“In the beginning was the Word (Λόγος), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. And the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not grasp it.”John 1:1-4
With all due respect to Lawrence O’Donnell, his CNN program titled The Last Word is at once, ambitious, audacious, and profoundly naive. He is not even close to “the last word.”
Gerard Kittel, in his Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, introduces his treatment of the word “Logos” (well over 100 pages) with the following statement; “It is hardly possible in this context to give a full treatment of the Greek words for “to say”, “to speak”, “to tell”...it must suffice to lay the foundation”
This suggests, to me, that there is quite a bit we may not know about the theological doctrine asserting Jesus is the “Logos.” And, since the historical Jesus is foundational, the central figure in our Christian faith, this lack of knowledge at a practical and accessible level makes me nervous. So, in an effort to provide something comprehensive for the average Christian, I have decided to share some information that I found obscure to my own understanding but is profoundly critical to a proper appreciation for what it means to call Jesus the “Logos.” Much of what follows is lifted directly from Kittel’s work.
The meaning in the Greek and Hellenistic World
Since John, the Apostle, introduced this description of Jesus into a Hellenistic culture, we begin with a critical look into what LOGOS meant to the people reading John’s Gospel. Kittel tells us, for Greeks, knowledge is always recognition of a law. It is “self-evident to the Greek” that there is, in everything, an “intelligible and recognizable law that makes knowledge and understanding possible.” This law is called LOGOS. But, this LOGOS is not taken to be merely understood theoretically. It is like gravity. It claims us and determines our life and conduct. We ignore it at our peril.
John is literally saying we cannot understand God without Jesus (LOGOS), “the intelligible and recognizable law that makes knowledge and understanding possible”. The meme No Jesus, No God...Know Jesus, Know God is a truism.
Derived from the root “Lego” (not the toy building blocks), meaning “To say or to speak,” LOGOS is far more comprehensive. It connotes the idea of gathering, counting, enumerating of narrating. The term we translate as “word” means far more than “saying something”...it also includes the law that governs the meaning behind it. In this respect, we must understand that LOGOS (Word), “an intelligible and recognizable law” as used to describe Jesus, stands in stark contrast to “word” as used in the Old and New Testaments to describe the “Word of God” as reference to spoken language.
LOGOS is a “statement” that captures everything pertinent to the subject. It is like a bank statement and contains the idea of being “the last word,” the full accounting of all the information contained in a subject. In fact, the term was used in the discipline of accounting to describe the final spreadsheet...the final “word” on the financial status of any given concern. In this sense, Jesus is “the last word” containing everything that God intends to say to man. He embodies “an intelligible and recognizable law” There is no more...and everything contained in Jesus is essential to gaining the full picture. It literally will not do to summarize, gloss over, or paraphrase the person, work and testimony of the person we call “the author and finisher of our faith.”
The Hellenistic world would have understood John to be saying “Jesus is the last word concerning God.” there is nothing more to say.
Kittel asserts that, for the Greek world then, LOGOS must have been understood as “something displayed, clarified, recognized and understood.” In this sense, LOGOS had to be something of material form that could be seen, touched, heard, smelled or tasted. This demands that Jesus appeared to us fully human and was not merely a hologram as some heresies like Gnosticism suggest. This “anti-matter” notion derives from the dualism of Plato that asserts matter is evil and therefore, Jesus could not appear in material form.
But, of course, Jesus is the “Last Word” on that...
Secondly, we must understand LOGOS is a metaphysical (non-physical) reality since LOGOS is intended to reveal “an intelligible and recognizable law” regarding what the statement “means.” We must understand that “non-physical” does not mean “not real”. While the fact of my checkbook balance is physically real, the meaning of my checkbook balance, of course is not. It is an “idea” (metaphysical) yet...very real. And, the “idea” governs my material conduct if the physical and metaphysical worlds are to remain in harmony; I spend more than what is materially “real” at my peril.
For example, I look at my checkbook (the LOGOS). The checkbook is simply a statement of material reality but it contains an intelligible and recognizable law; We have $xx.xx dollars at our disposal. This material reality governs my conduct; My checkbook balance can mean many things. It might mean I can, or can’t, have dinner out this weekend. It might mean I have to transfer money. It might mean I eat fast food. Whatever the “ideal” meaning is, it absolutely and positively in governed by material reality and...vice versa. They are two sides of one reality.
So, when the material Jesus walks and talks and teaches about sin and salvation and eternal life, we must necessarily consider the meaning of these metaphysical concepts in order to make sense of the LOGOS. These ideas are very real and have very real influence on our lives. We can choose to understand them in some way other than how the LOGOS has told us to understand them but it only means that our ideal and material worlds will eventually collide.
Because, of course, Jesus is the “Last Word”...
What does this mean for you and me when we are taught “believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ and you will be saved?” Since our eternal destiny rests on this truth, it warrants more than simple assent; “I believe.” It means serious consideration of the LOGOS and all it’s implications so we can be certain of what we claim to believe.
As we ruminate over these words from the Apostle John, I plan to publish entries, in the near future intended to make a more intimate “knowledge and understanding” of LOGOS possible.
Live boldly out there today...
