The only way for us to secure a just, democratic and prosperous future for our society is for the people to nurture faith.
That’s why I’m putting out a call for everyone to believe in the Word. The Word I’m referring to is not necessarily the Bible or any verse, but the Word in the poetic opening of the Gospel of John, which reads
“In the beginning was the Word.” John 1:1.
In this context, the Word is God himself that became Jesus Christ in the flesh. What I’m urging is that people believe in the Word in a more philosophical, spiritual sense that predates the ministry of Jesus. As translated from the original Greek, it is “Logos,” used in various ancient contexts as a divine ordering principle of the universe uniquely accessible to humans through which we can transcend nature.
Logos, or the Word, requires faith because it challenges us to uphold values of universal good that we cannot gather from science or reason alone. There are no scientific laws or evolutionary principles that lead to just and democratic societies. Equality is a radical moral departure from natural human life, which has far more often than not been hierarchical and tribal.
We need to affirm the Logos as a higher truth of what is right for all people — ideals that are at the foundation of democratic societies.
For that, we need to believe in the Word.