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Saint John's account of Christmas is very strict. It comes in one line: “And The Word became flesh And he dwelt among us.” No one mentioned the crèche, or Mary and Joseph, or the shepherds, or the wise men.
Just that simple and fairly abstract statement. But this line, and more importantly, the event it describes, has had an enormous civilizational impact.
What exactly is the “Word” to which the evangelist refers? John tells us In the opening verse of his Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
What became flesh in the Child of Bethlehem was the mind of the Creator, the pattern that gave rise to all recognizable patterns in the universe. (Istock)
What became flesh in the Child of Bethlehem was the mind of the Creator, the pattern that gave rise to all recognizable patterns in the universe. That the world is sealed, in every nook and cranny, with clarity is a function of this metaphysical truth, that “in the beginning” was not chaos or arbitrariness, but precisely. wordlogic, meaning.
All science rests on this mystical assumption of universal clarity, which in turn is a function of the very metaphysics that St. John describes. Accordingly, it is no coincidence that modern physical sciences developed in its context Christian universities Where the doctrine of creation was constantly taught through the Word.
In 1960, theoretical physicist Eugene Wigner wrote an article with the interesting title, “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Physical Sciences.” He noted that modern physics revealed a world that could only be adequately described by the application of complex mathematics. But he wondered why that should be the case. Why should nature be characterized by exquisitely ornate clarity and not just chaos?
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In the course of his brief article, he does not provide a specific answer, but he uses the term “miracle” several times to express the improbability of this situation. Of course, those who have been trained to see the world through Biblical eyes will be no less surprised, for they will know that matter is characterized by mathematics because the Maker of matter is a mathematician: “In the beginning was the Word.”
In his much misunderstood and much maligned speech in Regensburg in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI He insisted that the priority the Gospel gives to Logos opens the door to dialogue between faith and reason, and even between Christianity and other major religions.
If Christ is the incarnation of the divine Word, then a bridge can be built between Christ and any other expression of the Word, whether spiritual, scientific, or cultural. If the Word were the fundamental truth, then something like constructive debate between intellectual opponents could occur. Therefore, how important it is that “in the beginning” there was the Word and not the will.
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In the heart Speech of Pope Benedict XVI It is a criticism of voluntarism, the philosophy that actually prioritizes will over reason. When this point of view is adopted, arbitrariness prevails and controversy must give way to displays of force and, ultimately, to violence. Can anyone doubt that this voluntary attitude is prevalent in our culture today?
Objective truth, which would provide a basis for common conviction, surrenders to the freedom of will of each individual, inevitably leading to an ultimately irresolvable conflict.
Now we must remember the distinctive message of Christmas conveyed by Saint John. The Word is already with God from the beginning, but this is the same Word He became fleshAnd she did it in a very special way.
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The First Word, the Mind of the Creator, the eternal foundation of clarity, was manifested in the form of a child too weak to lift his head, a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This means that the pattern of patterns, which shines through any and all expressions of rationality in the universe, is Self-emptying love.
In the voluntary reading, the overall pattern of reality is power and self-affirmation, but according to the vision of reality conveyed in the Christmas Gospel of St. John, this is dangerous nonsense. In fact, the template upon which the stars, planets, and galaxies are designed is love that gives itself away.
I am fully aware that many readers of these reflections may wonder how all of this fits into the brutal reality of the suffering that seems to surround us on every side. How can Logos and Love be the ultimate reality in a world darkened by evil?
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But evil is always the deprivation of the good, the lack of the perfection that should exist. It is therefore a parasite on the good, which is inevitably less than the good it has given up – which is why its claim to be a fundamental principle of reality should always be ridiculed.
This is why Saint Paul He could say: “Where sin abounded, grace abounded.” This is also why Saint John, who was never blind to the existence of evil, was able to include in his announcement of the Incarnation this affirmation: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
