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The symbolism which usually attaches to the various animals is derived for the most part from the bestiaries. Thus, for the lion, strength, vigilance, and courage; for the siren, voluptuousness; for the pelican, charity. The four animals which symbolize the leading characteristics of each of the Four Evangelists become more and more an ...
References to this class are relatively few. The "creeping things" [5] include not only reptiles, but all short-legged animals or insects which seem to crawl rather than to walk, such as moles, lizards, etc. From a religious viewpoint, all these animals are divided into two classes, clean and unclean, according to whether they can, or cannot ...
Each face represents a different aspect of His personality, role, and mission, and together they form a complete picture of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Another view found in a popular Greek Orthodox Catechism, is that the living creatures represent four covenants given to mankind.
Ancient Greeks believed that the flesh of peafowl did not decay after death, and so it became a symbol of immortality. Early Christianity adopted this symbolism, and thus many early Christian paintings and mosaics show the peacock. The peacock is still used in the Easter season – especially in the east. [22]
J. E. Millais: The Return of the Dove to the Ark (1851). According to the biblical story (Genesis 8:11), a dove was released by Noah after the Flood in order to find land; it came back carrying a freshly plucked olive leaf (Hebrew: עלה זית alay zayit), [7] a sign of life after the Flood and of God's bringing Noah, his family and the animals to land.
The ox, or bull, is an ancient Christian symbol of redemption and life through sacrifice, [12] signifying Luke's records of Christ as a priest and his ultimate sacrifice for the future of humanity. The eagle represents the sky, heavens, and the human spirit, paralleling the divine nature of Christ. [14]
It represents the earliest known evidence of Christianity north of the Alps, predating other archaeological evidence of the spread of the religion throughout that region by decades.
In Christian tradition, the "ancient serpent" is commonly identified with the Genesis serpent and as Satan. This identification redefined the Hebrew Bible's concept of Satan ("the Adversary", a member of the Heavenly Court acting on behalf of God to test Job 's faith), so that Satan/Serpent became a part of a divine plan stretching from ...