The Gospel’s Light and the Inner Illumination of Understanding in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6. Its Influence upon the Patristic Thought
The Gospel’s Light and the Inner Illumination of Understanding in 2 Corinthians 4:3-6. Its Influence upon the Patristic Thought

Summary/Abstract: Light and darkness are used in the Bible as metaphors for good and evil. In 2 Cor. 4:3-6 Saint Paul uses light as a metaphor for the “Good News of the glory of Christ” (4:4), as well as for the inner act of conversion (4:6). Actually his words may be taken in reference with his Damascus road encounter with Christ Himself within a bright light (Acts 9:1-5; 26:16-18) and with regard to general Christian conversion, because he clearly is talking about an interior, spiritual illumination of Christ. Here Paul explains why some people cannot understand the Gospel. Satan prevents people from seeing the light of Christ’s glory, because Satan is the prince of darkness. But God can and will bring light into the minds of people. The same God Who created light in the beginning has filled Paul’s heart with “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” In other words, the same God Who created the miracle of light also creates the miracle of faith. Before conversion on the Damascus road, Paul himself had been blind to the Gospel. As one turns to the Lord, there is the inner illumination of understanding that foretastes the ultimate glory of God. In this paper we scrutinize the influence of this Pauline passage on the patristic interpretation about the Gospel’s light, on the one hand, and the inner light as illumination through the work of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand.

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