Is God a light? If God is a light who came to earth in the form of man, i.e. Christ, where did this “light” originate and where is it that it can’t be detected scientifically?
No, God is not a light. God cannot be detected scientifically. God did not originate anywhere because God has no beginning and no end. Further, God is not material, i.e., God is not made up of anything. Therefore, God has no location in this universe or any other universe. A good principle to remember is that if you have any idea about what God is like, drop it, because that is not God. God is always bigger than what we creatures can think.
So a good question on this Trinity Sunday is just who or what is God? Early Christians struggled with this, especially in the revelation that Jesus is God, and that He sent us the Holy Spirit who is God. How can God be three persons and yet we have only one God? This is the mystery of the Trinity! So one analogy that was used to help us understand is that of light: “Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn 1:5) Light is kind of mysterious (it was much more mysterious to ancient people). It is not made of anything material. It spreads all over. One beam of light can be split into three by mirrors or a prism, and yet each of the three beams is still light. So by this analogy we can kind of understand a little bit better what God is like. Yet again, God is not literally light—God is something much greater.
Another analogy is that God is love. In order to love, there has to be a “Lover” and a “Beloved”, but there is also the “Love” between them that they share. God the Father loves the Son and the love they share is the Holy Spirit. Love is diffusive. If you really love, you can’t keep it in. Instead, it spills out. So too, God’s love spills out into creation, and God lavishes love upon us, because that is what a “Lover” does. So let us live in Love and rejoice in the Light this day!
-Fr. Greg
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