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| Chapter V
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Chapter V.
But that a light is suddenly kindled in the soul,
as by a fire leaping forth, is a fact known long ago to our Scriptures;
as when the prophet said, “Light ye for yourselves the light of
knowledge.”4298
| 4298 Hos. x. 12. φωτίσατε
ἑαυτοῖς φῶς
γνώσεως (LXX.). The
Masoretic text is, תע“וְ רינִ
סכֶלָ
וּרינִ, where for
תע“וְ
(and time) the Septuagint translator apparently
read תעַדַּ
(knowledge), ד and
ו being interchanged for their
similarity. | John also,
who lived after him, said, “That which was in the Logos was life,
and the life was the light of men;”4299
which “true light lighteneth every man that cometh into the
world” (i.e., the true world, which is perceived by the
understanding4300
| 4300 τὸν
ἀληθινὸν καὶ
νοητόν. | ), and maketh him a
light of the world:” For this light shone in our hearts, to
give the light of the glorious Gospel of God in the face of Christ
Jesus.”4301
And therefore
that very ancient prophet, who prophesied many generations before the
reign of Cyrus (for he was older than he by more than fourteen
generations), expressed himself in these words: “The
Lord is my light and my salvation: whom
shall I fear?”4302
and, “Thy law
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path;”4303
and again, “The light of Thy
countenance, O Lord, was manifested towards
us;”4304
| 4304 Ps. iv. 6 (Heb. “Lift up upon us,”
etc.) | and, “In Thy
light we shall see light.”4305
And the
Logos, exhorting us to come to this light, says, in the prophecies of
Isaiah: “Enlighten thyself, enlighten thyself, O Jerusalem;
for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.”4306
The same prophet also, when predicting
the advent of Jesus, who was to turn away men from the worship of
idols, and of images, and of demons, says, “To those that sat in
the land and shadow of death, upon them hath the light
arisen;”4307
and again,
“The people that sat in darkness saw a great
light.”4308
Observe now
the difference between the fine phrases of Plato respecting the
“chief good,” and the declarations of our prophets
regarding the “light” of the blessed; and notice that the
truth as it is contained in Plato concerning this subject did not at
all help his readers to attain to a pure worship of God, nor even
himself, who could philosophize so grandly about the “chief
good,” whereas the simple language of the holy Scriptures has led
to their honest readers being filled with a divine spirit;4309
and this light is nourished within them by
the oil, which in a certain parable is said to have preserved the light
of the torches of the five wise virgins.4310
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