Light in the context of the church.

Father John was saying this week that in order to understand the story of the wise men, it must be seen in the context of the Matthean community. The early church makes a big deal of the nations coming to the Light of Christ. Theirs is the pentecostal experience, theirs the mission to the gentiles. They would have seen great significance to the theme in Isaiah and the narrative of foreign kings coming to worship Jesus. While John's words were still working in my head, I read this from Augustine (this time in Chadwick's Translation).

It is as if God says 'Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven', and 'suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as if a vehement wind blew, and tongues were seen split, like fire which sat on each of them' (Acts 2:2-3). And lights, made in the firmament of heaven, have the word of life (Phil. 2:15-16). Run everywhere, holy fires, fires of beauty. Do not be under a bushel (Matt. 5:14-15). He to whom you have adhered is exalted, and he has exalted you. Run and make it known to all nations (Ps. 78:10).

Light

Augustine's treatment of the creation of light illuminates epiphany to me.

13.8.9
Angels fell away, man's soul fell away, and thereby pointed the
abyss in that dark depth, ready for the whole spiritual creation,
hadst not Thou said from the beginning, Let there be light, and there
had been light, and every obedient intelligence of Thy heavenly City
had cleaved to Thee, and rested in Thy Spirit, Which is borne unchangeably
over every thing changeable. Otherwise, had even the heaven of heavens
been in itself a darksome deep; but now it is light in the Lord. For
even in that miserable restlessness of the spirits, who fell away
and discovered their own darkness, when bared of the clothing of Thy
light, dost Thou sufficiently reveal how noble Thou madest the reasonable
creature; to which nothing will suffice to yield a happy rest, less
than Thee; and so not even herself. For Thou, O our God, shalt lighten
our darkness: from Thee riseth our garment of light; and then shall
our darkness be as the noon day. Give Thyself unto me, O my God, restore
Thyself unto me: behold I love, and if it be too little, I would love
more strongly. I cannot measure so as to know, how much love there
yet lacketh to me, ere my life may run into Thy embracements, nor
turn away, until it be hidden in the hidden place of Thy Presence.
This only I know, that woe is me except in Thee: not only without
but within myself also; and all abundance, which is not my God, is
emptiness to me....

13.12.13
Proceed in thy confession, say to the Lord thy God, O my faith,
Holy, Holy, Holy, O Lord my God, in Thy Name have we been baptised,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; in Thy Name do we baptise, Father, Son,
and Holy Ghost, because among us also, in His Christ did God make
heaven and earth, namely, the spiritual and carnal people of His Church.
Yea and our earth, before it received the form of doctrine, was invisible
and without form; and we were covered with the darkness of ignorance.
For Thou chastenedst man for iniquity, and Thy judgments were like
the great deep unto him. But because Thy Spirit was borne above the
waters, Thy mercy forsook not our misery, and Thou saidst, Let there
be light, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent
ye, let there be light. And because our soul was troubled within us,
we remembered Thee, O Lord, from the land of Jordan, and that mountain
equal unto Thyself, but little for our sakes: and our darkness displeased
us, we turned unto Thee and there was light. And, behold, we were
sometimes darkness, but now light in the Lord.

The Sustaining Word of the Creation

Augustine has beautiful thoughts on the Word in the beginning who continues to sustain all things by his powerful word.

But how dost Thou make them? how, O God,
didst Thou make heaven and earth? Verily, neither in the heaven, nor
in the earth, didst Thou make heaven and earth; nor in the air, or
waters, seeing these also belong to the heaven and the earth; nor in
the whole world didst Thou make the whole world; because there was
no place where to make it, before it was made, that it might be. Nor
didst Thou hold any thing in Thy hand, whereof to make heaven and
earth. For whence shouldest Thou have this, which Thou hadst not made,
thereof to make any thing? For what is, but because Thou art?
Therefore Thou spokest, and they were made, and in Thy Word Thou
madest them.

But how didst Thou speak? In the way that the voice came out of
the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son? For that voice passed by
and passed away, began and ended; the syllables sounded and passed
away, the second after the first, the third after the second, and so
forth in order, until the last after the rest, and silence after the
last. Whence it is abundantly clear and plain that the motion of a
creature expressed it, itself temporal, serving Thy eternal will.
And these Thy words, created for a time, the outward ear reported to
the intelligent soul, whose inward ear lay listening to Thy Eternal
Word. But she compared these words sounding in time, with that Thy
Eternal Word in silence, and said "It is different, far different.
These words are far beneath me, nor are they, because they flee and
pass away; but the Word of my Lord abideth above me for ever." If then
in sounding and passing words Thou saidst that heaven and earth should
be made, and so madest heaven and earth, there was a corporeal
creature before heaven and earth, by whose motions in time that
voice might take his course in time. But there was nought corporeal
before heaven and earth; or if there were, surely Thou hadst,
without such a passing voice, created that, whereof to make this
passing voice, by which to say, Let the heaven and the earth be
made. For whatsoever that were, whereof such a voice were made, unless
by Thee it were made, it could not be at all. By what Word then
didst Thou speak, that a body might be made, whereby these words again
might be made?

Thou callest us then to understand the Word, God, with Thee God,
Which is spoken eternally, and by It are all things spoken
eternally. For what was spoken was not spoken successively, one
thing concluded that the next might be spoken, but all things together
and eternally. Else have we time and change; and not a true eternity
nor true immortality. This I know, O my God, and give thanks. I
know, I confess to Thee, O Lord, and with me there knows and blesses
Thee, whoso is not unthankful to assure Truth. We know, Lord, we know;
since inasmuch as anything is not which was, and is, which was not, so
far forth it dieth and ariseth. Nothing then of Thy Word doth give
place or replace, because It is truly immortal and eternal. And
therefore unto the Word coeternal with Thee Thou dost at once and
eternally say all that Thou dost say; and whatever Thou sayest shall
be made is made; nor dost Thou make, otherwise than by saying; and yet
are not all things made together, or everlasting, which Thou makest by
saying.

Chadwick translates it as God created outside the framework of the universe. This cast my mind back to the various creationist theories. Was it a 24 hour day, was it a day-age, was it a day-revelation? Augustine rightly points out that creation happened outside the framework of time. God made a day and called it today. For him creation is still right now. For Christ he is right now at the dawn of time, lying in a manger, suffering on the cross and glorying in the presence of God. He is no longer bound by time.