“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have viewed attentively and our hands felt, concerning the word of life,

The apostle John had heard Jesus Christ’s voice and had observed him day after day. John had walked with him, eaten meals with him and had seen him at rest. Hearing and seeing can, of course, be involuntary, without deliberate choice on the part of the person whose senses are stimulated. This may be why John took the matter of seeing a step farther, indicating that he had viewed the “word of life” attentively.