Sennett, along with the cross, the lamb is the most obvious Christian symbol.

"The lamb is in the first chapter of the gospel of John," he said. "When Jesus comes up ... and John the Baptist looks up at him and says, ‘behold the lamb of God.’ And then in the book of Revelation there are two or three places where Jesus is symbolized as a lamb."

John 1:29 says, "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’"

The lamb is seen in many different forms from a peaceful white animal, or adorned with a shepherds hook, a crown or even slain.

"There is that passage in Revelation where it says ‘I saw a lamb standing looking as if it had been slain,’" Sennett said. "The pascal lamb, the lamb of atonement, which was a symbol of forgiveness, is most likely where (the lamb) comes from."

Fish

Many Christians adorn their cars, homes and other items with the Christian fish symbol. While it is a representation of their Christianity, there is a little more history involved.

"Sometimes you will see written in it the Greek letters, Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma, which spells the work Ichthus which is the Greek word for fish," Sennett said. "The reason how that becomes a symbol, it’s an anagram, because it’s Iesus, the name of Jesus.

The anagram represents Christos which is Christ, Theou which is of God, Uios which is son and Soter which means savior.

"A lot of times when you see the fish you may see the symbols in there," he said.

Butterfly

The beautiful, fluttering butterfly has special meaning in the Christian world that represents a new Christian life.

"Of course it is a symbol of resurrection, but more than that it is a symbol of metamorphosis," Sennett said. "You were one thing and now you have become another. Then there is the three stages of Christian life, there is the before conversion, the death and resurrection and the new life."

Sennett cites Romans 12:2 where the Apostle Paul speaks of transformation by renewing the mind as a possible inspiration for the symbol.

"So it’s not just an alteration or a change, it’s the taking on of a new form of a different essence, becoming something completely new," he said.