Logos, (Greek: “word,” “reason,” or “plan”) plural logoi, in Greek philosophy and theology, the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning. Though the concept defined by the term logos is found in Greek, Indian, Egyptian, and Persian philosophical and theological systems, it became particularly significant in Christian writings and doctrines to describe or define the role of Jesus Christ as the principle of God active in the creation and the continuous structuring of the cosmos and in revealing the divine plan of salvation to man. It thus underlies the basic Christian doctrine of the preexistence of Jesus.
The prologue to the 4th Gospel has a lot going on. Certainly, one can't begin without the perception of poetry, maybe even a hymn. This would be consistent with the hidden truth in a myth, or maybe even in a 'mystery play' which was a common form of entertainment around the turn of the first century in the Greco-Roman world. Someone (can't remember who) theorized that "John" (i.e. the witness of John the Baptist) was originally a piece of theatre for the ubiquitous amphi-theatres at the time. This also explains how the traveling troupe occasionally added or subtracted "scenes", such as Chapter 11 (Lazarus) and Chapter 21 ( a different ending about the nature of "agape" and "philia". A great book along these lines would be The New Testament as True Fiction by Douglas A. Templeton, from Edinburgh, who taught many of us that we have to keep writing to keep "Scripture" alive.
Have you discussed the shroud of Turin? https://acts15church.substack.com/p/the-evidence
I have a question for everyone.
What's hard to believe in the Christian Bible? Please comment at https://acts15church.substack.com/p/hard-to-believe
Thank you. G'Day
The prologue to the 4th Gospel has a lot going on. Certainly, one can't begin without the perception of poetry, maybe even a hymn. This would be consistent with the hidden truth in a myth, or maybe even in a 'mystery play' which was a common form of entertainment around the turn of the first century in the Greco-Roman world. Someone (can't remember who) theorized that "John" (i.e. the witness of John the Baptist) was originally a piece of theatre for the ubiquitous amphi-theatres at the time. This also explains how the traveling troupe occasionally added or subtracted "scenes", such as Chapter 11 (Lazarus) and Chapter 21 ( a different ending about the nature of "agape" and "philia". A great book along these lines would be The New Testament as True Fiction by Douglas A. Templeton, from Edinburgh, who taught many of us that we have to keep writing to keep "Scripture" alive.