You know, it's funny. I was thinking this morning
about how much of our language, just our everyday
coffee shop language, is completely obsessed
with light. Oh, absolutely. It is everywhere
once you really start to notice it. Right. We
get a bright idea. We want to be clear about
something. Someone's smart. They're brilliant.
And if a situation is suspicious, it's shady.
Exactly. It's like we can't help ourselves. I
don't know, addicted to the metaphor. Well, it's
wired into us. I mean, biologically, we're heliotropic.
We literally turn toward the light. We need it.
Sure. But what's so fascinating is when you move
past biology and, you know, casual language and
you look at theology. Specifically at the foundational
texts of Christianity and Islam. Okay. Suddenly
light isn't just a metaphor for being smart or
something. It gets heavier. Much heavier. In
these traditions, light becomes like the primary
language for talking about what you can't describe.
It's how these texts try to explain reality,
truth, and ultimately God. And that is exactly
where we're going today. We are doing a deep
dive into what is, you could argue, the most
universal symbol in all of human history. We've
got our sources right here. We're talking the
Gospel of John, the first epistle of John from
the Bible. And then we're going to jump into
Surah Al -Burata and the famous Surah An -Nur
from the Quran. And we have some pretty serious
scholarly commentary to help us get into the...
the greek and arabic nuances which is key precisely
and the mission here is to put them side by side
because we noticed something really interesting
in the research phase you have these two massive
world religions and they are using the exact
same word light To talk about the divine. Yeah,
it's a classic case of, you know, same but different.
The similarities are stunning, but then there
are these very subtle, very specific theological
differences that, well, they change the whole
picture. So the big question we're trying to
answer is, how do these texts use light to define
God? Maybe more importantly, because we always
want to get to the so what. What does that mean
for how we're supposed to treat each other? Because,
and this is a bit of a spoiler alert, the texts
are very clear on this. You can't claim you love
the light and then, you know. treat people horribly
i love that the theology has to have ethical
consequences it has to okay so before we get
to behavior let's start with the definition we're
gonna kick things off with the christian perspective
specifically the johannine writings now that's
just a fancy way of seeing books written by john
right right the gospel of john and the letters
of john and if you want light imagery in the
new testament john is your guy i mean the other
gospels matthew mark luke They start with genealogies,
birth stories. Shepherds, mangers, that kind
of thing. Yeah. But John, he starts in the cosmos.
It's very Star Wars opening crawl, isn't it?
It really is. The prologue to the Gospel of John,
Chapter 1, it opens with, In the beginning was
the Word, the Logos. But then almost right away
he switches metaphors to light. I think you have
the text there. I do, yeah. This is John 1 .4
-5. In him was life, and that life was the light
of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness
and the darkness has not overcome it. And that
phrase, the darkness has not overcome it, is
so critical. The Greek word can mean overcome,
but it can also mean comprehend or master. It
sets up this cosmic conflict on page one. So
it's not just like a lamp in a cozy room. This
is an active force. Exactly. It's an invasion.
The sources we looked at described the coming
of Jesus as an invasion of light into a dark
world. And the text identifies Jesus explicitly
as this light. He calls himself the true light
that gives light to everyone. Okay, so let's
pause there. In the Christian framework, This
is the incarnation we're talking about. We're
not just talking about a guy with some bright
ideas. Right. And that is the core distinction.
In Christian theology, Jesus is the embodiment
of God's light. The scholars call it God's glory
made flesh. So when John talks about light, he's
talking about a person. He's saying the abstract
truth of God became visible and, well, knowable
in a human being. That is a wild concept, wrapping
the infinite in skin. But then we have the first
epistle of John, 1 John, which just... It takes
it even further. It has what might be the most
absolute statement in the whole Bible about God's
nature. 1 John 1 .5 God is light. In him there
is no darkness at all. God is light. That just
hits differently than God has light. It's an
equation. It is. And we have to be careful here
because the commentary warns us not to misread
it. This isn't a physics lesson. John is not
saying God is made of photons. Right. He's not
a giant flashlight in the sky. No, exactly. It's
an ontological metaphor. OK, ontological. That's
a bit of a five dollar word. Let's unpack that.
Yeah, sure. Ontology is just the study of being
of what something is at its core. So when the
text says God is light, it's talking about his
very nature. It's equating light with. absolute
holiness, purity, and truth. Which also says
something about the darkness then. If God is
light, then darkness isn't just nighttime. Exactly.
The darkness here is moral. It's sin. It's falsehood,
hatred. And the text adds that qualifier. In
him, there is no darkness at all. It's absolute.
There's no shadow side to this God. It brings
up this image of total transparency. I noticed
in our source deck, there was a note on the Eastern
Orthodox tradition. They seem to take this God
is light thing to another level. Oh, the Orthodox
tradition is fascinating on this. They talk about
the uncreated light. It comes from the transfiguration
story in the Gospels. That's where Jesus goes
up the mountain and suddenly starts glowing.
Yes. The text says his face shone like the sun.
Now, a modern reader might say, oh, nice symbol.
But the Eastern Orthodox theologians say, no,
that was the Tabor light. Tavor being the name
of the mountain. Right. They believed the disciples
were briefly allowed to see God's uncreated energy
with their physical eyes. They weren't seeing
a reflection. They were seeing the nature of
God himself. So for them, it's not just a poetic
idea. It's an experience. Yeah. The actual atmosphere
of God. Correct. It's not a tool he uses. It's
his very presence. Okay, so let's hold that image.
Yeah. In the Christian text, God is light, Jesus
is that light in human form, and darkness is
this hostile force that fails to overcome it.
Now, let's pivot. Let's cross over to Islam because
the Quran has some incredibly famous verses about
light, too. It does. And the centerpiece, you
just can't miss this, is Surah An -Nur, chapter
24, verse 35. It's known as Ayat Al -Nur, the
verse of light. And the imagery here is just
breathtaking. I mean, listen to this description.
It's so visual. Allah is the light of the heavens
and the earth. His light is like a niche in which
there is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The
glass is if it were a pearly white star. Lit
from a blessed olive tree. Light upon light.
It's stunning poetry, light upon light. It's
one of the most calligraphed verses in history
for a reason. But we have to look at what the
scholars say because there is a very specific
nuance here compared to John. What's the nuance?
It sounds pretty similar so far. Well, remember
how 1 John just says God is light and we called
it ontological, that it's his substance? Yeah.
Muslim commentators are very careful with this
verse. They stress that it's a parable, a similitude.
Because it says his light is like a niche. Exactly.
The commentary is clear. Yeah. Don't imagine
God as a physical thing, a glowing orb. That
would limit the creator. In Islamic theology,
God is utterly transcendent, unlike anything
in creation. So if you picture a giant lamp,
you've missed the point. You've missed the point.
So when the Quran says, Allah is the light of
the heavens and the earth, the consensus is that
it means he is the source of all illumination.
He's the reason anything is visible or knowable.
I like how one of the notes put it, without this
light, the world is absolute darkness. It's like,
imagine a pitch black room. The furniture is
all there, but you can't know it. God is the
one who flips the switch. That's a great analogy.
But in Islam, nur, the Arabic word for light.
almost always has another very specific meaning.
Guidance. Guidance. So it's about knowledge versus
ignorance. Yes. The darkness in the Quran isn't
usually some evil force attacking God. The darkness
is the state of being lost. It's ignorance. The
light is the guidance that shows you the path.
Speaking of being lost. The source material pointed
to these really vivid parables from Surah Al
-Baqarah. And I have to say, they felt like little
horror movies. They are intense. The Quran uses
them to describe the tragedy of hypocrisy of
people who get close to the light but don't really
possess it. Okay, so the first one is the fire
parable. So someone lights a fire to see. It
lights up everything. They can see the dangers,
the path. They feel safe. And then, poof, God
takes the light away. But here's the really scary
part. He leaves them their physical sight. Wait,
no, the text says they're left deaf, dumb, and
blind. Metaphorically blind. Their eyes still
work, but with the light gone, their eyes are
useless. It's terrifying because they had the
light for a moment. That's the tragedy. They
had it and they lost it. Precisely. The text
suggests their own insincerity caused the light
to be removed. They're left with cold ashes.
And the second one with the scorn parable. That
one felt very visceral. Yeah. Imagine a violent
storm at night. Thunder, lightning, total blackness,
and people are trying to walk through it. And
they can only move when the lightning flashes.
Right, a flash of lightning, they take a step,
then darkness, they freeze, another flash, another
step, then darkness again. Wow, what a powerful
image of hesitation. It is. It shows this fearful
transactional relationship with the truth. They
don't have the light themselves. They're just
reacting to it. They're stranded. So let's bring
these together then. It feels like in the Christian
text, The darkness is this aggressive thing trying
to overcome the light. But in these Islamic parables,
the tragedy is more about people squandering
the light they're given. That's a very good observation.
But both traditions absolutely agree on the stakes.
The alternative to living in this light is being
profoundly and utterly lost. Which brings us
perfectly to our comparison. We've looked at
them separately. Let's connect the dots. Where
do they converge? Well, the most obvious one
is that both traditions see divine light as revealing,
as life -giving. It's always a positive thing.
This isn't a harsh interrogation light. It's
the light of life itself. And they both link
light to the word. I thought that was a really
strong parallel in the notion. Very strong parallel,
yeah. In John, Jesus is both the word, the logos,
and the light. In Islam, the Quran itself is
described as a clear light, nirmubin. So in both
cases, God's communication to humanity is the
light. Exactly. If you want the light, you go
to the word. That's shared ground. Okay, but
what about the divergence? You hinted at it earlier
with the whole essence versus source thing. Right.
This is where a theologian would get really excited.
Christianity in these texts is very comfortable
saying God is light. Jesus says, I am the light
of the world. It's an identity statement. Whereas
Islam puts a little bit of a buffer. A necessary
theological buffer, yes. To protect the absolute
transcendence of God. Islam emphasizes God as
the owner of light, the light of the heavens.
It's a possessive. He causes it. He guides with
it. But he himself is beyond it. So could we
frame it like this? Christianity emphasizes the
intimacy of the light God becoming flesh entering
the room. And Islam emphasizes the majesty of
the light God illuminating the path from above.
That's a beautiful way to put it. Intimacy versus
majesty. And yet. Even with that difference,
the human experience they call for is remarkably
similar. Okay, but this is the so what part of
the deep dive. We can talk about philosophy all
day, but how does this change my Tuesday morning?
This is where the rubber meets the road. Because
for both faiths, walking in the light is not
some mystical feeling. It's an absolute ethical
command. Let's go back to 1 John. The text had
that fellowship test. It's brutal in how simple
it is. 1 John 2 .9. Anyone who claims to be in
the light but hates a brother or sister is still
in darkness. Oof. There's no wiggle room there
at all. None. You can't separate your spirituality
from your relationships. You can't be enlightened
and also a jerk. It doesn't work. So living in
the light means moral integrity. Transparency,
love. All of it. And the sources also reference
Ephesians talking about shining a light on corruption.
It says everything exposed by the light becomes
visible. Right. So it's active. Yeah. You possess
the light. You expose the bad stuff hiding in
the dark. You stand up against injustice. You
don't just, you know, enjoy the glow. You reflect
it. You become a mirror precisely. OK. What about
the Islamic application? Does that beautiful
Nietzschean lamp verse connect to everyday behavior?
It does, and the connection is fascinating. Right
after that mystical description of the niche
and the lamp, the Quran shifts to the real world.
It starts talking about houses which Allah has
ordered to be raised. Mosques, houses of worship.
Yes, but it describes the people inside them.
It says these are people who aren't distracted
by business or trade, from remembering God, from
prayer, and from giving zakah. And zakah is the
mandatory charity for the poor. It is, and that's
the link. God is light. Therefore, give to the
poor. Be honest in your business. Don't let the
shiny objects of the market distract you from
the ultimate light. It's grounding the mystical
right into the economic. You don't usually think
of light and pay your fair share in the same
breath. But it's vital. The notes mention that
the Quran constantly pairs light with justice.
There's a description of Judgment Day where the
earth will shine with the light of its Lord and
none will be wronged. That's a powerful image.
Yeah. A world that's fully lit means there are
no shadows for injustice to hide in. Exactly.
Darkness allows for oppression. Light ensures
accountability. It feels like both traditions
land on this idea of shared human dignity. That's
the ultimate takeaway. If you believe in this
light, whether it's the light of Christ in every
person or the fitra, the innate disposition toward
God given by Allah, then every single human you
meet has a connection to that light. Which means
treating them with dignity isn't just being nice.
It's a requirement of the light itself. If you
mistreat someone, you are, in a way, violating
the very thing you claim to worship. Compassion
and justice are the visible fruits of this invisible
light. That really brings it all home. It's not
just what you believe in your head. It's about
what radiates out of your life. If you're not
glowing with some level of kindness, you might
need to check your power source. And that's a
challenge for every single one of us. To wrap
this up, I just keep coming back to that Quranic
phrase, light upon light. It really suggests
a journey, doesn't it? Not a static thing. We're
always moving from one layer of understanding
to the next. It's a shared vision. God's presence
is beautiful, it's guiding, and it's calling
all of us out of the shadows. And that's something
we can all appreciate. So I want to leave you
with a thought today. We talked a lot about ancient
texts, theology. But here's the challenge that
both the Bible and the Quran pose to us. We like
to think of ourselves as enlightened, people
-educated, informed. But if we harbor hatred
for a neighbor or if we just ignore the injustice
happening right in front of us, are we actually,
by these definitions, still walking in the dark?
That is the question. Thanks for diving deep
with us. We'll catch you in the next one.