Creation (wdtna St* airrou ("^ivrro^ not ^ir* oiVor). The gift of life, expressed in a liviiij,' worlil, was tlie object, or, if we niuy so say, the ruling iirinciple of the action of Uod tlirough the Word, an<l life was to have been a sign or suggestion to man of the presence of the Wor<l — to liave been tlie light of men. But, owing to the intrusion of the darkness, the light now shines in a hostile atmosphere, without, however, being overcome by it. This doctrine lies closely in coniiexioii with that of the Old Testament. The Pentateuch (Gn 1) and the Psalter (I'sSS") both ascribe creation to the word of God ; they use tlie metaphor of speech to <le- Bcribe the act of God in it. And throughout the OT the presence and etl'ect of evil is continually a-sserted. Hut St. John makes a considerable and important addition to the doctrine of the OT when he unequivocally asserts the Divinity of the Word. In the OT the idea of language was a metaphor used to describe an act ; it is said that in Rabbinical thought the Word of God was beginning to take on a quasi-personal character ; with St. John the Word by which the world was brought into being was a per.son, separate enough from God (6 ffeis, i.e.), to be in communion with God, but yet essentially Divine in nature.
We next learn St. John's conception of that Revelation of the Word which he himself had experienced. It was heralded by John the Baptist, who was sent from God to witness concerning it. The light was already in the world, and had already a place of its own in the world, but the world rejected its appeal. New birth — birth of God — was given to tliose who received the light when it came — a birth that broke through and destroyed the old physical succession (1"''"). Having thus described the Person of the Word, and the effect of His mission, St. .John proceeds to describe the mode of His manifestation. ' The Word,' he says, ' became flesh, and dwelt as in a tent among us, full of grace and truth.' As thus Incarnate, the Word manifested His Divine glory. In regard to this, St John uses a remiirkable phrase. He says it was ' glory as of an only- oegotten from a Father,' i.e. it was identical in nature, but (iifl'erent, if the phrase may be allowed, in individuality from that of the Father. It was representative in the fullest sense, not merely an irradiation from without ; it was Divine glory, but the glory of an only-begotten son. For the evi- dence of this, St. John refers to the witness of John the Baptist (l'°), and more particularly to the experience of himself and or the Church. 'We beheld his glory,' he says (1") ; and again 'of his fulness,' the grace and truth which came with Him, ' have all we received ' in continually increasing proportions, grace in place of grane (1"). Then St. John explains summarily the full height of this Revelation. It superseded the Mosaic law, which was partial and external, by means of this gift of grace and complete truth (1"). It did not give us the vision of God : it meant that one who was God and only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, had come among men and declared the truth.*
We have already seen in brief outline the process of historical observation through which St. John obtained his view of our Lord's nature. The Pro- logue shows us the same ideas formulated and in some degree systematized. The central point is still the Sonship, — Christ is Son of God in a unique sense, — but the mission of the Son is clearly defined in relation to other things. He is the \Vord of God : Eternal and Divine : He is the Instrument of Creation : the source of the knowledge of God
• ThiB interpretation depends, of course, on the reading H^^vyurt 0ief. For further information on this head, see Hort'f Tico Disgertations.
which men should acquire by life and nature. His coming has superseded all previous revelation. In its earlier stages, as in the case of John, revela- tion was for witness of a light yet to come. The revelation of the Word was the manifestation of that Light. It was complete where the law, the highest expre.*sion of the old order, was partial . it gave linal certainty about God on the authority of (lod only-begotten.
(3) The E|iistles show how fundamental a doc- trine this was in St. John's theology. He asserts in the most emphatic way (1 Jn 1'"*) his own experience in the matter ; how the life — the eternal life — which was continually (^i-) with the Father, was manifested in time (iipavepJiBr)) to us ; we saw and heard and touched beyond possibility of error. To deny the Father and the Son is the sign of antichrist (1 Jn2---^); it is a departure from the original message (1 Jn 2-^). It is the test of spirits: ' Every spirit which confesses Jesus Christ come in the Hesh is of God, and every spirit which confesses not .Jisus, is not of (lod, and this is that spirit of antichrist, of which ye have heard that it cometh, and now it is already in the world' (4-'; cf. S'-'""- '-). In the Second Epistle St. John forbids his readers even to receive into their house and salute one who makes denial of this linal truth (2 .In '''-). There is therefore no hesitation in his mind &s to the trutli or the necessity of this doctrin': it is the fundanient.'il doctrine of Christianity and the test of true mcmhers!ii|) of the Church.