(Originally written November 12, 2006 in Book 11)
John and the Logos Mystery
The Problem of Incarnation
Even if the problem of reconciling the notion of Jesus being the son of God and monotheistic YHWH was completed, the problem of the Incarnation had to be solved. Paul was blissfully unconcerned with this problem. It was enough for Paul to simply state that Jesus was God.
John identifies Christ as Logos. The Logos was with God in the beginning and through the Logos all was created. Then the Logos became flesh and dwelled among his creation for a time, but his own creation did not recognize it.
John and Paul's views compared
John, using the term "Logos" introduced a technical Greek philosophical term to Judaism and the mystery cults.
Paul and John's views are similar. Neither knew Jesus personally and each were driven by a profound mysticism.
Linehan: Didn't John know him?
Both were Jewish and both opened Christianity to Jews and Gentiles alike. Both agreed that salvation was not continued existence in time, but a rebirth free of sins, frustration and defeat.
John rose above the provincialism of Jesus and interpreted the personality of Jesus from the broad perspective of non-Jewish thought.
John was mystical in the sense of Hellenized Alexandria. He was more philosophical than Paul.
John's Jesus was not Paul's resurrected God, he was the Logos of Hellenistic Philosophy
Origins of the Logos Doctrine
The Logos had a faint beginning in Heraclitus, but was developed by Stoicism.
Stoicism's logos influenced much of Hellenistic philosophy and even some Jewish sects.
The Jewish logos appears in Philo, a Jewish philosopher of the Diaspora.
Philo was an Alexandrian Jew. Alexandria was the center of logos - thinking.
Philo was a younger contemporary of Jesus but seems never to have heard of him.
Philo was a younger contemporary of Jesus, but seems never to have heard of him.
Phil worked to harmonize Judaism with the current philosophical trend of the Roman world. In doing so he provided a basis for Christianity to develop.
YHWH began as an anthropomorphic being, but became so cosmic a deity that He seemed indifferent to man.
The changing of the times saw all religions seek to bring man closer to God and Philo attempted this within Judaism.
The logos of Philo was how God interacted with man; how He bridged the chasm between man and God, and how He revealed Himself to man.
John's Account of the Logos
John's use of the Logos in Christianity made it philosophically respectable to the world.
John saw Jesus as the eternal and divine Logos which happened to take a human form at a particular point in space and time.
How did the logos take form of man? John's answer was we do not know how and must accept it on faith.
Why did it come about? John stated that God so loved the world he sent the logos to save it.
Philo was interested with the logos for epistemic and metaphysical functions. John was interested with he logos for its redemptive qualities.
John's emphasis of love, kindness and mercy did not add anything new to YHWH. His non-emphasis of wrath is what added something to YHWH.
The Effects of Institutionalism
John and Paul were the most important figures in shaping the conception of God in Christianity.
After John and Paul, Christianity (like every other institutionalized movement) began to settle down and be reinterpreted.
What the Message Gained and Lost
Mysticism as a basis was too exclusive for the masses. Non-mystics had to reinterpret the message for themselves.
Salvation as an inner change became a notion that was to happen down the road and not immediately.
The otherworldliness of Paul became a Christian notion of separating one's self from the physical world.
The Church moved from mysticism and logos to an appeal to the magic of the sacraments, a new rigorous ascetic law, a fear worship of God and fear of hellfire instead of love and identification with the divine.
The Church and its Mystics
The Church and Christian mystics have had trouble achieving a Christian unity
The mystic views the Church as unnecessary and dangerous; the Church views the mystic as a maverick and a trouble-maker.
The amazing part of Christianity is the Church's use of mystics to continually revitalize itself.
The Church as an institution owes its longevity to the mystics. The massive lifespan of Christianity has caused its adherents to claim a divine establishment.
The Institutionalization of the Jesus Movement
Initially the disciples and Paul wanted to institutionalize the Church.
As the Apostles and Paul died off, interpretation of their writings became key. Heresies and orthodoxy became an issue.
The ideal of Orthodoxy
Christianity distinguished itself from the other mystery cults by being intolerant of the other ones. While every cult claimed to posses the key to salvation they allowed other cults to exist. With an intolerant God, Christianity could not be tolerant of rival salvation processes.
The Christians demanded uniform worship, the demanded orthodoxy. Determining what was orthodoxy was the growth of the Church as an institution.
Irenaeus, a bishop of the 2nd century put forth a view held by the Church still today. Bishops received (originally) the true doctrine from the authority of the Apostles. Successive bishops received this authority upon appointment and disagreements between bishops were to be solved by our infallible episcopate vote.
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