No logos
Bishop John Keenan’s claim that “we all know that logos means reason” (“Science and belief are not exclusive”, Friends of The Scotsman, 12 May) is a bit optimistic; I doubt that many know what it means while studious Christians may believe that it means “word” as translated in John’s Gospel.
Originally the word logos meant “a ground”, “a plea”, “an opinion”, “an expectation”, “word”, “speech”, “account”, “to reason” but to ancient philosophers it became a technical term for a principle of order and knowledge or simply the way in which an inward thought is expressed: a word as embodying a conception or idea.
The latter was probably John’s intention. So in no way do logos mean “reason” There is nothing reasonable about Christianity, which is why science and religion remain incompatible.
Steuart Campbell
Dovecot Loan