Journal: Conspectus
Volume: CONSPECTUS 28:1 (Sep 2019)
Article: Is John’s Λόγος Christology A Polemical Response To Philo Of Alexandria’s Logos Philosophy? (Part 1)
Author: Robert Peltier

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Conspectus 28:1 (September 2019) p. 65

Is John’s Λόγος Christology A Polemical Response To Philo Of Alexandria’s Logos Philosophy? (Part 1)

Robert Peltier

and

Dan Lioy

Keywords

Christology, Gospel of John, Hellenism, Logos, Philo of Alexandria, Philosophy, Prologue, Exegesis

About The Authors1

Robert Peltier

Mr Peltier received his Bachelor of Theology from Northpoint Bible College (formerly Zion Bible College), M.A. Old Testament from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and an M.A. Biblical Languages from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Dan Lioy

PhD, North-West University, The Senior Research Manager at the South African Theological Seminary, Dan has a particular research interest in intertextuality, Biblical ethics and spiritual care in professional settings.

Abstract

This journal article is the first in a two-part series that examines the Prologue to the Gospel of John (1:1–18) as a Christological statement for the purpose of repudiating Philo of Alexandria’s philosophical logos. The current essay explores the use of the word Λόγος 2 in the fourth Gospel, John’s likely rationale for using a prologue motif to open the gospel, and an exegesis of the Prologue producing ten specific statements that encompass John’s Λόγος Christology. In Part II, we exegete Philo of Alexandria’s writings for the purpose of determining his logos philosophy that may then be compared and contrasted with John’s Christological Λόγος. We conclude that John used the prologue for two important reasons. First, he used a prologue for the commonly expected purpose of summarizing the entire gospel, introducing Christological themes and first-person testimony about the divinity and mission of Christ on earth, that would be more thoroughly explored in the remainder of the Gospel. However, John also adopted the Greek prologue motif as a literary device to introduce the eternal Logos of the Christian world while simultaneously redefining the commonly-known logos of the Greek world as the Christian Logos. John accomplished this feat by specifically refuting Philo of Alexandria’s philosophical logos with his presentation of his seemingly simple yet theologically robust Christological Logos.

This article: https://www.sats.edu.za/peltier-lioy-is-johns-christology-a-polemic-response-1

Conspectus 28:1 (Septem...

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