Why have I called my website Logos in the chaos. Why logos…why chaos?
THE REALITY OF “CHAOS”.
There is so much human-inflicted chaos, pain and suffering in the world that sin has fairly been described as the most established empirical fact. The Bible does not shy away from this reality (Mat 24:6-7; 2Ti 3:1-4).
Rather than pretend it does not exist or describe it in cheap, sugar-coated terms I wish to acknowledge and accurately describe chaos and sin. The purpose is not to voyeuristically view or masochistically wallow in pain and negativity. The goal is the Bible’s one: to respond and be present to pain and suffering; to co-operate with God in bringing His truth, salvation and healing; to be part of God’s logos in the chaos.
LOGOS IN GREEK CULTURE AND THE BIBLE.
(Joh 1:1-5) In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God. (2) He was with God in the beginning. (3) Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. (4) In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. (5) The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Logos was the normal term for word or message in Greek culture and it is the most common word used for this in the New Testament. Logos is used 325 times, compared to, among others words, rhēma (spoken word: 73 times), graphē (Scripture: 51 times), and euaggelizō (gospel: 90 times).
As in Greek culture, logos can be used in the bible to represent the concept of normal words, speech or communication, as in Mat 22:46: No one could say a word (logos) in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. OR 1Ti 3:1 Here is a trustworthy saying (logos): Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.
Greek culture also used the term to talk about the potential intelligence and meaning in the universe. However, this did not signify belief in a personal God any more than talk of being spiritual in today’s postmodern world signifies belief in a personal God.
It is important to realize that logos refers to thought as well as speech. Logos represents the consciousness, intelligence and will that give rise to speech and that are embedded in speech, giving speech its power and meaning:
Logos signifies in classical Greek both “reason” and “word.” Though in Biblical Greek the term is mostly employed in the sense of “word,” we cannot properly dissociate the two significations. Every word implies a thought. It is impossible to imagine a time when God was without thought. Hence, thought must be eternal as the Deity. The translation “thought” is probably the best equivalent for the Greek term, since it denotes, on the one hand, the faculty of reason, or the thought inwardly conceived in the mind; and, on the other hand, the thought outwardly expressed through the vehicle of language. The two ideas, thought and speech, are indubitably blended in the term logos; and in every employment of the word, in philosophy and Scripture, both notions of thought and its outward expression are intimately connected.
(International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
When the term logos is adopted by New Testament writers (particularly John) to refer to Jesus as divine, its meaning is enriched and transformed:
The essential purport of the Johannine Logos is Jesus Christ. The adoption of the term involves its complete transformation. It is baptized with a new spirit and henceforth stands for a new conception. From whatsoever source it was originally derived – from Hebrew tradition or Hellenic speculation – on Christian soil it is a new product. It is neither Greek nor Jewish, it is Christian. The philosophical abstraction has become a religious conception. Hellenism and Hebrewism have been taken up and fused into a higher unity, and Christ as the embodiment of the Logos has become the creative power and the world-wide possession of mankind.
(International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)
LOGOS AS THE MANIFOLD WISDOM AND POWER OF GOD.
I use the term logos to represent not only the thought and communication of God, but all that goes with that thought and communication. God has perfect integrity, with no disconnect between His thoughts, purposes, communication and action; in other words, there is a seamless and perfect unity in what God thinks, wills, says and does. This is based in God nature and His perfect and infinite wisdom, power and goodness. Therefore, God only thinks and wills what is good and God has the power to do what he thinks and wills. Consequently, all that God wills, he does, and all that God does is good, perfect, and effective.
There are many verses in the Bible that demonstrate God’s infinite and perfect wisdom, power and goodness (logos): Eph 3:10-11; Gen 1:3; Job 42:2; Isa 43:10-13; Isa 46:9-10; Num 23:19; Jer 32:17; Heb 4:12-13; Eph 1:11
THE FAILURE OF ALL HUMANS TO CONSISTENTLY REFLECT GOD’S LOGOS IN THEIR THOUGHT, SPEECH AND BEHAVIOUR.
Although humankind is made in God’s image, sin and rebellion have marred this image and we have lost our integrity. All of us are desperately weak, selfish, and fearful in varying measures. We are utterly dependent on God to save us out of the death and chaos that ensued after our rebellion (Gen 6:5-6; Rom 1:21-22; Eph 4:18).
Consequently, unlike God, no human has thoughts that are perfectly true and loving. And even when, by God’s grace, we think thoughts that approximate truth, we will struggle to communicate without subterfuge and manipulation. And, even when we have communicated plans and ideals that are in some way good and noble (ignoring, for the moment, the dangerous or hair-brained schemes and projects with which history is littered), very seldom do we do what we promised or complete what we started.
Nevertheless, God expects all people, who are called to represent His image in creation, to demonstrate this kind of integrity (1 Pe 4:11; 2Co 4:1-2; 1Pe 1:14-16).
THE TERM LOGOS AS A SYMBOL OF HOPE AND WARNING.
I have chosen, therefore, to call this website and ministry Logos In The Chaos to represent, discuss and encourage the hope and warning found in the Bible (through my original thought and writing and through links to other websites and authors).
Hope, because life does have meaning and does point to a meaningful future, because God is who He is and God has never abandoned His original intent (logos) of creating a universe where all people who respond with humility, faith and obedience will find their place in alignment with God. And this alignment is not an abstract or paltry thing. That is why it is represented by one of the richest symbols possible, a wedding!! And we all know that a wedding is not an end, but a beginning….of life, and yet more life!! (Rev 3:20-22; Rev 19:6-7).
Logos also represents warning, because if we reject God He will reject us. As CS Lewis said in “The Great Divorce”, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” (cf. 2Ti 2:11-12; 2Th 2:10)
This may not sound too bad because people imagine themselves partying for eternity, free from the constraint of God. But to reject God is to reject God’s gifts and creation (they all stay with God and His restored world).
As Jesus explained, “Luk 8:18 Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” ”
The following Scriptures further capture the gravity of the situation – how serious the sin and chaos are, and how crucial one’s response to the logos is. Hope and warning are woven throughout these various Bible verses: Rev 22:12-16; Rom 2:6-8; 1Co 15:22-26; 1Co 15:51-57; Rev 21:4-4; Rev 22:3-5; 2Ti 2:11-12; Rev 20:6; Rom 8:17; Rom 8:19-21
