Word of God

Depending on who you are and what you believe in, the Word of God could mean Jesus, the Bible, the Qur'an, the kama sutra, Dianetics, anything the pope says ex cathedra, the Book of Mormon, the Tanakh and Talmud, the lyrics of Ye, the teachings of David Koresh, the commands of the Pharaohs, the commands of the Sapa Inca, the sayings of the Dalai Lama, the Avesta, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, anything on the the Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or an Author confirming something about their work outside of it,Word of God, TV Tropes. to mention just a few. This page is primarily going to focus on the Judaeo-Christian Word of God.
== Lexicology of "The Word" ==
The word which Christianity translates into "The Word" in the Bible is the Greek word logos (λόγος). This can be seen in Bible passages such as John 1:1 
A better translation for logos would be "The Reason" or "The Account",
Whether "account" implies "story/narrative" or something produced by an accountant ... is left as an exercise for the reader.
as the Greek word logos doesn’t usually translate into the English word "word". Rather, the Greek word lexis is what translates to "word". The root of lexis crops up in English-language words like "lexicon", which is all the words that make up an area of knowledge, or like "dyslexia", which is a learning disorder that involves difficulty in learning to read or interpret words. It is also the root for "lexicology", which is the study of words. (Incidentally, was what was just done.) The Greek word logos, on the other hand, manifests the Greek root from which we get the English word "logic".
Logos is g3056 in Strong's Concordance.Logos
==Pre-Christian origins of logos (λόγος)==
The philosophical importance of can be traced to the pre-Socratic philosopher While none of his original writings have survived in their entirety, we do have fragments of his philosophy, and some of these fragments describe his belief in logos. One such fragment is DKB2 where Heraclitus says Though the logos is common, the many live as if they had a wisdom of their own.DKB2 This reference makes clear that Heraclitus believes in an independent existence of a universal logos. Another fragment from him reiterates this belief. It is wise, listening not to me but to the logos, to agree that all things are one.DK50
Stoic philosophers would use Heraclitus's idea of a universal logos in their model of the universe. describes the stoic conception of the universe in the following passage:
The primordial fire Eusebius referred to is a stoic concept called logos spermatikos (λόγος σπερματικός). According to the Stoics, logos spermatikos was the generative principle of the universe which created and took back all things. The word logos by itself was the ordering principle in the cosmos.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Stoicism_terms
 would describe logos spermatikos in the following passage:
The stoic conception of the universe and logos would continue well into the Roman era. For example, a Roman stoic who lived from around 4 BCE to CE 65, described God as creative reason (logos). 
==Pre-Christian origins of dabar (וַיֹּ֥אמֶר)==
The Jews had a different concept of the ‘word’ called dabar (h1697). Dabar is used in passages such as to describe Yahweh's words. Dabar is also used to describe the words exchanged between two individuals such as in .Dabar Dabar was not used to describe Yahweh’s use of speech to create things such as in where “God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” For that the word amar (h559) was used.Amar When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek to create the Septuagint, the Hebrew words dabar and amar were translated into the Greek word logos. While the words are similar in terms of their literal meaning, philosophically the words are quite different. Greek logos is best descried as a metaphysical concept of a transcendent god whereas dabar and amar are better characterized as the divine utterances or actions of an anthropomorphic god.From Logos to Trinity Marian Hillar (page 36-39)
The Greek philosophical concepts of logos and pneuma and their Hebrew equivalents were identified with God by the author(s) of psalms. 
==Hellenistic Judaism and logos==
After Alexander the Great created his empire, the Greek culture was heavily influential throughout the region controlled by the Greeks. This influence is referred to as 'Hellenism' and the Hellenistic influence was particularly strong among Jews living in the city of Alexandria. This was the city where the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek to create the It was also the city where Jewish philosophers combined traditional Jewish belief with Greek philosophy. One of the first people to do this was and one of the ideas he promoted was the belief that Plato and Pythagoras drew upon Mosaic Law before the Septuagint was created. 
There are no known Greek versions of Mosaic law before Cyrus and Alexander the Great conquered the places Jews livedBible Translations, Jewish Encyclopedia or any evidence that Pythagoras and Plato were aware of Jewish thought. Nonetheless, that was what Aristobulus believed and he was influential among the Hellenistic Jews. 
Aristobulus also appears to have made an attempt to incorporate logos into Judaism when he argued that God’s words denoted His activates.Aristobulus, Jewish Encyclopedia
The next major Hellenistic philosopher to incorporate the concept of logos into Judaism was (c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE). One of the cultural themes among both the Greek and Jewish cultures during the Hellenistic period was allegorical interpretation of their theological works. One example of this was the Heraclitus who wrote Homeric Problems. In this work, explained that when Homer spoke of Aphrodite’s infidelity with Ares, he was talking about one of two things. Either Ares was a metaphor for strife and Aphrodite was a metaphor for love and their infidelity represented how ‘these old adversaries (give) up their former contention and (come) together in concord.’ Or Ares was a metaphor for iron, Hephaestus (Aphrodite’s husband) was a metaphor for fire, and Aphrodite represented the craftsmanship needed to turn the iron softened by fire into things like swords.Heraclitus Heraclitus: Homeric Problems page 111 
In Philo’s case, he applied allegorical interpretation to the Hebrew Scriptures in order to explain their meaning. One passage that Philo applied this technique on was which states “So God created man in his own image, in the image God created he him.” This passage was a theological problem in Hellenistic Judaism as the metaphysical versions of God promoted by the Greek philosophers conflicted with the more anthropomorphic version of God found in Genesis. In essence, the problem was “If God lacks a body, then how could God make man in his own image?” Philo’s solution was to argue that mankind was modeled after God’s logos, which meant creative reason in Hellenistic culture. This allegorical interpretation can be found in passages of Philo’s work such as the following.
Philo would also incorporate the concept of logos into his metaphysical triad. Philo’s idea of how God was organized can be found in the following passage. 
Early Christians such as Justin Martyr would continue the philosophy begun by Hellenistic Jewish philosophers. Like Aristobulus and his idea that Plato and Pythagoras had borrowed their ideas from Moses, Justin would argue that Socrates and Heraclitus of Ephesus were unknowingly Christian. The First Apology (St. Justin Martyr): Chapter 5 and 46 And like Philo, Justin would create his own version of a metaphysical triad that incorporated God’s logos.
==Logos as Christos==
There was another religious movement that was occurring during the same time Philo was promoting the idea that humankind was modeled after God's logos. In Roman Judea, a series of Jewish rebels were claiming to be the Jewish messiah. The first of these was and he led a revolt that burnt the royal palace at Jericho. This occurred shortly after Herod died (4 BCE). Another interesting rebel leader was an Egyptian who led a revolt at the Mount of Olives before many of his followers were killed mad he mysteriously disappeared (approximately 52-58 CE). When the Hebrew word for messiah (mashiach)mashiach was translated into Greek it became christoschristos. The author(s) of John incorporated the idea that logos becomes flesh. 
The idea that has been maintained in Christianity ever since. 
==The Bible as the Word of God==
While the Greek concept of logos is still maintained by Christians as 'creative reason' remains a part of their trinity, there is a different notion among Christians that the Bible is literally the Word of God. They will often use the Word as justification for Divine command theory which for Christians is the position that Biblical injunctions are the only possible basis for morals, ethics, and law. 
The idea that the Bible is the word of God presupposes several assumptions:
# There is a (single, unique - or indeed any) God 
# God uses expressions of ordinary (human) language to express its will, intentions, commands, etc.
# A literal reading of this language is both necessary and sufficient for establishing moral/ethical/legal precepts
One can take issue with all three assumptions.
==== 1 - Uniqueness of the Word of God ====
Counterargument - Even strong belief in a (unique) supreme being (as seen in all monotheistic religions) is insufficient to establish the God of the Bible as this (unique) being
The greatest problem with the first assumption is that the same "word of God" argument can be used to justify in turn the Old Testament system, the New Testament system, the system of Islamic law, the system of Latter Day Saints rules and regulations, and so forth. To the extent that these systems contradict each other in significant aspects, it is clear that they can't all be the same word of the same God. This, in spite of the contrary intention of those using this phrase as an argument in favor of their particular brand of orthodoxy, opens the door to moral relativism.
==== 2- Verbal revelation ====
Counterargument - An equally broad secular mystic tradition asserts that God uses mathematics to lay down the law
The second assumption, that God directly communicated his intentions to the humans who wrote down the Scriptures, looks hopelessly naive. The problem is not just that the idea is naive, for there may be naive ideas that turn out to be right, but rather that we lack evidence. To the extent there is evidence (and we can, for the sake of the argument, admit a broad class of evidence including fables and traditions) the same evidence of divine inspiration is also available for the Buddha, for Confucius, and for other sages outside scriptural bounds. In this respect too, the "word of God" line of argumentation opens the door to moral relativism.
==== 3- Literalism ====
Counterargument - As with any writing of great antiquity, the philological and conceptual difficulties in establishing a literal reading are immense.
The final assumption (which usually takes the form that the King James Version of the Bible is all one needs to study) is contradicted by a mountain of scholarship, both religious and secular. Internal evidence in various parts of the Bible credit the Word of God as also the word of (for example) Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke, Saint John, Saint Paul and Saint Peter. Tradition adds other writers: Moses and Ezra, to name but two. Different emphases, different original languages and different styles distinguish different passages. Various religious traditions regard various sets of text as biblically canonical. The revealed Word of God emerges as a Word for all seasons. Moreover, as Thomas Paine pointed out in the Age of Reason the bible contradicts itself thus violating the . Note further that the natural growth of the halakha (and other biblically grounded forms of law over the millennia) proves that those interested in maintaining a biblical system of justice do not find the word of God sufficient as it is. It is also highly debatable whether a religious (let alone Biblical) foundation of morals/ethics/law is necessary.
==God's Word®==
God's Word® is a registered trademark of God's Word to the Nations of Orange Park, FL.https://www.godsword.org/site/contact-us/
==See also==
*Bible code
*Bible translations
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Bible analysis
Category:Religious terms