Faraday's text is an ill-used text. It is frequently mis-quoted. It
occurred one day in the course of a theological lesson over which Rabbi
Duncan was presiding.
'Repeat that passage!' said the Rabbi to the student who had just
spoken.
'_I know in whom I have_----'
'My dear sir,' interrupted the Rabbi, 'you must never let even a
preposition come between you and your Saviour!'
And when Dr. Alexander, of Princeton, was dying, a friend endeavored to
fortify his faith by reciting some of the most familiar passages and
promises. Presently he ventured upon the words:
'_I know in whom I have believed, and_----'
But the sick man raised his hand.
'No, no,' exclaimed the dying Principal, 'it is not "I know _in_ whom"
but "I know _whom_"; I cannot have even the little word "_in_" between
me and Christ. _I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is
able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day!_'
John Oxenham has expressed the same thought with an accent and emphasis
well worthy of the theme:
Not What, but _Whom_, I do believe,
_That_, in my darkest hour of need,
Hath comfort that no mortal creed
To mortal man may give.
Not What but _Whom_.
For Christ is more than all the creeds,
And His full life of gentle deeds
Shall all the creeds outlive.
Not What I do believe, but _Whom_.
_Who_ walks beside me in the gloom?
_Who_ shares the burden wearisome?
_Who_ all the dim way doth illume,
And bids me look beyond the tomb
The larger life to live?
Not what I do believe,
But _Whom_!
Not What,
But _Whom_!
It was a Person, a Living and Divine Person, of whom Faraday was so
certain and on whom he rested so securely at the last.
V
Is there in all Scottish literature a more robust, more satisfying, or
more lovable character than _Donal Grant_? Readers of George Macdonald
will cherish the thought of Donal as long as they live. He was the child
of the open air; his character was formed during long and lonely tramps
on the wide moor and among the rugged mountains; it was strengthened and
sweetened by communion with sheep and dogs and cattle, with stars and
winds and stormy skies. He was disciplined by sharp suffering and bitter
disappointments. And he became to all who knew him a tower of strength,
a sure refuge, a strong city, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary
land. As a shepherd-boy among the hills he learned to read his Greek
Testament; and, later on, he became tutor at the Castle Graham. It was
his business in life to instruct little Davie, the younger son of Lord
Morven; and he had his own way of doing it.
'Davie,' he said one day, 'there is One who understands every boy, and
understands each separate boy as well as if there were no other boy in
the whole world.'
'Tell me who it is!' demanded Davie.
'That is what I have to _teach_ you; mere _telling_ is not much use.
_Telling_ is what makes people think they know when they do not, and
makes them foolish.'
'Well, what is his name?'
'I will not tell you that just yet; for then you would think that you
knew Him when you knew next to nothing about Him. Look here! Look at
this book!' He pulled from his pocket a copy of Boethius. 'Look at the
name on the back of it; it is the name of the man who wrote that book.'
Davie spelled it out.
'Now you know all about the book, don't you?'
'No, sir, I don't know anything about it.'
'Well, then, my father's name is Robert Grant; you know now what a good
man he is!'
'No, I don't!' replied Davie.
And so Donal led Davie to see that to know _the name_ of Jesus, and to
know _about_ Jesus is not to know _Jesus_.
'I know _Him_!' cried Faraday in triumph.
George Macdonald makes Faraday's text the master-passion of his hero's
life to the last. All through the adventures recorded in the book, Donal
Grant behaves like a man who is very sure of God. '_I know Him_,' he
seems to say. '_I know Him._' And the closing sentences of the story
tell us that 'Donal is still a present power of heat and light in the
town of Auchars. He wears the same solemn look, the same hovering smile.
That look and that smile say to those who can read them, "_I know whom I
have believed_." His life is hid with Christ in God; he has no anxiety
about anything; God is, and all is well.'