There are many other terms, but I will now only mention two of these interpretative concepts: KURIOS, i. e., Lord. This is adequate because of its use in the Old Testament, where Divine power is expressed in terms of this word. At the same time it is inadequate because the kurioi the lords, were the mystery gods, and Jesus was pictured concretely in a finite being. It was adequate because the mystery gods were objects of mystical union; and Jesus, also – -especially for Paul was an object of being in Christ (en Christo), in the power and holiness and fear of his Being.
Finally the concept logos, which is the most important one for the development of theology. This term had been developed in Greek and Jewish thinking. It is adequate insofar as it expressed the universal self-manifestation of God in all forms of reality. It is in Greek philosophy and Jewish symbolism the cosmic principle of creation. But at the same time it is inadequate because the logos is the universal principle, while Jesus is a concrete reality. It is a concrete personal life, which is described in these terms. And this inadequacy is expressed in the great paradox of Christianity: the logos became f lesh. In this expression you have a perfect example of everything I said to you today, namely a perfect example of using a term (logos) with all the connotations of the past, and at the same time transforming this meaning not denying it or removing it from its original character, and bringing in the Christian message that this universal logos became f lesh, an idea which could never have been directly derived from Greek thinking. Therefore the Fathers again and again emphasized that the doctrine of the logos is universal the Greek philosophers have it, as do the Christians but one thing is not universal, and is peculiarly Christian: the logos became f lesh in a personal life.
