11. The Logos (Word).
The exaltation and deification of Jesus is thus described by the Dutch theologian, Dr. Hooykaas: “When Jesus was gone, those who had known him personally insensibly surrounded him with a glory that shone at last with a more than human splendor. The spiritual blessings which flowed in ever rich measure from his person and his gospel compelled the Christians to exalt him ever more and more. The title of Son of God, which his followers had given him as the future Messiah, was elastic and ambiguous enough to lend itself very readily to this process. The idea of his being the Messiah now no longer sufficed; he was something other and something far more than the Jewish Messiah. The philosophy and theology of the day were laid under contribution; and nothing could so well indicate his significance for all humanity and his unapproachable exaltation as the idea that he was the Word” (Bible for Learners, Vol. III, pp. 670, 671).
The doctrine of the Logos, or Word, as an emanation or essence of divine wisdom is very old. It is found in the ancient religions of Egypt and India. It was recognized in the Persian theology, and was incorporated into the Jewish theology by the Babylonian exiles. It constitutes an important element in the Platonic philosophy. It received its highest development and exposition in the writings of the Jewish philosopher Philo, a contemporary of Jesus.
Concerning the Logos, Dean Milman, in his “History of Christianity,” says: “This Being was more or less distinctly impersonated, according to the more popular or more philosophic, the more material or the more abstract, notions of the age of the people. This was the doctrine from the Ganges, or even the shores of the Yellow Sea, to the Ilissus: it was the fundamental principle of the Indian religion and the Indian philosophy; it was the basis of Zoroastrianism; it was pure Platonism; it was the Platonic Judaism of the Alexandrian school.” Another English clergyman, Mr. Lake, says: “We can trace its [the Word’s] birthplace in the philosophic speculations of the ancient world; we can note its gradual development and growth; we can see it in its early youth passing (through Philo and others), from Grecian philosophy into the current of Jewish thought” (Philo, Plato, and Paul, p. 71).
The presentation of Jesus as an incarnation of the Logos belongs to the second century and is prominent in the Fourth Gospel. The ideas are chiefly those of Plato and Philo. Plato’s trinity was Thought, Word and Deed. The Word occupies the second place in the Platonic trinity as it does in the Christian trinity. That the author of the gospel of John, written more than a century after the time of Philo, borrowed largely from that philosopher, is shown by the following parallels drawn from their writings:
Philo.—“The Logos is the Son of God” (De Profugis).
John.—“This [the Word] is the Son of God” ([i, 34]).
Philo.—“The Logos is considered the same as God” (De Somniis).
John.—“The Word was God” ([i, 1]).
Philo.—“He [the Logos] was before all things” (De Leg. Allegor).
John.—“The same [the Word] was in the beginning with God” ([i, 2]).
Philo.—“The Logos is the agent by whom the world was made” (De Leg. Allegor).
John.—“All things were made by him [the Word]” ([i, 3]).
Philo.—“The Logos is the light of the world” (De Somniis).
John.—“The Word was the true light” ([i, 9]).
Philo.—“The Logos only can see God” (De Confus. Ling.).
John.—“No man hath seen God.... He [the Word] hath declared him” ([i, 18]).