Definition of "logion"
logion
noun
plural logia
(theology) A traditional saying of a religious leader.
Quotations
It is clear from Origen's wording that he is not referring to a logion of the original Montanist leaders, but to a statement made by later adherents of the New Prophecy. […] The logion is probably authentic.
2006, William Tabbernee, “‘Recognizing the Spirit’: Second-generation Montanist Oracles”, in F. Young, M. Edwards, P. Parvis, editors, Studia Patristica: Papers Presented at the Fourteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies Held in Oxford 2003, volume XL, Leuven, Belgium: Peeters Publishers, part VIII (First Two Centuries), page 525
Influenced by scholarship on the sayings of Jesus and the redaction of the Gospels, [John] Wansbrough assumes that the Qu'rān was edited and constructed from a plethora of short texts that he terms "prophetic logia." These logia draw on monotheistic imagery and are related to forms familiar from the literature of prophetical expression. […] The goal of the critic is to identify these logia by examining the canonical text in which they have been edited and spliced together
2016, Devin J. Stewart, “Wansbrough, Bultmann, and the Theory of Variant Traditions in the Qu’rān”, in Angelika Neuwirth, Michael A[nthony] Sells, editors, Qu’rānic Studies Today (Routledge Studies in the Qu’rān), Abingdon, Oxon., New York, N.Y.: Routledge, page 22
(specifically, Christianity) A saying that is attributed to Jesus in ancient or reconstructed texts that was (originally) handed down without narrative context.
Quotations
It is in this context that the difficult logion in Matthew concerning the eye (vv. 22–23) is to be understood.
2002, Rudolf Schnackenburg, “Jesus’ Proclamation and Works of Healing (4:17–9:34)”, in Robert R. Barr, transl., The Gospel of Matthew, Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, page 70
The central key to unraveling the perplexities of the Thomas gospel is contained basically in the first three logia. According to logion 1, which is actually a statement by the apostle Thomas, not by Jesus, the one who finds the interpretation or meaning of Jesus' secret sayings will not taste of death.
2011, Samuel Zinner, “The Gospel of Thomas: A Contextual Commentary”, in The Gospel of Thomas: In the Light of Early Jewish, Christian and Islamic Esoteric Trajectories: With a Contextualized Commentary and a New Translation of the Thomas Gospel (Matheson Monographs), London: The Matheson Trust for the Study of Comparative Religion, page 261