Why John says Word rather than Son
Basil is answering the question of what kind of “word” was in the beginning, and now explains why the Evangelist chose the name Word for the only Son.
But the word “word” carries a double meaning. One kind is the word spoken aloud, which perishes in the air as soon as it is uttered. The other is the inward word, dwelling in our hearts—the conceptual word. And there is yet another, the word of skill. Take care that the homonymy of the sound never deceives you. For how could the human word have been in the beginning, when the human being received the beginning of his generation somewhere far below? Before the human being came the wild beasts; before the human being came the cattle, all the creeping things, everything that walks on land and everything that lives in water, the birds of heaven, the stars, the sun, the moon, the plants, the seeds, the earth, the sea, the sky. So the human word was not in the beginning—and neither was the word of angels. For every creature is lower than the ages, having received the beginning of its being from the Creator. And the word in the heart is itself younger than each of the things thought. But hear the word in a manner worthy of God. For when he speaks to you about the only Son, he called him Word. Just as he will shortly say “light” and “life” and “resurrection,” and when you hear “light” you do not sink down to this light perceived by the senses and visible to the eyes, and when you hear “life” you do not think of this common life that even the irrational animals live—so too, when you hear “Word,” guard yourself lest through the weakness of your understanding you be dragged down to lowly and humble thoughts. Search out the meaning of the saying. Why “Word”? So that it might be shown that he came forth from the mind. Why “Word”? Because without passion he was begotten. Why “Word”? Because he is the image of the one who begot him, showing the whole begetter in himself, dividing off nothing from there, and existing complete in himself—just as our own word images forth our whole thought. For what we have conceived in the heart, that we bring forth in speech, and what is spoken is a representation of the thought in the heart. For out of the abundance of the heart the word is brought forth. Our heart is like a spring, and the word brought forth is like a channel flowing from that spring. What flows away is as much as what first rises up; and what is hidden is as much as what appears. He said “Word,” then, to present to you the generation of the Father without passion, to proclaim to you the complete existence of the Son, and through these things to indicate the timeless union of the Son with the Father. For our own word is the offspring of the mind, begotten without passion: it is not cut, it is not divided, it does not flow away. Rather, the mind remains whole in its own constitution and brings forth the whole word, complete and finished; and the word, having come forth, contains in itself all the power of the mind that begot it. Take from the sound of the word “word,” then, as much as is reverent for the theology of the only Son; whatever you find incongruous and appearing out of place, reject it and pass beyond it by every means. “In the beginning was the Word.” If he had said, “In the beginning was the Son,” the thought of passion would have entered with the title “Son.”
Greek
Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦ λόγου διπλῆ τίς ἐστιν ἔννοια. Ὁ μὲν γάρ τίς ἐστιν ὁ διὰ τῆς φωνῆς προφερόμενος, οὗτος ὁ μετὰ τὸ προενεχθῆναι τῷ ἀέρι ἐναπολλύμενος· ὁ δέ τίς ἐστιν ὁ ἐνδιάθετος, ἐνυπάρχων ἡμῶν ταῖς καρδίαις· ὁ ἐννοηματικός. Καὶ ἄλλος, ὁ τεχνικὸς λόγος. Ὅρα μή ποτέ σε παρακρούσηται τὸ ὁμώνυμον τῆς φωνῆς. Πῶς γὰρ ἦν ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ ἀνθρώπινος λόγος, τοῦ ἀνθρώ που κάτω που λαβόντος τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς γενέσεως; Πρὸ ἀνθρώπου θηρία· πρὸ ἀνθρώπου κτήνη, τὰ ἑρπετὰ πάντα· ὅσα χερσαῖα, καὶ ὅσα ἔνυδρα, πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἀστέρες, ἥλιος, σελήνη, βοτάναι, σπέρ ματα, γῆ, θάλαττα, οὐρανός. Οὐ τοίνυν ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ ἀνθρώπινος λόγος, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ὁ τῶν ἀγγέλων. Πᾶσα γὰρ ἡ κτίσις κατωτέρα τῶν αἰώνων ἐστὶ, τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ εἶναι λαβοῦσα παρὰ τοῦ κτίσαντος. Ὁ δὲ ἐν καρ δίᾳ λόγος, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑκάστου τῶν νοηθέντων ἐστὶ νεώτερος. Ἀλλ' ἄκουε τοῦ λόγου θεοπρεπῶς. Περὶ γὰρ τοῦ Μονογενοῦς διαλεγόμενός σοι, Λόγον εἶπεν αὐτόν. Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ φῶς μετ' ὀλίγον ἐρεῖ, καὶ ζωὴν, καὶ ἀνάστασιν, καὶ οὔτε φῶς ἀκούσας, ἐπὶ τὸ αἰσθητὸν τοῦτο καὶ ὀφθαλμοῖς ὁρατὸν καταφέρῃ, οὔτε ζωὴν ἀκούσας, τὴν κοινὴν ταύτην νοεῖς, ἣν καὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῇ· οὕτω καὶ Λόγον ἀκούων, φύλαξαι μήποτε τῇ σῇ ἀσθενείᾳ τῆς διανοίας πρὸς χαμαιζήλους καὶ ταπεινὰς διανοίας ὑπενεχθῇς. Ἀλλ' ἐρεύνα τὴν διά νοιαν τοῦ ῥήματος. Διὰ τί Λόγος; Ἵνα δειχθῇ, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ νοῦ προῆλθε. Διὰ τί Λόγος; Ὅτι ἀπαθῶς ἐγεννήθη. Διὰ τί Λόγος; Ὅτι εἰκὼν τοῦ γεννήσαντος, ὅλον ἐν ἑαυτῷ δεικνὺς τὸν γεννήσαντα, οὐδὲν ἐκεῖθεν ἀπομερίσας, καὶ τέλειος ὑπάρχων καθ' ἑαυ τόν· ὡς καὶ ὁ ἡμέτερος λόγος ὅλην ἡμῶν ἀπεικονίζει τὴν ἔννοιαν. Ἃ γὰρ κατὰ καρδίαν ἐνενοήσαμεν, ταῦτα τῷ ῥήματι προηνέγκαμεν, καὶ ἔστι τοῦ ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ νοήματος ἀπεικόνισμα τὸ λαλούμενον. Ἐκ γὰρ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας ὁ λόγος προφέρεται. Καὶ ἔστιν ἡ μὲν καρδία ἡμῶν οἷον πηγή τις, ὁ δὲ προφερόμενος λόγος οἷον ὁλκός τις ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς ταύτης ῥέων. Τοσοῦτον οὖν τὸ ἀποῤῥέον, ὅσον τὸ πρώτως ἀναφερόμενον· καὶ οἷον τὸ κεκρυμμένον, τοσοῦτον καὶ τὸ φαινόμενον. Λόγον οὖν εἶπεν, ἵνα τὴν ἀπαθῆ σοι γέννησιν τοῦ Πατρὸς παραστήσῃ, καὶ τὴν τελείαν ὕπαρξίν σοι τοῦ Υἱοῦ θεολογήσῃ, καὶ τὴν ἄχρονον συνάφειαν τοῦ Υἱοῦ πρὸς Πατέρα διὰ τούτων ἐνδείξηται. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἡμέτερος λόγος τοῦ νοῦ γέννημα, ἀπαθῶς γεννώμενος· οὔτε γὰρ τέμνε ται, οὔτε μερίζεται, οὔτε ῥέει· ἀλλὰ μένων ὅλος ὁ νοῦς ἐν τῇ ἰδίᾳ συστάσει, ὅλον τὸν λόγον καὶ ἀπηρτισμένον ὑφίστησι· καὶ προελθὼν ὁ λόγος, πᾶσαν τοῦ γεννήσαντος νοῦ τὴν δύναμιν ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιέχει. Ὅσον οὖν εὐσεβὲς, τοσοῦτον λαβὼν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Μονογενοῦς θεολογίαν ἐκ τῆς τοῦ λόγου φωνῆς· ὅπερ ἂν εὕρῃς ἀπεμφαῖνον καὶ ἀνάρμοστον φαινό μενον, τοῦτο παραίτησαι, καὶ ὑπέρβηθι μηχανῇ πάσῃ. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος. Εἰ δὲ εἶπεν· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Υἱὸς, τῇ προσηγορίᾳ τοῦ Υἱοῦ συνεισῆλθεν ἄν σοι ἡ περὶ τοῦ πάθους ἔννοια.