Newbigin on Darkness (and light)
This is from his commentary on John (commenting on 1:5):
"Human life is not just the story of life and light. There is also death and darkness. This is a fact. If we ask "Why is there darkness?" we do not receive an answer. God did not say in the beginning, "Let there be darkness." He said, "Let there be light," and he "seperated the light from the darkness." The darkness ... is what confronts one who turns away from the true source of his being, tires to find its meaning elsewhere, and is thereby plunged into meaninglessness. But the light shines in the darkness. We know that there is darkness only when we look away from the light. The light does not eliminate the darkness, but it goes on shining. There is no peaceful coexistence of light and darkness. The business of light is to banish darkness, and darkness remains the background to the story which John will tell--up to the moment when Judas walks out of the light of the Upper Room into the darkness of the night (13:30)."
"Human life is not just the story of life and light. There is also death and darkness. This is a fact. If we ask "Why is there darkness?" we do not receive an answer. God did not say in the beginning, "Let there be darkness." He said, "Let there be light," and he "seperated the light from the darkness." The darkness ... is what confronts one who turns away from the true source of his being, tires to find its meaning elsewhere, and is thereby plunged into meaninglessness. But the light shines in the darkness. We know that there is darkness only when we look away from the light. The light does not eliminate the darkness, but it goes on shining. There is no peaceful coexistence of light and darkness. The business of light is to banish darkness, and darkness remains the background to the story which John will tell--up to the moment when Judas walks out of the light of the Upper Room into the darkness of the night (13:30)."
Comments