Logos (Christianity)

In Christianity, the Logos (Λόγος) is a name or title of Jesus Christ, seen as the pre-existent second person of the Trinity. In the Douay–Rheims, King James, New International, and other versions of the Bible, the first verse of the Gospel of John reads: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In these translations, Word is used for Λόγος, although the term is often used transliterated but untranslated in theological discourse. According to Irenaeus of Lyon (c 130–202), a student of John's disciple Polycarp (c pre-69-156), John the Apostle wrote these words specifically to refute the teachings of Cerinthus, who both resided and taught at Ephesus, the city John settled in following his return from exile on Patmos. While Cerinthus claimed that the world was made by "a certain Power far separated from" "Almighty God," John, according to Irenaeus, by means of John 1:1-5, presented Almighty God as the Creator — "by His Word." And while Cerinthus made a distinction between the man Jesus and “the Christ from above,” who descended on the man Jesus at his baptism, John, according to Irenaeus, presented the pre-existent "Word" and Jesus Christ as one and the same. A figure in the Book of Revelation is called "The Word of God", being followed by "the armies which are in heaven" (Rev 19:13–14). Stephen L. Harris claims that John adapted Philo's concept of the Logos, identifying Jesus as an incarnation of the divine Logos that formed the universe. While John 1:1 is generally considered the first mention of the Logos in the New Testament, arguably, the first reference occurs in the book of Revelation. In it the Logos is spoken of as "the Word of God", who at the Second Coming rides a white horse into the Battle of Armageddon wearing many crowns, and is identified as King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God . . . And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "". John 1's subject is developed in the First Epistle of John (1 John).