Page:Tracts for the Times Vol 2.djvu/128

2 to them, as the chief fruit of His blessed Gospel made known to the world, that from henceforth they knew the Father, and had seen Him: St. Philip put up a request which shewed how possible it is, even for a thoroughly sincere person, to be very imperfect in his notions of Christian Truth: to be with, and yet not to know Him. He said, "Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Bring us at once to the Beatific Vision—bring us into clear and evident communion with Him, whom, as yet, we know only by faith—and that indeed is enough for us. The answer of our Lord is a calm and grave rebuke, intimating, that even at that time, before the Holy Ghost had come, when the knowledge of the Apostles was necessarily obscure and imperfect, St. Philip's ignorance was hardly such as might be excused. "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father: and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" Even before the Comforter came, the disciples of our Lord were to be blamed for their thoughtlessness, in not being aware of His divine nature and condescension, that He was the brightness of the glory, and the express image of His Person,  of, made manifest in the flesh. And if then, much more now: much more utterly without excuse are those who refuse to know Him as He is, now that the has been so long time with the Church: that  of wisdom, a part of whose especial office was to make Christians rightly receive the three great Evangelical mysteries: the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Communion of Saints: according to the promise of our Saviour, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my, and ye in Me, and I in you."

I say, the rebuke of our Saviour to St. Philip is a clear sign that when Scripture speaks so highly of personal love and devotion to our Lord as being "the one thing needful," it means love and devotion to Him, not such as we may rashly imagine Him to be without warrant of His holy Word, as interpreted by His Church, but such as He really is. There could be no question about St. Philip's attachment to Him, and yet we see he incurred rebuke, simply for being so imperfect in his notion of his Lord. How would he have fared if he had been really and positively erroneous? if, while he trusted in the Holy, he had yet closed with rash speculations concerning Him: had made up his mind to consider Him as no more than a great Prophet,