This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
When do perishable human words transmit imperishable life? When the speaker is eternal.
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Having identified obstacles to understanding The Word aright, we shift our attention to The Word itself.
The term “The Word” came to popular usage through the Gospel of John. It is the English translation of the Greek word “Logos”.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
— KJV, John 1:1
“Logos” in Greek is a multivalent word. Certain studies have documented over ten different meanings1.
When we review how the term was variously used we are able to extract the general meaning of: a Universal Truth of Divine origin that is made understandable to human beings.
Therefore, by “The Word”, the Evangelist meant Manifestation of Universal Truth.
What is Truth?
Truth is the eternally unchangeable i.e. that which has no beginning and no end. This can only be grasped by the human spirit, not the brain.
A physical example: scientists produce theories that seek to describe physical time and space. Their theories are subject to change and evolution, but the nature of time and space remain unchanged. The human brain can understand this.
The Creator exists beyond time and space, from eternity to eternity. The human spirit can understand this.
So, absolute Truth can only reside in the Almighty Creator. And The Word makes Truth i.e. the Nature of God, understandable to us.
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A Word or A Person?
The Evangelist goes further to equate The Word with a Personality:
The same was in the beginning with God.
— John 1:2-5
All things were made by him;
and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life;
and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehendeth it not.
Man had become lost in spiritual darkness and ignorant of Truth.
To make Truth available to mankind on earth a Part of God manifested in the Person of Jesus Christ.
To this end was I born,
— John 18:37
and for this cause came I into the world,
that I should bear witness unto the Truth.
Absolute Truth, The Word, is in God. Therefore only God Himself can give The Word.
Being a Part of God, Truth was within Christ. Therefore Christ could make The Word available to mankind.
He could manifest Universal Truth on Earth through a Message rendered in human words.
Life Is Transmitted In The Word
Christ made Truth, which is in Him, understandable to men through His words (His Message), which conveyed Truth in terms understandable to human beings.
The human words he used, the parables and instructions, are the channels which he used to convey Truth, i.e. His Nature, His Being, a Part of Himself, to human beings.
Man shall not live by bread alone,
— Matt 4:4
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
The life of the physical body depends on physical “bread”, but spiritual life is imparted by the Word of Truth, which is spiritual bread.
“Eating” this bread is only possible by living The Word, as we shall explore in more detail in later essays.
The Word is Divine and bears life. Christ made spiritual life once again available to man through His Message – his parables and instructions – which is the manifestation of The Word.
Today’s Resolution
- We shall not forget that the words of Christ represent Truth. They are universal and all-encompassing.
- We shall seek to understand the world according to the picture presented by The Word.
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