In today’s post I am going to begin discussing the symbolic meaning between the mythological story of Prometheus and some of our Biblical characters and events. While they seem quite different, I hope to show you this is only because they have been misunderstood in their exoteric, or outward interpretations. However, esoterically they reveal the same divine truth about the nature of the human experience. Of course religious doctrine refuses such an interpretation, but this reveals the very limited thought of religious doctrine itself. I’ll let you be the judge after the article, and I hope to hear your opinions in the comment section when this series is finished.
This series will be long and quite in depth in esoteric concepts. I will have to do this in order to lay the proper foundation. So we will begin by discussing many Biblical concepts before we get to our story of Prometheus later on in the series, but if you are patient with me I believe the work of reading and carefully dissecting will be worth it for you. This post will focus specifically on the idea of the logos, with the following post more focused on the story of Prometheus alongside some of the Biblical characters. Ultimately, we are going to end up unveiling the correlation between Christ and Prometheus as the logos, or the personification of God’s wisdom through emenation (creation) as divine thought. We will explore many other themes, such as reincarnation in both the Prometheus story (where it is clearly indicated) and the Bible (where it is hinted).
As a side note, I want to propose a little riddle for you before I begin this post. The answer will be revealed at the end of this series, where I hope you will experience an “aha” moment that will connect with all of the information below. Here’s the riddle:
Can an omnipotent being (God) create a rock that would be too heavy for even him to lift?
Have fun with the riddle. That’s what it’s meant for. It’s an old riddle, but don’t look it up if you aren’t familiar with it. Just let your mind contemplate it. Feel free to comment below before I reveal the answer that is connected to the information presented below and throughout the series 🙂
What is the Logos?
In Greek, the word logos carries the idea of reason and speech, and while this is true, it is only its lower meaning. It’s higher meaning is the divine outpouring of life (spirit) in form (matter) through man’s (and the universe’s) spiritual evolutionary journey. In its lower sense, it manifests in man as desire, intellect, and action upon impulse. In it’s higher sense, it expresses true free will, wisdom, and action through love.
The first chapter of the John’s Gospel poetically states:
“In him was life; and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4).
The logos, or this “life / light,” is the creative energy and expression of motion and life throughout all the cosmos. The writer of Acts, in quoting a poem written by an Athenian to Zeus, has Paul state about this about Christ:
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:28).
This reflects Paul’s assertion that the logos is not limited to one being, but that all humans have their life, their movement, and their very being itself because we are all the offspring of the logos.
Although the history of the word logos from its first use by Heraclitus around 500 B.C. is confused by much scholarly opinion, it can be simplified by quoting Blavatsky:
[The logos is] “The manifested deity with every nation and people; the outward expression, or the cause of the effect which is ever concealed.”
Now we can understand why the Apostle Paul chose to quote a pagan Greek poet who dedicated an idea of the logos to Zues to explain his concept of Jesus Christ to the Athenians; he was giving them a philosophical concept they would already be familiar with. We can imagine this scene where Paul speaks from Mars Hill to the Athenians to introduce them to his idea of Christ Jesus, the personification of the logos in man in its fullness of potential, as something they themselves could express, not just build statues to as an ideal to worship. They, too, had the ability to express a higher principle within them. Paul further reflects this in Colossians 1:26-27:
“Even the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of this mystery among the gentiles; which is CHRIST IN YOU, you’re hope of glory.”
I purposely capitalize the important part of that sentence. The Athenians sought God outwardly, but Paul sends them inwardly, where Jesus stated the Kingdom of God is (Luke 17:21).
And what is this mystery, this hidden knowledge? It is that Christ Jesus, the potential expression of the logos, can be made manifest through man from the inside out, rather than worship God from the outside in. It has been hidden from the intellect, but has been the very source (unknown to most) that it is the very source of the intellect and mind itself, as well as the body, soul, and every part and parcel of the cosmos, whether the physical and visible plane of materiality, or the invisible aspects of reality.
Returning to Blavatsky’s statement, when she states that the logos is the manifested deity with every nation and people, she is hinting at the fact that this is true in it’s exoteric expression, as when she states, “the outward expression” through mythology and religious culture. But like Paul, she tells us its true meaning, and even expands upon it as in her concept of the three logoi (as in the trinity) as being:
“…the personified symbols of three stages of spiritual evolution.”
Now let’s expound upon this idea of the logos a little more. Let’s get to the real heart and soul of it, it’s all encompassing ONE feature. Although the writer of the Gospel of John, and many other Greek philosophers chose to write about the logos in its positive aspects as identified through deity such as the philosophical concept of Christ, we have to understand that it is the life animating principle which can also reveal itself to what we as humans might consider as negative, or evil. Consider Isaiah’s statement:
“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:7).
The hebrew word for “evil” might better be interpreted as calamity, or adversity. What the author is telling us is that the one animating principle unfolds in manifestation through polar opposites of spirit and matter. This doesn’t mean that a conscious being created evil. It means that the animating principle of all life, depending on the vessel of its expression, can be the cause of adversity, calamity, or even that which we humans consider to be “evil.” In the greater picture, the logos expresses itself in different stages of spiritual evolution as shown in the Hebrew scriptures. Does not even the child, being raised by parents, go through stages after birth from selfishness and expressing desire where everything is only about them before they can expand their world view of themselves vs. others? Of course. The development of humanity as a whole does this as well on a much grander scale. And the different characters of the Bible symbolize this spiritual evolution of conscious expression, which will also be shown in the story of Prometheus. For a man or woman who lives by his or her impulses and desires only, such as presented to us by Cain in the Bible, this expression is selfish, separated from God, and is completely personal, egoic, and all about “me.” But it is still the logos which gives the power of expression even to this, although we intellectualize this idea as “evil.” But even Job, who knew God only by the hearing of him, did not come into a personal relationship of KNOWING until he had gone through the calamity and adversity presented to him in the form of an adversary. In the grander scale, pain and suffering is part of this process. This is also why the Apostle James is stated as saying:
“…count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work…” (James 1:1-3).
Evil and peace can be expressed through man, as man has two natures. Perhaps we can simplify it in this way: In the first Adam, the one that is earthy, or of the flesh, it (logos) is expressed through desire, intelligence (reason and intellect), and reactive impulse. But through Jesus Christ, the second Adam, it is expressed through will as opposed to desire, wisdom as opposed to lower intellect, and action as opposed to action from reaction. Thus the expression of the logos can be shown as thus:
Higher nature: will, wisdom, action (the second Adam or Jesus Christ, the higher self manifested ).
Lower nature: desire, intellect, reaction (the first Adam or humankind in the lower nature).
Thus the logos is the source of all life. It is a philosophical concept or principle, not a person or personality in and of itself. As such, when it is expressed through the lower desire nature, this expression is limited, and we can echo this in Paul’s statement as the “natural man.” When it is expressed through the higher nature, such as the man presented to us in the Gospels as Jesus Christ, (the purified man in body and soul), it begins and finishes as the expression of absolute wisdom / love.
This is taught in the Gospel of John when the writer states:
“And the Word (logos) was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” (John 1:14). The Jesus of the Gospels becomes the one who personifies the logos as manifested through the higher self in the body of flesh.
For those who are having trouble with the fact that the logos itself is a power, and not a person, we can easily rectify it with a few other scriptural ideas.
Before the logos became flesh, it was God and was with God. What does this mean? Traditional Christian doctrine teaches that this was the second person of the trinity, who came down spiritually in the body of a man born from a virgin. This idea evolved over time in the early church through many councils of debate and intellectual discourse, and has been explained in a myriad of ways. But besides the very obvious fact that any person or being would be limited in nature by being that “person” or that “being” in the first place (a human attribute that is limited simply because it is a definition of something, and the act of defining something is a limitation in itself), and excludes the idea that the logos is a personal being. The logos is beyond both Being and non-Being, and is neither, something the human intellect cannot truly cognize. Remember, the scripture tells us that no-thing was made that was not made through the logos. That means every “thing” that was made, or created, was done so through the power and emanation of the logos, even man’s lower nature which commits sin, or the act of living in separation from God.
Now we also have to consider the very important scripture that Christ was crucified since the foundation of the world. Again, exoteric religion has taught us that God the Father had the idea in his mind since he created the world that he would send his son at the appointed time in history to die for our sins. But is this idea based on a wrong interpretation of scripture? If everything that was made is only possible through the expression of the logos, then wouldn’t this indicate, quite literally, that the logos was crucified on the physical plane of matter since the first unfoldment of that which is beyond being and non-being came into manifested existence? Even the tiniest fundamental particle of anything that we could call some “thing,” whether at atom or a quark or a vibrating vortex of energy? As it states in the book of Revelation, “…the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world.”
What does slain from the world’s foundation really mean?
It more accurately means that the logos, pure spirit, inhabited a limited body at the commencement of creation (not just 2,000 years ago), but from spirit’s first emenation into the realm of being. This is the mystery that Paul spoke hidden for ages from everyone but the saints. The true meaning of the saint is one who is in accordance with the divine law of nature, and works in knowledge accordance with it.
I will end this first part here. In the next post we will get into the good stuff, which will show you the uncanny relationships between Prometheus’ story and that of many of the Biblical characters, which is a little mind-blowing if it’s something you haven’t been exposed to, or never thought about before. But in conclusion I would like to mention that the scholar’s translation into English of the Greek term logos is quite a poor translation. It came about from Greek to the Latin translation with the term, “Verbum,” and then from Verbum in the Latin to “Word” in English. This translation process has caused much confusion. The latin word “Verbum” indicates something entirely removed from the original Greek meaning. When the Greeks used the term logos thousands of years ago, they were referring to a principle intelligence (not human intellect) that was the underlying structure and order to the entire cosmos, both unspoken and spoken. Unspoken in the sense that it transcends even human thought, and by spoken that it became manifested, much like a thought in the human mind becomes the word when it is manifested through spoken language from potential to actual. We will discuss more in the next post.
Blessings.
Typo in last sentence. Love the content.
Perhaps some references would be nice as a fact-check, for us skeptical about ttransforming our life long literal interpretations of the bible.
That said, I am finding the spiritual interpretation much more useful in day to day life, than my younger literial ideas.
Something is wrong with the last sentence of this (below) paragraph.
“”The logos, or this “life / light,” is the creative energy and expression of motion and life throughout all the cosmos. The writer of Acts, in quoting a poem written by an Athenian to Zeus, has Paul state about this about Christ:”””
Troy…
Thanks for your comment. I will give a few references to begin with, but before I do, choosing to hold to the literal is a personal choice. I know of many mystics who choose this way of belief, which I think is fine, as long as that person also goes to the spiritual meaning and doesn’t get stuck in a literal mindset. For myself, I have come to believe that myth is more powerful than any literal word can be, because symbol ls can more accurately express spiritual concepts which the natural world can only hint at. Symbols, while not able either to convey complete divine truths, are the much better vehicle, which is why I believe the Bible is all symbol.
That being said, read Psalms 78:2 carefully, and then finish the entire Psalm to understand what is the parable and “dark saying.” Dark sayings were never meant to be literal, but to teach spiritual principles which are beneath the literal text. This was done in many ancient scriptures, which we will cover more in the next posts to this series. Paul also directly tells us in Galatians chapter 4 that the Abrahamic story with his wives and sons are an allegory, and although this can be argued a few different ways, Psalms 78:2, in my opinion, cannot.
Christ is not the “potential” expression if the Logos. Christ is the Logos. Hopefully this is a typo… and not your theology .
“”And what is this mystery, this hidden knowledge? It is that Christ, the potential expression of the logos, can be made manifest through man from the inside out, rather than worship God from the outside in. It has been hidden from the intellect, but has been the very source (unknown to most) that it is the very source of the intellect and mind itself, as well as the body, soul, and every part and parcel of the cosmos, whether the physical and visible plane of materiality, or the invisible aspects of reality.””
Troy,
Nice catch. Meant “Christ Jesus,” as Jesus has to go through the proper initiations, as an example for us, which is meant by all humanity. His baptism represents the first initiation, gaining certain abilities, from then which he is driven by the spirit to be tempted of whether those abilities are used for himself or in sacrifice to mankind. Of course his temptation in the desert is proves his self sacrifice, and he becomes the worthy vessel as the Christ fully manifested.
Thanks.
Logos in John 1:1-4 appear to be consciousness. God is a higher form of energy. Consciousness in us couldn’t evolve until our brains reached a point where we came to have an understanding of self and community. Initially, we were a community. But somewhere in our human evolution, we became aware of our individuality and consciousness and our place in that group. From that point on, everything else you’ve mentioned has happened.
“Christ” was the consciousness that occurred in Jesus. The kingdom of God sayings in the NT all suggest an awareness of being a part of the collective consciousness and human community.
Do we live in a universe that itself has a consciousness of which we are all a part? From what we know about the quantum universe, it would appear that we area part of a cosmic-collective consciousness that has many ways to express this awareness.
In the 1950s, Protestant theologians were talking about the “Christ consciousness.”
David…
Great comment. I will speak more on this later in the series. Not only is the beginning of John’s Gospel speaking of the Logos which allows consciousness, but so does Genesis 1:3, which John mirrors. We will see some of this with Prometheus as well.
Hi Josh:
Thanks for another great write-up. To me, the Logos is probably the single most important concept in Scripture, as it appears to define the Christ, the one in whom we “live and move, and have our being.” I see the Logos as the “two-edged sword” often spoken of in the Bible with reference to the Christ. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” (of which the word “sword” is a biblical symbol) says Proverbs.
I believe it is this tongue that is the expression of the Logos. As you so eloquently put it, this Logos has a higher and a lower expression. The lower expression is that of death, while the higher one is that of life. Learning how to use this “vessel” (the tongue) properly is in truth the difference between life and death (spiritually, of course). We bear “fruit” through the Logos within us (the “Word” or the “tongue”) (Prov. 18:20; Is. 57:19; Heb. 13:15).
I believe it is impossible to truly understand the concept of the Logos in its intended meaning, without understanding, as you accentuate in this article, that this Logos is a power that dwells within us. We are the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16); we are the house of God (Heb. 3:6); and we, therefore, are the Church of God (1 Tim. 3:15). All of this points to the fact of Christ’s dwelling in us, and “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
Great article.
Paul, thanks for this comment and additional information.
I like your idea of expressing the lower and higher Logos through the life or death of the tongue. I would even expand this idea back to the scripture that God creates both evil and good, as their is a parallel. Great comment and more for us to think about!
Hi Josh,
already chewing a week on these bones. I had the taste of some of the marrow, but still work in progress.
I have some trouble with higher and lower consciousness. For me it is not a linear system. Imo all is contained in all. The other things that I am studying are the cycles described but the travels of Horus and Osiris. Christ consciousness is (in my opinion) not the end goal, it is a never ending story. By connecting to Sophia we are assured of a deve!oping consciousness that endures as long Sophia endures.
Hi Leo…
It is difficult to wrap our heads around these symbols sometimes. I struggle with it myself. Higher and lower consciousness is just a way of explanation for the mind to grasp. In reality, you are correct, they are one in the same, but the expression of it becoming dual is an apt way of explaining why the flesh is at war with the spirit, how the absolute emanated correction and why things are the way the they are.
Christ consciousness is certainly not the end goal. But it is the goal to achieve while in a physical body through many incarnations, in my opinion. We cannot even imagine what millions of years from now will mean for humanity in higher realities with the spiritual, psychic, and intellectual powers mankind might achieve. Something else rather interesting that I have began considering lately is the concept of Artificial Intelligence making are all decisions for us, which seems to be where world governments are heading. I have no idea of those kinds of implications for the future of humanity.
Hi Josh,
Thank you for this really good article adding further clarifications so clearly to the term Logos, aided by some wonderful scriptures.
Yes, it’s true as you say, man can use the logos for either good or evil, as witnessed by the atrocities of some on innocent people throughout the ages in the form of unnecessary wars and acts of repression to merely satisfy their natural-man hunger for power and wealth.
In your comment to Leo’s really interesting comment, (which also has bearing on the level of logos expression) you state: “Christ consciousness is certainly not the end goal. But it is the goal to achieve while in a physical body through many incarnations, in my opinion”.
If I may add some additional insight, Josh, on these poignant points.
Bhagavad-Gita chapter 6-45 states:
“But the yogi who strives with zeal, purified of all sin and perfected through many rebirths, thereupon reaches the transcendent goal”.
This term ‘many rebirths’ has been misinterpreted over the years. ‘Rebirth’, as interpreted in the Gita, is not referring to many physical ‘womb’ rebirths as such.
Let us consider what actually happens in meditation. In meditation the individual ceases to exist — one becomes pure Existence. On coming out from this deep meditation, individual life is regained. “Birth”, in this instance, means coming out of meditation and regaining of individual existence: in other words, we’re birthed anew through each meditation.
Thus the process of soul purification is carried on through many ‘births’ while seated on our kitchen chair: An alternating process of losing one’s lower-self and regaining individuality as higher-self consciousness, when progress in establishing Cosmic or Christ consciousness permanently is brought about.
After regaining individual status, we then must live this gained higher-self standard through the nervous system until our next meditation, where individual identity again ceases to exist (in meditation) for the purpose of gaining further purification, thereby spiritual growth expansion unto eternal Pure consciousness.
But, of course, if someone ‘misses the mark’ — meaning fails to complete their purification in this lifetime — then yes, they reincarnate and resume exactly from their previously gained level of consciousness to finally reach the goal of God-consciousness.
Thus the human life-journey is all about regular meditation ‘practice’ followed by spiritual expression, not only to benefit ourselves, but for the benefit of those still in spiritual ignorance, and, of course, the planet. This process, in time, leads to soul liberation and Unity in God-consciousness – which state is beyond cosmic consciousness, but, seamlessly achieved through living our gained cosmic consciousness.
Thus the stages of human soul evolution are from waking/deep sleep/dreaming consciousness or lower logos or natural man, to Cosmic or Christ consciousness (spiritual awareness) then ultimately Unity in God consciousness.
So, yes, Josh, you’re correct that Christ-consciousness is not the ultimate level but rather God-consciousness. Reaching God-consciousness is what this human life journey is all about and why many ‘births’ of meditational consciousness are required to decontaminate and prepare the soul for such a divine Union.
Thus God-consciousness is achievable in one conscious lifetime consequent of many meditational ‘rebirths’.
Expressing this ‘rebirth’ level of consciousness to the world then becomes imperative. This allows for each of us to become channels of healing as witnessed by the ‘great lights’, male and female, in all generations and denominations: Saints who graced this planet with their joyful healing presence, and, by so doing, developed their own consciousness from human to cosmic thus Unity unto God-consciousness — the ultimate of human evolution.
On your point about ‘implications for the future of humanity’.
As I see it, Josh, with Thought said to travel thousands of milers faster than the speed of light, and, with the rapid shift globally to spiritual heart-centered consciousness, I see future humanity interacting with the universe more practically through this divine Thought speed realm. This fits in with what you state in your article:
“The true meaning of the saint is one who is in accordance with the divine law of nature, and works in knowledge accordance with it”. Beautiful!
Thus unto these God-endowed Saints shall we trust humanity going forward.
Thanks again, Josh, for another great article.
Blessings
Raymond,
Thanks for taking the time to write such a meaningful comment. You always provide a lot of additional points to think about and consider.
You know, I think Paul’s statements about judging angels and the like has more of a literal truth to it than we sometimes realize.
He who is faithful with little is given much. In this present stage of our spiritual evolution we are given chances to care for maybe a pet as a child, as we grow we are given families, and hopefully, we come to care for our communities which is an ever growing sphere as we learn to become more selfless and be an example. In so many ways even nature teaches us we are a collective. As consciousness expands, our sphere of influence to care for a greater collective also expands. I certainly do not believe all that ends here on our tiny planet floating in the cosmos. There is very little (although hinted at) in many ancient scriptures and wisdom sayings on this matter, but I know more of this was taught in the inner circles of ancient mystery schools.
As we are creators and caretakers on this small globe compared to the vastness of the cosmos, I can only imagine what lies ahead.
At any rate, very interesting things to ponder.