
Augustine of Hippo
Catena Aurea · Johannesevangelium 1
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
(xii. on Gen. ad litteram c. 27) For unless any in some sense die to this life, either by leaving the body altogether, or by being so withdrawn and alienated from carnal perceptions, that he may well notknow, as the Apostle says, whether he be in the body or out of the body, (2 Cor. 12:2) he cannot be carried away, and borne aloft to that vision.