Logos: Origins
It is easy to get caught up in a word. The
Bible is a fascinating journey that can lead to revelation. However, a person
must take care not to press some words too far to make the word fit his or her
own personal perspective. A person can easily come to the Scripture with
presumptions that can mislead or even blind him or her from the truth contained
in Scripture.
This paper will focus mostly on the word
“Logos” and the background in Greek, Hebrew, and (of course), English. I do
find myself at a disadvantage not having studied the original languages. I do hope
to glean from credible scholars and represent them in a proper manner. This
paper will also cover the thoughts that John used and possible reasoning behind
his choice of words. Again, taking advice from D. A. Carson from his book Exegetical Fallacies, much care must be
taken in not abusing our gift of words (D.A.Carson 1986) .
Most people read the word “Logos” in John 1:1
to just mean “word” or at best “Word”. However, if the idea of Logos is not
understood, believers may be missing a deeper understanding in why this word
was used and its importance in understanding who Jesus is. The passage that
will be referenced to is John 1:1-15. I am adding it here so that it will be
easy for the reader to refer to the passage.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was
with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things
were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In
him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose
name was John. 7 He came as a witness to
testify concerning that light, so that through him all might
believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came
only as a witness to the light.
9 The true light that gives light to
everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was
in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his
own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all
who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God— 13 children born
not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of
God.14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He
cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes
after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out
of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already
given. 17 For the law was given through
Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No
one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God
and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known (NIV).
Logos: In Hebraic thought
There is no direct translation of logos in Hebrew the idea of the concept
was still present. “Davar” may be the closest Hebrew word that carries the idea
of Logos. According to Kittel, the meaning of “Davar” is the material concept
with its energy felt so vitally in the verbal concept that the word appears as a
“material force that is always present and at work, which runs and has the
power to make alive” (Kittel 1981, 91-100) .
Logos was a fairly new concept in the timeline of history though the
origins of the concept had been around in embryonic stages for many years.
According to Blomberg (2009, 187) the Hebraic usage of the word “logos” would bring
to mind God’s spoken word and also intertwines with the written word of God or
Torah (Kittel, 1981, 99). This idea is even backed up by John later in chapter
5 where Jesus states: “You search the Scriptures, for you believe they give you
eternal life. And the Scriptures point to me!” (John 5:39, NIV). To add more
depth, the Hebrew equivalent for “logos” is also “truth” (Kittel, 1981, 93.)
As the Ten
Commandments were written on stone to symbolize the never changing nature of
the Law as “truth”, so also the Jewish mindset would see “logos” as never
changing and static. In a sense, John (though in actuality God) is stating to
the Jewish reader, “The Truth (Torah) became flesh and walked amongst us.” Today
most believers in Jesus appear to have this view in mind as they speak or teach
on Logos and while it is correct, it is rather one-dimensional. To have the
written word of God become flesh suddenly forces the Jew to see God on an even
more personal level. For the revelation John reveals is God’s written word taking
on humanity and walking as a human being.
The idea that
John was writing a Midrash in his opening of his Gospel is not that far of a
stretch. Marilynne Robinson states the
idea that John’s prologue and use of Logos was a means to expound Genesis 1 as
well as Proverbs 8:22-31. Robinson promotes Daniel Boyarin’s idea of the
connection between Genesis 1 and Proverbs 8:22-31 and the integration of
creation and Wisdom (Robinson, 2012, 11).
Here we see in the verses of Proverbs 8:22-23 a direct connection to
Genesis:
"The Lord
possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been
established from everlasting, from the beginning, before there was ever an
earth.” (NIV).
There is no
stretch so say that John may have pulled from these verses to state the opening
of John 1. The connection to the idea Logos and Wisdom as being before and at
the moment of creation, gives weight to the idea that Jesus was the
personification of Wisdom, and (as John connects the dots for us), making Jesus
pre-existing thus furthering the idea that Jesus is greater than Wisdom for He
was Wisdom in flesh.
Logos: Greek
Most
theologians, such as Leonard Sweet, will point to Heraclitus as the origin of
the concept of logos in Greek philosophy (Sweet,
1999). However, if not for Thales of Miletus who first devised methods
of abstract geometry as well as began the concept of logos with the idea that
water was the fundamental material of the universe, Heraclitus would not have
had a foundation to build on (Asimov, 1969).
Interestingly, 2 Peter 3:5 backs Thales of Miletus’ idea of water being
fundamental material.
Heraclitus
further developed the idea and definition of logos for Greek thought. Leonard
Sweet states the definition as, “Logos is that which holds contradictions and
opposites together”. As Sweet further explains:
“[Heraclitus]
used Apollo’s instruments to explain. A stick is but a stick, Heraclitus said.
But triangulate the stick’s extremities, and one has the lyre and the bow. Extremes,
when “strung” under the power of the divine Logos, produce harmony, and
balance” (1999, 163).
Heraclitus also built upon the idea developed by Pythagoras
who conceptionalized the first definition of “kosmos” to mean, “world”, though
still may have been using the idea of “order” or “organism”. Building on the
concept of “order” or “kosmos” we see the development of a type of appealing to
the divine in which logos is the word or message as well as carrying in it
independence and yet also exhorting the men to listen, “not to me but to logos”
(Guthrie, 1952, 96).
Guthrie further explains Heraclitus further develops the idea
of Logos to be identified as “the primal and everlasting stuff from which the
kosmos had evolved” (96). Guthrie also states that we can credit Sextus
Empiricus for attaching the post-Aristelian philosophers doctrines like the
Stoics idea that one can breathe in logos as if it were air or with air (96).
In a sense, the idea that as we live and breathe, we gain life from the divine
logos itself. Logos further developed as a concept to be connected with
rational element in speech, and expressed will of the speaker (Kittel, 1981,
81). To further grasp a fuller understanding of the development, the idea that
logos is both the speaking and the understanding of an idea or concept. As a
point of interest and intersection between Heraclitus and the Apostle John,
both resided in Ephesus and while Heraclitus was in the 6th century
B.C. his influence was felt in Ephesus. Here we see a point were it would be of
interest and importance to acknowledge this concept if the Gospel were written
in Ephesus where John resided for many years.
Logos: The Stoics
Returning
to Pythagoras who declared that unity and order were of “a Kosmos” we find he
also promoted the idea of this order coming from “a mind” (Rendall, 1921, 1). While Socrates and others
welcomed this idea with enthusiasm, they gave up on the idea as it gave no
attempt for this “Mind” as far as genesis, method, or goal is concerned (Ibid). However, the Stoics the idea of “a Mind”
seemed too precise and personal and believed to assume “a Mind” is to assume a
deity that was an idea that could not be subscribed (Ibid). The Stoics
preferred Logos over “a Mind” as the “ever-existent word or Reason as the
sovereign ordinance by which the Universe pursues its course.” (Ibid).
The
Stoics also attached moralism via the means of development of the concept of “consciousness”
(Marietta, 1970, 12). With the attachment to moralism the Stoics separated
matter into “moral and non-moral matters” (Ibid). According to Marietta (1970) “[t]he Greeks
did not differentiate between conscience and consciousness as speakers of
English do. The ethical and non-ethical aspects… were conveyed by the same word
and only the context indicated the moral quality of the object of
consciousness” (178). Rendall (1921) asserts
the Stoics attempted to supply a basis for “moral independence, of the soul”,
as well as moral independence to the world and ultimately, man was master of
his own will (7).
Logos: Gnosticism
It becomes easier to understand Gnostic
development as we see the foundation built on the word “Logos”. The Gnostics
believed in the dualist idea that material was evil and spirit good (Gundry,
2003, 261). The idea that Jesus never really was “human” or that someone else such
as Simon of Cyrene died in Jesus’ place was promoted to support the dualism of
material and spirit division (Ibid, 287). For John to say of Jesus that he
became flesh would be a major knockout punch to dualism as it would impose the
realization that either matter is now mixed with the divine. In a sense, it
would place the idea that the perverse and the holy were mixed, thus making one
to see both as something new.
More than “word”
Rendall
(1921) writes that it is easy for modern scholars to become victim to the
ambiguity of the word “Logos” (5). However, it is easy, to see that John’s
choice of using Logos was no accident and carried weight in a variety of
circles in his time. John brings this passage (John 1:1-18) to the center of
attention as he uses it as understood, yet also expands the idea of Logos in
quite a shocking and fascinating way. Logos, as a word, is not just as commonly
translated “word” or even “Word”. It is a concept well developed and carries
much more weight than singular. We can only speculate why John chose to use
this word and all its meaning. While we may see that John was in the seat of
the birthplace of the concept of logos, it is also another to remember the Holy
Spirit who guided the writes of Scripture as the source and inspiration.
Logos: “became
flesh”
John’s
expansion of the idea of Logos crushes the idea of the Impersonal God of much
of Greek philosophy. Imagine, as a Gnostic or Stoic, listening as John’s Gospel
was read, and to use modern day vernacular, saying, “Amen John! You get it!
Logos being divine and out of the Great Mind is what we have been saying all
along.” With great joy they listen and suddenly, (like in those movies when at
a party the record scratches and everything stops), John states in verse 14, “The
Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (NIV). John’s audience would
come to a point of crossing. Do they accept who Jesus is or reject him? If “the
Word became flesh”, and Jesus is The “Word”, then Jesus is greater than any
impersonal deity thus far imagined.
Even the
Jews listening would have to accept or reject the claim the Torah or spoken
word of God “became Flesh”. While it is one thing to believe God as personal
and interactive (as to which the Torah represented), it is another to say
something written becomes a living being, let alone equal with God or even God himself.
Logos: A return to Genesis
Imagine being a
brilliant inventor. In your mind, you see a finished product. You begin to
design and then build a means to get to your finished product. In the end, not
only did you envision your product, build a means to construct it; you also saw
that product become a finished production just as you envisioned it. You have
witnessed the imaginary become a reality. In a sense, Jesus was uniquely the
imagined image God had that set into motion the reality of who Jesus is.
To see another
detail John is doing, we must turn to Genesis chapter one. Here is found the
world starts out in darkness. This is interesting as often it is stated darkness
is the absence of light or that without light darkness cannot exist. However,
here in Genesis, darkness was first, before light. We read that the Father was
moving across the chaos of the waters by His Spirit and as He moved the chaos
began to change. From the very first Word of God, came creation (Gen. 1:1).
“And God said…”
(Gen 1:3, NIV)
This little
phrase has so much more meaning than most give it credit. Here this phrase must
take the reader immediately to John chapter 1. 1 “In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (NIV)
Even before the
actual words were spoken the Word was. God’s Word was within Him and was
eternal. There is no beginning or end for God’s Word; however, most miss the
most important thing. In passage in Genesis that little phrase, “And God said…”
was Jesus Himself. The Father was about to speak and through the Son create
order out of Chaos.
It appears
possible God was thinking of His Son as the Spirit brooded over the chaos of
the waters. As God moved by His Spirit over the chaos, God was expressing an
emotion that needed creative release. He was about to start a conversation that
was without beginning and without end, as it already had begun in the Father,
yet to us, for mankind’s sake was just beginning. For the conversation starts
with the phrase, “In the beginning…” and in that beginning, rather, even before
that beginning we find “…God…” Do not be
confused as this in no way means this is the beginning of God, but only of His Conversation
or Speech.
If a person
looks closely at the Genesis account he or she will see something amazing open
up. God is the Grand Speaker, Jesus is the Word being spoken in the “Let there
be…” and Jesus is moved upon the by the Holy Spirit (The Breath). The Unity of
the Three appears just as when someone speaks. A speaker cannot move words
without breath, nor can breath alone move words without the speaker. The
speaker cannot communicate without words and is dependent on breath and of
course there is no breath without a speaker.
Here we find in
the first few verses of Genesis The Speaker (The Father), The Word or Logos
(Jesus the Son) and The Breath (The Holy Spirit) and John’s opening words in
his Gospel express this in his using “Logos”.
We can also see Paul expressing this in Acts 17:28 as he spoke to the
Areopagus as he states, "for in Him we live and move and have our being,”
for in Logos we have the expression of God giving Life through Jesus through
creation and in the incarnation.
As we discovered
in John’s Gospel, John used the word “Logos” and in its meaning we learn it means,
“Word”. However, within the Greek culture we find it is more. It is the idea of
an existence that was, is and ever will be. A deeper look at how “Logos” is
used shows the word not as a singular idea of “word” but of “words”, as in a speech
or to be so bold a conversation. There is a mystery that connects and this is
the union of the Father and Son. They are in a loving conversation with each
other.
Even before the
beginning, within the Father was the Son as within the Speaker is the Words. As
the Speaker spoke the words moved by the breath came out in words. Do not get
me this wrong as this is not stating there is many Jesus’, rather grasping “Word”
to mean “a speaker giving us an oration”. As the speaker (Speaker in this case)
speaks we hear him say many words to convey the thought he has.
In Genesis God
is deep in thought as He hovers over the waters. I believe that God saw not just His creation,
or man’s potential, but that His thoughts were on the One He loved and that
always has been His Son.
Entering the
“Conversation”
With a closer
look at the word “Logos” the realization that the relationship between the
Father and Son was intimate and ongoing. In John 17:21-26 Jesus prays we are
one as He and the Father are One. Jesus goes on to pray that believers also
enter into this intimate conversation between humanity and Jesus. We relate to
God through the humanity of Jesus at the same time we Jesus relates to God
through Jesus’ divinity. Believers in turn have become the Bride of Christ and enter
into this intimate relationship, thus allowing the conversation to enter us and
us in it. In many ways, believers become again the image, the conversation, and
word God spoke when He began creating in Genesis.
When the
understanding of the power packed meaning of Logos becomes clear, it shows that
Jesus Christ is greater than the best of Hebraic and Greek thinking. We find
Logos becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us to share the light to all. This is
the same light that God spoke at the beginning of all creation. With this
fuller understanding of the concept of Logos, it becomes easier to see that
Jesus was more than a man of history, but God in flesh in a purposeful mission
to reconcile all back to God. It is through knowing who Jesus is, which allows
us to enter and participate in the Conversation that started in “the beginning”
and continues for eternity.
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