reply to post by smithjustinb
Yes, It's important to know The Root Meaning of Word's!
Jesus Christ = Logos (Greek Language Meaning)
The Jewish-Alexandrian theologian and philosopher Philo wrote extensively about the Logos in ways that are reminiscent of New Testament theology. For
instance, his teaching that “the Logos of the living God is the bond of everything, holding all things together and binding all the parts, and
prevents them from being dissolved and separated”[2] resembles Colossians 1:17.
Christians who profess belief in the Trinity often consider John 1:1 to be a central text in their belief that Jesus is God, in connection with the
idea that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are equals. Though only in this verse is Jesus referred to as the Word of God, the theme transposed
throughout the Gospel of John with variations.[3] Renowned theologian N.T. Wright characterizes "Word" (logos) as being incomprehensible in human
language. He claims that through belief the Logos will transform people with its judgment and mercy.
n ancient Greek, logos meant 'word', but this meaning gradually extended to include other concepts such as speech, thought, reason, principle and
logic. In the Platonic school of philosophy, Logos became the principle of unity, order and reason within the universe, and later came to refer to a
kind of subsidiary god or divine force, an emanation of the deity.
The word Logos entered hellenistic Judaism under the influence of Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, as a paraclete or emanation of his God. In Quaestiones in
Genesi II.62 Philo called the Logos a "second God" who is subordinate to the Supreme God. At the same time, Philo also sought to maintain monotheism
by asserting that the Logos is not really distinct from God. Eventually, the concept of Logos entered Christianity, with Jesus as the Logos or
Word.
The prologue to the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John, which begins with the unforgettable line "In the beginning was the Word," is instinctively
recognized by many readers as one of the most beautiful passages in all the sacred texts of humanity. This writing describes the nature of the "Word"
as a cosmic forming principle, its mission, and the manifestation of the Word in the figure of Jesus, the avatar of the Christian faith.
Unfortunately, despite the beauty and profoundness of the Prologue, most modern readers have not been able to unlock its inner meaning, for they have
never been given the necessary key.
Central to the Prologue is the concept of "Word," a very inadequate rendering of the original Greek term "Logos", one of the most important concepts
of the Hellenistic world. Notice I did not say this was an important concept to the Jewish world but the Greek world. Let us not forget that Jesus is
a Jew and not a Greek. In ancient Greek, Logos has many meanings, but none of them is truly to be understood as "Word," which is based on a
translation of a translation. So the writer of the Gospel of John is really not saying the "Logos" is "the Word" but sadly this is the translation we
have been given. Understand that often Greek and English are very poor languages for translation of concepts which find their origin in prior
languages [such as Hebrew or Egyptian] which express such concepts in a much better way. When the Greek NewTestament was translated into Latin,
"Logos" became "Verbum"; and when the English King James translation was made from the Latin version, "Verbum" became "Word," twice removed from the
original text.
"Logos" designates the power of "reason," the pattern or order of things, the principle of relationship, and an organized articulation of something.
In general, it has the following meanings:
1) Order or pattern
2) Ratio or proportion
3) Oratio, a discourse, articulation or account, even a "sermon"
4) Reason, both in the sense of rationality and in the sense of an articulation of the cause of something
5) Principle or cause (logoi ="principles," "ratios," "reasons")
6) A principle of mediation and harmony between extremes
"Logos" has the same meaning as both the Latin words "ratio" and "oratio". "Ratio" is the principle of Reason in its many senses, yet it is also ratio
in a mathematical sense, as in continued geometrical proportion. "Oratio" is a discourse, an articulation, a setting forth of the "ratio" or nature of
things. "Logos", as a principle, is the natural order of things, the principle of reason, relation, and harmony, which exists both within the natural
fabric of the universe and within the human mind. Now understand the prior sentence is a very, very important concept in understanding the use of
"logos" in the Gospel of John as we will see shortly. The key words in the above definition is "reason," "relationship," and "harmony" both in the
natural world and within the human mind (the soul which contains the will and emotions of an individual). It is the faculty whereby one thing is
related to another through "analogy", or the power of "proportional insight." (Analogia in Greek refers to continued geometrical proportion).Of no
less importance in the Greek understanding of the "logos" is mystical and cosmological thought, including early Christian thought, the idea of The
"Logos" in a cosmic sense encompassed all of these meanings and refers to the underlying Order of the Universe, the blueprint on which all creation is
based.
edit on 1-4-2011 by Faith2011 because: shorten
