ABSTRACT
Aesthetics consider the art of light, and ethics enquire about the consequence of light. This aesthetic and ethical tradition is represented in the Old Testament through the divine light and in the New Testament where the divine light becomes channelled into the image of Jesus, as a light that shines in the darkness and which the darkness does not put out. The combination of light and salvation relates specifically to lighthouses. And modern language specialist Richard Maber's account of lighthouse imagery in the early modern period shows how even the most pious religious metaphors stray readily into ways of describing more down-to-earth experiences. Similar themes of light and enlightenment can be found in Sikhism, with the concept of the guru, whose nature is compared to light, passing from guru to guru, as though there is a single flame passing through many candles.
