Jesus Christ the Logos

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In Christology, the conception that Jesus Christ is the Logos (a Greek word meaning "word", "wisdom", or "reason") has been important in establishing the doctrine of Jesus' divinity, as well as that of the Trinity, as set forth in the Chalcedonian Creed.

The conception derives from the opening of the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." In the original Greek, Logos is used, and in theological discourse, this is often left untranslated.

Many have seen this as evidence that there was a syncretism between (Christian) Christology and (secular) Platonism. The debate about the nature of Christ from the first century through the Council of Chalcedon in 451 CE must be understood in light of the pervasive world view of Platonic dualism. Platonism is normally divided into four periods: Old Academy 347-267 BCE, New Academy 267-80 BCE, Middle Platonism 80BCE-250 CE, and Neoplatonism 250 CE through the Reformation^[1].

1 Platonism and early schools of thought in Judaism
2 Chalcedonian Christology and Platonism
3 Notes
4 Bibliography

[edit] Platonism and early schools of thought in Judaism

In contradistinction to a specific religion, Platonism was a basic understanding of the operation of the cosmos, which saw the material world in a dualistic fashion; separated from a transcendent God, but communicated with by the logos (thought, wisdom, creativity).^[2] In simple terms: Platonism thought of the spirit world as good and the physical world as evil. There were two major forms of Platonic philosophy in the Middle period. They were Stoicism, which was prevalent among the upper class, and Epicureanism, which was prevalent among the lower classes.

It is now widely believed among Jewish scholars that Phariseeism, Sadduceeism and the Pre-Gnostic cults which appeared in the second century BCE were a result of the syncretism of Greek philosophy and various Jewish beliefs^[3]. Likewise, it is now widely accepted that even though fully developed Gnosticism did not appear until the beginning of the second century CE, Pre-Gnosticism was present in the second century BCE^[4]. This syncretism is clearly seen in the parallelism of the Rabbinic writings, the Old Testament apocrypha, Philo, and the writings of the Greco-Roman philosophers^[5]. It is further attested to by the Greco-Roman gifts that decorated Herod’s temple which were donated by Caesar, and the Greco-Roman mosaics that decorated the synagogues^[6]. So Judaism evolved from the second century BCE through the first several centuries CE as it came into contact with Platonic philosophy.

[edit] Chalcedonian Christology and Platonism

Even though post-apostolic Christian writers struggled with the question of how Jesus became the Logos, the Church’s doctrine that Jesus was the Logos never changed. Each of the first six councils, from the First Council of Nicea (325 CE) to the Third Council of Constantinople (680-681 CE) defined Jesus Christ as fully God and fully human.^[7]. Christianity did not accept the Platonic argument that the spirit is good and the flesh is evil, and that therefore the man Jesus could not be God. Neither did it accept any of the Platonic beliefs that would have made Jesus something less than fully God and fully human at the same time. The original teaching of John’s gospel is, "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God . . . And the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us."^[8] The only development or evolution of doctrine was to condemn as heretical virtually every attempt to explain the how of the incarnation. The final Christology of Chalcedon (confirmed by Constantinople III) was that Jesus Christ is both God and man, and that these two natures are inseparable, indivisible, unconfused and unchangeable^[9]. There is no explanation of how. The orthodox Christology of Jesus Christ as it has been accepted by the Church from the first council in 325 CE is not a product of syncretism with Greek philosophy, even though it uses the terminology of the Logos. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever."^[10]

[edit] Notes

^ Edwin Moore: Neoplatonism in The Internet Encyclopeida of Philosophy, available at [1]. Also see, J.M. Dillion: "Plato/Platonism," in The dictionary of New Testament Background, ed. by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter, (Downers Grove: InterVarsety Press, 2000).
^ Edwin Yamauchi, "Pre-Christian Gnosticism: A Survey of the Proposed Evidence," (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), 15.
^ Jacob Neusner, From Politics to Piety: The Emergence of Pharisaic Judaism, (Providence, R.I.:Brown Univ. 1973), 8-11. Also see "Essays in Greco-Roman and Related Talmudic Literature," ed. by Henry A. Fischel, (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1977). This is a completion of articles written by the leading Jewish scholars today comparing Greek Philosophy with the Talmud. Leiberman has found several hundred parallelisms, many of them being direct quotes.
^ R. Mcl. Wison, "Gnosis and the New Testament, (Philadelphia: frotress Press, 1968), 3-6. Also see Everett Ferguson, "Backgrounds of Early Christianity, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Pub.1993), 288-289. Also see Edwin Yamauchi, "Pre-Christian Gnosticism," 16-18.
^ "Essays in Greco-Roman and Related Talmudic Literature," ed. by Henry A. Fischel, (New York: KTAV Publishing, 1977).
^ Richard Freund, "Secrets of the Cave of Letters," (Amherst, New York: Humanity Books, 2004) 142-143. Fine demonstrates that the Second Temple had Greek mythological motifs as a part of its decorations and sacred utensils. Also see "Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World," Ed. by Steven Fine, (New York: Oxford Press, 1996). Fine shows artifacts from Synagogues with Greco-Roman motifs.
^ New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia: The 21 Ecumenical Councils, available at 14388.
^ John 1:1 N.I.V. with Greek inserted.
^ Donald Macleod: The Person of Christ, (Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1998), 185.
^ Hebrews 13:8 NIV.

[edit] Bibliography

Borgen, Peder. Early Christianity and Hellenistic Judaism. Edinburgh: T & T Clark Publishing. 1996.
Brown, Raymond. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Doubleday. 1997.
Butler, Clark. G.F. W. Hegel. Boston: Twayne Publishing. 1977.
Dillion, J. M. “Plato/Platonism.” in The Dictionary of the New Testament Background. ed. by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter. (CD-ROM) Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 2000.
Essays in Greco-Roman and Related Talmudic Literature. ed. by Henry A. Fischel. New York: KTAV Publishing House. 1977.
Ferguson, Everett. Backgrounds in Early Christianity. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing. 1993.
Freund, Richard A. Secrets of the Cave of Letters. Amherst, New York: Humanity Books. 2004.
Greene, Colin J. D. Christology in Cultural Perspective: Marking Out the Horizons. Grand Rapids: InterVarsity Press. Eerdmans Publishing. 2003.
Hillar, Marian. Philo of Alexandria (20BCE-50CE). in The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ed. by James Fieser and Bradley Dowden. 2006. Available at http://www.iep.edu/p/philo.htm.
Holt, Bradley P. Thirsty for God: A Brief History of Christian Spirituality. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 2005.
Josephus, Flavius. Complete Works. trans. and ed. by William Whiston. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publishing. 1960.
Letham, Robert. The Work of Christ. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1993.
Macleod, Donald. The Person of Christ. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1998.
McGrath, Alister. Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. 1998.
Moore, Edwin. “Neoplatonism.” in The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. ed. by James Fieser and Bradley Dowden. 2006. Available at http://www.iep.edu/n/neoplato.htm.
Neusner, Jacob. From Politics to Piety: The Emergence of Pharisaic Judaism. Providence, R. I.: Brown University. 1973.
Norris, Richard A. Jr. The Christological Controversy. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. 1980.
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Development of Christian Doctrine: Some Historical Prolegomena. London: Yale University Press. 1969.
_______ The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1971.
Robertson, J. A. T. Redating the New Testament. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1985.
Sacred Realm: The Emergence of the Synagogue in the Ancient World. ed, by Steven Fine. New York: Oxford Press. 1996.
Schweitzer, Albert. Quest of the Historical Jesus: A Critical Study of the Progress from Reimarus to Wrede. trans. by W. Montgomery. London: A & C Black. 1931.
Turner, William. “Neo-Platonism.” in New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia. ed by John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York, 2006. Available at http://newadvent.org./cathen/10742b.htm.
Tyson, John R. Invitation to Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Anthology. New York: Oxford University Press. 1999.
Westerholm, S. “Pharisees.” in The Dictionary of New Testament Background. ed. by Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter. (CD-ROM) Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 2000.
Wilson, R. Mcl. Gnosis and the New Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress Press. 1968.
Witherington, Ben III. The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1995.
_______ “The Gospel of John.” in The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. ed. by Joel Greene, Scot McKnight and I. Howard
Marshall. (CD-ROM) Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1992.
Yamauchi, Edwin. Pre-Christian Gnosticism: A Survey of the Proposed Evidence. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing. 1973.