What Do We Believe When We Say "Light from Light"?

In the Creed, we profess “one Lord Jesus Christ…Light from Light.” Such a curious phrase prompts us to wonder - why do we profess this particular phrase in our Creed? Why was it deemed so important to include? Why do we declare Christ as “light”? 

First, let us consider how this phrase found its way into the Nicaean Creed in the first place. According to the Catechetical Review, this phrase was used to combat the Arian heresy, which denied Christ’s divinity and asserted instead that Jesus was merely a creation of the Father. Perhaps he was a superhuman, but nothing more. Arianism was a major heresy in the early Church and was addressed at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. One of the great champions of the Church, St. Athanasius, proposed including the mysterious phrase, “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God”, a triple confession of Christ’s true Divinity as consubstantial with the Father.

Next, we consider the “why” - why “light”? Why did the Church Fathers think that “light from light” was the best way to describe Jesus’ Divine nature? Perhaps they searched for an example that they knew would stand the test of time. Looking to Sacred Scripture and even the natural world, they would have quickly found “light” to be a perfect example. 

Genesis 1:3 reveals the first spoken words of God in Scripture, “Let there be light,” creating a strong association in the beginning with Almighty God and light. Jesus also says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” St. John in his first letter also says, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” God himself, in both the Old and New Testaments, associates himself with light, and so we would be right to carry on that association even in our own Creed.

Finally, we may ponder why God would call himself “light.” Scientifically (and very simply) speaking, light is considered the visible transference of energy, which can be neither created nor destroyed. This is not unlike Almighty God, who always is and forever will be. Finally, just as a ray of light shines brilliantly through a prism, we do not consider the rays of light as separate lights. We know that they are the same light. Similarly, Jesus is truly God - not separate from the Father, one of three Persons in one God.

When we consider even what light does, we see many benefits or even go one step further and say “it is very good.” St. Hildegard of Bingen comments that ““God is the brightest of lights which can never be extinguished, and the choirs of angels radiate light from the divinity.” All good things reflect God’s own goodness, just as light is reflected back into our eyes. Even the small light of one candle brightens up the darkest room. Jesus’ light illuminates our lives and our world by dispelling the dark evils and revealing truth to us, even as the psalmist said “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

Let us pray that God continues to guide us in our way, and lead us into his wondrous light.