Which Word?

John 1:1-4 reads:

1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. He was with God in the beginning.
3. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

In the first verse of Gospel of John,the "Word" was mentioned . The next three verse proceeds to explain what this "Word".
The "Word" was not perculiar to the Christian faith. In Chinese philosophy, there is also the "Word". The Chinese call the "Word" Dao. This concept of Dao was formulated by Laozi in the Dao De Jing. The Dao literally means the way. In Chinese, both the "Word" (of the Bible, as in all Chinese translation) and Dao is represented by the character "道". Interestingly, when the Jesuit scholars first translated the Dao De Jing, they imbued the Dao with religious significance. However, the Chinese concept of Dao of Heaven (or Tian Dao), unlike the Christian understanding of Dao, there is no connortation of a personal God. Regardless of whether it is the Dao of man, the Dao of nature or the Dao of Heaven, Dao is not about God. Rather, it is a road, the path. Dao has been interpreted differently by many interpretors. Some say it is the cosmic substance before all determination and a unique substance in which yin (阴) and yang (阳) are only modes. However, taken as a metaphysical concet, its meaning remain illusive.

In the Dao De Jing, it is written: All things are produced and nourished by its outflowing operation (de) . They receive their forms according to the nature of each, and are completed according to the circumstances of their condition (51). In other words, Lao Zi sees Dao as eternal and present everywhere. Hmm..., isn't there some similarities here btw what he perceives and what is said in John 1:1? Lao Zi said the dao is the source and origin of all things. In a way, the dao is analogus to logos (of the bible) as the principle which creates order. The difference is that the dao as perceived by Lao Zi is not God.

In Hebrews 1:3 (NIV), we read, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." Is "nourished" the same as "sustaining all things"? Hmm... I think this would be one of the things I'll be thinking about for the next few days! boring? .... ??