BELOW ARE SOME DEFINITIONS AND QUOTES from various sources regarding DIALOGUE and logos.
Heraclitus says LOGOS means "rational of being."
Tillich says LOGOS means the "Reasonable Structure of being", the "Self Manifestation of Being".
WEBSTER
Logos -- n. plural Logoi. [[[Gk., speech, word, reason . . .]]] 1 : reason
that in ancient Greek philosophy is the controlling principal in the universe
2 : the divine wisdom manifest in the creation, government, and redemption of
the world and often identified with the second person of the Trinity . . .
DICTIONARY OF RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
"Logos.
Although this Greek term has several meanings, including "word,"
"speech," and "principal," philosophical discussion of it has generally focused upon
it as meaning "reason". It appeared in the pre-Socratic thinkers with this meaning, being
later replaced by nous ("mind" or "reason"), as we find, for instance, in Plato and Aristotle:
Then it emerged again in Stoic philosophy where it is seen both as reason and as speech; . . .
In the great School of Alexandria both the Jewish thinker Philo and many of the Christian
Fathers used the concept of the logos to express the creative power of God. The prologue
to the Fourth Gospel opens with the words: "In the beginning (en arche, i.e., archetypally)
was the logos, and the logos was with God and the logos was God." John identifies Jesus
Christ with the logos "made flesh" and pitching his tent among us." . . . GEDDES MacGREGOR,
DICTIONARY OF RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY
DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY
Logomachy: (Gr. logos, word + mache, battle) A contention in which words are
involved without their references. A contention which lacks the real grounds of
difference, or one in which allegedly opposed views are actually not on the same level
of discourse. A battle of words alone, which ignores their symbolic character. --
J.K.F. DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY
DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY
Logos: (Gr. logos) A term denoting either reason or one of the expressions of reason
or order in words or thing; such as word, discourse, definition, formula, principle,
mathematical ration. In its most important sense in philosophy it refers to a cosmic
reason which gives order and intelligibility to the world. In this sense the doctrine
first appears in Heraclitus, who affirms the reality of a Logos analogous to the
reason in man that regulates all physical processes and is the source of all human law.
The conception is developed more fully by the Stoics, who conceive of the world as
a living unity, perfect in the adaptation of its parts to one another and to the whole,
and animated by an immanent and purposive reason. As the creative source of this
cosmic unity and perfection the world-reason is called the seminal reason (logos spermatikos),
and is conceived as containing within itself a multitude of logoi spermatikoi, or intelligible
and purposive forms operating in the world. As regulating all things, the Logos is
identified with Fate (heimarmene); as directing all things toward the good, with
Providence (pronoia); and as the ordered course of events, with Nature (physis). In
Philo of Alexandria, in whom Hebrew modes of thought mingle with Greek concepts,
the Logos becomes the immaterial instrument, and even at times the personal agency,
through which the creative activity of the transcendent God is exerted upon the world.
In Christian philosophy the Logos becomes the second person of the Trinity and its
functions are identified with the creative, illuminating and redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
Finally the Logos plays an important role in the system of Plotinus, where it appears as
the creative and form-giving aspect of Intelligence (Nous), the second of the three
Hypostases. --G.R.M." DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY
Divine "Self Manifestation of BEING" in Tillich, HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT
Braaten: " . . . Justin Martyr, for whom the Logos doctrine was, as for Tillich, the
universal principle of the divine self-manifestation. . . . The common ground for both
Justin and Tillich was the presence of the Logos beyond the boundaries of the church,
making it possible for men in all religions and cultures to have a partial grasp of the
truth, a love of beauty, and a moral sensitivity. Tillich could stand 'on the boundary'
between theology and philosophy, church and society, religion and culture, because
*the Logos who became flesh was the same Logos who was universally at work in
the structures of human existence.
. . . . . . . Paul Tillich and the Classical Christian Tradition by Carl E. Braaten,
Paul Tillich, A History of Christian Thought, p. xix-xx, Simon and Schuster.
*" . . . the Logos who became flesh [read this as 'became historical reality'] was the same Logos who was universally
at work in the structures of human existence."
Tillich, Paul A HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN THOUGHT, Simon and Schuster, Inc.,
630 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10020
PAGE 07
The Stoics
" . . . Christianity and the Stoics are the great competitors in the whole
Western world. But here I want to show something else. Christianity took from
its great competitor many fundamental ideas. The first is the doctrine of the Logos,
a doctrine that may bring you to despair when you study the history of Trinitarian
and Christological thought. The dogmatic development of Christianity cannot be
understood without it.
"Logos means "word". But it also refers to the meaning of a word, the reasonable
structure which is indicated by a word. Therefore, Logos can also mean the
universal law of reality. This is what Heraclitus meant by it, who was the first to
use this word philosophically. The Logos for him was the law which determines
the movements of all reality.
"For the Stoics the Logos was the divine power which is present in everything that is.
There are three aspects to it, all of which become extremely important in the later
development. The first is the law of nature. The Logos is the principle according
to which all natural things move. It is the divine seed, the creative divine power,
which makes anything what it is. And it is the creative power of movement of all things.
Secondly, Logos means the moral law. With Immanuel Kant we could call this the
"practical reason", the law which is innate in every human being when he accepts
himself as a personality, with the dignity and greatness of a person. When we see the
term "natural law" in classical books, we should not think of physical laws, but of moral laws.
For example, when we speak of the "rights of man" as embodied in the American
Constitution, we are speaking of natural law.
"Thirdly, Logos also means man's ability to recognize reality; we could call it
"theoretical reason". It is man's ability to reason. Because man has the Logos in himself,
he can discover it in nature and history. From this it follows for Stoicism that the man
who is determined by the natural law, the Logos, is the logikos, the wise man.
But the Stoics were not optimists. They did not believe that everybody was a wise man.
Perhaps there were only a few who ever reached this ideal. All the others were either
fools or stood somewhere between the wise and the foolish. So Stoicism held a basic
pessimism about the majority of human beings.
. . .
page 11
" . . . Logos in Philo is the protogenes huios theou, the first-born Son of God.
page 14
"F. The Method of the New Testament"
"All the elements we have discussed were a preparation for the rise of Christianity.
The decisive preparation, however, was the event which is documented in the New
Testament. Here we cannot present a New Testament theology, but we can show,
by means of a few examples, how the New Testament received from the surrounding
religions categories of interpretation and transformed them in the light of the reality of
Jesus as the Christ. This means that there were always two steps, reception and
transformation. The categories which had developed in the various religions, in the
old Testament, and in the inter-testamental period, were used to interpret the event of
Jesus' appearance, but the meanings of these categories were transformed in being
applied to him.
"With respect to christology, for example, Messiah is the ancient prophetic symbol.
This symbol was applied to Jesus by the early disciples, perhaps at the very
beginning of their encounter with him. This was a great paradox.
. . .
page 15
"The same is true of the "Son of Man" concept."
"The term "Son of David" is an adequate term . . ."
"The "Son of God" is an adequate term because of the special relationship and
intimate communion between Jesus and God. At the same time it is inadequate
because "Son of God" is a very familiar pagan concept. The pagan gods propagated
sons on earth. Because of this the words "only begotten" were added and he was
called "eternal". The Jews had difficulty with this term because of its pagan connotations.
They could speak of Israel as "Son of God" but they could not apply it to an individual.
"The title "kyrios" means Lord;"
"Finally, the concept "Logos" was adequate insofar as it expressed the universal
self-manifestation of God in all forms of reality. In Greek philosophy and Jewish
symbolism it is the cosmic principle of creation. Yet it is inadequate because the Logos
is a universal principle, whereas Jesus is a concrete reality. His is a concrete personal
life described by this term. this is expressed in the great paradox of Christianity: the Logos
became flesh. Here we have a perfect example of how the meaning of a term, with
all the connotations it had from the past, can be transformed in expressing the
Christian messiah. The idea that the universal Logos became flesh could never have
been derived from the (page 16) Greek thought. Therefore, the church fathers
emphasized again and again that while the Greek philosophers possessed the idea
of the universal Logos, what was peculiarly Christian was that the Logos became
flesh in a personal life.
"The greatness of the New Testament is that it was able to use words, concepts,
and symbols which had developed in the history of religions and at the same time
preserve the picture of Jesus who was interpreted by them. The spiritual power of
the New Testament was great enough to take all these concepts into Christianity,
with all their pagan and Jewish connotations, without losing the basic reality, namely,
the event of Jesus as the Christ, which these concepts were supposed to interpret."
page 23
(re. Ignatius)
"Christ called us from darkness into light; he made us serve the Father of truth.
He called us who had no being and willed that we have being, out of his new being.
This means that knowledge brings being. Knowledge and being belong together;
so do lie and non-being. Truth is being; new truth is new being. Whoever has this
knowledge of being has saving knowledge. . . . With but some exceptions, the truth
they wanted to have was existential truth, truth concerning their existence, truth that saves
them out of this distorted existence and elevates them to the immovable One. The
early Christian congregations understood truth in the same way. Truth is not theoretical
knowledge about objects, but cognitive participation in a new reality that has appeared
in the Christ. Without this participation no truth is possible, and knowledge is abstract
and meaningless. This is what they meant when they combined knowledge and being.
Participating in the new being is participation in truth, in the true knowledge."
page 27
"1. The Christian Philosophy"
Justin Martyr was perhaps the most important of the Apologists. In speaking
of Christianity he said: "This is the only philosophy which I have found certain
and adequate." . . . "So Justin was saying that Christianity is the only certain
and adequate philosophy because it is not magical or superstitious."
. . .
"Justin taught that this Christian philosophy is universal; it is the all-embracing
truth about the meaning of existence. From this it follows that wherever truth
appears, it belongs to the Christians. Truth concerning existence, wherever it
appears, is Christian truth. "What anybody has said about the truth belongs to us,
the Christians." This is not sheer arrogance. He does not mean that
(page 28)
Christians now possess all the truth, or that they alone discovered it. He means,
in terms of the Logos doctrine, that there cannot be truth anywhere which is not
in principle included in Christian truth. This is what the Fourth Gospel says: the
Logos appeared, full of truth and grace."
(see more on Logos on page 28)
page 30
" . . . It is difficult to explain what the word "logos: means, especially to those who
are nominalists from birth. It is difficult because this concept is not the description of
an individual being, but of a universal principle. . . .
"Logos is the principle of the self-manifestation of God. The Logos is God manifest
to himself in himself. Therefore, whenever God appears, either to himself or to others
outside himself, it is the Logos which appears. This Logos is in Jesus as the Christ in
a unique way . . .."
self-manifestation of God, Self Manifestation of Being.