If the Apostle John was indeed using "Logos" in the Greek technical philosophical sense (see Section IV below) - even though he didn't explain it - it's reasonable to expect that we could find some statement, even a hint, of that idea somewhere in the writings of John's personal disciples, men who were taught by him personally, who knew him, who understood what he believed. Specifically, we have three authors who were disciples of the apostle John and knew him personally - Polycarp, Ignatius, and Papias. If John were consciously drawing from Greek philosophy in his concept of "logos" then it would not be unreasonable to assume there would be some indication of that in their writings. Bottom line - nothing. Not one single thing. It's very odd that such an important concept would not get passed from teacher to disciple, don't you think? Neither can you find any hint of Logos Christology in Clement of Rome - he knew both Peter and Paul.Read them for yourself if you're interested: Polycarp  -  Ignatius  -  Papias  -  Clement of Rome

 

Important warning note on Ignatius! All the writings of Ignatius have been greatly interpolated. In speaking of the letters of Ignatius the Catholic Encyclopedia says, "...the genuine epistles were greatly interpolated to lend weight to the personal views of its author. For this reason they are incapable of bearing witness to the original form."

 

The Encyclopedia Britannica writes: "In the 4th century these letters were corrupted by the heavy insertions of an interpolator, and the collection was augmented by six letters forged under Ignatius' name."

 

Clayton Jefford, author of Reading the Apostolic Fathers writes: "Unfortunately for modern scholars, however, some of the manuscripts were edited and reshaped by copyists of devout faith who wanted the writings to represent their own theological perspectives or the doctrinal positions of the institutional church. Perhaps the best illustration of this process is found in the letters of Ignatius, which became expanded and corrupted by scribes over the years."

 

I acknowledge that there ARE what I would call "proto-Trinitarian", possibly Arian, statements in Ignatius. They are, however, interpolations. For more info go here.

Additionally, The Martyrdom of Polycarp was written by Christians of Smyrna who witnessed the martyrdom of Polycarp. It was written around 155-160 AD. They were students of Polycarp, John's disciple. No hint of Logos Christology here either.

 

What I said in the paper concerning the lack of Trinitarian polemic material in the New Testament writers I can also say for the disciples of the Apostles: The silence is deafening.

 

NEXT:

Section IV:

Observations on the role of Greek philosophical thought
in the history of Christian theology,
especially as it pertains to John 1.

 

 

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