7:26 A Reflection of Eternal Light
Christ
Is the Father’s Image. Ambrose: The apostle says that Christ is
the image of the Father. He says in fact that he is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creatures. He speaks of the firstborn, and not of the
first created, so that we would believe that by nature he is generated, and
first from all eternity. Elsewhere the apostle says, “He made him heir of all
things, and through him he also made the world, the one who is the radiance of
his glory and the imprint of his being.” The apostle says that he is an image,
and Arius says that he is different. Why, then, speak of an image, if he were
not the same? People ordinarily do not accept the image of a portrait as being
different from the original, but Arius asserts that the Father is different
from the Son. He maintains that the Father generated someone who is different
from him, as though he were incapable of generating someone like himself. The
prophets say, “In your light we see light.” They say, “He is a reflection of
the eternal light, an unspotted mirror of the majesty of God and an image of
his goodness.” See in how many ways they speak. “Radiance,” because the
brightness of the Father’s light is in the Son. “Unspotted mirror,” since the
Father is visible in the Son. “Image of his goodness,” since it is not one body
seen reflected in another but the whole power of the Godhead in the Son.
“Image” teaches that here is no difference. “Imprint” indicates that he is the
manifestation of the Father. “Splendor” bespeaks eternity. In fact, the “image”
is not the bodily face, nor is it made with colors or from wax but is simply
from God. He is from the Father, pouring forth from the spring. On the
Christian Faith 1.7.48–49.
A
Reflection of the Father’s Light. Gregory of Elvira: If,
about what we all profess, you wanted to suggest some similitude in God, I am
not sure if you could specify your comparison more clearly. For example, if you
were to say “light from light” and had to explain it in detail, I would ask you
how you conceive of this light from light. Perhaps like a lamp from a lamp, or
a sun from the sun? Or would this example lead you to deduce that there are two
lamps or two suns, as though there were two gods? Or would you understand the
light from light as the effect of the light of the lamp itself or as the
brilliance of the sun shining from the sun itself, comparing the figure of the
Father with the source of the light and the Son with the brightness of its
radiation? In fact, of this the prophet said, “In you is the source of life,
and in your light we see light.” Or Solomon, when he says, “She is a reflection
of the eternal light, a spotless mirror of the majesty of God and an image of
his goodness.” The apostle also preached that our Savior is the image of the
invisible God, because the image of the sun is its light, which proceeds from
the sun itself. On the Faith 5.
The
Father and the Son Are Equal. Augustine: The Son is
sent, not because he is not equal to the Father but because he is “a pure
emanation of the light of God” almighty. Here what is emanated and that from
which it emanates are of one, identical being. It is not an emanation like that
of water springing from a natural opening in the earth or in a rock but like
that of light from light. When it says “splendor of the eternal light,” what
else can be meant but that it is the light of the eternal light? Light’s
splendor—what is it, except light? It is therefore coeternal with the light of
which it is the light. Nevertheless, the Scripture preferred the expression
“splendor of the light” to the other, “light of the light,” so that no one
would believe that the light that emanates is darker than that from which it
emanates. Rather, hearing it called its splendor, it is easier to think that
the one owes to the other its brilliance, rather than that one shines less
brightly than the other. But because there was no chance that anyone would think
the generating light to be inferior (no heretic has dared to assert this, nor
does it seem believable that one would dare to do so), the Scripture
anticipates the notion that the emanated light would be darker than the
generating light. It eliminated this conjecture by saying, “It is the splendor
of that light,” that is, of the eternal light, thus showing his equality.
Indeed, if it were inferior, it would be the shadow, not the splendor. And if
greater, it would not emanate, because it could not surpass that from which it
was emanating. On the Trinity 4.20.27.
The
Son Is Equal to the Father. Fulgentius of Ruspe: The Arians
clearly show themselves to worship two gods when they deny that the Son is
equal to the Father. And they declare him less, not regarding the assumption of
the flesh (which the truth of the faith teaches) but with respect to the nature
of the immeasurable divinity, even though it is said of him who is the wisdom
of God that he is “a reflection of the eternal light.” It is also said of him,
in the letter to the Hebrews, “that he is the radiance of his glory and the
imprint of his being.” They should look at the “reflection of the eternal
light” and recognize that, as that eternal light is infinite, so its reflection
is in no way secondary or inferior by nature. Its eternity, rather, is
identical to its infinity and its infinity to its eternity. Book to Victor
Against the Sermon of Fastidiosus the Arian 6.3.
The
Trinity Compared with the Sun. Augustine: Look at God,
contemplate the Word, and unite yourself intimately to the Word who speaks. His
word is not comprised of syllables; rather, his word is the resplendent
brightness of wisdom. It is said of his wisdom that “it is the splendor of the
eternal light.” Observe the splendor of the sun. The sun is in the heavens and
pours its splendor on all the earth and over all the seas, yet its light is
only corporeal. If you could separate the sun’s splendor from the sun itself,
so also could you separate the Word from the Father. I have spoken of the sun.
A weak little flame from a lamp, however, which can be blown out with a breath,
also sheds its light all around. See the light given off by the flame. See that
it originates from the flame—you do not see the light without the flame.
Convince yourselves, then, beloved brothers and sisters, that the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit are inseparably united among themselves and that this
Trinity is one God—and that all of the works of this one God are works of the
Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Tractates on the Gospel of John
20.13.
Sharing
the Same Nature. Fulgentius of Ruspe: So as to show that the
Son is infinite along with the Father, the sacred Scripture was careful to say
of wisdom, “It is the reflection of the eternal light, a spotless mirror of the
majesty of God and an image of his goodness.” In this testimony are shown the
oneness of nature, the distinction of persons and the infinite equality of the
Father and the Son. No one can doubt that in this passage the Father is called
the light and the Son the reflection. About this, the apostle also says
authoritatively, “He is the radiance of his glory and the imprint of his being
and sustains all things with the power of his word.” See that it is said that
the Son is the reflection and governs all things. If someone thinks that the
Father is infinite but that the Son has limits, let him show us in what way the
light and its reflection could be different beings, when, even if they are
differentiated by name, they are not distinct in kind, nor do they differ in
extension. In fact, the light and its reflection do not have the same name, but
neither do they have different natures. Three Books to Trasamundus 2.9. (Apocrypha,
ed. Sever J. Voicu [Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture; Downers Grove,
Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2010], 99-101)
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