Friends,

Here is Common Christianity column #817 (7-12-22), What’s the Word? Part 1. This week and next we are going to look at some Bible words that can make us say, “It’s all Greek to me.”  Nah … nothing to fear.  See the column below, or at our blog CommonChristianity, or on social media.  Send me your name and email address if you’d like to receive the weekly column directly by email.

Have a great week! Blessings,

Bob

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Labels: Acts 17:23, Bible understanding, Genesis 1:2, Greek, Heraclites, John 1:1, Logos, rhema, unknown God, Word

Spirituality Column #817

July 12, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

What’s the Word? Part 1

By Bob Walters

“… and the Word was God.” – John 1:1

Accurate biblical understanding takes a beating when English words that mean one thing here in Greek and something else there in Greek aren’t properly parsed.

Of course, if you’re actually reading scripture in Greek – and understand it – then there’s no problem.  But reading an English translation can throw you off the scent.

Take for example, the word “word.”

“Word” can refer directly to the person of Jesus, as in John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Or John 1:14, “the Word became flesh.”  Here, “Word” in Greek is “Logos.”  It is “nominative” case which means it “names” something, so “Logos” is naming Jesus as “God’s Word,” meaning the Son, the second person of the Trinity we know as Jesus Christ.

We understand John 1:1 “Word” in combination with “the Spirit of God hovering over the waters” in Genesis 1:2 at Creation.  These verses help us deduce the trinitarian relationship of Father God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit as a divine Godhead and singularity of relationship that is eternal rather than a plurality of temporal beings.

Don’t do the math on this one.  One must understand the Trinity in faith (I say this often), not arithmetic.  If God is love, then God must Himself be a relationship.  And Jesus, God’s Word, is the active, creative, building-block essence of that relationship. 

Jesus is the “Word of God,” or “Logos,” and everyone should be happy.

But know, the root word “logo” – just “logo,” no “s” – was created by Greek philosopher Heraclites in the sixth century Before Christ, not referring to God.  “Logo” was an expression of “authority,” an “order” (to do something), or a true “report” of a person or event, coming from an authority figure such as government or a philosopher.

The Greeks at that point – 600 B.C. – did not recognize the “One God” (see Acts 17:23, “the unknown God”) as did the Jews.  But some version of “logo” occurs more than 300 times in the New Testament.  We are safe to understand them as referring to God’s authority, truth, and communication generally, and also bound up in Jesus Christ.

But it’s not just “logo.”  “Rhema” also translates as a Godly “word” (John 15:7, “my words remain in you…”) but either as a reference to a “spoken word” or a word or idea of God in scripture that spiritually spurs someone to action.

“Lexi” (think “lexicon”) is a general word describing, say, “words in a language.”

Of course, a modern Christian is most likely to hear the phrase, “God’s word,” as referring to the Bible, but “Bible” is one of those words that does not appear in the Bible.  In the New Testament, “scripture” – that of the Hebrews – in Greek is “graphe.”

Computer resources these days are such that, as we discussed last week, one can find a fairly thorough Greek tutorial on any New Testament verse with a simple Google search in the form: John 1:1 in Greek.

For that reason, I’ve resisted formally learning Greek.  But I recommend highly that a Bible study passage include an investigation of the Greek, particularly of one’s favorite scripture.  One should be sure you know what one’s life verse actually means.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) understands, with compassion, that in the minds of many Christians, a little Greek goes a long, long, tedious way.  But it’s the right way.