Seeing And Believing

Quaeritur de hoc quod dicitur: Vidistis me, et non creditis. Videtur, quod nihill dicat, quia fides est earum rerum, quae non videntur, ut dicit Apostolus ad Heb undecimo. Ergo nihil potest eos reprehendere de hoc, quod non credunt, cum videant. Si dicas, quod videre est secundum humanitatem, sed credere secundum Divnitatem; hoc nihil est, quia visio humanitatis potius impedit fidem Divnitatis, quam adjuvet: ergo non debet eos arguere ex hoc. Resp. Dicendum, quod intelligitur de visione non humanitatis purae, vel infirmae sed de visione virtutis et potentiae in effectu. Et quoniam videbunt Divinam virtutuem in effectu, ideo credere debebant. Quod objicitur, quod visio repugnat fidei, dicendum, quod verum est de visione essentiae Divinae; sed non est verum de visione, quae est in effectu tanquam in speculo; quia fidei est videre per speculum et in aenigmate. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput VI Source: Here, p677

One must enquire into this which is said: 'You see me and you do not believe.' 1 It seems that nothing is being said here because faith is of things which are not seen, as the Apostle says in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews. 2 Therefore it is not possible to find fault with them concerning this, that they do not believe when they see. If you should say that to see is according to humanity and to believe is according to Divinity, this is nothing, because human vision is more of an obstacle to the Divine faith rather than a help, and therefore there should be no dispute with them because of this. I answer that it must be said that this should be understood of a seeing that is not purely human, or weak, but it is a seeing of virtue and power in action. And because they saw the Divine virtue in action, therefore they should have believed. And to the objection that vision is hostile to faith, it must be said that this is true regarding the vision of the Divine essence, but it is not true of the vision which is active as in a mirror, because faith is to see through a mirror darkly. 3 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 6 1 Jn 6.36 2 Heb 11.1 3 1 Cor 13.12