From the introduction of The Trinity, Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., gives the following objection and responds to it:

The five following truths, then, are announced in the Prologue of St. John's Gospel: the Son of God is

1. distinct from the Father,
2. equal and consubstantial with the Father,
3. the Creator,
4. the author of both the natural and the supernatural life,
5. the Redeemer and the author of salvation.

In this way the divinity of the Word is proclaimed.

Objection. The rationalists and liberals say that this doctrine of the Word apparently stems from Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, born about 20 B. C., who tried to conciliate the monotheism of the Jews with the Neoplatonism in vogue at the time in Alexandria. Relying on the Old Testament, Philo admitted the existence of one personal God, the Provider, but in accord with the Greek philosophers of Alexandria he held that the most high God could not produce this finite world except through some intermediate being [Demiurge], which he called the λόγος (logos). As a Jew, Philo tried to reconcile two contradictory teachings, namely, monotheism and free creation with the pantheistic doctrine of necessary emanation. Thus, when he considers the λόγος under the Neoplatonic aspect he speaks of him as an intermediate being, but when he considers the λόγος in the light of the New Testament and Jewish monotheism he speaks of him as a divine attribute.

 

Reply. The Catholic reply to this difficulty is the following. A great difference exists between the λόγος of Philo and the Λόγος ["Word"] of St. John [ch. 1]. The Λόγος of St. John is neither a being beneath God nor a divine attribute, but He is properly the Son of God the Father, at the same time God, the Creator, and the Redeemer in the strict sense. Philo's λόγος, however, is in no way the Redeemer. St. John's teaching, therefore, is not derived from Philo, but from Christ's preaching, as explained by him, and as understood by the other apostles, as we see in the preaching of St. Peter and in the epistles of St. Paul. St. John could have found an adumbration of this mystery in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Wisdom, "for she is a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty" (7:25 f.).

 

As to the word "Λόγος" itself, St. John could have taken it from revelation, but it would not be derogatory to admit, as many do, that he derived it directly from Philo, for when the Evangelist was writing in Ephesus, Apollo was preaching there, and Apollo was widely versed in Alexandrian philosophy. Quite probably also the earliest heretics misused the word "λόγος" to designate a being midway between God and the world. St. John may have used the term to correct the current false interpretation, when he said, "The Word [Λόγος] was God." [John 1:1]

From the introduction of The Trinity, Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., gives the following objection and responds to it:

The five following truths, then, are announced in the Prologue of St. John's Gospel: the Son of God is

1. distinct from the Father,
2. equal and consubstantial with the Father,
3. the Creator,
4. the author of both the natural and the supernatural life,
5. the Redeemer and the author of salvation.

In this way the divinity of the Word is proclaimed.

Objection. The rationalists and liberals say that this doctrine of the Word apparently stems from Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, born about 20 B. C., who tried to conciliate the monotheism of the Jews with the Neoplatonism in vogue at the time in Alexandria. Relying on the Old Testament, Philo admitted the existence of one personal God, the Provider, but in accord with the Greek philosophers of Alexandria he held that the most high God could not produce this finite world except through some intermediate being [Demiurge], which he called the λόγος (logos). As a Jew, Philo tried to reconcile two contradictory teachings, namely, monotheism and free creation with the pantheistic doctrine of necessary emanation. Thus, when he considers the λόγος under the Neoplatonic aspect he speaks of him as an intermediate being, but when he considers the λόγος in the light of the New Testament and Jewish monotheism he speaks of him as a divine attribute.

Reply. The Catholic reply to this difficulty is the following. A great difference exists between the λόγος of Philo and the Λόγος ["Word"] of St. John [ch. 1]. The Λόγος of St. John is neither a being beneath God nor a divine attribute, but He is properly the Son of God the Father, at the same time God, the Creator, and the Redeemer in the strict sense. Philo's λόγος, however, is in no way the Redeemer. St. John's teaching, therefore, is not derived from Philo, but from Christ's preaching, as explained by him, and as understood by the other apostles, as we see in the preaching of St. Peter and in the epistles of St. Paul. St. John could have found an adumbration of this mystery in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Wisdom, "for she is a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty" (7:25 f.).

As to the word "Λόγος" itself, St. John could have taken it from revelation, but it would not be derogatory to admit, as many do, that he derived it directly from Philo, for when the Evangelist was writing in Ephesus, Apollo was preaching there, and Apollo was widely versed in Alexandrian philosophy. Quite probably also the earliest heretics misused the word "λόγος" to designate a being midway between God and the world. St. John may have used the term to correct the current false interpretation, when he said, "The Word [Λόγος] was God." [John 1:1]

From the introduction of The Trinity, Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., gives the following objection and responds to it:

The five following truths, then, are announced in the Prologue of St. John's Gospel: the Son of God is

1. distinct from the Father,
2. equal and consubstantial with the Father,
3. the Creator,
4. the author of both the natural and the supernatural life,
5. the Redeemer and the author of salvation.

In this way the divinity of the Word is proclaimed.

Objection. The rationalists and liberals say that this doctrine of the Word apparently stems from Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, born about 20 B. C., who tried to conciliate the monotheism of the Jews with the Neoplatonism in vogue at the time in Alexandria. Relying on the Old Testament, Philo admitted the existence of one personal God, the Provider, but in accord with the Greek philosophers of Alexandria he held that the most high God could not produce this finite world except through some intermediate being [Demiurge], which he called the λόγος (logos). As a Jew, Philo tried to reconcile two contradictory teachings, namely, monotheism and free creation with the pantheistic doctrine of necessary emanation. Thus, when he considers the λόγος under the Neoplatonic aspect he speaks of him as an intermediate being, but when he considers the λόγος in the light of the New Testament and Jewish monotheism he speaks of him as a divine attribute.

Reply. The Catholic reply to this difficulty is the following. A great difference exists between the λόγος of Philo and the Λόγος ["Word"] of St. John [ch. 1]. The Λόγος of St. John is neither a being beneath God nor a divine attribute, but He is properly the Son of God the Father, at the same time God, the Creator, and the Redeemer in the strict sense. Philo's λόγος, however, is in no way the Redeemer. St. John's teaching, therefore, is not derived from Philo, but from Christ's preaching, as explained by him, and as understood by the other apostles, as we see in the preaching of St. Peter and in the epistles of St. Paul. St. John could have found an adumbration of this mystery in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Wisdom, "for she is a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty" (7:25 f.).

As to the word "Λόγος" itself, St. John could have taken it from revelation, but it would not be derogatory to admit, as many do, that he derived it directly from Philo, for when the Evangelist was writing in Ephesus, Apollo was preaching there, and Apollo was widely versed in Alexandrian philosophy. Quite probably also the earliest heretics misused the word "λόγος" to designate a being midway between God and the world. St. John may have used the term to correct the current false interpretation, when he said, "The Word [Λόγος] was God." [John 1:1]

From the introduction of The Trinity, Fr. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P., gives the following objection and responds to it:

The five following truths, then, are announced in the Prologue of St. John's Gospel: the Son of God is

1. distinct from the Father,
2. equal and consubstantial with the Father,
3. the Creator,
4. the author of both the natural and the supernatural life,
5. the Redeemer and the author of salvation.

In this way the divinity of the Word is proclaimed.

Objection. The rationalists and liberals say that this doctrine of the Word apparently stems from Philo, an Alexandrian Jew, born about 20 B. C., who tried to conciliate the monotheism of the Jews with the Neoplatonism in vogue at the time in Alexandria. Relying on the Old Testament, Philo admitted the existence of one personal God, the Provider, but in accord with the Greek philosophers of Alexandria he held that the most high God could not produce this finite world except through some intermediate being [Demiurge], which he called the λόγος (logos). As a Jew, Philo tried to reconcile two contradictory teachings, namely, monotheism and free creation with the pantheistic doctrine of necessary emanation. Thus, when he considers the λόγος under the Neoplatonic aspect he speaks of him as an intermediate being, but when he considers the λόγος in the light of the New Testament and Jewish monotheism he speaks of him as a divine attribute.

Reply. The Catholic reply to this difficulty is the following. A great difference exists between the λόγος of Philo and the Λόγος ["Word"] of St. John [ch. 1]. The Λόγος of St. John is neither a being beneath God nor a divine attribute, but He is properly the Son of God the Father, at the same time God, the Creator, and the Redeemer in the strict sense. Philo's λόγος, however, is in no way the Redeemer. St. John's teaching, therefore, is not derived from Philo, but from Christ's preaching, as explained by him, and as understood by the other apostles, as we see in the preaching of St. Peter and in the epistles of St. Paul. St. John could have found an adumbration of this mystery in the Old Testament, especially in the Book of Wisdom, "for she is a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty" (7:25 f.).

As to the word "Λόγος" itself, St. John could have taken it from revelation, but it would not be derogatory to admit, as many do, that he derived it directly from Philo, for when the Evangelist was writing in Ephesus, Apollo was preaching there, and Apollo was widely versed in Alexandrian philosophy. Quite probably also the earliest heretics misused the word "λόγος" to designate a being midway between God and the world. St. John may have used the term to correct the current false interpretation, when he said, "The Word [Λόγος] was God." [John 1:1]