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... Leggett
Title: “You are the light of the world”
February 1998
Contents
Introduction. ... 5-8
Light: History and Relevance. ... 8-12
Language and Light: How Do We Get At Authentic Light? ... 12-17
Metaphorically, what Is authentic light? ... “You are the light of the world,” will inform the process as the motivation and that motivation of ‘being light’ is also in constant flux. ... We are still looking for the light. “You are the light of the world,” was recorded in Matthew 5. Light, what is light? ... What does light have to do with the western attitude of atomism? ... Light is essential to life. Life is dependent on light, metaphorically and literally.
I will examine these ultimate questions concerning the relevance of light with the ultimate question , “What is authentic light?” Life cannot exist without light, where then can we find the light? How should that light be utilized for the benefit of all human, animal and plant life? ... In the midst of these differences Westerners seek meaning, with the one constant being the search for light, even though they may not be aware of that need. ... ”
Humanity is and has been on a quest for the light throughout history. That very light, which is sought for so fervently has alluded most of humanity. ... We are in desperate need of authentic light.
Modernity is a search for light that is constant, fulfilling, benevolent and understandable, a ‘light’ that has eluded much of Western civilization. ... ” Authentic light casts shadows and numerous ‘wanna-be’ idealogies are found in those shadows searching for light away from the light; seeking authenticity farther and farther away until it becomes dark. ... The point is that the allusive ‘light of the world’ is still being sought. Modern identity is still in crisis for the very reason that it has not found the light. Where is the light? When we find light will it be authentic? ...
Light: History and Relevance
The statement, “You are the light of the world,” is elusive. Light is not easy to nail down. Often what seemed to be light was only darkness in disguise. That is to say, subjective light is not light at all. If light is self-serving then it is darkness that only appears to be light. The theme of this paper, ‘You are the light of the world’, was in the beginning such an exciting, rather simplistic theme. ... Search for light has consumed all civilizations, nations and peoples. ...
Seeking the light is conditioned by historical articulation, yet the modern search for Taylor’s goods and hypergoods is not concerned by historical reflection. ... ” ‘Authentic light,’ which Taylor would call a hypergood is driven by the engine of Taylor’s constitutive goods. ...
Light for Plato could be found in the logos. ... ”
Athanasius wrote about God as light and radiance, “In order to express our thought in language, it is necessary to make use of an unsatisfactory image taken from tangible and familiar objects; for it is rash to pry into the incomprehensible nature [of God.]
Athanasius and Augustine believed the ontic logos of light was reflected by the statement of the Apostle John, “God is light,” and this becomes a symbolic statement about God. ... “Beings of light” was possible for Athanasus, because the ‘true’ light was God. ... “The darkness of sin had fallen over the world; and the minds of men, once illuminated by the knowledge of God, had beenobscured by ignorance and doubt. ... ”
This search for True light has been the quest of humanity. Pagan religions have always worshipped light. ... Martin Luther wrote, “Babylonians worshipped God under the title of light, which is the best figure or representation of the Divine Majesty; the Holy Scriptures themselves called God, “light.”
Christendom has affirmed these concepts of the ontic logos of “God as Light,” throughout history. That light is then reflected in the ‘children of light’ who follow the Christ of God. This ‘light’ is the Christian correlation to Taylor’s hypergoods, which is a higher kind of goods defined by qualitative distinctions. That is to say, light to Christendom is the ultimate hypergood, in that it is the ‘plumb line’ for all other goods, because ‘authentic light’ comes only from God.
Disciples of Jesus are called ‘children of light’. Jesus referred to his disciples as ‘the light of the world’. John reports that Jesus said that he was the light of the world. ... The moon provides light for the earth during the night. The sun provides light during the day. The actual source of light for both the sun and the moon is the sun. The moon only reflects the sun’s light. ... God, for Christendom, is light and the source of light for God’s people who reflect the light of God.
Light as a subject of poetry and prose is excelled in use by only a few metaphors. A quick glance at the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations reveals that eye, friend, love and life compete for prominence, with the metaphor of light, in the literary world.
Light presupposes shades of gray and black. ... Light can be divided into hues and types. ... Dark then is an absence of light. Light can always obliterate the darkness, but darkness, ontologically, cannot obliterate light. Light must remove itself if darkness is going to be hegonomous. ... The enlightenment found its own darknesses in the pursuit of atomism and inwardness, resulting in a dead end street absent of street lights or buildings that produce light. ... Without darkness light could not be appreciated. Humans find respite and rest in darkness; refreshment for activity in the light. Isaiah quotes God, “I formed the light and
created the darkness. ...
We continue with an investigation of, “What is authentic light? ... What then can be said about authentic light, with so many different leaders, nations, civilizations, philosophers, theologians. What happens when people say they are light when their views, politics and aspirations are opposed to each other? Where is authentic light?
Language and light: How do we get at authentic light?
“You are the light of the world” requires, what Ricoeur states as, a guess (if my professors could have been a bit more definate about the origin of the topic of this paper; things would have been much more managable). ... To understand what it means to be the ‘light of the world’, Gadamer contends that the world horizon of the reader must be fused with the world horizon of the writer. ... Greenway, in his lecture of January 14, 1998, said language is ordered to the world; language creates the world in which we live and that thinking requires words, grammar,
logic and risk.
Approximate Word count = 5387
Approximate Pages = 21.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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