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This article is about Logos (plural: logoi) in ancient Greek philosophy, mathematics, rhetoric, theology, and Christianity. For other uses, see Logos (disambiguation).
Logos (pronounced /ˈloʊɡɒs/ or /ˈlɒgɒs/; Greek λόγος logos) is an important term in philosophy, analytical psychology, rhetoric and religion. Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BC) established the term in Western philosophy as meaning both the source and fundamental order of the cosmos. The sophists used the term to mean discourse, and Aristotle applied the term to rational discourse. The Stoic philosophers identified the term with the divine animating principle pervading the universe. After Judaism came under Hellenistic influence, Philo adopted the term into Jewish philosophy. The Gospel of John identifies Jesus as the incarnation of the Logos, through which all things are made. The gospel further identifies the Logos as divine (theos).[1] Second-century Christian Apologists, such as Justin Martyr, identified Jesus as the Logos or Word of God, a distinct intermediary between God and the world.[2] In current use, Logos may refer to the Christian sense, identifying Jesus with the Word of God, though in academic discussions the term is more directly used in a rhetorical discussion.
[edit] EtymologyIn ordinary, non-technical Greek, logos had two overlapping meanings. One meaning referred to an instance of speaking: "sentence, saying, oration"; the other meaning was the antithesis of ergon (ἔργον) or energeia (ἐνέργεια), meaning "action" or "work", which was commonplace. Despite the conventional translation as "word", it is not used for a word in the grammatical sense; instead, the term lexis (λέξις) is used. However, both logos and lexis derive from the same verb legō (λέγω), meaning "to count, tell, say, speak".[3] Logos also means the inward intention underlying the speech act: "hypothesis, thought, grounds for belief or action." [4] The primary meaning of logos is: something said; by implication a subject, topic of discourse, or reasoning. Secondary meanings such as logic, reasoning, etc. derive from the fact that if one is capable of legein (λέγειν; infinitive of legō), i.e. speech, then intelligence and reason are assumed. Its semantic field extends beyond "word" to notions such as "thought, speech, account, meaning, reason, proportion, principle, standard", or "logic". In English, the word is the root of "logic," and of the "-ology" suffix (e.g., geology).[5] [edit] Use in ancient philosophy[edit] HeraclitusThe writing of Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BCE) was the first place where the word logos was given special attention in ancient Greek philosophy.[6] Though Heraclitus "quite deliberately plays on the various meanings of logos",[7] there is no compelling reason to suppose that he used it in a special technical sense, significantly different from the way it was used in ordinary Greek of his time.[8]
[edit] Aristotle's rhetorical logosAristotle defined logos as argument from reason, one of the three modes of persuasion. The other two modes are pathos (Greek: πάθος), persuasion by means of emotional appeal, and ethos, persuasion through convincing listeners of one's moral competence. An argument based on logos needs to be logical, and in fact the term logic derives from it. Logos normally implies numbers, polls, and other mathematical or scientific data. Logos has some advantages:
[edit] The StoicsIn 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.[10] [edit] Philo of AlexandriaPhilo (20 BC - 50 AD), a Hellenized Jew, used the term logos to mean the creative principle. Philo followed the Platonic distinction between imperfect matter and perfect idea. The logos was necessary, he taught, because God cannot come into contact with matter. He sometimes identified logos as divine wisdom. He taught that the Logos was the image of God, after which the human mind (νοῦς) was made. He calls the Logos the "archangel of many names," "taxiarch" (corps-commander), the "name of God," also the "heavenly Adam", [11] the "man, the word of the eternal God." The Logos is also designated as "high priest," in reference to the exalted position which the high priest occupied after the Exile as the real center of the Jewish state. The Logos, like the high priest, is the expiator of sins, and the mediator and advocate for men: ἱκέτης ("Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit," § 42 [i. 501], and παράκλητος ("De Vita Mosis," iii. 14 [ii. 155]).[12] “The Logos is the first-born and the eldest and chief of the angels.” [13] [edit] Use in Christianity[edit] TranslationsLogos is usually translated as "the Word" in English Bibles such as the KJV. Gordon Clark (1902 - 1985), a Calvinist theologian and expert on pre-Socratic philosophy, famously translated Logos as "Logic": "In the beginning was the Logic, and the Logic was with God and the Logic was God." He meant to imply by this translation that the laws of logic were contained in the Bible itself and were therefore not a secular principle imposed on the Christian world view. The notorious question of how to translate logos is treated in Goethe's Faust, with Faust finally opting for die Tat, ("deed/action"). Some Chinese translations of the Gospel of John have used the word "Tao (道)".[14] The term Logos also reflects the term dabar Yahweh ("Word of God") in the Hebrew Bible. [edit] John 1:1Main article: John 1:1 The Gospel of John begins with a Hymn to the Word which identifies Jesus as the Logos and the Logos as divine. The KJV, NKJV and other major, modern-day versions render the last phrase, "the Word was God." Theologian Stephen L. Harris and others say the author of John adapted Philo's concept of the Logos, identifying Jesus as an incarnation of the divine Logos that formed the universe[15] (cf. Proverbs 8:22-36). The Bible of Jehovah's Witnesses contains the controversial rendering of John 1:1 as "...the Word was a god" (New World Translation—NWT). At John 1:1 there are two occurrences of the Greek noun the·os' (god). The first occurrence refers to Almighty God, with whom the Word was ("and the Word [lo'gos] was with God [a form of the·os']"). This first the·os' is preceded by the word ton (the), a form of the Greek definite article that points to a distinct identity, in this case Almighty God ("and the Word was with [the] God"). On the other hand, there is no article before the second the·os' at John 1:1. So a literal translation would read, "and god was the Word." Yet we have seen that many translations render this second the·os' (a predicate noun) as "divine," "godlike," or "a god." On what authority do they do this? The Koine Greek language had a definite article ("the"), but it did not have an indefinite article ("a" or "an"). So when a predicate noun is not preceded by the definite article, it may be indefinite, depending on the context. The Journal of Biblical Literature says that expressions "with an anarthrous [no article] predicate preceding the verb, are primarily qualitative in meaning." As the Journal notes, this indicates that the lo'gos can be likened to a god. It also says of John 1:1: "The qualitative force of the predicate is so prominent that the noun [the·os'] cannot be regarded as definite." So John 1:1 highlights the quality of the Word, that he was "divine," "godlike," "a god," but not Almighty God. This harmonizes with the rest of the Bible, which shows that Jesus, here called "the Word" in his role as God's Spokesman, was an obedient subordinate sent to earth by his Superior, Almighty God. There are many other Bible verses in which almost all translators in other languages consistently insert the article "a" when translating Greek sentences with the same structure. For example, at Mark 6:49, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on water, the King James Version says: "They supposed it had been a spirit." In the Koine Greek, there is no "a" before "spirit." But almost all translations in other languages add an "a" in order to make the rendering fit the context. In the same way, since John 1:1 shows that the Word was with God, he could not be God but was "a god," or "divine." Joseph Henry Thayer, a theologian and scholar who worked on the American Standard Version, stated simply: "The Logos was divine, not the divine Being himself." And Jesuit John L. McKenzie wrote in his Dictionary of the Bible: "Jn 1:1 should rigorously be translated...'the word was a divine being.'" John's placement of the Word at Creation reflects Genesis, in which God (Elohim) speaks the world into being, beginning with words "Let there be light."
[edit] Christ the LogosMain article: Christ the Logos Christians who profess belief in the Trinity often consider John 1:1 to be a central text in their belief that Jesus is God, in connection with the idea that the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are equals.
Christian apologist Justin Martyr (c 150) identified Jesus as the Logos. He portrayed Jesus not as "the Maker of all things" but as "the Angel of the Lord", subject to the Maker of all things.[18] Justin wrote that the Logos had distributed truth to all people, that it had taken human form in Jesus to teach the truth and to redeem humanity from demons, and that Jesus was therefore worthy of worship as on in second place to God.[19] Early Christians who opposed the concept of Jesus as the Logos c 170 were known as alogi. [edit] In Roman CatholicismOn April 1, 2005, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (who would become Pope Benedict XVI just over two weeks later) referred to the Christian religion as the religion of the Logos:
Catholics can use logos to refer to the moral law written in human hearts. This comes from Jeremiah 31:33 (prophecy of new covenant): "I will write my law on their hearts." St. Justin wrote that those who have not accepted Christ but follow the moral law of their hearts (logos) follow God, because it is God who has written the moral law in each person's heart. Though man may not explicitly recognize God, he has the spirit of Christ if he follows Jesus' moral laws, written in his heart. [edit] Jung's analytical psychologyIn Carl Jung's analytical psychology, the logos is the masculine principle of rationality and consciousness. Its female counterpart, eros (Greek, love), represents interconnectedness. Carl Jung used the term for the masculine principle of rationality. A form of government where 'words' are the most important thing is called logocracy. [edit] The Logos NovelThe Logos is a 2009 mystery-detective fiction novel written by author Mark Tolley. It follows Archaeoastronomy expert Adam Lamach and QinetiQ technology expert Jenny Lomas as they investigate the murder of a number of high powered Freemasons, politicians and business men. They quickly discover the ongoing conflict between the Church and the Freemasons is insignificant when compared to the Magi and their search for The Logos. The Logos Novel will no doubt provoke an interest into the history of the true origins of religion and the connections with ancient civilizations. The Logos is much more than just a conspiracy book though. It covers a range of subjects and has an exciting story running through it and will appeal to the non fiction reader as well as the more traditional fiction reader. It starts quite simplistically but as the book evolves, the reader will find it an intellectually challenging read and some may think quite complicated. In the authors words “it is not complicated, just complex.” It builds layer upon layer leading the reader inside the world that they live in daily but hardly every notice. This book will make you think and you will learn from reading it. It combines everything a novel should have. Good research, good story and the opportunity to learn about subjects new to the reader The book is set to become a worldwide bestseller. Combining the detective, thriller, and conspiracy fiction genres, it is Mark Tolley's first novel. [edit] Plot SummaryFollowing the brutal murder of his brother along with a number of other high powered Freemasons, Adam Lamech, an expert in Archaeoastronomy is drawn into a sinister world he never knew existed. A world of Freemasons and Magi; a world of corruption and deceit; of ancient stone monuments and astronomy; a world of violence, abduction and murder. Adam has just six days to find an ancient artefact that the Freemasons and the Church have been seeking for over two centuries. The artefact holds the key to the true story of the rise of mankind, his origins and his God. With the assistance of Jennifer Lomas, a technology expert from QinetiQ, their search takes them from India to Jerusalem, Germany to London and finally to Bath. A city designed and built by Freemasons who encoded the final resting-place of the object in the very fabric of the City. Can they find what they are looking for before the world they know is torn from around them? A world that has been built upon a myth created by man. A myth that some want to preserve and others want to destroy. The object they are searching for - the Logos - is a real artefact made over three thousand years ago. Now after millennium of hiding the truth behind Freemasonry, religion and the true history of the rise of man, this book tells that thrilling, and often chilling story [edit] Similar concepts[edit] In modern philosophyEarly 20th century movements towards specificity of operational definitions have developed an analog to logos in the concept of world view (or worldview) when used as Weltanschauung (German pronunciation: [ˈvɛltanˌʃaʊ.ʊŋ]) meaning a "look onto the world." It implies a concept fundamental to German philosophy and epistemology and refers to a wide world perception. Additionally, it refers to the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual interprets the world and interacts in it. The German word is also in wide use in English, as well as the translated form world outlook. (Compare with ideology). Weltanschauung is the conceptualization that all ideology, beliefs and political movements are both limited and defined by this schemata of common linguistic understanding. The idea is similar to Apollinarism. [edit] See also[edit] References
[edit] Notes
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