Logos and Religion

Probably the best-known use of the term 'logos' in a religious context is the apostle John's assertion that 'Christ is the logos', with 'logos' meaning 'word'.  However, preceding that thesis by several centuries, by e. g. Heraclitus and the Stoics, is the use of it as connoting 'rational animating principle of all existence', the modern version of which is the 'Reason' of many Rationalists.  Now, James defines 'religion' as any 'belief that some unseen force, greater than humans, exists', and most Rationalists hold that Reason is such a force.  Hence, while 'logos' might denote a deity for Christians, it refers to a different deity for many philosophers.  In that respect, Philosophy can be regarded as a rival religion to Christianity, rather than as an intellectual resource for its propagation, as some continue to take it.