The Logos Doctrine: Influences from Judaism and Greco-Rome
There
are both Jewish and Greek elements in Christianity, and it is in John’s
Gospel that we see these skillfully fused together. John was the
witness and guardian of the Lord’s revelation. John 21:24, “This is the
disciple which beareth witness of these things and we know that his
witness is true.” Whereas the Jews valued will and action and looked
for progress to a glorious future, the Greeks valued thought and looked
for the inward reality of outward things. The “Logos” or “Word” was a
Greek idea meaning the way in which God expresses his nature and
purpose to his creatures, the quickening Spirit of all creation and the
life of all that lives. Although the word “Logos” only appears in the
Prologue, the dominating idea of John’s entire Gospel is, “This Word has become flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14.
The Greco-Roman gods did not survive the tide of the times. Rome
attempted to force Christians to make sacrifices to the genius of the
Emperor and the good fortune of Rome. Of course, the Christians
refused, and were persecuted. Yet the Olympian gods were declining as
Christianity was surfacing. The Greek and Latin writers bear witness to
the dislike and outright contempt for this new religious belief system.
Plutarch states, “The one eternal, passionless Spirit was far removed from the world of chance and earthly soilure.”
The competition of Christianity in its infancy was not feared by the
Pagans who believed there were many lesser gods controlling various
departments of Earthly matters.
The followers of the Greek philosophers did
hinder the efforts of Christianity. The Neo-Platonic school joined
forces with the few worshippers of the pagan gods forcing them into
opposition with Christianity. However, Christianity fell outside the
influence of Greek philosophy. It appealed to those who had no interest
in philosophy and as it was faith based, philosophy did not agree with
it. Celsus says that the admission into the early Christian Church was
based on the following criteria: “Let no educated man enter, no wise
man, no prudent man, for such things we deemed evil; but whoever is
ignorant, whoever is an intelligent, reversible, let him, can be well.”
Yet Christians were confident “the Lord is at hand and His reward” was
the only philosophical thought that they held. The Highest Good of the
philosophers was not the concern of these early Christians.