Thoughts on the Logos and the Trinity

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” -John 1: 1-5 (The Student Bible, New International Version 1100)

In many ways, this text is the key to understanding all subsequent Christian thought on the nature of the Trinity, or God. Despite the fame of the passage, however, I believe that most people misunderstand what it is expressing. First, one must know that “the Word” is a loose and somewhat bad translation of the Greek Logos. Second, an understanding of the connotations of logos in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy is essential. Third, Jewish use of metaphor and symbolism in theological discourse must be brought to bear on the text, and a look at Medieval Jewish mysticism will be enlightening. Fourth, and finally, a glance at Eastern Orthodox doctrine will offer fresh insights into the proper exegesis of the passage.

In the ancient world, logos was a technical philosophical term by the time the Gospel of John was written (c. 100 CE). It’s literal meaning was “word” or “discourse,” but in its technical usage logos was a word that expressed the underlying, divine order to the universe (Long 145). It was not just order in itself, it was the principle and the power of order. In this sense John was not saying anything essentially new: by it all things were made, and without it nothing could exist or even be created. The term also referred to the faculty of reason and wisdom in humanity, and expressed the underlying unity that humanity shared with the divine logos (Long 108). Obviously, “Word” is not an accurate translation of this loaded expression. It is, however, a useful literary technique for the Gospel of John as the opening of John mimics the first passage of Genesis. It will be recalled that God creates the cosmos by speaking it into existence in the first book of the Torah, and the translation of logos in its literal sense is a rational choice for these reasons, even if inaccurate.

Jewish texts from this time period, and even into the Middle Ages, often personalized certain aspects or attributes of God. Wisdom is a prime example as it is God’s attribute personified in female form in both the book of Proverbs and Wisdom of Solomon. This common literary technique was a way to express complex thoughts and beliefs in a poetic manner. It was not believed to be a literal statement expressing the nature of God as a multiple-personal being, but rather a way to better understand and commune with the divine. A perfect example is found in Wisdom of Solomon, “For she is the breath and the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty […] For she is the brightness of the everlasting light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the image of his goodness. And being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in herself, she maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, she maketh them friends of God, and prophets. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with Wisdom” (The Apocrypha 62, 7:25-28). One can see in this passage that Wisdom functions as a manifestation of God in the world. The first verse of chapter eight goes on to state that “sweetly doth she order all things” (Wisdom 8:1). There are obvious parallels to the Greek logos and the later passage in John. It is possible that the author of the New Testament book of Hebrews drew on Wisdom in Hebrews 1:3 as the passage is almost an exact replica.

This technique of personifying the different powers and attributes of God continued in Judaism to the Middle Ages through the Kabbalah and the Zohar which describe God as completely ineffable but expressing Itself in ten manifestations, or sefirot. Each sefirah, as an expression of the Ein Sof, the Infinite, is itself an infinite manifestation of that divine quality. Each sefirah contains all the others within itself and yet is distinguishable from the others. To compare this doctrine with that of the Trinity is an irresistible temptation, but a look at the Eastern Orthodox understanding of the Trinity is a necessary prerequisite.

Orthodox teachings on the Trinity were largely formulated by the Cappadocian Fathers in the 4th century CE. The Fathers taught that God was one in being (ousia), but that humanity could only understand him through his activities (energeiai). The terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were symbols that expressed the transcendent, creative, and imminent aspects of the deity respectively (Armstrong 116). In other words, the three hypostases were personifications of the ineffably infinite God. Hypostasis is an outward expression of an inner nature, like a facial expression. Each person of the Trinity is considered a hypostasis of God (Armstrong 116). This is almost identical to the Kabbalistic understanding of the Ein Sof and the sefirot, and Wisdom in Wisdom of Solomon. The Cappadocians went on to teach that everything proceeds from the Father (the Transcendent) through the agency of the Son (the Creative) and is made effective by the Spirit (the Imminent). Just as the word (logos) and the breath (pneuma, Latin: spiritus) proceed from the mouth together, so do the Son and the Spirit from the Father (Armstrong 117).

All of these concepts have to be understood and kept in mind when discussing this passage of the gospels, Christology, the Trinity, or Christian theology in general. When viewed through the lenses of history, philosophy, Jewish mysticism, and the Orthodox doctrine of the Trinity, the opening passage of John becomes a little more comprehensible and takes on an internal logic that isn’t always readily seen. The Logos isn’t a distinct entity that is somehow also equivalent with the Godhead, but is rather a symbol for the activity of the divine order in the universe. It is a manifestation of God and a literary technique, and somehow also a pseudonym for Jesus of Nazareth. The Logos is all these things and more in Christian thought because it is not meant to be understood solely in rational terms, but through mystical experience and contemplation.

Works Cited:

The Student Bible, New International Version. Zondervan Corporation, 1996. Print.

The Apocrypha. Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print. Authorized King James Version.

Armstrong, Karen. A History of God: The 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. New York: Ballantine Books, 1993. Print.

Long, A.A. Hellenistic Philosophy: Stoics, Epicureans, Sceptics. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1986. Print."