Logos

Greek for “word,” used in various senses. The term is used for the Christian message or kerygma, which is the proclamation of God's saving act in Jesus Christ. It is also used as a christological term, which is believed to have originated from use in Hellenistic Judaism as a synonym for the divine wisdom. In this sense it designates God's self-communication. This communication takes place in the act of creation, in the providential government of creation, in human religious experience, and in the calling of Israel to be God's people and in its subsequent history. This self-communication of God reaches its climax in the Christ event, the Word made flesh (Jn 1:1-14). In the early period of the Church Fathers, logos became a designation for the second person of the Trinity. In time it was generally replaced by the title “Son,” which seemed to preserve more faithfully the personal relationship between the second person and God the Father. In the Episcopal eucharistic lectionary, Jn 1:1-14 is the gospel for the third eucharist of Christmas Day, and for the first Sunday after Christmas, with the addition of verses 15-18. The collect for Christmas I celebrates the fact that in the Incarnation, God the Father has “poured upon us the new light of (his) incarnate Word.” (BCP, p. 213).