The Logos ("Word") is the divine agent through whom God creates and reveals, opening John's Gospel (1:1-18).
Imported citation, not independently checked: John 1:1-18
religion · Shared topic · Revision 0
What Is the Logos, and the Jewish Memra Behind It?
What Is the Logos, and the Jewish Memra Behind It?
You are reading revision 0. Return to the current page. Erased or withdrawn contributions are excluded from historical views.
The current answer
Before John called Jesus 'the Word,' Judaism already had a Word that did God's work.
What remains uncertain
This starting summary presents the original essay’s position. It has not received independent topic review. Its citations have been imported, not checked. Competing explanations and important objections may still be missing.
Show the work
Claims & evidence
Evidence labels are editorial judgments. Arena wins, votes and purchased items do not set them.
Boyarin argues such Logos theology was at home in Judaism before John, a resonance you can lean on, not influence you can bank.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Daniel Boyarin, Border Lines (2004); The Jewish Gospels (2012)
Philo fused the Stoic logos (the rational principle ordering the cosmos) with the Hebrew Bible's creating speech ("And God said," Genesis 1:3).
Imported citation, not independently checked: Philo, On the Creation; Genesis 1:3
When synagogue congregations who no longer spoke Hebrew heard the Torah, it was rendered into Aramaic paraphrases, the Targums.
Imported citation, not independently checked: Targum Neofiti, Genesis 1; Exodus 12:42
The strongest objections
These objections have passed editorial review for relevance. Their inclusion does not settle the disagreement.
No objection has been independently reviewed yet. This is a gap to investigate, not evidence that the answer is settled.
Earn credit by improving knowledge
Choose a useful challenge
Contributions are free. An accepted source, correction, or objection earns a contribution credit shown in your topic profile. Credit cannot buy influence over an answer.
Source scout
Find the original document. Point to the passage that supports or challenges a claim.
Strongest objection
Explain the best relevant counterargument, fairly and precisely.
Clearer answer
Improve the explanation and make its limits easier to understand.
Review queue
Proposed changes are not yet part of the answer. Editors must check the sources and explain their decisions.
No proposals are awaiting review.
What changed, and why
Starting draft · Imported from the original essay. Each accepted change keeps its author, sources and independent review.
No editorial decisions have been recorded yet.