Lecture 5 — The world’s ignorance of its maker

^1:9^ He was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world. [n. 125]

^1:10^ He was in the world, and through him the world was made, and the world did not know him. [n. 128]

124. Above, the Evangelist considered the precursor and his witness to the incarnate Word; in the present section he considers the incarnate Word himself. As to this he does three things.

First, he shows why it was necessary for the Word to come.

Second, the benefit we received from the coming of the Word, at he came unto his own (John 1:11).

And third, the way he came, at and the Word was made flesh (John 1:14).

The necessity for the Word’s coming is seen to be the lack of divine knowledge in the world. He points out this need for his coming when he says, for this I was born, and for this I came into the world, that I should give testimony to the truth (John 18:37). To indicate this lack of divine knowledge, the Evangelist does two things.

First, he shows that this lack does not pertain to God or the Word.

Second, that it does pertain to men, at and the world did not know him.

He shows in three ways that there was no defect in God or in the Word that prevented men from knowing God and from being enlightened by the Word.

First, from the efficacy of the divine light itself, because he was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world.

Second, from the presence of the divine light, because he was in the world.

Third, from the obviousness of the light, because through him the world was made.

So the lack of divine knowledge in the world was not due to the Word, because it is sufficient.

First, he shows the nature of this efficiency, that is, he was the true light.

Second, its very efficiency, which enlightens every man.

125. The divine Word is efficacious in enlightening because he was the true light. How the Word is light, and how he is the light of men need not be discussed again, because it was sufficiently explained above (C. 1, L. 3). What we must discuss at present is how he is the true light.

To explain this, we should note that in Scripture the true is contrasted with three things. Sometimes it is contrasted with the false, as in put an end to lying, and let everyone speak the truth (Eph 4:25). Sometimes it is contrasted with what is figurative, as in the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ (John 1:17), because the truth of the figures contained in the law was fulfilled by Christ. Sometimes it is contrasted with what is something by participation, as in that we may be in his true Son (1 John 5:20), who is not his Son by participation.

Before the Word came there was in the world a certain light which the philosophers prided themselves on having; but this was a false light, because as is said, they became stultified in their speculations, and their foolish hearts were darkened; claiming to be wise, they became fools (Rom 1:21); every man is made foolish by his knowledge (Jer 10:14). There was another light from the teaching of the law which the Jews boasted of having; but this was a symbolic light, the law has a shadow of the good things to come, not the image itself of them (Heb 10:1). There was also a certain light in the angels and in holy men in so far as they knew God in a more special way by grace; but this was a participated light, upon whom does his light not shine? (Job 25:3), which is like saying: whoever shine, shine to the extent that they participate in his light, i.e., God’s light. But the Word of God was not a false light, nor a symbolic light, nor a participated light, but the true light, i.e., light by his essence. Therefore he says, he was the true light.

126. This excludes two errors. First, that of Photinus, who believed that Christ derived his beginning from the Virgin. So, lest anyone suppose this, the Evangelist, speaking of the incarnation of the Word, says, he was the true light, i.e., eternally, not only before the Virgin, but before every creature.

This also excludes the error of Arius and Origen; they said that Christ was not true God, but God by participation. (Commentary on John 2.17–18.) If this were so, he could not be the true light, as the Evangelist says here, and as in God is light (1 John 1:5), i.e., not by participation, but the true light. So if the Word was the true light, it is plain that he is true God.

Now it is clear how the divine Word is effective in causing divine knowledge.

127. The effectiveness or efficiency of the Word lies in the fact that he enlightens every man coming into this world.

For everything that is what it is by participation is derived from that which is such by its essence; just as everything afire is so by participation in fire, which is fire by its very essence. Then since the Word is the true light by his very essence, then everything that shines must do so through him, insofar as it participates in him. And so he enlightens every man coming into this world.

128. To understand this, we should know that world is taken in three ways in Scripture. Sometimes, from the point of view of its creation, as when the Evangelist says here, through him the world was made. Sometimes, from the point of view of its perfection, which it reaches through Christ, as in God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor 5:19). And sometimes it is taken from the point of view of its perversity, as in the whole world lies under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19).

On the other hand, enlightenment or being enlightened by the Word is taken in two ways. First, in relation to the light of natural knowledge, as in the light of your countenance, O Lord, is marked upon us (Ps 4:7). Second, as the light of grace, be enlightened, O Jerusalem (Isa 60:1).

129. With these two sets of distinctions in mind, it is easy to solve a difficulty which arises here.

For when the Evangelist says, enlightens every man, this seems to be false, because there are still many in darkness in the world.

However, if we bear in mind these distinctions and take world from the standpoint of its creation, and enlightens as referring to the light of natural reason, the statement of the Evangelist is beyond reproach. For all men coming into this visible world are enlightened by the light of natural knowledge through participating in this true light, which is the source of all the light of natural knowledge participated in by men. When the Evangelist speaks of man coming into this world, he does not mean that men had lived for a certain time outside the world and then came into the world, since this is contrary to the teaching of the Apostle: when the children were not yet born nor had they done anything good or evil (in order that, according to the proposed election of God flow), not out of works, but out of calling, as it has been said (Rom 9:11). Therefore, since they had done nothing before they were born, it is plain that the soul does not exist prior to its union with the body.

He refers to every man coming into this world, to show that men are enlightened by God with respect to that according to which they came into the world, i.e., with respect to the intellect, which is something external. For man is constituted of a twofold nature, bodily and intellectual. According to his bodily or sensible nature, man is enlightened by a bodily and sensible light; but according to his soul and intellectual nature, he is enlightened by an intellectual and spiritual light. Now man does not come into this world according to his bodily nature, but under this aspect, he is from the world. His intellectual nature is derived from a source external to the world, as has been said, i.e., from God through creation; as in until all flesh returns to its origin, and the spirit is directed to God, who made it (Eccl 12:7). For these reasons, when the Evangelist speaks of coming into this world, he is showing that this enlightenment refers to what is from without, that is, the intellect.

130. If we understand enlightenment with respect to the light of grace, then he enlightens every man may be explained in three ways.

The first way is by Origen in his homily, The Great Eagle, and is this. (The author of the homily referenced here is actually John Scotus Eriugena (c. 800–877). For an English translation of the homily, see The Voice of The Eagle: The Heart of Celtic Christianity: John Scotus Eriugena’s Homily on the Prologue to the Gospel of John, trans. Christopher Bamford (Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books, 2000).) World is understood from the point of view of its perfection, which man attains by his reconciliation through Christ. And so we have, he enlightens every man coming, by faith***, into this world***, i.e., this spiritual world, that is, the Church, which has been enlightened by the light of grace.

Chrysostom explains it another way. (Commentary on Saint John 8.1.) He takes world under the aspect of creation. Then the sense is: he enlightens, i.e., the Word does, in so far as it depends on him, because he fails no one, but rather wants all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4); every man coming, i.e., who is born into this sensible world. If anyone is not enlightened, it is due to himself, because he turns from the light that enlightens.

Augustine explains it a third way. (The Enchiridion 27.103.) For him, ‘every’ has a restricted application, so that the sense is: he enlightens every man coming into this world, not every man universally, but every man who is enlightened, since no one is enlightened except by the Word. According to Augustine, the Evangelist says, coming into this world, in order to give the reason why man needs to be enlightened, and he is taking world from the point of view of its perversity and defect. (Tractates on the Gospel of John 2.7.) It is as though he were saying: man needs to be enlightened because he is coming into this world which is darkened by perversity and defects and is full of ignorance. This followed the spiritual world of the first man: to enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death (Luke 1:79).

131. The above statement refutes the error of the Manichaeans, who think than men were created in the world from an opposing principle, i.e., the devil. For if man were a creature of the devil when coming into this world, he would not be enlightened by God or by the Word, for Christ came into the world to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

132. So it is clear, from the efficacy of the divine Word, that the lack of knowledge in men is not due to the Word, because he is effective in enlightening all, being the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world. But so you do not suppose this lack arose from the withdrawal or absence of the true light, the Evangelist rules this out adding, he was in the world.

A comparable statement is found in he is not far from any one of us, that is, God, for in him we live, and move, and are (Acts 17:28). It is as though the Evangelist were saying: The divine Word is effective and is at hand in order to enlighten us.

133. We should remark that something is said to be ‘in the world’ in three ways. In one way, by being contained, as a thing in place exists in a place: these are in the world (John 17:11). In another way, as a part in a whole; for a part of the world is said to be in the world even though it is not in a place. For example, supernatural substances, although not in the world as in a place, are nevertheless in it as parts: God . . . who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them (Ps 145:6).

But the true light was not in the world in either of these ways, because that light is neither localized nor is it a part of the universe. Indeed, (if we can speak this way,) the entire universe is in a certain sense a part, since it participates in a partial way in his goodness. Accordingly, the true light was in the world in a third way, i.e., as an efficient and preserving cause: I fill heaven and earth (Jer 23:24).

However, there is a difference between the way the Word acts and causes all things and the way in which other agents act. For other agents act as existing externally: since they do not act except by moving and altering a thing qualitatively in some way with respect to its exterior, they work from without. But God acts in all things from within, because he acts by creating. Now to create is to give being to the thing created. So, since existence is innermost in each thing, God, who by acting gives existence, acts in things from within. Hence God was in the world as one giving existence to the world.

134. It is customary to say that God is in all things by his essence, presence and power.

To understand what this means, we should know that someone is said to be by his power in all the things that are subject to his power; as a king is said to be in the entire kingdom subject to him, by his power. He is not there, however, by presence or essence. Someone is said to be by presence in all the things that are within his range of vision; as a king is said to be in his house by presence. And someone is said to be by essence in those things in which his substance is; as a king is in one determinate place.

Now we say that God is everywhere by his power, since all things are subject to his power: if I ascend into heaven, you are there . . . if I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the furthest part of the sea, even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me (Ps 138:8). He is also everywhere by his presence, because all things are bare and open to his eyes (Heb 4:13). He is present everywhere by his essence, because his essence is innermost in all things. For every agent, as acting, has to be immediately joined to its effect, because mover and moved must be together. Now God is the maker and preserver of all things with respect to the existence of each. Hence, since the existence of a thing is innermost in that thing, it is plain that God, by his essence, through which he creates all things, is in all things.

135. It should be noted that the Evangelist significantly uses the word was, when he says, he was in the world, showing that from the beginning of creation he was always in the world, causing and preserving all things; because if God for even a moment were to withhold his power from the things he established, all would return to nothing and cease to be.

Hence Origen uses an apt example to show this, when he says that as a human vocal sound is to a human word conceived in the mind, so is, the creature to the divine Word; (John Scotus Eriugena, The Voice of the Eagle 18.) for as our vocal sound is the effect of the word conceived in our mind, so the creature is the effect of the Word conceived in the divine mind. For he spoke, and they were created (Ps 148:5). Hence, just as we notice that as soon as our inner word vanishes, the sensible vocal sound also ceases, so, if the power of the divine Word were withdrawn from things, all of them would immediately cease to be at that moment. And this is because he is sustaining all things by his powerful word (Heb 1:3).

136. So it is plain that a lack of divine knowledge in minds is not due to the absence of the Word, because he was in the world; nor is it due to the invisibility or concealment of the Word, because he has produced a work in which his likeness is clearly reflected, that is, the world: for from the greatness and beauty of creatures, their creator can be seen accordingly (Wis 13:5), and the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made (Rom 1:20). And so the Evangelist at once adds, and through him the world was made, in order that that light might be manifested in it. For as a work of art manifests the art of the artisan, so the whole world is nothing else than a certain representation of the divine wisdom conceived within the mind of the Father, he poured her out upon all his works (Sir 1:10).

Now it is clear that the lack of divine knowledge is not due to the Word, because he is efficacious, being the true light; and he is at hand, since he was in the world; and he is knowable, since through him the world was made.

137. The Evangelist indicates the source of this lack when he says, and the world did not know him, as if to say: it is not due to him, but to the world, who did not know him.

He says him in the singular, because earlier he had called the Word not only the **light of men **(John 1:4), but also **God **(John 1:1); and so when he says him, he means God.

Again, he uses world for man. For the angels knew him by their understanding, and the elements by their obeying him; but the world, i.e., man, who lives in the world, did not know him.

138. We attribute this lack of divine knowledge either to the nature of man or to his guilt.

To his nature, indeed, because although all the aforesaid aids were given to man to lead him to the knowledge of God, human reason in itself lacks this knowledge. Man beholds him from afar (Job 36:25), and immediately after, God is great beyond our knowledge. But if some have known him, this was not insofar as they were in the world, but insofar as there were above the world; and the kind for whom the world was not worthy, because the world did not know him. And this is a certain kind of reason why God is not known by man. And also as the world has an inordinate love of the world; thus it is said the world did not know him. Hence if they mentally perceived anything eternal, that was insofar as they were not of this world.

But if this lack is attributed to man’s guilt, then the phrase, the world did not know him, is a kind of reason why God was not known by man; in this sense world is taken for inordinate lovers of the world. It is as though it said, the world did not know him, because they were lovers of the world. For the love of the world, as Augustine says, is what chiefly withdraws us from the knowledge of God, because love of the world makes one an enemy to God (Jas 4:4); (Tractates on the Gospel of John 2.11.) the sensual man does not perceive the things that pertain to the Spirit of God (1 Cor 2:14).

139. From this we can answer the question of the gentiles who futilely ask this: if it is only recently that the Son of God is set before the world as the savior of men, does it not seem that before that time he scorned human nature?

We should say to them that he did not scorn the world but was always in the world, and on his part is knowable by men; but it was due to their own fault that some have not known him, because they were lovers of the world.

140. We should also note that the Evangelist speaks of the incarnation of the Word to show that the incarnate Word and that which was in the beginning with God (John 1:1), and God, are the same.

He repeats what he had said of him earlier. For above he had said that the Word was the light of men (John 1:4); here he says he was the true light. Above, he said that all things were made through him (John 1:3); here he says that through him the world was made. Earlier he had said, without him was made nothing (John 1:3), that is, according to one explanation, he conserves all things; here he says, he was in the world, creating and conserving the world and all things. There he had said, the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5); here he says, the world did not know him.

And so, all he says after he was the true light, is an explanation of what he had said before.

141. We can gather three reasons from the above why God willed to become incarnate.

One is because of the perversity of human nature which, because of its own malice, had been darkened by vices and the obscurity of its own ignorance. And so he said before, the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5). Therefore, God came in the flesh so that the darkness might apprehend the light, i.e., obtain a knowledge of it. The people who walked in darkness saw a great light (Isa 9:2).

The second reason is that the testimony of the prophets was not enough. For the prophets came and John had come; but they were not able to give sufficient enlightenment, because he was not the light (John 1:8). And so, after the prophecies of the prophets and the coming of John, it was necessary that the light itself come and give the world a knowledge of itself. And this is what the Apostle says: in past times, God spoke in many ways and degrees to our fathers through the prophets; in these days he has spoken to us in his Son (Heb 1:1). We have the prophetic message, to which you do well to give attention, until the day dawns (2 Pet 1:19).

The third reason is because of the shortcomings of creatures. For creatures were not sufficient to lead to a knowledge of the Creator; hence he says, through him the world was made, and the world did not know him. Thus it was necessary that the Creator himself come into the world in the flesh, and be known through himself. And this is what the Apostle says: since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God by its wisdom, it pleased God to save those who believe by the foolishness of our preaching (1 Cor 1:21).