The history of the idea of the Logos being the creative source had its beginnings with Heraclitus the Greek Stoic Philosopher in the sixth century BCE. There are only fragments of his writing that remain today and so there is not a lot of detail of how he saw the Logos. Here is a quote from one of the fragments. “Although this Logos is eternally valid, yet men are unable to understand it – not only before hearing it, but even after they have heard it for the first time … though all things come to pass in accordance with this Logos, men seem to be quite without any experience of it … My own method is to distinguish each thing according to its nature, and to specify how it behaves; other men, on the contrary, are as forgetful and heedless in their waking moments of what is going on around and within them as they are during sleep.” Certainly, this quote set the idea in motion.
However, in the 4th and 3rd centuries, Zeno of Citium defined the Logos as the active rational and spiritual principle that permeated all of reality. They too saw it as the creative source, the divine seed as it were. The person who developed the idea of the Logos definitively was Philo Judaeus. He was born in between 10 and 15 BCE. He was a Jewish Philosopher that was heavily influenced by Hellenistic thought with a Hellenistic education. He was the one that taught that the Logos was the intermediary between God and man. He saw the Logos as both the creative agent and the one whereby humanity could comprehend God. He also saw the Logos as immanent in the world, and transcendent as the divine mind.
Ultimately, it was the Apostle John who revealed to the world that Jesus of Nazareth was the Logos incarnate. His description in John 1:1-4 merely restated what the thought leaders before him had already established. The additional revelation that John gave was that "the Logos became flesh and dwelt among humanity." He introduced the concept of the incarnation. From this revelation the doctrine of the Logos was established in Christianity, but it was framed in an very exclusive way.
The history that I have briefly stated should give the opposite opinion. The doctrine of the Logos should not be exclusive at all. Rather it should be inclusive. Why? Because the spirit of the Logos revealed itself to others outside of Christianity. They played an important role in bringing understanding to the idea of the Logos. This in and of itself should demonstrate the need for inclusion. But there is more and in the next installment we will look at the Tao and see that it is another way of describing the Logos from a different culture, a different language.
It is my position that the Logos plays an important role in defining the New Heavens and the New Earth. I like what was written in Second Peter, "Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells." That new heaven and earth was instated by the incarnate Logos. The new heaven and earth is synonymous with the new covenant, and that as well was instituted by the Logos. I want to reiterate that the Logos was not exclusively a Christian concept as it will play an important role as we progress onward looking at quantum mysticism. It may be beneficial to read the first post in this series if you have not already done so.
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