JESUS ‘THE WORD’ AS CREATOR IN JOHN 1:1-3: HELP FOR EVOLUTIONISTS FROM PHILO THE HELLENISTIC JEW

Abstract

Philo’s Hellenistic Jewish background (c. 50 BCE – 30 CE) helps to clarify John’s identification of Jesus as the ‘Logos’. This article explores the course of the Hellenistic philosophical context in which the use of the word ‘Logos’ was de-veloped from the idea that truth could only be grasped through reason. In Ionia, Heraclitus (c. 500 BCE) was the first to use the term Logos as the principle of balance, stability, and order. Philo’s exegesis of Gen 1:26- 27 and Gen 2:7 develops Jewish Wisdom traditions in terms of ‘Logos’ as present in humanity as a mediator. Thus Philo affirms the transcendence of the creator and at the same time his accessibility to the world he has made. The fertility of John’s use of the word Logos harmonises with such mysterious New Testament phrases as ‘Christ in you.’