King James Bible
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
Jesus identifies the basis of divine judgment—not merely the absence of belief, but an active rejection of truth. The word 'condemnation' (Greek: krisis) implies a verdict already rendered by people's own choices. The 'light' refers to Christ himself and the revelation of God's truth breaking into human history. John's Gospel consistently uses light as a metaphor for divine knowledge and life that exposes and transforms. Humanity's tragic preference reveals a moral problem deeper than ignorance—a willful attraction to spiritual darkness. The verb 'loved' (agapao) suggests a deliberate, settled affection for concealment over exposure. The root cause of rejecting light is moral, not intellectual—evil actions create a vested interest in avoiding truth's exposing power. This explains why salvation requires not just information but transformation of the will.