from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- adj. Of, pertaining to, or producing vision.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- adj. Of or pertaining to the sight; visual.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or pertaining to the power of seeing; visual.
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Democritus and Epicurus suppose that sight is caused by the insertion of little images into the visive organ, and by the reception of certain rays which return to the eye after meeting the object.
All the light the sun can give will not make a blind man see: there must be a visive faculty within as well as light without.
Lord Christ do not, by the mighty efficacy of his Spirit, create a visive power within them, as well as reveal the will of his Father to them, they will never spiritually discern the things of God.
It is in this case as in things natural; neither the light of the sun, nor any persuasive arguments unto men to look up unto it, will enable them to discern it unless they are endued with a due visive faculty.
There is a measure of light which is suited unto our visive faculty; what exceeds it dazzles and amazes, rather than enlightens, but every degree of light which tends unto it is connatural and pleasant to the eye.
They could not see for want of light; they had their visive faculty continued unto them, yet having "no light," they "saw not one another, neither arose any from his place," Exod.x. 23: for God, probably, to augment the terror of his judgment, restrained the virtue of artificial light, as well as he did that which was natural.
It is evident that in all these there was no use of the bodily senses of the prophets, but only their minds were affected with the ideas and representation of things; but this was so effectual as that they understood not but that they also made use of their visive faculty.
There is, or may be, a power in the mind to discern spiritual things, whereby it is so able to do it as that it can immediately exercise that power in the spiritual discerning of them upon their due proposal unto it, that is, spiritually; as a man that hath the visive faculty sound and entire, upon the due proposal of visible objects unto him can discern and see them.
There was no creature that had a visive faculty; there was darkness subjectively in all; and there was no light to see by, but all was objectively wrapped up in darkness.
It will be so from that visive power or faculty of beholding the glory of Christ which we shall then receive.