Light
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Gen. 1:3)—that which makes vision possible and, in physical terms, electromagnetic radiation visible to the human eye. Light travels in a vacuum at approximately 299,792 kilometers per second and does not require the “luminiferous ether” proposed by some nineteenth-century theories. Genesis first records God’s command, “Let there be light,” and only later describes the luminaries appointed to govern day and night (Gen. 1:3-5, 14-18). The passage presents light and the heavenly bodies as creatures ordered by God, not divine beings.