Cock
in Christian Art. Representations of this bird frequently occur on tombs, from the earliest period. When not associated with the figure of St. Peter, it appears to be a symbol of the resurrection, our Lord being supposed by the early Church to have broken from the grave at the early cock-crowing. A peculiar awe seems always to have attached to that hour, at which all wandering spirits have, through the Middle Ages, been supposed to vanish from the earth. Hamlet and the ancient ballad called The Wife of Usher's Well occur to us as salient examples of a universal superstition. Prudentius's hymn Add Galli Cantumn (Cathem. 1:16) adopts the idea of the cock-crowing as a call to the general judgment. See Aringhi, 2:328, 329 (in a complete list of animal symbols).
Fighting-cocks seem to symbolize the combat with secular or sensual temptations. The practice of training them for combat has probably always existed in the East, and certainly was in favor at Athens (comp. Aristoph. Av.; 1Co 9:27). See Bottari, 3:137.
Two cocks accompany the Good Shepherd in Bottari,plate 172 (from the tympanum of an arch in the cemetery of St. Agnes).
The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature was edited by John McClintock and James Strong. It contains nearly 50,000 articles pertaining to Biblical and other religious literature, people, creeds, etc. It is a fantastic research tool for broad Christian study.
John McClintock was born October 27, 1814 in Philadelphia to Irish immigrants, John and Martha McClintock. He began as a clerk in his father's store, and then became a bookkeeper in the Methodist Book Concern in New York. Here he converted to Methodism and considered joining the ministry. McClintock entered the University of Pennsylvania in 1832 and graduated with high honors three years later. Subsequently, he was awarded a doctorate of divinity degree from the same institution in 1848.WikipediaRead More