The Word of God

Obeying Him, even God the Word, things on earth have life and things in the heaven have their order.

Against the Heathen (Contra Gentiles), by St. Athanasius (html)

John 1: 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Logos. Like all Greek words, not very simple to translate into English.

The writing of Heraclitus (c. 535 – c. 475 BC) was the first place where the word logos was given special attention in ancient Greek philosophy… For Heraclitus, logos provided the link between rational discourse and the world's rational structure.

Stoic philosophy began with Zeno of Citium c. 300 BC, in which the logos was the active reason pervading and animating the Universe.

Logos, in ancient Greek philosophy and early Christian theology, the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning.

Logos: the divine wisdom manifest in the creation, government, and redemption of the world and often identified with the second person of the Trinity; reason that in ancient Greek philosophy is the controlling principle in the universe

That’s enough. Rational discourse leading to rational structure; the active reason animating the universe; the divine reason implicit in the cosmos and manifest in creation; the controlling principle in the universe. And as St. Athanasius writes, things on earth have life and things in heaven have order and are sustained, due to the Logos – God the Word.

The Presence of the Word in nature necessary, not only for its original Creation, but also for its permanence.

He makes clear – this isn’t “word,” as in syllables and sentences. God the Word is the unchanging image of His own Father. Because God is good, He guides and settles all creation by His Word – who is Himself God.

I have known for about as long as I can remember, the Son of God is referred to as “Word” in Scripture. But when I first read St. Athanasius write of it, in On the Incarnation (at least that’s what I think was the source of my “aha” moment), a slightly better grasp of the Trinity came into view.

The reality is that God’s “Word” is the second person of the Trinity. I thought about this: “well, of course, the Word of God is just as much “God” as God is”; this idea helped me to grasp something about the Trinity. Of course, a different “person,” a real, physical God-man.

And this one may see from our own experience; for if when a word proceeds from men we infer that the mind is its source, and, by thinking about the word, see with our reason the mind which it reveals, by far greater evidence and incomparably more, seeing the power of the Word, we receive a knowledge also of His good Father, as the Saviour Himself says, "He that has seen Me has seen the Father John 14:9."

I had previously had this exact thought: The Son is God’s “Word” and cannot be separated from God any more than my words (my reason, my rational discourse, etc.) can be separated from me. Is it possible to consider a place where I end and my words begin?

Returning to St. Athanasius, this holy Word of the Father unites with the universe, illuminating all things seen and unseen, and holds them together bound in Himself. He sustains all things; in other words, without God’s Word, nothing of creation would continue. I don’t really like the word “continue,” as it suggests linear time. Without or outside of Creation, there is no linear time. So, without the sustaining Word, Creation just wouldn’t be.

(At times like this, either my lack of theological and philosophical training or our lack of words to describe God and His relation to Creation leave me feeling very unable to convey my thoughts clearly.)

…there is nothing that is and takes place but has been made and stands by Him and through Him…

At His beck and will, the unity of the universe and its order is kept well; He moves things by His organizing action.

For what is surprising in His godhead is this, that by one and the same act of will He moves all things simultaneously, and not at intervals, but all collectively…

We see this order when we look to the heavens, and by seeing the Word, we see the Father.

Is it possible to consider the Father without His Word? I think the question answers itself.

St. Athanasius offers his own definition / explanation of what is meant by the Word, logos, as it applies to the Second Person:

…He is the very Wisdom, very Word, and very own Power of the Father, very Light, very Truth, very Righteousness, very Virtue, and in truth His express Image, and Brightness, and Resemblance. And to sum all up, He is the wholly perfect Fruit of the Father, and is alone the Son, and unchanging Image of the Father.

…His very Brightness and very Life, and the Door, and the Shepherd, and the Way, and King and Governor, and Saviour over all, and Light, and Giver of Life, and Providence over all.

Can this Word be something other than God? God’s Word, the Son, is God just as much as the Father is God.

Conclusion

…my Christ-loving friend, be of good cheer and of good hope, because immortality and the kingdom of heaven is the fruit of faith and devotion towards Him, if only the soul be adorned according to His laws.

A beautiful conclusion to this short work by St. Athanasius.

Epilogue

Logos is a noun that occurs 330 times in the Greek New Testament. Of course, the word doesn’t always—in fact, it usually doesn’t—carry symbolic meaning. Its most basic and common meaning is simply “word,” “speech,” “utterance,” or “message.”

I came across this when looking up various definitions of “logos.” It comes right to a thought I have had for a while. Consider these two verses:

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

Romans 10: 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

I will assume, but am not certain, that these two uses of “word” are two of the 330 times noted in the cite above. And I have thought, especially when it comes to sola scriptura Protestants…what does it mean to hear the word of God, as Paul writes? With my Protestant lens, I see a pastor holding up his Bible when citing the verse from Romans. But is that the only, or even best, way to understand a verse such as this?

And what of these, just as a couple more examples:

Matthew 4:4 - But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

John 17:17 - Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

What is God’s word…or Word? Is it only the book I hold in my hand on Sunday morning, or is it the Christ, or can it often be understood as both?

Just something I will continue to ponder.