the Holy Spirit). The letters Alpha and Omega, in juxtaposition, are often used as a Christian visual symbol (see examples). The symbols were used in early Christianity and appear in the Roman catacombs. The letters were shown hanging from the arms of the cross in Early Christian art, and some cruces gemmatae, jeweled crosses in precious metal, have formed letters hanging in this way, called pendilia; for example, in the Asturian coat of arms, which is based upon the Asturian Victory Cross. In fact, despite always being in Greek, the letters became more common in Western than Eastern Orthodox Christian art. They are often shown to the left and right of Christ's head, sometimes within his halo, where they take the place of the Christogram used in Orthodox art. Judaism In Hebrew, the word emet (אמת, meaning "truth"), is referred to as the "Seal of God." [Cf. Isaiah 44:6] The word is composed of the first, middle, and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Islam The Qur'an gives al-ʾAwwal (ٱلْأَوَّل), meaning "The First" and al-ʾĀkhir (ٱلْآخِر), meaning "The Last" as two of the names of God: . APL programming language Some dialects of the APL programming language support the direct function syntax where the left (optional) and right arguments are denoted by the letters alpha and omega. For example, the following function computes the sum of the left argument and twice the right argument: {⍺+2×⍵} See also Alpha and Omega (disambiguation) Alpha et Omega Attributes of God in Christianity Chi Rho Christian symbolism Everything Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament Names of God in Islam Names of God in Judaism References External links "Alpha and Omega (in Scripture)" in the Catholic Encyclopedia at newadvent.org "Alpha and Omega" at the Jewish Encyclopedia Biblical phrases Book of Revelation Christian symbols Christian terminology Greek words and phrases Greek letters Language and mysticism Heraldic charges Names of God in Christianity New Testament words and phrases Superlatives in religion