7. As for the sudden kindling in the soul of a burning light as it were from flaming fire, the Word knew this before Plato, for, speaking by the prophet, He said, "Light up for yourselves the light of knowledge." And John, who came long after, tells us that "What was in the Word was life, and the life was the light of men"; the true light which lighteneth every man as he cometh into the real "intelligible" world, and maketh him a light of the world. For this light shone in our hearts to give the illumination of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Wherefore a very ancient Prophet, who prophesied generations before the rise of the kingdom of Cyrus, for he was earlier than that monarch by more than fourteen generations, says, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?" and, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my paths"; and, "The light of thy countenance, O Lord, was lifted up as a banner over us"; and,"In thy light shall we see light." And, urging us to come to this light, the Word in Isaiah says, "Shine, shine, Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord hath risen upon thee." And this same Isaiah, prophesying of the coming of Jesus, Who turns men from the worship of idols and images and demons, says, "To them which sat in the region and shadow of death, to them did the light spring up." And again, "The people |68 which sat in darkness saw a great light." Observe, then, the difference between Plato's fine saying respecting the Chief Good, and what is said in the Prophets concerning the light of the blessed; and observe further that the truth in Plato concerning the Chief Good did not at all help his readers to attain to pure and undefiled religion; and. what is more, it did not benefit the philosopher him-self who thus expounded the Chief Good. But the diction of the Divine Scriptures, poor as it is, has given inspiration to true readers----those who nourish this light with the oil spoken of in the parable, the oil which keeps alight the torches of the five virgins.