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The Logos Doctrine

Christianity is unique among the worlds great religions in that it is the only one with the
revelation of God emptying himself of his divine prerogatives to incarnate as a person in
order to save all humankind from a fallen imperfect state and lead them to ultimately
attain to the likeness of God. The Logos Doctrine is essential to an understanding of
that revelation.
Our discussion begins with the words of St. John in the prologue to his Gospel: In the
beginning was the Logos (Word)....
The New Testament was originally composed in Greek. The Greek word which is
translated Word in most English Bibles is Logos. Many English speaking Christians
are aware of this fact, but very few are aware of the ancient Christian Logos Doctrine to
which it refers. The Logos Doctrine is so foundational to Christian theology that
Protestant theologian Paul Tillich stated emphatically that, "He who sacrifices the Logos
principle sacrifices the idea of a living God, and he who rejects the application of this
principle to Jesus as the Christ rejects his character as Christ." (Systematic Theology,
Vol. 3, p. 288). With that crystal clear message from one of the greatest theologians of
the 20
th
century, lets move on!
So, what is this Logos Doctrine?
Five hundred years before the birth of Jesus, a Greek philosopher named Heraclitus
used the word Logos to describe what he envisioned as a universal force of reason
which governed the universe. He felt that all things happen according to this Logos.
Later, the philosophical school known as the Stoics expanded and popularized this idea
in the ancient world.
Early Christians, including the Gospel writer John, adapted the Logos principle as a
means to explain Jesus Christ in terms that the dominant Greco-Roman culture could
understand and respect. In Greek Stoic philosophy, the concept of the Logos describes
a universal principle. But, in the Christian context, in addition to that transcendent idea,
the Logos also assumes a very personal character by being associated with the Son,
the second Person of the Holy Trinity. So, in the following discussion of the pre-
incarnational Christian Logos Doctrine, every time we see Logos or Word, we need to
mentally add to it the Son, the second Person of the Trinitarian Godhead. Break
The Logos is the universal principle of the self-manifestation of God to himself, in
himself. That means that whenever God appears, either to himself or outside himself, it
is the Logos that appears. The Logos is the first work or generation of God as Father.


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God the Father is often called eternal mind (nous). The Father, being eternal mind, has
the Logos within himself. This means that he has the power of self-manifestation within
him. A human analogy would be the fact that there is no mental process going on in a
human except in silent words. Likewise, the inner spiritual life of God includes the silent
Word within him.
The Logos is a spiritual procession that goes out from God the Father to the created
world. Its the way that God the Father manifests himself to the created world. This
procession does not produce separation. The Logos of God is not identical to God; it is
the self-manifestation of God. It is like the rays from the sun; it is not the sun, yet it
cannot be separated from the sun. If you separate the Logos from God, it becomes
empty and without content. As St. Justin Martyr (AD 100165) says, The Logos is
different from God according to number, but not according to concept. He is God; he is
not the God (the Father), but he is one with God in essence.
The Logos is the principle which gives order the created cosmos. The Logos is the
dynamic principle, the providentially working power which directs the natural and moral
laws of the universe. It is the natural law to which everything is subject, both matter and
living beings.
In the Christian Bible, Logos means both word and reason. In the context of the Old
Testament, you would best translate Logos (memra in Aramaic) as word. In New
Testament (Greek) terms, you would translate Logos in the more personal sense of
reason. This is reason not in the sense of rational, logical reasoning, but more in the
sense of the meaningful structure of reality. The Logos is present in and permeates
throughout all creation; it is ubiquitous in the universe and yet also contains it without
being bounded by it.
In terms of humankind, the Logos gives every human being intuitive knowledge of the
existence of God, a culturally influenced knowledge of moral laws which we feel the
obligation to fulfill in freedom. The Logos gives structure to the mind or nous. The nous
is not the Logos but it is the Logos that gives order to the contents of the nous.
Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215) believed that humankind should live life according
to the Logos (cf. Stromata, 3). Faith, in terms of assent and obedience, is the
beginning, but it is not enough. Real participation in God requires the addition of
knowledge. Clement does not feel that there is any conflict between faith and
knowledge, between reason and revelation. Knowledge enters into faith as one of its
constituent elements; reason and reflection are the avenues through which the divine
revelation comes.
According to Justin Martyr, the spermatikos logos, the germinal or seminal word, is
sown as conscience in the hearts of all humans. According to Justin, the use of reason


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by people, even in those without express faith in Christ, is already Christ the Logos at
work in them. We have been taught," St. Justin declared, "that Christ is the First-born
of God, and we have declared . . . that he is the Word [Logos] of whom every race of
men were partaken, and those who lived reasonable are Christians, even though they
have been thought atheists. First Apology, 46.
The Incarnation of the Logos as a human, Jesus of Nazareth, is a unique revelation of
Christianity. Jesus is unique in that he represents not only the incarnation of the Logos
of God, but also the Christ (anointed one), the Hebrew Messiah. So, now when we use
the word Logos in any post-incarnational discussion, we need to also mentally add
Jesus and Christ to Son in our composite picture. To the Stoic idea of Logos as a
universal, transcendent principle, Christianity added the very personal dimensions of
Son of God and Jesus Christ. This revelation is uniquely Christian.
The incarnation of the Logos, the Son, as Jesus the Christ is a once-for-all event. It is
not the incarnation of a particular characteristic or set of characteristics of God; it is the
very Logos of God, center of divinity, which becomes incarnate. The incarnation
initiates a series of events in the economy, or plan of God for the salvation of
humankind.
The saving economy of Jesus Christ, the Logos, are is found in his incarnation which
deified the fallen nature of humankind; in his ministry which gave us direct knowledge of
God; in his death by which he redeemed us from the bondage of sin; and in the
resurrection, which defeated death.
Jesus Christ, as Logos, is first of all a teacher in the sense of giving us existential
knowledge and power through the Holy Spirit. Justin Martyr said, the teachings of
Plato are not alien to those of Christ, although not in all respects similar. For all the
writers of antiquity were able to have a dim vision of the realities by the means of the
implanted word [Logos]. 2
nd
Apology, 13.
So, you see, according to the Logos Doctrine, Christianity is very inclusive and
universal; catholic, if you will. It is not the exclusive club, tribe, or competing religion
than humans have made of it. Ancient Christianity was inclusive of all truth, regardless
of source, place, or time. It included all of humankind, without distinction.
When seen from the viewpoint of the Logos Doctrine, the seemingly exclusive claims of
John 14:6 become a declaration of inclusive, cosmic, universal truth. The verse reads:
Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through me. In paraphrase, I believe this means: I am the Logos, the self-
manifestation of God the Father. We are the same in essence, but the Father remains
hidden from creation. The only possible way that humankind has to understand and


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know God is through understanding and knowing the Logos. This is the cosmic Christ.
This is the Way!