John's Logos

KJohn36574 at aol.com KJohn36574 at aol.com
Fri Dec 24 14:28:32 EST 1999


There is no apparent disparity between Heraclitus' concept of the logos and 
John's.

William Barclay quoted Heraclitus by saying logos "was the reasoning of God".
I have no problem with that as I have always maintained logos as the reason 
or speech of a person. And this accepted Greek notion of Logos could be cited 
as a "philosophical" one. However, my view that the Logos was the Expression 
of God or as the Philips paraphrase clearly points out, "In the beginning God 
expressed himself" includes "In the beginning". 

I have never excluded this notion, I just think to isolate logos apart from 
the background of John and the obvious Hebrew "en archee" is a mistake, just 
as it would be wrong to isolate Logos from "Wisdom". Of course Logos was more 
than God's wisdom, it was his power, love and intelligence, or God's divine 
mind put into action or expressing itself in creation in John 1:1.

On another thread, the preposition "pros" simply does what preposition do in 
all other places where the cases would convey the sense of association. Dana 
and Mantey say concerning this,

"It is incorrect...to say that prepositions govern cases. Neither is the 
opposite true, that cases govern propositions. But it is true that as cases 
limit and define the relations of verbs to substantives, so also prepositions 
help to express more exactly and effectively the very distinctions for which 
cases were created." p. 97.

For this reason pros as in "pros ton theon" has a perfective force or 
emphatic force to show relationship between the Logos and Theon. The 
reasoning concept logos of original creation John is setting forth here does 
not come from some source other than God. Since it continues to say that "the 
Word was God [himself]". No other element, whether celestial creature or 
matter reduced or enlarged, was associated with the first inkling of awesome 
creation. All was with God in concept and God was this planning and 
expression.

Ken Johnson
Elk Grove, CA
Kj36574 at aol.com



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