[1:1] On John: V.
[1:2] —On John VIII.
[1:3] Now this word "I am" expresses His eternal subsistence.
[1:4] For if He is the reflection of the eternal light, He must also be eternal Himself.
[1:5] For if the light subsists for ever, it is evident that the reflection also subsists for ever.
[1:6] And that this light subsists, is known only by its shining; neither can there be a light that does not give light.
[1:7] We come back, therefore, to our illustrations.
[1:8] If there is day, there is light; and if there is no such thing, the sun certainly cannot be present.
[1:9] If, therefore, the sun had been eternal, there would also have been endless day.
[1:10] Now, however, as it is not so, the day begins when the sun rises, and it ends when the sun sets.
[1:11] But God is eternal light, having neither beginning nor end.
[1:12] And along with Him there is the reflection, also without beginning, and everlasting.
[1:13] The Father, then, being eternal, the Son is also eternal, being light of light; and if God is the light, Christ is the reflection; and if God is also a Spirit, as it is written, "God is a Spirit," Christ, again, is called analogously Spirit.