The light of Christ is a concept in
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
deriving from several passages in the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
. One of the main reference points for 'the light of Christ,' is in the
prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "word") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ...
of
John's Gospel
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
, , "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (
KJV Bible). Another is the
Apostle Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
's citation "Christ will shine on you" ().
Notable writers on the concept of the light of Christ include
Ephrem the Syrian
Ephrem the Syrian ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, ; grc-koi, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σῦρος, Efrém o Sýros; la, Ephraem Syrus; am, ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; ), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint ...
in the fourth century,
Severus of Antioch
Severus the Great of Antioch (Greek: Σεβῆρος; syr, ܣܘܝܪܝܘܣ ܕܐܢܛܝܘܟܝܐ), also known as Severus of Gaza or Crown of Syrians (Syriac: ܬܓܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܥܝܐ; Tagha d'Suryoye; Arabic: تاج السوريين; Taj al-Suriyyun ...
in the sixth century, and the
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
William Penn
William Penn ( – ) was an English writer and religious thinker belonging to the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, a North American colony of England. He was an early advocate of democracy a ...
.
[The Papers of William Penn: William Penn's published ... William Penn, Mary Maples Dunn, Richard S. Dunn - 1986 - Page 156 "WP's part of Christian-Quaker might well have been entitled "The Light Within," for that is what of the essay is about. He began by defining the concept of the Light of Christ Within, adding that "Seed, Light, Word, Spirit, Life, Truth, Power, ..."]
See also
*
Divine light
In theology, divine light (also called divine radiance or divine refulgence) is an aspect of divine presence perceived as light during a theophany or vision, or represented as such in allegory or metaphor.
The term "light" has been widely used in ...
References
Christian terminology
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