Dr Paul Allen

Philip the Apostle. The text (in Old Church Slavonic) in the book is: "15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love..." (First Epistle of John). Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos (1774) at Kondopoga. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God ." ( Revelation  19:13 )   This uniquely expressive name assigned to Christ, as He returns to Earth in glory, is used also by John in his gospel ( John 1:1 , 14) and in his epistle ( 1 John 1:1 ), referring both to His primeval work of creation and also to His human incarnation.  It is well known that "Word" here is the Greek  logos . Six times it is applied by John as a name or title of the Son of God (three times in  John 1:1 ), the second person of the Trinity . Actually, John used it seven times, assu

English: Icon of Jesus Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In the beginning was the Word , and the Word was with God , and the Word was God. [ John 1:1 ] The Greek for word is logos. In the early church, what we call “ Logos Christology” was a frequent subject of discussion: What did it mean for the Logos —the Word—to become flesh? The term logos had a long history in Greek philosophy . Among the philosophers it generally referred to some kind of impersonal principle that held together all the diverse appearances of the world. Throughout church history, this Greek idea has infected theology under the assumption that the apostle John was proclaiming the Greek view of logos in his Gospel. Actually, however, John has to be understood against the background of the Old Testament , not against the background of Greek philosophy. John wrote in Greek, of course, and so he used Greek words ; but he filled those words with Old Testament content, not Greek philosophy. For instance, in P

The famous Greek word logos — “word, speech, argument, ratio, etc.” Deutsch: Das berühmte griechische Wort logos — „Wort, Rede, Argument, Berechnung usw.“ (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) In Greek philosophy , the  logos  remains an impersonal force, a lifeless and abstract philosophical concept that is a necessary postulate for the cause of order and purpose in the universe. In Hebrew thought, the  Logos  is personal. He indeed has the power of unity, coherence, and purpose, but the distinctive point is that the biblical  Logos  is a He, not an it. All attempts to translate the word  Logos  have suffered from some degree of inadequacy. No English word is able to capture the fullness of John's  Logos  when he declared that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Attempts have been made by philosophers to translate Logos  as logic, act, or deed—all of which are inadequate definitions. God 's  Logos  does include action. The  Logos  is the eternal Word in action. But it

"To the Glory of God and in Commemoration of all the Baptisms in this Church † Erected John the Baptist Day 1932". (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." ( John 1:14 ) This is the definitive verse on the divine incarnation, when " God was in Christ , reconciling the world unto himself" ( 2 Corinthians 5:19 ), and the wealth of truth implied therein is beyond human comprehension.  We can never understand how the infinite God could become finite man, but where the intellect fails, faith prevails. It was the Word who "was God" and by whom "all things were made" ( John 1:1 , 3 ), yet He made His own human body, in the womb of Mary, and therein "dwelt among us" for thirty-three years. The Greek word here for "dwelt" is unusual, literally meaning " tabernacled ."

Image via Wikipedia “ And the Word became flesh, and  dwelt  among us… ” -  John 1:14  - We read that Jesus “dwelt” among us, and when we think of the idea of “dwelling” we just think of “hanging out.” John uses a peculiar word here. There are more common Greek words for “to dwell,” but he chooses  skēnoō . Now, the word  skēnē  in Greek means “tent,” and  skēnoō  is the verb form. So we could render it, “to pitch a tent.” John tells us that this Word became flesh and  pitched his tent  among us. That’s a weird way to talk, isn’t it? Especially since we don’t have any Scripture that tells us that Jesus actually pitched any literal tent during his time on Earth. Why say it this way? He’s got at least two other words that he could use here. But John uses this particular word because he wants his readers—who would be familiar with the history of Israel—to recall the  tabernacle , the tent of meeting ( Ex 27:21 ), where God met with the Israelites in the Old Testament. The Tabernacle T