Post Tenebras Lux Lantern - 1" Pin

“Post Tenebras Lux,” “After Darkness, Light.” The motto of the protestant reformation. This motto was taken from the Latin Vulgate translation of Job 17:12, “Post tenebras spero lucem,” “after darkness, I hope for light.”

   In the medieval church, there was much darkness. Not the drab darkness that Hollywood tends to pretend was prevalent in the medieval period, where everyone wears grey and is for some reason covered in mud. No, it was a spiritual darkness. The common people had become disconnected from God. The Mass was held in Latin, while most people could not understand Latin. The Eucharist has been effectively removed from the people. The church banned the laity from partaking of the wine, so people only received the bread. And even then, most people would not even partake of that out of fear. Christ had begun to be presented as distant, and unloving in the mind of the common people. The Bible was forbidden from being translated into the common tongue of the people, barring them from even understanding the Word of the Lord to humanity. Christendom was spiritually darkened.

   But then hope dawned. Monks and priests of the church began to be convicted by the Spirit of God. They began to make changes, restoring the church to what is had been and should have remained as. The Bible began to be translated into the language of the people. The mass was held in the common tongue. The Eucharist was restored to the people. Singing once again rang out in the churches. And what came from this was the light of the gospel to the people. Souls were changed and life began again to grow.

   Out of the darkness came a great light. This is why this motto became so popular. Martin Luther began to use this phrase “post tenebras lux” as a rallying cry. It became the motor of John Calvin’s city of Geneva, Switzerland. And still to this day it is a common phrase in the reformed world. Why? Because it is a summary of the gospel itself. It is a picture of the story God loves to tell.

   Often it can appear as if the darkness will win. The Psalmist often laments to the Lord how the wicked seem to prosper. We are confronted with this in our day. The forces of darkness seem unstoppable. It looks as if the light will finally be extinguished. But, then something always happens. Just when the darkness seems as if it cannot grow any worse, a small spark will ignite, and the light will grow brighter than ever before! The light cannot be defeated for the Light of the World has come to illumine the hearts of men. And the Light of Christ will never be defeated. No matter how dark things become, after darkness, light will always come.

   This reformation day remember that the Light of Christ cannot be extinguished. And celebrate this idea with this glow in the dark pin. Even in the darkest of times, the light of Christ ever shines!"