2. On the other hand, the truth and grace of God in Christ are
92 THE BIBLICAL BASIS
"comings" the absolute truth, the unique grace, of God in Christ.
For some people some words of the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel justify what has been called the particular Johannine approach to missionary work: "The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world." Can this be rightly interpreted in terms of hellenistic religion and the Logos be thought of in a Stoic manner, so that there may be seen in this verse "a reference to a general illumination of all men by the divine reason, which was subsequently deepened by the more complete manifestation of the Logos in the incarnation"? Professor Barrett raises this question only to reject it. To "lighten" can indeed mean "to illuminate inwardly," but it is more in keeping with the rest of the Gospel to render it "to shed light upon," "to bring to light" and so to expose to judgment. St. John 3:16—21 deserves careful consideration. To build upon some supposed hellenistic reference a theory that the Word of God is to be encountered particularly, albeit dimly, in the various religious systems of mankind, seems precarious. The "life" is "the light of men" because it brings to judgment: because it exposes the disastrous, humanocentric, materialistic, "darkness" which imprisons men by nature, and strikes at its very roots wher-
ever it may be found—not only in paganism, in Islam, Buddhism,
or Hinduism, but in Israel—even in the Church of God! But this exposure to judgment is not destructive either in motive or (through Jesus Christ) in effect. The Word of God judges only that he may save: he lays bare only that he may clothe; he kills only that he may make alive.
It remains to sum up some of the points that seem to arise from this brief glance at what in the Fourth Gospel seems relevant to the mission of the Church.
1, The opposition with which the Fourth Gospel_(in common with the rest of the Bible) is concerned is the opposition between the truth of God and the darkness in which sinful men are in bondage. That darkness may manifest itself in false religions, but that is symptomatic only of a more universal, a more fundamental, darkness, rooted in man's inability to see in relation to God the world, his existence in the world, and the whole pattern and material of life. The fundamental opposition is between the truth and grace of God, and the darkness as a result of which sinful man everywhere enthrones himself in the place of God.
2. On the other hand, the truth and grace of God in Christ are
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