The Logos in Late Antiquity

Abstract

This paper presents a synthetic narrative of different concepts of logos in Late Antiquity. The Stoic distinction between Logos prophorikos and Logos endiathetos, connected with the identification of logos with propositional thought, is contrasted with the more normal (and Neoplatonic) understanding which implies the inferiority of the logos itself to that of which it is the logos. This difference is important if we are to grasp the path Christian thought had to take to overcome subordinationism. A comparison with the logos in Philo is important in this regard since his version required modification to be applied by Christians to be Son of God. That modification had repercussions for ethics and cosmology. The problems discussed in this paper indicate the importance of Pope Be