Christianity is not a philosophy that can be learned separate from those who embody it. If the truth that is Christ were a truth that could be known “in principle’ then we would not need apostles. But the way the gospel is known is by one person being for another person the story of Christ. Jesus summons the disciples to him, and, so summoned, they become for us the witnesses who make it possible for us to be messengers of the kingdom. The disciples are not impressive people, but then, nether are we. Their mission, as well as our own, is not to call attention to ourselves but to Jesus and the kingdom.