Ancient Meaning of Logos, Word

This is about an oldie-but-goodie idea. In fact, the idea was already ancient two thousand years ago. The essay below by Bet Emet was found among my old printouts, and I found the website I had printed it from to have been archived. I hate it when good, informative websites cannot be found anymore.

Anyway, I was able to grab the article I was interested in (below), sans formatting, from https://archive.org/stream/BetEmetWebsitesInPdf/13.EgyptianReligionAndItsRelationshipToJudaismAndChristianityIndexPage_djvu.txt

You have to scroll down or search (Ctrl + F) ancient meaning for the title. Then I also found a treasure trove - the mother load - of Bet Emet's archived material at https://ia800209.us.archive.org/32/items/BetEmetWebsitesInPdf/9.TheEsseneChristianFaith...theUntoldStoryOfChristianOrigins.pdf

It reads like a conspiracy theory, and you have to use your own judgment in evaluating the plausibility of things being as they suggest. This is where you have to wrestle in reading and be discerning. I suspect the author has been heavily influenced by Gerald Massey (Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World). I can guarantee you this: the first century Jews did not think anything like the later second, third, and fourth century Europeans. There was affinity between Egypt and Palestine. Europe was way far away (in every way) from the Ancient Aramaic Church. Do not be spooked by the association with Egyptian thought. Not everything Egyptian is occult, Satanic, flesh. This is an underlying, fundamental, very basic worldview being presented, as the Jews understood the world and the Word.

I am happy with my little article below (this is the kind of stuff I read), though I did edit some. Links to the original are provided above. I am sorry to not replicate all the wonderful formatting of my original copy from their website:

"THE ANCIENT MEANING OF THE LOGOS...LOST TO ALMOST ALL MANKIND TODAY."

Let us do a little refreshing of prior concepts before we get to an in-depth study of the Logos which finds its origin in Egypt long before Gentile Christianity redefines the term.

The cosmological ideas of ancient Egypt were expressed by myth and symbolism, which are a superior means for expressing metaphysical concepts. Philosophy, mathematics and science are dry subjects with many abstracts. Mythology incorporates philosophical and scientific ideas into a story form, like a sacred drama or mystery play, which can be easily digested. Pure philosophical and scientific abstracts and terms do not guarantee understanding. Information alone is useless, unless it is transformed into understanding. Well-crafted mythology can achieve that understanding.

The Egyptian creation myths, regarding the universe, are similar to the account provided in the opening chapter of Genesis: God creates heaven and earth, divides the waters, creates the light, and gives life to animals and man. Once you see how the Jewish people find their origin within Egypt, then you will understand why Genesis is a mirror image of what the Egyptians taught about the creation!

The origin of the world and the nature of the neteru [not gods, remember, but energies and forces, or we can call them Spirit/God] who took part in its creation were subjects of constant interest to the Egyptians. Now what I will say next is very important so pay close attention to these 4 centers of Theological Diversity for they will be of major importance as we later see their role in shaping the events that produced the Exodus. The Egyptian cosmology was divided into four separate but complementary teachings, each with its center of interest. The four Egyptian separate teachings at the four centers were sponsored by four different neteru:

• The main neteru of creation are Ra of Onnu (Heliopolis),
• Ptah of Men-Nefer (Memphis),
• Amen of Ta-Apet (Thebes).
• The fourth, namely Tehuti (Thoth) of Khmunu (Hermopolis), provided an account of creation as a result of the word -analogous to the opening of the Gospel according to St. John.

Notice if you would that one of the "creative forces" that finds itself within God is "the Word," better known later by the Greek term "Logos."

I want to draw your attention to the fact that the Egyptians understood creation to be act of various forces and powers: Ra, Ptah, Amen, and Thoth. Each of these energies and powers and forces were personified as Ra, Ptah, Amen, and Thoth. These together made up God. Each of these powers, energies, and forces had its own major city which taught of their own role and ascribed to each its own theology. The city of Heliopolis was concerned with Ra and his manifestations in the Universe, the city of Memphis was concerned with Ptah and his role in the Universe, the city of Thebes with Amen and likewise Hermopolis with Thoth (the Word). The Divine Revelation possessed by Egypt was expressed though their writings concerning these various aspects of God and His role in the Cosmos through these energies and forces which not only began creation but sustained it daily.

THE ANCIENT MEANING OF LOGOS

"When all things began, the Word already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was. The Word, then, was with God at the beginning, and through him all things came to be; no single thing was created without him. All that came to be was alive with his life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never mastered it." [Prologue to the Gospel of John: 1-5]

If you are a Christian you are most familiar with the above passage, but I assure you that you do not as of yet understand the concept correctly, because Gentile Christianity has changed and altered the meaning of the concept almost beyond recognition and no longer understands the term "Logos" as nothing more than a personification of a force or power that finds itself with God. If you are like most Christians you have been told that Jesus is the Logos is a literal way and attached to this is the idea of incarnation. You will find upon examination of the term in the language and culture in which it originates it NEVER was to be understood in a LITERAL way as has been done and taught by Gentile Christianity. Let us investigate this term thoroughly to find the truth about the "Logos" which is lost to almost all man kind today; that is, unless they study hard to find it.

RECOVERING TRUTH LONG OVERLOOKED

It is the "Word" that we most often hear in terms of describing the Logos. But there is much more. Referring to the Logos merely in terms of the concept of "Word" is considered inadequate by serious scholars. The best way to get a grip on the Logos is by exploring how it was used in Egyptian religion, in Greek philosophy, in the Old Testament (where it is the Sophia), and in Early Christianity and compare the meanings for consistency and deviation of the original meaning of the term.

Taking account the Egyptian hermetic writings, "probably the earliest antecedent to the idea of the Logos came from...Hericlitus." His conceptual universe was one that constantly changed, a universe in constant motion propelled by all-pervading Reason, which Heraclitus likened to divine fire or energy.

Following Heraclitus, the philosopher Anaxagoras considered a "Divine Mind" , which was immanent in the created order... [John A. Sanford, Mystical Christianity; A Psychological Commentary On The Gospel of John, Crossroad, 1995, p. 19]

Sanford mentions Plato's idea of a "spiritual reality that gave to the created world its form and being." This was the imaginal realm of Platonic Forms, an archetypal realm of changeless and universal patterns of which "the material world is but an imperfect representation." For Sanford, the Logos "partakes of the of the nature of this archetypal reality." [Ibid, p. 19]

Aristotle believed that matter and form always existed together. Hence, for him, human beings had not only a material body, but also a soul in which there dwells a divine spark that the soul shares with God. "This spark of divinity in human nature is an element of the divine Logos--the shaping spiritual power and essence of God--is eternal and impersonal." [Ibid, p. 20]

I hope you noticed that the "Logos " is to be found in ALL mankind and not just one person.

Sanford stresses that the concept of the Logos was most fully expressed by the Stoic philosophers. Stoicism believed the Universe to consist of two kinds of matter: a gross or coarse matter; and an extremely fine matter, which is virtually indistinguishable from the idea of spirit. The material, created order is thus pervaded with the spiritual substance, but it is also pervaded with a vital element-like the energetic fire of Heraclitus - that shaped, harmonized, and interpenetrated all things. For the Stoics, this was nothing less than an intelligent, self-conscious world-soul, an indwelling Logos within mankind.

Considering the Logos as God, and as the source of all life and all wisdom, then our "human reason partakes of its nature, because this Logos dwells within us. For this reason we can follow the God within and refer to ourselves as the offspring of God." [Ibid, p.20]

Fideler packages these ancient concepts of the Logos as follows: "Logos designates the power of 'reason;' the pattern or order of things; the principle of relationship; and an articulation of something."

In general, the Logos has the following meanings:

• Order or pattern.
• Ratio or proportion.
• A discourse, articulation or account, even a 'sermon.'
• Reason, both in the sense of rationality and in the sense of an articulation of the cause of something.
• Principle or cause (logoi=principles, ratios, reasons).
• A principle of mediation and harmony between extremes

[David Fideler, Jesus Christ...Sun of God: Ancient Cosmology And Early Christian Symbolism. Quest Books, 1993, p. 38]

Further discussing the meaning of the Logos, Sanford also stresses the "equally important influence of the Wisdom literature in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we find an idea of God's creative spirit immanent within the creation and residing even in the human soul that is as old - or perhaps older - as that of the Greeks." [ Mystical Christianity, p. 21]. My studies reveal that last statement to be true; the "Logos" teaching predated Greece and even the Jews as it can be found as far back as the earliest recorded literature among mankind in Egypt.

In parts of the Old Testament it is the *Sophia* that embodies and symbolizes the feminine aspect of God. The Sophia shared in the generative power which created the world. The Sophia "dwelt immanent within the world, and which also dwelt within the human heart..." The Sophia was considered the fount of all human knowledge, whether physical, psychological or spiritual-- "knowledge, which she can likewise impart because she is mistress of the soul." [Ibid, p. 22]

The philosophers of the early Church saw Christ as the embodiment of the Sophia as well as the Incarnation of the Logos. Now we get to the very crux of this problem that confronts Christianity today. The term "Christ" means "anointing" and is not a person's name; it is better understood as a part of God within every man and is displayed by some better than others due to their obedience to the Laws and Reason of the Universe. This term and concept (Christ) was applied to Jesus/Yeshua by his followers in a symbolic way because Yeshua lived before them the "Divine" life better than any (other), and (he) lived the Laws of God in such a way that he reflected best the Divine that is within each man. Jesus was NEVER thought to be the LITERAL "Logos" in a body form by his followers until much later under Gentile influences. You might say that in his life and teachings, and through his obedience to the Laws of his Father God (the First Cause), Jesus/Yeshua exhibited the Divine Harmony of Heaven on earth. Order, another definition of the "Logos," was manifested best in Yeshua's life as he exhibited Heaven on Earth through his actions and message, and (he) even taught his followers to imitate him in this way by yielding to the Divine Reason within them and through obedience to the Commandments of God which bring order to this world, whereby they could manifest Heaven on earth:

Matt 6:10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (KJV)

For these early Christian thinkers...it was clear that to say "Christ was the Word" was to assign to Christ a profoundly mystical and far-reaching reality. It meant that the utterly transcendent God...created the world through that self-expression termed the Logos, and that this Logos, or Creative Word of God, is immanent within all of the creation." [Ibid, p. 23]

These early Christian philosophers also believed in Christ's pre-existence [notice again we are not speaking of the human Jesus]. Christ as the Logos or Wisdom of God had to exist from the beginning before incarnation, in a symbolic sense, could take place.

Sanford sums it up beautifully: "The world-creating Logos [order] could be seen in the movements of the heavenly bodies, in the majesty of the skies, in the great ocean with its abundance of life, but also could be seen in the tiniest unit of life. But the most important place where the Word of God was to be found for the early Christians was within the soul herself, where it lived as an "imago Dei," like a spring of water from which flowed the knowledge of God." [Ibid, p. 23].

The term "imago Dei" means the imitation of the God of the Universe. This order, expressed by these Divine forces and powers, was communicated by the "Logos" to mankind through Physical and Spiritual Laws. Our interest is upon the Spiritual Laws best understood as the Law or the Torah. Properly understood, the Laws of God in the Torah are the highest expressions of "order" and "reason" that mankind can know. They are the highest expressions of true love in the Universe. They consist of 365 Commandments of which 248 are "positive" and 365 are "negative." When one comes to understand and conducts his life according to these Laws, and understands them as Divine Revelation of Whom this God "is, and does..the positive Commandments," and Whom this God "is not, and does not the negative Commandments," and then patterns his life after them, then he exhibits the "Logos" to the fullest degree as did Yeshua/Jesus. Thus Jesus, living before others these Laws to their fullest, was seen and understood to be the fullest representation of the Divine in human form. Therefore others believed him to be the "Christ" or "Logos" in human flesh. History records for us many "Christs," but among Israel few if any had yielded so perfectly to the Will of God as had Yeshua.

I Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (KJV)

As you can see mankind is the repository of this "Logos," and it is up to each of us to yield to this order of Heaven in our lives, and some do it better than others (history records such great men or "avatars)." Therefore Yeshua/Jesus became a vessel of honor whereby the fullness of the Godhead (neteru) could tabernacle within him to a greater degree than it had in others that came before him.

We now come to another problem brought into being by the failure of the Gentiles to understand properly the concepts enumerated above. The "Christ" that indwell every man and the "anointing" that dwell within every man as the "Logos" was "without measure in Yeshua as taught by the writer of the Gospel of John.

John 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. (KJV)

The question arises as to "when" Yeshua received this "Logos" or "anointing." Historically the Jews who knew Yeshua record for us that the "anointing" manifested itself at one's baptism. That might sound simple until you understand "baptism" from a Jewish perspective for it is not unusual for a Jewish male to be baptized or "mikvehed" before each Festival, meeting in the Temple for the Sabbath, after repentance, etc., and even more for a women following her menses. It is in this sense that one is "born from above" over and over and the recorded instance for us in the Gospels records Yeshua being anointed at this particular mikveh before Yom Kippur. No Jewish male could be in right standing with God and participate in one of the Seven Festivals of YHWH unless "born again" or "mikvehed" before observance of the Festival. In the traditional sense Yeshua received the "anointing without measure" at this instance in his life. Contrary views later surfaced by the Gentile Church where older pagan myths of sun worshiping nations were removed from their "allegorical" meanings and applied LITERALLY to Jesus and the incarnation of the "Logos/anointing" was now taught as if existing before the beginning of time. We have seen however in the earlier article and articles that this incarnation was always to be understood in a metaphorical and allegorical sense and NEVER in a LITERAL sense as applied by the Gentile Church as the myths of pagan sun gods and sun godmen was LITERALLY applied to Jesus as if he were one and the same. He was not.

(Edit: I decided to not try to fix the punctuation and grammar of this run-on sentence. You are more likely to understand it if you figure out what he is saying yourself. I hope I have not screwed up any meaning by any other repair I may have made elsewhere. You have link to the original of this text above.)