Fathers

2 Corinthians 4

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Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

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What the Fathers say

2 Corinthians 4:6

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Seeing it is God that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in your hearts." Seest thou how again to those who were desirous of seeing that surpassing glory, I mean that of Moses, he shows it flashing with added lustre? 'As upon the face of Moses, so also hath it shined unto your hearts,' he saith. And first, he puts them in mind of what was made in the beginning of the Creation, sensible light and darkness sensible, showing that this creation is greater. And where commanded He light to shine out of darkness? …

Homily 8 on 2 Corinthians ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Why, he says, do we not preach ourselves? Because God has shone in our hearts, as in ancient times upon the face of Moses, so now upon us. As at the first creation He spoke, and light appeared out of darkness, so now too He spoke, and light appeared. However, He Himself became light for us, for He shone for us "in the face of Christ," that is, through Christ, because the Father shines in us through Christ and gives "illumination by the knowledge," not of His essence, but of His glory. …

Commentary on 2 Corinthians ↗

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius

Therefore, having finished the world, He commanded that animals of various kinds and of dissimilar forms should be created, both great and smaller. And they were made in pairs, that is, one of each sex; from the offspring of which both the air and the earth and the seas were filled. …

The Divine Institutes, Book 2, Chapter XI ↗

Western Saints

Ambrose of Milan

But does anyone deny that the Godhead of the eternal Trinity is to be adored, when the Scriptures also set forth the inexplicable majesty of the divine Trinity, as the apostle says elsewhere: "For the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus?" … Who is it, then, who shined that we might know God in the face of Christ Jesus? …

On the Holy Spirit 3.12.86. 88 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, For it is the God who said, he shows the source of his Gospel's power to enlighten. Here we should note the order of the Apostle's procedure. It is this: at one time, namely, before being converted to Christ, we were darkness, just as you and the others, upon whom the brightness of Christ's glory did not shine. …

Commentary on 2 Corinthians ↗

Bonaventure

This word is written in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, in which the Apostle Paul, the great doctor, explains the gift of knowledge itself; and he explains the gift itself with respect to its antecedents and consequents. Two things precede the gift of knowledge: one is like an innate light, and the other is like an infused light. The innate light is the light of the natural judicatory or of reason; the superinfused light is the light of faith. …

Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 4 ↗