That the Christian Saviour should be called a fish may at first appear strange, but when the mythos is properly understood (as we shall endeavor to make it in [Chap. XXXIX.]), it will not appear so. The Rev. Dr. Geikie, in his "Life and Words of Christ," says that a fish stood for his name, from the significance of the Greek letters in the word that expresses the idea, and for this reason he was called a fish. But, we may ask, why was Buddha not only called Fo, or Po, but Dag-Po, which was literally the Fish Po, or Fish Buddha? The fish did not stand for his name. The idea that Jesus was called a fish because the Messiah is designated "Dag" in the Talmud, is also an unsatisfactory explanation.
Julius Africanus (an early Christian writer) says:
"Christ is the great Fish taken by the fish-hook of God, and whose flesh nourishes the whole world."[355:1]
"The fish fried
Was Christ that died,"
is an old couplet.[355:2]
Prosper Africanus calls Christ,
"The great fish who satisfied for himself the disciples on the shore, and offered himself as a fish to the whole world."[355:3]
The Serpent was also an emblem of Christ Jesus, or in other words, represented Christ, among some of the early Christians.
Moses set up a brazen serpent in the wilderness, and Christian divines have seen in this a type of Christ Jesus. Indeed, the Gospels sanction this; for it is written: