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Logos Spermatikos
The seminal Word — the presence of the Logos in all rational beings; developed by Justin Martyr.
Logos spermatikos (seminal word) is St. Justin Martyr's term for the presence of the divine Logos in all rational beings: every person who has ever lived in accordance with reason has participated, however partially, in the eternal Word. This explains why pre-Christian philosophers like Socrates and Heraclitus could attain glimpses of truth: they were living according to the Logos who was present in them as the seed (sperma) of reason. The full manifestation of the Logos is the Incarnation; the seminal Logos is its anticipation in all of creation.