Children of Light
- stephenstrent7
- Sep 21
- 3 min read
Where Science Meets the Doctrine and Covenants, for the Come Follow Me lesson September 22-28; Doctrine and Covenants 106-108
We are told in Doctrine and Covenants 106:4-5, “And again, verily I say unto you, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and it overtaketh the world as a thief in the night—Therefore, gird up your loins, that you may be the children of light, and that day shall not overtake you as a thief.” There may not be much science in this essay, I just like the phrase “children of light”.
Christ said in John 8:12, “…I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
The statement in Doctrine and Covenants 106 harkens back to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5, where we read, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night…But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”
Probably the strangest of all Christ’s parables is recorded in Luke 16:1-12. It is called the Parable of the Unjust Steward, and it outlines how a rich man was going to fire a steward because he was accused of wasting the rich man’s goods. The steward decided that he would decrease the debts owed by some of the rich man’s debtors so that when he was fired, they may receive him into their houses. Then we are told in Luke 16: 8, “And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”
The ”Study Bible” section of Bible Hub states, in reference to the lord or master’s (κύριος; kyrios) commendation in this verse, “The commendation of the dishonest manager is unexpected, as it highlights the manager’s shrewdness rather than his dishonesty. This reflects a cultural understanding of shrewdness as a valuable trait in ancient Near Eastern societies, where resourcefulness and cleverness were often necessary for survival. The parable challenges the listener to consider the importance of wisdom and prudence in managing resources, even when the methods are not entirely ethical.”
The “Pulpit Commentary” at Bible Hum says of this verse, “For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. This was a melancholy and sorrowful reflection. It seems to say, ‘I have been painting, indeed, from the life. See, the children of this world, men and women whose ends and aims are bounded by the horizon of this world, who only live for this life, how much more painstaking and skilful are they in their working for the perishable things of this world than are the children of light in their noble toiling after the things of the life to come.’”
James E. Talmage said of this parable: “Be diligent; for the day in which you can use your earthly riches will soon pass. Take a lesson from even the dishonest and the evil; if they are so prudent as to provide for the only future they think of, how much more should you, who believe in an eternal future, provide therefor! If you have not learned wisdom and prudence in the use of ‘unrighteous mammon,’ how can you be trusted with the more enduring riches?”1
In a talk given March 19, 2013 at Brigham Young University–Idaho on, and reprinted in the August 2014 Ensign, entitled Becoming Children of Light, Elder Craig C. Christensen, of the Presidency of the Seventy, stated, “The phrase ‘children of light’ describes a people in whom the light of the gospel shines brightly. It describes a people who seek the light and are drawn to that which is virtuous, clean, and pure. There is an expectation that children of light are alert and watchful—not sleeping, in a spiritual sense, when they should be awake. Children of light do not sit passively in darkness; they have the courage to stand up and stand out. When the adversary comes looming, children of light know when to fight back, when to say no, and when to simply walk away…If we strive to be ‘children of light’ by following Jesus Christ, we will be prepared when He comes again”.
Trent Dee Stephens, PhD
References
1. Talmage, James E., Jesus the Christ [1916], Covenant Communications Inc, 2005, p. 464; see also churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/jesus-the-christ?lang=eng
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