Words fascinate me. As I wrote in the previous post, I deal with words, in words, and around words on a daily basis. I write words, read words, grade the written word, and speak words. Words have power--to enlighten, to heal, to change a perspective, to hurt, to encourage, to challenge, to express love.
For the next few blog posts, I'll delve deeper into the meaning and purpose of words--the relationship between ideas, words, and culture; how and why words are so often misinterpreted; how certain combinations of words have more impact; and how we can use words to change the world! For now, we'll start at the beginning.
The first verse in the bible is Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The word genesis means the beginning or formation of something. So Genesis 1 is the beginning of the beginning! And who was there in the beginning? God! Jews, Christians, and Muslims all hold the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament as a sacred book and believe God created the heavens and the earth.
Skip ahead in the Bible to John 1:1-3: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made through Him and without him nothing was made that has been made." So God created the world, heaven and earth, in the beginning, and the Word, Logos in Greek, was there. The Word, Logos, is Jesus. Jesus was present in creation with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, speaking the universe into existence: "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light," Genesis 1:3.
The word logos has its origins in Greek philosophy and relates to the power of reason. According to Stoic philosophers in the 3rd century B.C.E., logos is the "active rational and spiritual principle that permeated all reality. They called the logos providence, nature, god, and the soul of the universe." By referring to Jesus as logos, the Apostle John is signalling that Jesus is the co-creator with God the Father, the One whose words reflect spiritual and physical reality. In addition, Jewish rabbis referred to God as "the word of God," so in a few short sentences the Apostle John is appealing to Jews and Greeks, and laying a foundation for the spiritual concept of the Trinity -- three co-equal aspects of God.
Our ability to use words to communicate thoughts originates in the creator of words, God Himself, and in the Word, Jesus Christ. God used words to create life. As we begin to explore the meaning and power of words, we start with the Word, Logos, the Messiah whose birth we celebrate this week, Jesus the Christ.
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Holy Bible. New International Version. Cornerstone Bible Publishers, 1984.
"Logos." Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 May 2020. https://www.britannica.com/topic/logos
