Logos

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Logos (Greek: λόγος "word, speech, sense"; Latin: verbum) means word, spoken (Greek: λόγος προφορικός logos prophorikos) or unspoken, purely inwardly conceived thought (Greek: λόγος ἐνδιάθετος logos endiathetos)[1][2], concept, definition, reason, divine, creative thought, world thought, world reason, world spirit (Latin: mens mundi[3]), world word. The Stoics speak of the logos spermatikos (Greek: λόγος σπερματικός "germ of reason"), which is inherent in every rational being. In contrast to today, the Greeks hardly distinguished between word and concept, and thinking was an inner, silent speech, an intellectual soliloquy, as it were, which not only takes place in man, but also in nature as the actual creative power, a principle that finds its highest expression in the prologue of John's Gospel ("In the beginning was the Word" John 1:1). But even the Old Testament, in the work of the six days, allows creation to emerge from the Word of the Elohim. The meaning of logos thus ranges from the human word and human reason to the creating world word, the word of God, which is identical with the Christ.

The Three Logoi

→ See also: Trinity

Three logoi comprise the Logos in the extended sense, the Trinity according to Christian terminology, which is divided into Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This corresponds to the Ain Soph in the Jewish Kabbalah, which is often represented in three parts, as Ain (Hebrew: אין), Ain Soph (אין סוף) and Ain Soph Aur (אין סוף אוֹר). In this threefold structure, the Ain is understood as nothingness, the Ain Soph as the limitless, and the Ain Soph Aur (literally the non-finite light) as the limitless light.

„The First, from which all else came forth, is the unmanifest Deity. From this then came forth the second, the life or also the unmanifested creative substance. This life then passes through the most manifold forms and is named in the forms Akasha or Mahat. This Akasha or Mahat contains all the forms of life that exist in the world. The whole hierarchy of Thrones, Cherubim, Seraphim, Powers, Primordial Forces, Archangels and Angels came forth through life and form the forms under which this one life appears.

The first power, the unmanifested Godhead, is also called the Father; the second power is the Son, who is both life and creative substance, and the third power is the Spirit. Together, then, these three primordial forces appear as Father, Son and Spirit, as consciousness, life and form. The power of life is under the direction of Michael, who belongs to the Sun, the power of form is under the direction of Samael, who belongs to the volcano, where all life will be transformed into living forms. The power of consciousness is under the direction of Anael, who embraces all that is there.“ (Lit.:GA 89, p. 256)

„At all times, occultism has represented these three logoi through the following signs:


First Logos
God
Second Logos
Macrocosm
Third Logos
Microcosm

They have been summarised in the number: 7-7-7, the esoteric Number of the three Logoi. The exoteric number is the multiplication of these three sevens lying in the plan of development, namely 343.” (Lit.:GA 94, p. 92)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.

References

  1. ↑ Adam Kamesar: The Logos Endiathetos and the Logos Prophorikos in Allegorical Interpretation: Philo and the D-Scholia to the Iliad, in: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 44 (2004) pp. 163–181 pdf
  2. ↑ Max Pohlenz: Die Begründung der abendländischen Sprachlehre durch die Stoa. In: Nachrichten von der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen. Philologisch-historische Klasse, Fachgruppe 1. Neue Folge, Band 3, Nr. 6, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1939, S. 151–198.
  3. ↑ Cicero: De natura deorum II, 22, 57f
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