The Word-made-man did not simply enter a world that knew nothing whatsoever about him. He sent his radiance ahead of himself into the world and thus awakened the yearning of humanity. He is the light, enlightening every man, that comes into the world (Jn 1:9). In this connection the Church Fathers have spoken of the “seeds of the Word”, which they sought and found in the pre-Christian world. Today this concept has rightly become a central idea in the quest to determine the correct relationship between the Christian faith and the world religions.
