St John's Gospel starts by saying, in the English translation:

 

"In the beginning was the Word".

 

But St John's Gospel was of course originally written in Greek. What it actually said in the original Greek, was: "In the beginning was the Logos".

 

I looked up "Logos" in my Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary. The Dictionary says "Logos" can have the following meanings:

 

"saying, speaking, speech, eloquence, discourse, conversation, talk, word, expression, assertion, principle, maxim, proverb, oracle, promise, order, command, proposal, condition, agreement, stipulation, decision, pretext, fable, news, story, report, legend, prose-writing, history, book, essay, oration, affair, incident, thought, reasoning, computation, reflection, deliberation, account, consideration, opinion, cause, end, argument, demonstration, value, proportion".

 

Such a lot of meanings! Which of them is the right one to choose - does anyone know?

St John's Gospel starts by saying, in the English translation:

 

"In the beginning was the Word".

 

But St John's Gospel was of course originally written in Greek. What it actually said in the original Greek, was: "In the beginning was the Logos".

 

I looked up "Logos" in my Oxford Classical Greek Dictionary. The Dictionary says "Logos" can have the following meanings:

 

"saying, speaking, speech, eloquence, discourse, conversation, talk, word, expression, assertion, principle, maxim, proverb, oracle, promise, order, command, proposal, condition, agreement, stipulation, decision, pretext, fable, news, story, report, legend, prose-writing, history, book, essay, oration, affair, incident, thought, reasoning, computation, reflection, deliberation, account, consideration, opinion, cause, end, argument, demonstration, value, proportion".

 

Such a lot of meanings! Which of them is the right one to choose - does anyone know?

Could it be that the use of the word Logos here contains the sum of all these meanings? What a magnificent way for us to understand the complexity of God!

In Greek philosophy, logos referred to the rational principle which governs all things, by which the universe was created. The Jews adopted the term to refer to God, because he is that principle. And in this passage John is identifying the logos with the person of Jesus.

Thanks Cygnus47 and Chilehed.

 

Actually I was being a bit disingenuous in citing all the many meanings of "logos". It does have many meanings, depending on context.

But its core meaning approximates to the English words "Reason" or "Rationality".

 

So if we use this meaning, St John's Gospel will open with:

 

"In the beginning, was Rationality".

 

This is very heartening, because it suggests that Religion and Science are not so far apart after all.

They are both seeking a Rational explanation of the Universe.

Thanks Cygnus47 and Chilehed.

 

Actually I was being a bit disingenuous in citing all the many meanings of "logos".

I rather suspected that. ;-)

 

So if we use this meaning, St John's Gospel will open with:

 

"In the beginning, was Rationality".

 

This is very heartening, because it suggests that Religion and Science are not so far apart after all.

The idea that they are far apart is a very recent invention, at least in Christendom.