The Word
Over 500 years before Jesus walked on earth, Greek philosophers had begun deciding "the Word" or "logos" in the Greek, was so important they even gave divine attributes to "the Word" and related it to the Greek god Hermes. Some people in Judaism like Philo were influenced by the Greek philosophical thinking but fortunately the influence is not reflected in Hebrew Scriptures aka the Old Testament. Early Christians like Jesus beloved disciple, John, reflect knowledge of the Greek emphasis on "the Word" in his introduction or prologue to his Gospel which could have been an attempt to appeal to people following Greek philosophical religious thinking. Since there is no indication that God said or Jesus said anything concerning "the Word" and since John, a godly man, was a strong follower of Jesus, it is unlikely that he had embraced a false teaching from the Greek's philosophical religion. Paul also made an effort to reach out to the Greeks by referring to one of their idols or places of worship dedicated "to the unknown god". It appears that both John and Paul were trying to reach out to the highly admired Greeks. Unfortunately, John would not have known that a few hundred years later his writings would be included in the bible and that manmade doctrines were developed that claim that every word included in the bible came from God or was inspired by God, resulting in some Christians worshiping the bible or bibliolatry. Some people eventually called the bible "the Word" and inadvertently are being deceived by Satan to embrace Greek religious beliefs about "the Word". 1
A distinct difference Jesus presented, that no other man has ever factually claimed, is that everything He said is what God told Him to "SAY" and everything He did is what God told Him to "DO". Although John or Paul's efforts to reach the Greeks might appear commendable, Jesus, our human example never used people's false religions to reach them. Jesus encountered several foreigners, like the Roman centurion and the Greek mother who were drawn to Jesus even though they would have been previously exposed to false gods. Jesus is very clear that no one comes to Him unless God "DRAWS" that person to Jesus. If someone desires to lead a person to Jesus, the first step is to pray for God to draw them to Jesus and then ask God what He would like you to do to help. The best way to avoid manmade doctrines and influence from false religions, which may result in a negative response from God, is to simply follow what Jesus teaches - the red letters in most bibles. 2
1. Jn 1:1-14; Ac 17:23
2. Jn 12:49; Jn 14:31; Mt 8:5-13; Mk 7:26-29; Jn 6:44
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