1. The words of the
Lord, I in the Father, and the Father in Me St. John xiv. 11., confuse many minds, and not unnaturally,
for the powers of human reason cannot provide them with any
intelligible meaning. It seems impossible that one object should
be both within and without another, or that (since it is laid down that
the Beings of whom we are treating, though They do not dwell apart,
retain their separate existence and condition) these Beings can
reciprocally contain One Another, so that One should permanently
envelope, and also be permanently enveloped by, the Other, whom yet He
envelopes. This is a problem which the wit of man will never
solve, nor will human research ever find an analogy for this condition
of Divine existence. But what man cannot understand, God can
be. I do not mean to say that the fact that this is an assertion
made by God renders it at once intelligible to us. We must think
for ourselves, and come to know the meaning of the words, I in the
Father, and the Father in Me: but this will depend upon our
success in grasping the truth that reasoning based upon Divine verities
can establish its conclusions, even though they seem to contradict the
laws of the universe.