Chap. IX.—Of the Word of God.
But the Greeks speak of Him as the
Logos
,
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more befittingly than we do as the word, or speech: for
Logos
signifies both speech and reason, inasmuch as He is both the voice and the wisdom of God. And of this divine speech not even the philosophers were ignorant, since
Zeno
represents the
Logos
as the arranger of the established order of things, and the framer of the universe: whom also He calls Fate, and the necessity of things, and God, and the soul of
Jupiter
, in accordance with the custom, indeed, by which they are wont to regard
Jupiter
as God. But the words are no obstacle, since the sentiment is in agreement with the truth. For it is the spirit of God which he named the soul of
Jupiter
. For
Trismegistus
, who by some means or other searched into almost all truth, often described the excellence and majesty of the word, as the instance before mentioned declares, in which he acknowledges that there is an ineffable and sacred speech, the relation of which exceeds the measure of man’s ability. I have spoken briefly, as I have been able, concerning the first nativity. Now I must more fully discuss the second, since this is the subject most controverted, that we may hold forth the light of understanding to those who desire to know the truth.
554
λο
́
γος
.