denman, wonderful explanation of what YOU understand the word "logos" to mean but I asked how was the word "logos" translated for you. I was always interested in this word as it has a compound meaning -which you have so eloquently acknowledged. Most translators have it as, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with god..." which is only half the meaning because "logos" also means reason, or cause, as in "logical" etc. So, that passage in St John ought, IMO, translated as, "in the beginning was the reason (or a cause) and this reason was with god..." ie. Only god knows what the reason was from creating the universe. There are many such compound words in I'd say pretty much every language -I can think of a couple in Japanese- and quite frequently when the translator does not know this or does not know which meaning to choose, grabs one and "runs with it." Somehow this "word" meaning has stuck in the english text. Thanks for bothering to answer, mate.
