us as the end of all actions, and the everlast- and it sufficeth us. For, that he might under-
26 THE WORKS OF ST. AUGUSTIN. [Book I.
will be nothing more than can be required. For the Father will be manifested to us, and that will suffice for us. And this much Philip had well understood, so that he said to the Lord, '' Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.'' But he had not yet understood that he himself was able to say this very same thing in this way also: Lord, show Thyself to us, and it sufficeth us. For, that he might understand this, the Lord replied to him, °*' 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." But because He intended him, before he could see this, to live by faith, He went on to say, table;''* that is, as long as Christ is in His secret place: since ''your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ, who is our? life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.''3 Before which time, '' we see now through a glass, in an enigma,'' that is, in similitudes, '* but then face to face.'' 4 17. For this contemplation is held forth to us as the end of all actions, and the everlasting fullness of joy. For '* we are the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.''5 For that which He said to His servant Moses, ''I am that I am; thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me to you;"'® this it is which we shall contemplate when we shall live in eternity. For so it is said, ''And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.''?. This shall be when the Lord shall have come, and ''shall have brought to light the hidden things of darkness;''*® when the darkness of this present mortality and corruption shall have passed away. Then will be our morning, which is spoken of in the Psalm,
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?''™ For '* while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: for we walk by faith, not by sight." *5 For contemplation is the recompense of faith, for which recompense our hearts are purified by faith; as it is written, '° Purifying their hearts by faith." ° And that our hearts are to be purified for this contemplation, is proved above all by this text, '* Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'?" And that this is life eternal, God says in the Psalm,
''In the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will contemplate Thee.''2 Of this contemplation I understand it to be said,
With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.''"® Whether, therefore, we hear, Show us the Son; or whether we hear, Show us the Father; it is even all one, since neither can be manifested without the other. For they are one, as He also Himself says, '" My Father and I are one." Finally, on account of this very indivisibility, it suffices that sometimes the Father alone, or the Son alone, should be named, as hereafter to fill us with the joy of His countenance.
When He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father;'' that is, when He shall have brought the just, over whom now, living by faith, the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, reigns, to the contemplation of God, even the Father. If herein I am foolish, let him who knows better correct me; to me at Jeast the case seems as I have said." For we shall not seek anything else, when we shall have come to the contemplation of Him. But that contemplation is not yet, so long as our joy is in hope. For '' hope that is seen is not hope: for what aman seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it,''™ vz. ''as long as the King sitteth at His table.''" Then will take place that which is written, ''In Th presence is fullness of joy." 8 Nothing more than that joy will be required; because there
18. Neither is the Spirit of either thence excluded, that is, the Spirit of the Father and of the Son; which Holy Spirit is specially called *'the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive."'* For to have the fruition of God the Trinity, after whose image we are made, is indeed the fullness of our joy, than which there is no greater. On this account the Holy Spirit is sometimes spoken of as if y | He alone sufficed to our blessedness: and He does alone so suffice, because He cannot be divided from the Father and the Son; as the Father alone is sufficient, because He cannot be divided from the Son and the Holy Spirit; and the Son alone is sufficient because He cannot be divided from the Father and the Holy Spirit. For what does He mean by saying, ""If ye love me, keep my commandments; and I will pray the Father, and He shall give
1 In recubitu, Cant. i. 11; see LXX. 2 Vestra, Col ain 3 sat 5 x John iii. 2. 6 Ex. iii. 14. 8x Cor. iv. 5. 9° Psiviuse 10 [The common explanation is better,which regards the " kingdom "' that is to be delivered up, to be the mediatorial commission. When Christ shall have finished his work of redeeming men, he no longer discharges the office of a mediator. It seems incongruous to denominate the beatific vision of God by the redeemed a surrender of akingdom. In I. x. 21, Augustin says that when the Redeemer brings the redeemed from faith to sight, ' Heis mie, . ST up the kingdom to God, even the Father,' "'
41 Cor. xiii. 12. 7 John xvii. 3.
15 2 Cor. v. 6, 7. 16 Acts xv. 9. 18 Ps, xci. 16, 19 John x. 30.
14 John xiv. 8, to. 17 Matt, v. 8. 20 John xiv. 17.
™ Rom. vili. 24, 25.
12 Cant. i. 12. 13 Ps, xvi. 11.