comperative survey of kalemae in the Quran and logos in Christianity

علوم قرآن و حدیث

Article 4, Volume 44, Issue 1 - Serial Number 88, June 2012   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/naqhs.v44i1.3263

Authors

Manṣūr Mu‘tamidī; vali ‘Abdī^*

Abstract

Logos (λογος) is one of the significant concepts in most of the philosophical and religious schools. This notion is noticed in the ancient Greek philosophy, Old Testament, and among the Jewish Filon and Christianity. In Christianity, Jesus (A.S.) and Logos are taken as identical. On the other hand, the “word” Logos is called
God. With respect to this issue, in the first place there is willy-nilly a similarity between the two religions of Christianity and Islam concerning Logos/Word. However, the Muslim exegetes, in the verses that refer to Jesus (A.S.) as Word, have interpreted it as kun (be) and have repudiated him of any divine and eternal attributes. However, Logos in Christianity is always presumed to be eternal and divine and this is one of the major and fundamental discrepancies in Christianity and Islam concerning Logos/Word.

Keywords

the Qur’ān; Logos; Greek philosophy; Old Testament; Filon