And God saw the light, that it was
good.
Gen. i. 4. How can we
worthily praise light after the testimony given by the Creator to its
goodness? The word, even among us, refers the judgment to the
eyes, incapable of raising itself to the idea that the senses have
already received. St. Basil
dwells rather on the sense of “beautiful” in the lxx.
καλόν. The Vulgate has
pulchra. But, if
beauty in bodies results from symmetry of parts, and the
harmonious appearance of
colours, how in a simple and homogeneous essence like light, can this
idea of beauty be preserved? Would not the symmetry in light be
less shown in its parts than in the pleasure and delight at the sight
of it? Such is also the beauty of gold, which it owes not to the
happy mingling of its parts, but only to its beautiful colour which has
a charm attractive to the eyes.