InthewritingsofJustinMartyrJesusisforthefirsttimeidentifiedwiththePhilonianLogosor“WordofGod。“AccordingtoJustin，animpassableabyssexistsbetweentheInfiniteDeityandtheFiniteWorld；theonecannotactupontheother；purespiritcannotcontaminateitselfbycontactwithimpurematter。Tomeetthisdifficulty，GodevolvesfromhimselfasecondaryGod，theLogos，——yetwithoutdiminishinghimselfanymorethanaflameisdiminishedwhenitgivesbirthtoasecondflame。Thusgenerated，likelightbegottenoflightlumendelumine，theLogoscreatestheworld，inspirestheancientprophetswiththeirdivinerevelations，andfinallyrevealshimselftomankindinthepersonofChrist。YetJustinsedulouslyguardshimselfagainstditheism，insistingfrequentlyandemphaticallyupontheimmeasurableinferiorityoftheLogosascomparedwiththeactualGodgroontwsqeos。
WehaveherereachedverynearlytheultimatephaseofNewTestamentspeculationconcerningJesus。ThedoctrinesenunciatedbyJustinbecameeventually，withslightmodification，theofficialdoctrinesoftheChurch；yetbeforetheycouldthusbereceived，somefurtherelaborationwasneeded。Thepre-existingLogos-ChristofJustinwasnolongerthehumanMessiahofthefirstandthirdgospels，bornofawoman，inspiredbythedivinePneuma，andtemptedbytheDevil。TherewasdangerthatChristologicspeculationmightbreakquiteloosefromhistorictradition，andpassintothemetaphysicalextremeofDocetism。
Hadthiscometopass，theremightperhapshavebeenafatalschismintheChurch。TraditionstillremainedEbionitish；dogmahadbecomedecidedlyGnostic；howwerethetwotobemouldedintoharmonywitheachother？Suchwastheproblemwhichpresenteditselftotheauthorofthefourthgospel
Revilleobserves，“ifthedoctrineoftheLogoswerereallytobeappliedtothepersonofJesus，itwasnecessarytoremodeltheevangelicalhistory。“Traditionmustbemouldedsoastofitthedogma，butthedogmamustberestrainedbytraditionfromrunningintoDoceticextravagance。Itmustbeshownhistoricallyhow“theWordbecameflesh“anddweltonearthJohni。14，howthedeedsofJesusofNazarethwerethedeedsoftheincarnateLogos，inwhomwasexhibitedthepleromaorfulnessofthedivineattributes。Theauthorofthefourthgospelis，likeJustin，aPhilonianGnostic；buthediffersfromJustininhisboldandskilfultreatmentofthetraditionalmaterialssuppliedbytheearliergospels。TheprocessofdevelopmentinthetheoriesandpurposesofJesus，whichcanbetracedthroughouttheMessianicdescriptionsofthefirstgospel，isentirelyobliteratedinthefourth。HereJesusappearsattheoutsetasthecreatoroftheworld，descendedfromhisglory，butdestinedsoontobereinstated。Thetitle“SonofMan“haslostitsoriginalsignificance，andbecomesynonymouswith“SonofGod。“Thetemptation，thetransfiguration，thesceneinGethsemane，areomitted，andforthelatterissubstitutedaPhilonianprayer。
Nevertheless，theauthorcarefullyavoidstheextremesofDocetismorditheism。NotonlydoesherepresentthehumanlifeofJesusasreal，andhisdeathasatrulyphysicaldeath，buthedistinctlyassertstheinferiorityoftheSontotheFatherJohnxiv。28。Indeed，asM。Revillewellobserves，itispartoftheverynotionoftheLogosthatitshouldbeimperfectrelativelytotheabsoluteGod；sinceitisonlyitsrelativeimperfectionwhichallowsittosustainrelationstotheworldandtomenwhichareincompatiblewithabsoluteperfection，fromthePhilonianpointofview。TheAthanasiandoctrineoftheTrinityfindsnosupportinthefourthgospel，anymorethanintheearlierbookscollectedintheNewTestament。