Similar remarks can be found in Basil's Homilies on the Hexaemeron, Chrysostom's Homilies on Genesis, and so on. When God said, Let there be light, and there was light, if we are justified in understanding in this light the creation of the angels, then certainly they were created partakers of the eternal light which is the unchangeable Wisdom of God, by which all things were made, and whom we call the only-begotten Son of God so that they, being illumined by the Light that created them, might themselves become light and be called Day, in participation of that unchangeable Light and Day which is the Word of God, by whom both themselves and all else were made.
Under the name of light the holy city was signified, composed of holy angels and blessed spirits. For example, Augustine reads the creation of light in Genesis 1 as mainly referring to the creation of the heavenly realm and its angels ( City of God 11.7, 9): This interpretation is supported by the writings of the Fathers. It would appear that 1 John 1:5, "God is light", should be talking about this kind of light, as opposed to the electromagnetic phenomenon that resembles it. Moreover, heaven, the angels, and the saints are all described in terms of light, for example in the Revelation. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.īut you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief for you are all children of light and children of the day we are not of the night or of darkness. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Live as children of light- for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.įor once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Some more examples from the New Testament (NRSV) are John 1 (or actually pretty much anywhere in John): This light illuminates us, so that being "in darkness" means being dissociated from God (in a state of sin, deprivation, etc.) and being "in light" is the opposite. In the Bible, light is associated above all with God, as in your quotation from 1 John. (This is not necessarily cleanly distinguishable from the spiritual light of the previous bullet point, though we with our scientific knowledge want to say that light is just a simple matter of physics, but the Bible was not written in the time of Maxwell.)
This could mean that the light in Heaven and the light we have on earth are not the same. If there was no other form of light in Heaven before the creation of this universe, that would mean there was no light in Heaven and God was dwelling in darkness. God has already existed long before the universe was created. If we read the context in Genesis 1:1-5 carefully, the light created in Genesis 1:3 seems to be the light that we have here on earth, which consists of seven colors. If God created the light only after the creation of the universe, then does it mean there was no light in Heaven?
After reading this question, another question came to my mind.
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