IHS

Definition and Meaning

IHS is the Latin-letter rendering of the first three letters (iota [Ι], eta [Η], and sigma [Σ]) of ΙΗΣΟΥΣ (Iēsous), the Greek form of the name of Jesus. Because the Greek capital eta has the same shape as the Latin letter H, the form IHS became established. It is also written IHC, following an alternative letterform of sigma, and from the medieval period onward it was also written JHS. A symbol that abbreviates the name or a title of Christ in letters is called a Christogram. Together with the Chi-Rho (ΧΡ), IHS is one of the most widely used Christograms.

In later periods the three letters were also interpreted as the initials of Latin phrases. Notable examples include "Iesus Hominum Salvator" (Jesus, Savior of Mankind) and "In Hoc Signo" (In this sign), the latter associated with the story of the Emperor Constantine. These readings are regarded not as the original meaning but as devotional interpretations added later.

Biblical and Historical Background

The form IHS does not appear in the text of Scripture. Scribes copying early Greek New Testament manuscripts commonly abbreviated sacred names such as God, Jesus, and Christ and drew a line above them. Examples are known in which the name of Jesus was written as ΙΣ or ΙΗΣ.

Devotion to the name of Jesus has drawn on the words of Matthew 1:21, "thou shalt call his name JESUS," and on the confession in Philippians 2:9–11, "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow." In the fifteenth century the Italian Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena is known to have preached while holding up a tablet bearing IHS within a sunburst, spreading veneration of the Holy Name of Jesus. When the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), founded in the sixteenth century, incorporated the letters into its emblem, IHS became strongly associated with the Roman Catholic Church. Nevertheless, after the Reformation a number of Protestant churches, including the Lutheran and Anglican churches, continued to use the symbol.

In the mid-nineteenth century the Scottish minister Alexander Hislop claimed that IHS stood for the initials of the Egyptian deities Isis, Horus, and Seb. This claim is still repeated in some anti-Catholic literature. Historians and the great majority of churches, however, regard IHS as an abbreviation of the Greek name of Jesus.

Practice in Korean Churches

• Roman Catholic Church: The symbol is used to decorate church altars and liturgical vestments. IHS is sometimes impressed on the hosts (the bread for the Eucharist) used at Mass.
• Anglican and Lutheran churches: In congregations of the Anglican Church of Korea and the Lutheran Church in Korea, it frequently appears on altar and pulpit hangings (paraments) whose colors follow the liturgical year.
• Presbyterian, Methodist, and other churches: Depending on the congregation, it appears on pulpit covers, Communion table linens, stained glass, and bulletin designs. It is, however, less familiar to church members than the cross. Some members avoid IHS, regarding it as a Catholic symbol, while others embrace it as a common heritage of the church handed down from the early church.