" It is as if the fact that God is light, penetrating and manifesting everything, is so absolutely important that darkness and bondage can and must exist for the light’s sake. Perhaps he even permits the culpable bondage we spoke of earlier to exist for this reason. It is as if, as the Revelation of St. John portrays it, the infinite black smoke which rises from the mouth of hell, darkening the air and the sun (Rev 9:2), is only permitted so that, ultimately, God’s immaculate light may shine all the more brilliantly. "

― Hans Urs von Balthasar , Does Jesus Know Us--Do We Know Him?