📖 Biblical Definition
Light and Darkness is the foundational biblical contrast, opening Genesis 1 (let there be light) and running through the canon to Revelation 22:5 (they need no candle, neither light of the sun). God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 Jn 1:5). Christ is the light of the world (Jn 8:12). The saints walk in light (1 Jn 1:7). The new creation has no night.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
(Foundational biblical contrast.) From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22; God is light, Christ is light, the saints walk in light.
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Genesis 1:3 (let there be light) is creation's first speech-act after the formless-and-void description. Light is created; darkness is named but not created (it is the absence).
John's Gospel and 1 John develop the motif most extensively. God is light (1 Jn 1:5). Christ is the light of the world (Jn 8:12). The saint walks in the light (1 Jn 1:7). The new Jerusalem needs no sun, for the Lamb is its light (Rev 21:23, 22:5).
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 1:3 — "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
1 John 1:5 — "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
John 8:12 — "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world."
Revelation 22:5 — "And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Modern Christianity sometimes spiritualizes light-and-darkness into vague feeling; Scripture treats them as ontological reality — God is light, sin is darkness, Christ's coming is light invading.
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Genesis 1 establishes that darkness is real but not foundational. God is the source of light; darkness exists only by absence. The contrast runs through Scripture as the deepest moral and ontological frame.
The household's walk in light (1 Jn 1:7) is daily, deliberate, exposed. Light makes things visible; sin loves darkness because its deeds are evil (Jn 3:19). The recovery is exposure: bring things into the light.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew or (light) and choshech (darkness); Greek phōs and skotos.
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Hebrew or — light; choshech — darkness.
Greek phōs — light; skotos — darkness.
Usage
"Darkness is real but not foundational."
"God is light; sin is darkness; Christ's coming is light invading."
"Bring things into the light."