October 11: John 1-7

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." ~John 1:1

Meaning of "word" (logos) to Greeks: Word or Logos means "divine mind" or "divine reason". Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, is credited with being first to use the word logos to refer to a rational divine intelligence. Greeks of the day would have recognized the use of "word" as universal divine reason or a thought that leads to an action or emotion.

Meaning of "word" (logos) to Jews: God's active and personal involvment in the world. Marvin Vincent says the word logos (λόγος) is a collecting or collection both of things in the mind, and of words by which they are expressed. It therefore signifies both the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed, and the inward thought itself.

So, what is the "word" that was with God and the the "word" that was God?

• The "Word" was with God in that it was an internal thought/divine reason.


• The "Word" was God in that Jesus was the outward form by which the inward thought was expressed, or the action that resulted from the divine reason, the revealing of God to man.

The word is Jesus Christ, who is the personal presence of God.