The Mind Of God

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

The Greek word for "Word" is Logos in these few verses and also in most occurrences throughout the gospel of John. Throughout ancient philosophy the term logos or Logos was considered as the following:

"For Aristotle, logos is something more refined than the capacity to make private feelings public: it enables the human being to perform as no other animal can; it makes it possible for him to perceive and make clear to others through reasoned discourse the difference between what is advantageous and what is harmful, between what is just and what is unjust, and between what is good and what is evil."

"In Stoic philosophy, which began with Zeno of Citium c. 300 BC, the logos was the active reason pervading the universe and animating it. It was conceived of as material, and is usually identified with God or Nature. The Stoics also referred to the seminal logos, ("logos spermatikos") or the law of generation in the universe, which was the principle of the active reason working in inanimate matter. Humans, too, each possess a portion of the divine logos. The Stoics also took all activity to imply a Logos, or spiritual principle. As the operative principle of the world, to them, the Logos was anima mundi (see Plato quote below), a concept which later influenced Philo of Alexandria, although he derived the contents of the term from Plato."

I love reading about the philosophy of the Logos from other religions and philosophy, because it reassures me that we are all looking for the same thing. Who am I, what is my purpose and who created me? A what cannot create. You would have to be a complete idiot (in my opinion, which may have no value to you at all, but thats ok) to believe that their is nothing more than muscles in our head giving the whole human race extreme intelligence and rationality/reason. Let's not confuse wisdom with intelligence... big difference. So to that extent I give these philosophers credit for following their a priori knowledge of God. Even though suppressed in unrighteousness, they do search or even consider some aspects of the divine Logos instead of foolishly ignoring the obvious existence of a Divine Will or Word.

"Therefore, we may consequently state that: this world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence... a single visible living entity containing all other living entities, which by their nature are all related." -Plato

"He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men." John 1:2-5

It is truly amazing to me that all of the greatest thinkers of all time dealing with life, God, reason, etc... can all be summed up in the first five verses of John's gospel. He no doubt felt the weight of the endless philosophy of the time being passed from person to person throughout Greece and also in the markets etc... So I think he purposefully used this wording. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Most of the the ancient philosophers would agree with this as the basis for their thinking and philosophy.

The Christian view of he Logos can be explained this way: if you take all the wisdom, personal thinking, will to act, to be, to existence, the very being and rationality of God, all this to which cannot not be fully grasped- the eternal, holy, perfect wisdom, will, being, existence, and logic of God all summed up as the Logos in John 1. Then the answer to all philosophy through times past, who am I, what is my purpose and who created me?- John 1:14 "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among men..." John 1:17 "for the law was given through Moses; grace and TRUTH through Jesus Christ"... And then the perfect revelation from God is given in John 1:18 "no one has ever seen God, Jesus has explained him to us..." Jesus is the very wisdom of God; listen to him speak. This puts a new meaning to "all scripture is God-breathed..." This can only mean one thing. You are tapping in to the mind of God which is TRUTH which was given to us through Jesus, through men by the Holy Spirit. This is why "faith comes by hearing the Word of God..." It's exactly that... The divine Logos... The Word of God... Jesus... Through which one is brought to faith by the power of God's Word.

John 8:51 "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." - Jesus

Quotes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logos

Yours in Christ,
Chris Fincher