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Conclusion

The De-Mystified Logos by Phil Maxwell July 2000; Revised August 2003

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Even though commonly personified in literature, the logos was a thing, not a person. To change this aspect of its definition is to impose an inaccurate meaning upon the term logos, and thereby change the meaning of the prologue of John's Gospel. As I have shown, this is not only technically unacceptable, but leads to a virtual annihilation of the passage. We must, therefore, understand the logos as John and those of his day understood it, or, at the very least, refrain from employing it as a basis for essential doctrines and divisions without regard to its true connotations at that time.  To them, the logos represented the embodiment of all discernible manifestations and revelations of the divine, not the literal person of God.

Furthermore, we must scrutinize translations using readily available resources in order to be sure that what we’re reading is, in fact, what the authors of Scripture intended.  First, we should remove all capitalizations of the ‘Word’ and pronouns pertaining to it.  Then, the masculine pronouns ‘He’ and ‘Him’ should be exchanged for gender neutral pronouns. Other word definitions that merit expansion include ‘with’ (“the word was with God...”), which indicates a proactive involvement such as ‘towards’ or ‘in agreement with’. Also, the phrase ‘the word was God’ would be more accurately translated as ‘the word was like or the same as God’.  Surely such a hotly debated passage upon which so much has been staked for so long merits such close scrutiny.

Another point to consider is the little known fact that at least the first five verses of John were almost certainly written in poetic form. This, of course, makes the possibility that the personification of the logos was meant as an abstraction far more tenable, especially since that is exactly how the word of God is represented in the Greek version of the Old Testament plus other Hebrew and Greek literature of and prior to that period.  It is even possible that the hymn that opens the Gospel according to John was borrowed from other sources, but either way, it followed a long established format in both style and substance. It is, therefore, quite unreasonable to interpret it in a vacuum as though it is a literal exhortation of a new revelation, rather than a poetic hymn reiterating existing and frequently corroborated precepts.

Thus, with an understanding of what the logos means, and a few technical modifications, the text of John 1 should read as follows:

{1} In the beginning was the word [of God], and the word [of God] was [actively and in complete agreement] with God, and the logos was [like or reflected the essence of] God. {2} The word [of God] was in the beginning with God. {3} All things came into being by [the word of God], and apart from [the word of God] nothing came into being that has come into being. {4} In [the word of God] was life, and the life was the light of men. {5} And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

...{14} And the word [of God] became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. 

As to the transition of the word of God or logos from the intangible link between the Creator and the material universe into the man Yahshua, consider the same implications in the following verses:

Heb 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son...

Ac 2:36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-- this Jesus whom you crucified.

Mt 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’

Jn 14:6 Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.’

1 Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

It is evident that all that was embodied in the logos according to contemporary thought in John's day was indeed invested in the man Yahshua.  Thus, the logos had become flesh.  The man Yahshua is now the only Mediator between God and man, the logos. On this, my opponents and I probably agree, but where we part company is on the insistence that the logos is the literal person of God, who underwent a sort of metamorphosis in becoming a flesh and blood man.  The logos was a concept that represented the sum of all of God's will, works, and revelation to man; the link between the invisible, unapproachable God and man.  Insofar as interpreting Scripture goes, it means the same today, only now it is entirely invested in and manifested through Yahshua.  There is no reason for it to be any more difficult than that.

End Notes

All Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible unless otherwise noted.

1. “Bible, Interpretation of, (Hermeneutics) – The Basic Principles of Bible Study”, Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers

2. “John 1:1 – First Division of the Prologue. The Word (John 1-5)”, Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft

3. “John 1 – The Prologue (1:1-18)”, The UBS Handbook Series. Copyright (c) 1961-1997, by United Bible Societies

4. “Word”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

5. “Word – 1. logos”, Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers

6. “Unitarianism – I. History of the Belief – 1. In the Early Church”, McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft

7. “Interpretation – 1. General Principles”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

8. Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition  © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.

9. “Logos – II. Hebrew Anticipation of Doctrine – 5. Targums”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

10. John 1:1 – First Division of the Prologue. The Word (John 1-5) – Later Jewish Usage”, Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft

11. “God – II. Idea of God in the Old Testament – 6. Idea of God in Post-exilic Judaism – (5) Logos, memra’ (memera’) and angels”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft

12. “Comparative Religion – II. Relation of Christianity to Ethnic Faiths and Their Tenets. – 4. Self-Revelation of God”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

13. “Logos – IV. Christian Realization. – 3. Doctrine of the Fourth Gospel – (2) Origin of Terminology”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

14. “John 1:1 – First Division of the Prologue. The Word (John 1-5) – Judeao-Alexandrine Philosophy”, Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft

15. “Johannine Theology – III. The Incarnation – 1. Historical Antecedents of the Logos-Doctrine”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

16. “Logos – III. In Semi- and Non-canonical Jewish Literature”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

17. “Philosophy – 2. Greek Philosophy”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft

18. “John 1:1 – First Division of the Prologue. The Word (John 1-5) – Old Testament Usage of the Term”, Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft

19. “John 1:1 – The Word”, Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft & Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament. Copyright (c) 1985 by Broadman Press

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