"This was one of the wisest apostolic utterances. The world is unconscious of its unbelief. It thinks that the reason why it has not more faith, is that there is no more evidence given to it. But no accumulation of evidence would remove the difficulty.
A change within, a couching of the moral vision; this is that which is necessary."
— George Bowen (1816–1888) · The White Sadhu of Bombay✦ Unconscious of Its Unbelief
Five words from the apostles. And Bowen calls it one of the wisest things they ever said. Not the most dramatic. Not the most theological. The wisest. Because in those five words the apostles admitted what the world has never been willing to admit: the problem is not outside. The problem is inside.
The world does not know it does not believe. It thinks the problem is insufficient evidence — if only God would do more, show more, prove more. One more miracle. One more sign. One more undeniable demonstration. But Bowen says no. No accumulation of evidence would remove the difficulty. You could pile up evidence to the sky and the eye that cannot see would still not see. Because the problem was never the amount of light in the room. The problem is the eye.
✦ A Couching of the Moral Vision
Bowen uses an old medical term. Couching was the surgical treatment for cataracts — a surgeon would take a needle and push the clouded lens aside so the patient could see again. Not more light brought to the eye. The eye itself repaired so it could receive the light that was already there.
This is the interior transformation that runs through every morning of this journal. The Potter of Isaiah 64:8 shaping the clay. The fonte of Proverbs 10:11 fed from below. The thicker shroud of Isaiah 48:17 requiring a deeper listening. All of it — God working on the eye, not adding more evidence to the room. Lord, You are the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). The faith itself is not manufactured by us. It is authored by Him and finished by Him.
"No accumulation of evidence would remove the difficulty. A change within — this is that which is necessary."
— George Bowen · The problem was never the light. The problem is the eye."I remember being unconscious and the darkness around me. Thank You Lord for the light which You have given me."
"Unconscious is the perfect description of the state of the world."
"The Lord answers this prayer, not in general by giving new evidence, but by inclining us to view and appreciate the evidence before our minds. By leading us to weigh His promises in the scales of faith against the proffers of the world. By making us to see that faith is the essential condition of blessedness. By showing us that we get no good by unbelief, but mere confusion and wretchedness.
That faith is the perception of truth, and leads us, not to a castle upon the earth, which might be burnt up, not to a castle in the air, which vanishes away, but to a glorious mansion which has foundations unmovable, battlements insurmountable, amplitude immeasurable, light inextinguishable, glory inconceivable, and happiness inviolable."
— George Bowen (1816–1888)✦ Not New Evidence — New Eyes
God does not respond to the apostles' prayer by adding more proof. He responds by changing how they see the proof already before them. Inclining — a gentle word for a sovereign act. The same God who couched the clouded eye now inclines the will to look at what was always there. The promises of God, weighed in the scales of faith against everything the world offers, are found to outweigh everything.
And unbelief — what does it produce? Not the freedom it promises. Mere confusion and wretchedness. Bowen does not argue against unbelief. He simply names what it delivers. The scales are tested not by theology but by experience. Those who have tasted both know the difference.
The Couching
An old surgical term for cataract removal — pushing the clouded lens aside so the eye can receive the light that was already there. Not more evidence brought to the room. The eye itself repaired. The change within that makes everything visible.
The Scales of Faith
God's promises weighed against the proffers of the world. Psalm 19 already declared the verdict — more to be desired than gold. The scales do not lie. But only faith has the eyes to read them.
The Glorious Mansion
Not a castle on earth that can be burnt. Not a castle in the air that vanishes. A mansion with foundations unmovable and light inextinguishable — the destination faith perceives and unbelief cannot imagine.
✦ The Glorious Mansion
Bowen closes by naming two things faith does not lead to — and one thing it does. The precision matters. A castle upon the earth might be burnt up. The Atlantic Wall on this very beach was built to last a thousand years and fell in a single day. A castle in the air vanishes away — the fantasies, the wishful thinking, the optimism that has no foundation. Both fail. Both always fail.
But faith leads to something else entirely — a mansion with six qualities that nothing can breach:
Foundations
Unmovable
Battlements
Insurmountable
Amplitude
Immeasurable
Light
Inextinguishable
Glory
Inconceivable
Happiness
Inviolable
Six qualities. Six impossibilities for the enemy. Every one of them begins with in- or un- — words of negation. What cannot be moved. What cannot be scaled. What cannot be measured. What cannot be extinguished. What cannot be conceived. What cannot be violated. The mansion is defined not by what it contains but by what nothing can do to it.
"I once was blind and unconscious. But now I see and I am alive."