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Logos
Logos [Gr.,=word], in Greek and Hebrew metaphysics, the unifying principle of the world. The central idea of the Logos is that it links God and man, hence any system in which the Logos plays a part is monistic. The Greek Heraclitus held (c.500 BC) that the world is animated and kept in order by fire—this fire is the Logos; it is the power of order in the world and the order itself. It thus became the unifying feature of the Heraclitean system. The Stoics (see Stoicism ) were influenced in part by Platonism and Aristotelianism in their conception of the Logos. To them God was immanent in the world, its vitalizing force, and God as the law guiding the universe they called Logos; with the additional idea that all things develop from this force, it is called the Spermaticos Logos. The Logos reappears in Greek philosophy in a much restricted form in the system of emanations of Neoplatonism . Certain books of the Old Testament present a principle called the Wisdom of God active in the world. At the same time there was a very ancient Hebrew idea of the Word of God, also active in the world. Thus the Wisdom and the Word of God, sometimes quasi-distinct from Him, coalesced. Philo , in his synthesis of Judaism and Greek thought, naturally hit upon the Logos as a union between the systems; hence his Logos retains qualities both of the Stoic Logos and the Hebrew Word of God. Philo's God is remote, unaffected by the world, without attributes, unmoving; hence He must have mediation to connect Him with the world. At times Philo's Logos is independent of God (because of God's remoteness); at other times the Logos is simply the Reason of God (because Philo's monism obliges God to act in the world through His mediating forces). St. John in his Gospel adapted the term to his purpose. In the prologue of 14 verses the idea of the Gospel is stated clearly and simply. The Logos, which is the eternal God, took flesh and became man, in time. The Logos is Jesus. The impersonal, remote God of Philo is not there; the intermediate Logos, neither God nor man, has been replaced by a Logos that is both God and man. This explanation of the relation of God and man became an abiding feature of Christian thought.
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"Logos." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Logos." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Logos.html "Logos." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Logos.html |
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Logos
LogosA Greek term generally translated in the Christian New Testament as "Word" but meaning essential thought or concept. In its theological sense, it refers to the creative power (word) of God; in logic, grammar, and rhetoric it indicates meaningful and significant statement. The concept of the ontological creative sound is common to both Hellenic and Jewish theology, which may have influenced each other. Logos is also analogous to the word "AUM" in Hindu mysticism. The term has been utilized in Theosophy. "Fohat" is the term very commonly used in Theosophy to designate the Deity. Along with the great religions, Theosophy has, as the beginning of its scheme, a Deity who is altogether beyond human knowledge or conception, whether in the ordinary or the clairvoyant states. But when the Deity manifests to man through his works of creation, He is known as the Logos. Essentially God is infinite, but when He encloses a "ring-pass-not" within which to build a cosmos, He has set limits to Himself, and what we can know of Him is contained in these limits. He appears in a triple aspect, but this is, of course, merely an appearance, for in reality He is a unity. This triple aspect shows Him as Will, Wisdom, and Activity, and from each of these came forth one of the creative life waves that formed the universe. The third wave created matter, the second wave aggregated diffuse matter into form, and the first wave brought with it the Monad, that scintillation of Himself which took possession of formed matter and thereby started the process of evolution. |
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"Logos." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Logos." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403802819.html "Logos." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403802819.html |
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logos
logos Greek noun usually translated ‘word’ but also ‘reason’ or ‘meaning’ and familiar in Greek philosophy from Heraclitus (6th cent. BCE) to the Jewish theologian Philo of Alexandria (1st cent. CE) for the principle of coherence undergirding the universe. In the LXX logos translates the Hebrew dabar, the creative ‘word’ of God, which is parallel to sophia (wisdom) as a mediator who acted for God in relation to his creation (Wisd. 9: 1–2). In the gospel of John (1: 14) and the Revelation (19: 13) Jesus is called the Word of God. This is an important development for Christology: it is an assertion that the Word who was God's agent in creation was to be identified with the human figure of Jesus of Nazareth (John 1: 46).
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "logos." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "logos." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-logos.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "logos." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-logos.html |
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Logos
Logos (Gk., ‘word’ or ‘reason’). A term prominent especially in early Christian theology as a title or description of Christ. The Christian use depends on: (i) the popular Stoic idea (going back to Heraclitus, c.500 BCE) of a universal reason governing and permeating the world; and (ii) the Hebrew conception of God's word (as of his wisdom) as having an almost independent existence (e.g. Isaiah 55. 11). The prologue to the gospel of John (1. 1–18) identifies the Logos as incarnate in Jesus. To the apologists of the 2nd cent. the duality of the term was a welcome means of making Christology compatible with popular philosophy. Later on (e.g. by Athanasius), it was used to refer generally to the second person of the Trinity.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Logos." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Logos." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Logos.html JOHN BOWKER. "Logos." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Logos.html |
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Logos (Newsletter)
Logos (Newsletter)The newsletter of the Swedenborg Foundation which is headquartered at 320 N. Church St., West Chester, PA 19380. The newsletter is also available on the Internet at http://swedenborg.com/logos.html. Sources:Swedenborg Newsletter (Logos). http://swedenborg.com/logos.html. March 8, 2000. |
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"Logos (Newsletter)." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Logos (Newsletter)." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403802820.html "Logos (Newsletter)." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403802820.html |
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logos
logos ‘the Word’ of John 1: 1. XVI. — Gr. lógos account, ratio, reason, argument, discourse, saying, (rarely) word, rel. to légein gather, choose, recount, say.
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T. F. HOAD. "logos." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "logos." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-logos.html T. F. HOAD. "logos." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-logos.html |
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logos
logos •across, boss, Bros, cos, cross, crosse, doss, dross, emboss, en brosse, floss, fosse, gloss, Goss, joss, Kos, lacrosse, loss, moss, MS-DOS, Ross, toss
•Laos
•Áyios Nikólaos, chaos
•Eos • Helios
•Chios, Khíos
•Lesbos • straw boss • Phobos • rooibos
•extrados • kudos • reredos • intrados
•Calvados • Argos • Lagos • logos
•Marcos • telos
•Delos, Melos
•Byblos • candyfloss
•tholos, Vólos
•bugloss • omphalos • Pátmos
•Amos, Deimos, Sámos
•Demos • peatmoss • cosmos • Los Alamos • Lemnos • Hypnos • Minos
•Mykonos • tripos • topos • Atropos
•Ballesteros, pharos, Saros
•Imbros • criss-cross • rallycross • Eros
•albatross • monopteros • Dos Passos
•Náxos • Hyksos • Knossos • Santos
•benthos
•bathos, pathos
•ethos • Kórinthos
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Cite this article
"logos." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "logos." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-logos.html "logos." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-logos.html |
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