10/2/2023 0 Comments Fish outline![]() Tada! Now you have a bunch of fish in just a couple of minutes! Remove the fish template and cut all 5-10 papers at once following the outline.Then trace the fish shape on to the top paper.Then, stack up 5 to 10 pieces of colorful paper or cardstock and put the fish template on top.Print one fish on the thickest cardstock you can get your hands on and trim it until it’s the perfect shape.That would simply take way too long.Īnd cutting hundreds of fish with a Cricut isn’t going to be fun or time efficient either. Obviously, you need a ton of fish, but you don’t want to print the template on each piece of cardstock. The fish template is a printable pdf with a simple outline of a fish shape available as a free download in the library for my newsletter subscribers. Now we’re 5 years later for another Vacation Bible School and the school of fish still looks amazing:Īs you can see, both times I also created a colorful coral reef that’s a whole lot easier to make than you’d think. I was able to cover large areas of walls going over bulletin boards and obstacles for a stunning look. This is how we used the fish cutout template the first time around: ![]() I wanted a simple shape for the fish outline that was easy to cut out by hand and that everyone could use to give a splash of color to the walls in their area. When you have a whole church to decorate for a certain theme, you need to find ways to dress up large areas for cheap. Pair them with green streamers for seaweed and you can create a spectacular under-the-sea wonderland in no time. Made with colorful construction paper or cardstock, these cute fish shape cutouts are an easy way to decorate a large area. Your question may be answered in a future "Ask the Editors" column.Ĭopyright © by the author or Christianity Today/Christian History magazine.Ĭlick here for reprint information on Christian History.Now that I’ve used this fish template to decorate two separate Vacation Bible School events, I thought my simple fish outline cutout should have its own blog post. To ask CHB editors a church history-related question, send an e-mail to Due to the volume of mail, we cannot answer all questions. That early Christians succeeded in transforming an already powerful symbol proves their interpretive creativity, not their ignorance or a tendency to syncretism. No symbol means the same thing to all people at all times. Though I agree that ichthys symbols in phone-book ads seem to commercialize faith, I don't find the pagan argument compelling. Current bumper-sticker and business-card uses of the fish hearken back to this practice.Ĭritics of the fish symbol either decry it as tacky tokenism or point out that the fish still carries baggage from the days when pagans used it to represent fertility or, more specifically, the female reproductive organs. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company. According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. When threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, Christians used the fish mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. Hence the fish, unlike, say, the cross, attracted little suspicion, making it a perfect secret symbol for persecuted believers. Greeks, Romans, and many other pagans used the fish symbol before Christians. Second-century theologian Tertullian put it this way: "we, little fishes, after the image of our Ichthys, Jesus Christ, are born in the water." The fish has plenty of other theological overtones as well, for Christ fed the 5,000 with 2 fishes and 5 loaves (a meal recapitulated in Christian love-feasts) and called his disciples "fishers of men." Water baptism, practiced by immersion in the early church, created a parallel between fish and converts. The Greek word for fish is "ichthys." As early as the first century, Christians made an acrostic from this word: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. What is the origin of the Christian fish symbol?
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