Divine light

Light has always been associated with a religious and philosophical symbolic meaning, considered a source of not only physical but metaphysical illumination, as a metaphor for the revelation of a truth hidden in the shadows.

Bible commentators such as John W. Ritenbaugh see the presence of light as a metaphor of truth, good and evil, knowledge, and ignorance.

[citation needed] Quakers, known formally as the Religious Society of Friends, are generally united by a belief in each human's ability to experience the light within or see "that of God in every one".

A core belief of Quakers is, "all can be saved, through the direct relationship established by God in Christ with ‘every [person] that cometh into the world [...]’ ".

Manichaeism also co-opted other religions, including Buddhist teachings in its scripture and worshiping Jesus the Luminous who was crucified on a cross of pure light.

Manichaeism's legacy is the word Manichaean—relating to a dualistic view of the world, dividing things into either good or evil, light or dark, black or white.

The root of this thought lies in Zoroastrian beliefs, which define the supreme God, Ahura Mazda, as the source of light.

After the Arab invasion, this concept was incorporated into Islamic teachings by Iranian thinkers, the most famous of them being Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, the founder of the illumination philosophy.