What doyouthink?
Rate this book
Popular Patristics Series#44
On the Incarnation: Saint Athanasius The Great of Alexandria
On the Incarnation contains the reflections of Athanasius of Alexandria, upon the subjects of Christ, His purpose on Earth, and the nature of the Holy Spirit.
This work was composed partly to explain Athanasius's thoughts on Jesus Christ and the nature of the Holy Spirit, and partly to refute the views of Arius, a rival deacon within the Egyptian church. According to Athanasius, God arrived on Earth as Christ to show humans a pure example of divinity - through this illustration, humans may themselves aspire to immortality.
Written sometime prior to 319 A.D., this text by Athanasius is cited as one of the most influential of early Christianity. As the Pope of the Coptic Christians of Egypt, Athanasius was both renowned by his fellow early Christians and reviled by the ruling Roman Empire who sought to exile him numerous times. His church considered these writings valuable, preserving and passing on the teachings for future Christian generations.
This translation in this edition was accomplished by Sister Penelope Lawson, a nun who spent her entire life in study of various ancient Christian texts. Since originally appearing in 1944, Lawson's translation has been applauded as an authentic presentation of Athanasius's thoughts in English.
This work was composed partly to explain Athanasius's thoughts on Jesus Christ and the nature of the Holy Spirit, and partly to refute the views of Arius, a rival deacon within the Egyptian church. According to Athanasius, God arrived on Earth as Christ to show humans a pure example of divinity - through this illustration, humans may themselves aspire to immortality.
Written sometime prior to 319 A.D., this text by Athanasius is cited as one of the most influential of early Christianity. As the Pope of the Coptic Christians of Egypt, Athanasius was both renowned by his fellow early Christians and reviled by the ruling Roman Empire who sought to exile him numerous times. His church considered these writings valuable, preserving and passing on the teachings for future Christian generations.
This translation in this edition was accomplished by Sister Penelope Lawson, a nun who spent her entire life in study of various ancient Christian texts. Since originally appearing in 1944, Lawson's translation has been applauded as an authentic presentation of Athanasius's thoughts in English.
110 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 318
About the author
Athanasius of Alexandria
308books253followersborn perhaps 293
Greek patriarch SaintAthanasius,known as "the Great,"of Alexandria led defenders of Christian orthodoxy againstArianism.
An Athanasian follows him, especially in opposition to Arianism.
Christians attributed Athanasian Creed, which dates probably from the fifth century, but people now consider its unknown origin.
People also refer to Athanasius (Arabic:البابا أثناسيوس الرسولي,as the Confessor and the Apostolic, primarily in the Coptic Church; he served as the twentieth bishop. From 8 June 328, his episcopate lasted, but four different Roman emperors ordered him to spend five exiles for 17 years. People consider this renowned theologian, a Father of the Church, the chief of Trinitarianism, and a noted Egyptian of the fourth century.
People remember his role in the conflict. In 325, Athanasius at the age of 27 years played a role in the first council of Nicaea. At the time, he served as a deacon and personal secretary of Alexander, the nineteenth bishop. Constantine I convoked Nicaea in May–August 325 to address the position of Jesus of Nazareth of a distinct substance from the Father.
Three years after Nicæa and upon the repose of Alexander, bishop, he served in June 328 at the age of 30 years as archbishop. He continued to the conflict for the rest of his life, and theological and political struggles engaged him against Constantine and Constantius II, the emperors, and against Eusebius of Nicomedia and other powerful and influential churchmen. He stood as "Athanasius contra Mundum," against the world. Within a few years of his departure, SaintGregory of Nazianzuscalled him the "pillar of the Church." All fathers of the Church followed and well regarded his writings in the west and the east. His writings show a rich devotion to the Word, the Son of Man, great pastoral concern, and profound interest in monasticism.
The Roman Catholic Church counts Athanasius and three other doctors, and east labels him the "father." Many Protestants also celebrate him and label him "father of the canon." People venerate Athanasius on feast day, 2 May in west, 15 May in Coptic, and 18 January in the other eastern churches. The Roman Catholic Church, Orient, east, Lutherans, and Anglican communion venerate him.
Greek patriarch SaintAthanasius,known as "the Great,"of Alexandria led defenders of Christian orthodoxy againstArianism.
An Athanasian follows him, especially in opposition to Arianism.
Christians attributed Athanasian Creed, which dates probably from the fifth century, but people now consider its unknown origin.
People also refer to Athanasius (Arabic:البابا أثناسيوس الرسولي,as the Confessor and the Apostolic, primarily in the Coptic Church; he served as the twentieth bishop. From 8 June 328, his episcopate lasted, but four different Roman emperors ordered him to spend five exiles for 17 years. People consider this renowned theologian, a Father of the Church, the chief of Trinitarianism, and a noted Egyptian of the fourth century.
People remember his role in the conflict. In 325, Athanasius at the age of 27 years played a role in the first council of Nicaea. At the time, he served as a deacon and personal secretary of Alexander, the nineteenth bishop. Constantine I convoked Nicaea in May–August 325 to address the position of Jesus of Nazareth of a distinct substance from the Father.
Three years after Nicæa and upon the repose of Alexander, bishop, he served in June 328 at the age of 30 years as archbishop. He continued to the conflict for the rest of his life, and theological and political struggles engaged him against Constantine and Constantius II, the emperors, and against Eusebius of Nicomedia and other powerful and influential churchmen. He stood as "Athanasius contra Mundum," against the world. Within a few years of his departure, SaintGregory of Nazianzuscalled him the "pillar of the Church." All fathers of the Church followed and well regarded his writings in the west and the east. His writings show a rich devotion to the Word, the Son of Man, great pastoral concern, and profound interest in monasticism.
The Roman Catholic Church counts Athanasius and three other doctors, and east labels him the "father." Many Protestants also celebrate him and label him "father of the canon." People venerate Athanasius on feast day, 2 May in west, 15 May in Coptic, and 18 January in the other eastern churches. The Roman Catholic Church, Orient, east, Lutherans, and Anglican communion venerate him.
Ratings&Reviews
Friends&Following
Create a free accountto discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,078 reviews
February 15, 2019
I was pleased to findOn the Incarnationremarkably fresh and engaging, still fierce and still passionate too. Such is rarely the case with works of theology, particularly when orthodoxy has robbed them even of the novelty of heresy, for dry-as-dust disquisitions on settled questions often summon our slumber, not our thoughts. But this work is an exception, for the intellect, honesty, and force of personality of St. Athanasius of Alexandria still blaze like a beacon after more than seventeen hundred years.
Athanasius wasthechampion of orthodoxy when orthodoxy was losing, imperiled by the rapid growth of the Arian heresy. This heterodox idea, that the Son is somehow a lesser being than the Father, not only spread through the East and converted the barbarians of the West, but also—even more dangerously—appealed to the educated and powerful people of the age. In the course of his life of eighty years, Athanasius, a fierce trinitarian, opposed four emperors and many prominent churchmen, and—as the result of his theological squabbles--was exiled from his bishopric of Alexandria a total offive times.Thus he earned the name—which will also be the title of his biopic (if I ever get the chance to film it)—Athanasius Contra Mundum (Athanasius Against the World).
Arianism receives no mention inOn the Incarnation,but the passionate Trinitarianism that kept Athanasius fighting all his life is everywhere in evidence. His principal concern is to show that the Godhead, in all of its fullness and dynamism, is present in every particle of creation, and—most important of all—in the person of Jesus Christ Who is The Word. He begins his account with the creation, making it clear that the Word which redeems us is also the Word which creates us, and that this same Word prepares our redemption by entering thoroughly into every fiber, every recess of our humanity, so that our corrupted flesh may be thoroughly saved from death and that death itself may die. When Athanasius speaks of atonement, though he mentions Christ as ransom, his Christ is even closer to the Christus Victor—the champion who tricks Satan by His unmerited death and thus wins from His confounded adversary the freedom of our souls—a fitting Christ for a wily old warrior like himself.
I have to admit I found the final three chapters (proof texts and apologetics directed to the Jews and the Greeks) rather less than inspiring, but the first five—about fifty pages—are compelling enough to read in one sitting. This is, after all, a great story, the story of God Incarnate and His fight for our salvation. And Athanasius, the accomplished fighter, tells the story well.
I'll let Athanasius have the last word:
As when a great king has entered some great city and dwelt in one of the houses in it, such a city is then greatly honoured, and no longer does any enemy or bandit come against it, but it is rather treated with regard because of the king who has taken up residence in one of its houses; so also is the case with the King of all. For since he has come to our realm and has dwelt in a body similar to ours, now every machination of the enemy against men has ceased and the corruption of death, which formerly had power over them, has been destroyed.
April 13, 2023
Lewis's Preface/Introduction (availablehere) also appears inGod in the Dockunder the title "On the Reading of Old Books" (title given by Walter Hooper). I read this short preface on June 12, 2018, but I had heard much of it already. I teach Lewis's preface in ENGL 102.
Lewis's Preface
9: Humility can lead you astray if you think that you're not smart enough to read old books. Older books ( "firsthand knowledge" ) are often better and more delightful than modern booksaboutold books ( "secondhand knowledge" ).
10: conversation metaphor (you understand a current conversation better if you know how it started); Baxter's "mere Christianity"
10–11: we're better able to correct a current age's outlook if we are familiar with other outlooks; old books help us be less blind; "keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds... by reading old books"
11: English studies led to reading Christian classics (bc those guys were "influencers" )
12–13: be encouraged that Xns have much in common, despite all the divisions; amusing experience of quoting someone (Bunyan) and having others labeling you as something else (Catholic)
13: viaduct metaphor
13–14: offensive line from theAthanasian Creed(not written by Athanasius)—it's about deserters, not those who have never heard [cf. Heb. 6:1–8]
Behr's Introduction
St.Athanasiusthe Great of Alexandria
17: lived c. 299–373; young deacon at Council of Nicaea (325); exiled five times
17–18: metAntony(ascetic Desert Father) and wrote his biography (Life of Antony)
18: written to byBasil the Great;written about byGregory of Nazianzus;canonized less than a decade after his death (Council of Constantinople in 381)
19:On the Incarnationis basically Nicene theology
Against the Gentiles
20:On the Incarnationis the second part of a two-part treatise;Against the Gentilesis the first part; "the first work sets up the problem that the second resolves"; teachers are helpful, but not necessary in understanding the Scriptures
21: the one who ascended the cross saved the universe / healed creation; the cross vanquished demonic activity
22: idolatry was rampant before Christ, but now the power of the cross fills the world; possibly written in the 330s while in exile (mentions not having books readily available) [maybe written c. 318]
22–23: possibly responding to Eusebius's "imperialist triumphalism" by ascribing all credit to Christ (not Constantine)
24: God's transcendence makes neither his presence in creation nor the creaturely apprehension of him impossible
26: being made in the image of God includes rationality; human mental orientation should be directed godward (transcendent contemplation), but it was twisted inward [incurvatus in se] to want the body
26–27: this asceticism isn't aimed at the body per se, but at body idolatry
28: nakedness in the garden described as lacking the garment of contemplating divine things; original purpose was to transcend the body, but man directed attention toward the body and sense perception
29: history of idolatry and human perversity; order and harmony of creation indicate one creator
30: creation can't be separated from Christ's saving work
30–31: creation was ex nihilo and requires God's constant sustaining (not two separate actions by the Word)
32–33: humans become divine by participation; Christ is divine in himself (Nicaea)
On the Incarnation
34: earlier discussion of idolatry in first work sets up second work; mentions Jews and Greeks/Gentiles from the outset [see later headings in the work]
35: most famous passage: "he was incarnate that we might be made god"
36: contra one commentator who thinks Athanasius ignores the atonement, both works serve as an apology for the cross (not much space dedicated to the nativity story)— "incarnation" also refers to the church (those who constitute the body of Christ; those in whom Christ now works)
36–37: first "divine dilemma" (sections 2–10): What should God do in response to the fall? 1) He appears weak if he allows his creation (meant for incorruptibility and life) to be corrupted and die; 2) he appears inconsistent if he does not require death, which he had threatened; resolution is for the Word of God to take a human body and put it to death
37: second "divine dilemma" (sections 11–19) is the same issue, but with regard toknowledge;embodied humans had chosen the body, as opposed to God, who is a spirit [see p. 26]—God chose to use a body to recapture human attention/affection; Christ makes his divinityknownby divine works done in his human body
37: two analyses for the rationale of the incarnation: the first focuses on the death of Christ, and the second focuses on the way Christ makes himself know through his body
38: sections 20–32 cover Christ's death (why on a cross; creation's witness) and resurrection (evident in Christian courage in facing death); sections 33–40 refute the Jews (from the OT); sections 41–55 refute the Gentiles (from creation and effects of Christ's work)
38: conclusion reminds Christians of Christ's humility and exaltation [cf.WSC,Qs 23–28]; we too will be exalted one day
The Life of Antony
39: Antony's asceticism isn't a rejection of the body (according to Behr/Athanasius)—it's a struggle with the devil and an appropriation of Christ's victorythroughthe body; success is attributed to Christ alone
40: spent 20 years in a deserted fortress
41: he emerged stable and "detached" (free from emotions)
42: monks and monasteries (victory over the world[, the flesh, and the devil])
43–44: "The body is not only involved in salvation, but is the locus of salvation, for it is the dwelling place of the Lord"
44: "Christian asceticism" is a mixture of human effort and divine grace; grace alone makes human effort fruitful; Athanasius'sLife of Antonyis "a narrative exposition of his theology"
The numbers below are section numbers:
1: moving on from the discussion of the Gentile error of idolatry; mention of Jews and Greeks/Gentiles [see later headings]; incarnation and crucifixion were only apparent degradations; start with creation (makes sense, since re-creation/salvation was accomplished by the one who created it in the first place; the one who made matter became matter to save matter)
The Divine Dilemma regarding Life and Death
2: three positions on the creation of the world (Epicureans point irrationally [in opposition to clear facts and order of the world] to spontaneity/chance [no providence]; Plato says deity used preexisting matter; Gnostic heretics say a lesser demiurge created the dirty matter) —> David Lyle Jeffrey mentions this passagehere.
3: appeals to Scriptural (including Shepherd of Hermas) accounts of creation; assumes Paul wrote Hebrews; two gifts: being created in the first place, and being made in God's image; story of promise (incorruption) and threat (corruption)
4: starts with origin of humans because that's what the Incarnation is about (saving humans, made by the one who would save them); story of the fall and emphasis on incorruption vs. corruption; reference to the Book of Wisdom; reference to Ps. 81 [82]:6–7
5: humans chose corruption, so corruption/death reigned; Athanasius shows how exceedingly corrupt the whole world became, including individuals, groups ( "jointly" ), cities, and nations [showing the great need for a savior]
6: humans could have "escap[ed] their natural state by the grace of participation in the Word, had they remained good" [cf. Ps. 8:5, Heb. 1 and 2; co-heir language in Rom. 8:17; bride/bridegroom imagery in Rev. 19:7; Augustine'sCity of God12.22; Milton'sPL5.469–503]; corruption/death was obliterating the human race [cf. Lewis's WoG: either we become god-like or we become nightmares]; tension betweenabsurdandimproper;theabsurdityappears in the apparent inconsistency regarding God's decree that man would die upon sinning, and yet man didn't die [immediately or obviously]; theimproprietyappears in the fact that God created humans and yet they are corrupted and dying (God seems weak if he allows his creation to be destroyed); deceit of the devil/demons; emphasis on God's goodness
7: issue ofabsurdityagain (God threatened death for disobedience, but death did not come immediately); demanding our repentance wouldn't have restored creation (plus, corruption had already set in); only "the God Word" was able to "recreate the universe" by "suffer[ing] on behalf of all" [Christ put on corruptibility and death for us]
8: absurdity and impropriety again; the body was Christ's instrument to make God more known to us; his body took on all of death—the power of the law (corruption of humanity) was totally spent on Christ, and so undone for us; we were turned toward corruption, and Christ's incarnation/death/resurrection turned us back
9: Christ's body participates in the Word—that's how he's capable to take on death for us all (and remain incorruptible himself) and make corruption cease; we are clothed with incorruptibility; analogy of a king who dwells in a house (brings honor to the whole city, and enemies don't attack the city because of the king's residence in a single house)—so Christ's having a body repels the enemy from other bodies; the King of all enters our realm (cf.here); Christ's body completed death and prevented the dissolution of the human race
10: king analogy again; fitting that the one who made humans should become human to save humans (Heb. 2:10); fitting that, since death came through humans, through the God Word [God-human] came the dissolution of death; "his gracious advent"
The Divine Dilemma regarding Knowledge and Ignorance
11: it seems profitless to create rational humans (made in the image of their creator) who they cannotknowtheir creator (like irrational animals); the Father's image is the Son, through whom weknowthe Father, which leads to a happy/blessed life; humans turned from God by worshipping created idols and demons (calling them gods); pursuit of magic and astrology
12: being made in the image of God made us sufficient to know the Father through the God Word, but humans were inclined not to recognize their creator; besides nature (though which we can know the creator), God sent the law and the prophets to make himself known—senttothe Jews, but sentforthe whole world; blinded by pleasures and demonic deceit, humans became more and more irrational
13: dilemma: What was God to do—let humans be ignorant of him? If yes, then what was the point of creating humans in the image of God and with the capacity for knowing him? How is God glorified when humans don't revere him (but rather other things) as maker? [and if no, then how would God restore that knowledge?]; king analogy again (pursues subjects); God chose to renew/recreate the "in the image" capacity to know him (which we had lost) by sending us the Image of the Father (Christ)
14: analogy of an image on wood being effaced by dirt—but the owner returns to restore the image (doesn't destroy the entire piece of wood); the knowledge of God couldn't be restored by a regular human (what's warped can't fix itself) or creation (it wasn't enough to keep us from falling the first time); demonic deceit mentioned again; humanity's gaze was downward, not upward; God used the works of the body (Christ's actions as "the God Word" ) to teach humans about the Father
15: God, as a good teacher, condescends to help us simple folks understand; we were sunk in an abyss with our eyes downward, focusing on things created and perceptible—so God took on a body and draws our perception by his bodily actions; his works outshine those of any human and surpass anything we might be predisposed toward (creation, human beings, demons, dead heroes in poetry)
16: language of Eph. 3:17–19 (breadth, length, height, and depth) applied to Christ's works (above/creation, below/incarnation, depths/hell, breadth/world); sacrifice couldn't have been immediate, or else he would have been invisible (no one would have seen his works through his body, which make him known as no mere human, but rather the king of the universe)
17: being in a body did not mean that he wasnotelsewhere; normal humans do not control/move things other than their bodies, but the Word of God was not bound to his body; his presence in a body sanctified the body
18: Christ ate and drank—he had a real (not illusory) body; his power over demons and all sickness, his virgin birth, and his power over nature (water into wine, calming sea, feeding 5,000)—his works in the body—show that he is divine
19: if creation wasn't enough, then Christ's works in the body make his divinity known; creation confessed his divinity at the crucifixion; next section concerns Christ's death
[The first sections are more concerned with Christ's creation, nativity, and life. The next section has to do with his death and resurrection. So the basic structure of the book is the life of Christ.]
The Death of Christ and the Resurrection of the Body
20: summary (Savior needed to be incorruptible; image-restorer needed to be the Image of the Father; life-giver needed to be immortal; teacher needed to be the Word); not worried about repetition; yes, the virgin birth made Christ a unique human, but his death proved that he was actually human; his body simultaneously took the death for all and destroyed death/corruption
21: "For as seeds sown in the ground, we do not perish when we are dissolved, but as sown we shall arise again, death having been destroyed by the grace of the Savior."; why couldn't Christ have died some other way (instead of being crucified)? —> bc dying from sickness would have been unfitting for the one who healed sickness; preventing his own death would nullify the whole point of the incarnation, and it would prevent the resurrection too
22: fleeing from the Jews would have been unfitting; "he...waited for death to destroy it"; he came to complete humanity's death, not his own; resurrection is a trophy of victory over death; it's also a pledge of our future resurrection; able/unwilling vs. unable/willing
23: death/resurrection needed to be public (with witnesses who could then be bold); Pharisees forced some who had witnessed the resurrection to keep silent (if res. had been private, far fewer would have spoken about it)
24: why not have had a glorious death instead of an ignominious one? —> it would have seemed that Christ was powerful only over an easy death that he had contrived for himself; wrestler analogy (he fought whichever champion the enemies chose); ignominious death became a trophy; his body was undivided, unlike Isaiah or John the Baptist (church should not be divided)
25: previous comments are for outsiders; if an insider (lover of knowledge, not a lover of contention) asks why the death had to be crucifixion, the answer is that he became a curse (Gal. 3:13) by hanging on a tree (Deut. 21:23); hands stretched out—gathering both Jews and Gentiles; devil/demons controlled the "lower airs" and prevented our ascension, but the cross was raised up into the lower airs and purified it and reopened the gates for us to ascend
26: why wait 3 days instead of rising immediately on the same day? —> some might have said that Christ had not actually died (obscuring the glory of Christ's power over corruption); why not wait a longer time? —> people would forget the details of the death
27: it's clear that death has no more power, because people fear death before believing in Christ, but afterward they mock death (similar to how people mock a defeated and bound tyrant); only the devil remains dead
28: something about children practicing dying; just as those with asbestos know they cannot burn, and just as those who see the tyrant bound know that he has lost power, so also those who see the courage of martyrs (who mock death) know that death no longer has any power [C. S. Lewis'sPreface to Paradise Lostmentions the "mocking courage of Christian martyrdom" (p. 15)]
29: just as the sun rises and dispels darkness, so Christ was raised up, and it's clear that he destroyed death; Christians "leap toward death...with an eager spirit"; only those who are "maimed/perverted in mind" can't understand this; just as, when we see a snake trampled or a lion disturbed, we understand that the snake/lion is powerless/dead, so we understand that when people no longer fear death, it is Christ who destroyed death's power
30: those with mental sight understand the argument (death is dead because Christ has risen); but the visible facts are even clearer—if Christ were dead, would so many people be denying their ancestors' religion and turning from adultery, murder, injustice, and impiety, and would demons flee and idolatry cease?; clearly the works of Christ prove that he has risen
31: works of Christ include "drawing to piety, persuading to virtue, teaching about immorality, leading to a desire for heavenly things, revealing the knowledge of the Father, inspiring power against death, showing himself to each, and purging away the godlessness of idols"; "by the sign of the cross all magic ceases, all witchcraft is brought to naught, all idols are deserted and abandoned, all irrational desire ceases"; "the works are a proof of the resurrection"
32: it's natural not to see the invisible God, but it's difficult to deny his works; even blind people can feel the work/heat of the sun—only the "lame in mind" can deny "the power of others who believe"; even the demons confess what the impious deny (demons flee at the name of Christ); repetition of the works of Christ
See the rest of the reviewhere.
Lewis's Preface
9: Humility can lead you astray if you think that you're not smart enough to read old books. Older books ( "firsthand knowledge" ) are often better and more delightful than modern booksaboutold books ( "secondhand knowledge" ).
10: conversation metaphor (you understand a current conversation better if you know how it started); Baxter's "mere Christianity"
10–11: we're better able to correct a current age's outlook if we are familiar with other outlooks; old books help us be less blind; "keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds... by reading old books"
11: English studies led to reading Christian classics (bc those guys were "influencers" )
12–13: be encouraged that Xns have much in common, despite all the divisions; amusing experience of quoting someone (Bunyan) and having others labeling you as something else (Catholic)
13: viaduct metaphor
13–14: offensive line from theAthanasian Creed(not written by Athanasius)—it's about deserters, not those who have never heard [cf. Heb. 6:1–8]
Behr's Introduction
St.Athanasiusthe Great of Alexandria
17: lived c. 299–373; young deacon at Council of Nicaea (325); exiled five times
17–18: metAntony(ascetic Desert Father) and wrote his biography (Life of Antony)
18: written to byBasil the Great;written about byGregory of Nazianzus;canonized less than a decade after his death (Council of Constantinople in 381)
19:On the Incarnationis basically Nicene theology
Against the Gentiles
20:On the Incarnationis the second part of a two-part treatise;Against the Gentilesis the first part; "the first work sets up the problem that the second resolves"; teachers are helpful, but not necessary in understanding the Scriptures
21: the one who ascended the cross saved the universe / healed creation; the cross vanquished demonic activity
22: idolatry was rampant before Christ, but now the power of the cross fills the world; possibly written in the 330s while in exile (mentions not having books readily available) [maybe written c. 318]
22–23: possibly responding to Eusebius's "imperialist triumphalism" by ascribing all credit to Christ (not Constantine)
24: God's transcendence makes neither his presence in creation nor the creaturely apprehension of him impossible
26: being made in the image of God includes rationality; human mental orientation should be directed godward (transcendent contemplation), but it was twisted inward [incurvatus in se] to want the body
26–27: this asceticism isn't aimed at the body per se, but at body idolatry
28: nakedness in the garden described as lacking the garment of contemplating divine things; original purpose was to transcend the body, but man directed attention toward the body and sense perception
29: history of idolatry and human perversity; order and harmony of creation indicate one creator
30: creation can't be separated from Christ's saving work
30–31: creation was ex nihilo and requires God's constant sustaining (not two separate actions by the Word)
32–33: humans become divine by participation; Christ is divine in himself (Nicaea)
On the Incarnation
34: earlier discussion of idolatry in first work sets up second work; mentions Jews and Greeks/Gentiles from the outset [see later headings in the work]
35: most famous passage: "he was incarnate that we might be made god"
36: contra one commentator who thinks Athanasius ignores the atonement, both works serve as an apology for the cross (not much space dedicated to the nativity story)— "incarnation" also refers to the church (those who constitute the body of Christ; those in whom Christ now works)
36–37: first "divine dilemma" (sections 2–10): What should God do in response to the fall? 1) He appears weak if he allows his creation (meant for incorruptibility and life) to be corrupted and die; 2) he appears inconsistent if he does not require death, which he had threatened; resolution is for the Word of God to take a human body and put it to death
37: second "divine dilemma" (sections 11–19) is the same issue, but with regard toknowledge;embodied humans had chosen the body, as opposed to God, who is a spirit [see p. 26]—God chose to use a body to recapture human attention/affection; Christ makes his divinityknownby divine works done in his human body
37: two analyses for the rationale of the incarnation: the first focuses on the death of Christ, and the second focuses on the way Christ makes himself know through his body
38: sections 20–32 cover Christ's death (why on a cross; creation's witness) and resurrection (evident in Christian courage in facing death); sections 33–40 refute the Jews (from the OT); sections 41–55 refute the Gentiles (from creation and effects of Christ's work)
38: conclusion reminds Christians of Christ's humility and exaltation [cf.WSC,Qs 23–28]; we too will be exalted one day
The Life of Antony
39: Antony's asceticism isn't a rejection of the body (according to Behr/Athanasius)—it's a struggle with the devil and an appropriation of Christ's victorythroughthe body; success is attributed to Christ alone
40: spent 20 years in a deserted fortress
41: he emerged stable and "detached" (free from emotions)
42: monks and monasteries (victory over the world[, the flesh, and the devil])
43–44: "The body is not only involved in salvation, but is the locus of salvation, for it is the dwelling place of the Lord"
44: "Christian asceticism" is a mixture of human effort and divine grace; grace alone makes human effort fruitful; Athanasius'sLife of Antonyis "a narrative exposition of his theology"
The numbers below are section numbers:
1: moving on from the discussion of the Gentile error of idolatry; mention of Jews and Greeks/Gentiles [see later headings]; incarnation and crucifixion were only apparent degradations; start with creation (makes sense, since re-creation/salvation was accomplished by the one who created it in the first place; the one who made matter became matter to save matter)
The Divine Dilemma regarding Life and Death
2: three positions on the creation of the world (Epicureans point irrationally [in opposition to clear facts and order of the world] to spontaneity/chance [no providence]; Plato says deity used preexisting matter; Gnostic heretics say a lesser demiurge created the dirty matter) —> David Lyle Jeffrey mentions this passagehere.
3: appeals to Scriptural (including Shepherd of Hermas) accounts of creation; assumes Paul wrote Hebrews; two gifts: being created in the first place, and being made in God's image; story of promise (incorruption) and threat (corruption)
4: starts with origin of humans because that's what the Incarnation is about (saving humans, made by the one who would save them); story of the fall and emphasis on incorruption vs. corruption; reference to the Book of Wisdom; reference to Ps. 81 [82]:6–7
5: humans chose corruption, so corruption/death reigned; Athanasius shows how exceedingly corrupt the whole world became, including individuals, groups ( "jointly" ), cities, and nations [showing the great need for a savior]
6: humans could have "escap[ed] their natural state by the grace of participation in the Word, had they remained good" [cf. Ps. 8:5, Heb. 1 and 2; co-heir language in Rom. 8:17; bride/bridegroom imagery in Rev. 19:7; Augustine'sCity of God12.22; Milton'sPL5.469–503]; corruption/death was obliterating the human race [cf. Lewis's WoG: either we become god-like or we become nightmares]; tension betweenabsurdandimproper;theabsurdityappears in the apparent inconsistency regarding God's decree that man would die upon sinning, and yet man didn't die [immediately or obviously]; theimproprietyappears in the fact that God created humans and yet they are corrupted and dying (God seems weak if he allows his creation to be destroyed); deceit of the devil/demons; emphasis on God's goodness
7: issue ofabsurdityagain (God threatened death for disobedience, but death did not come immediately); demanding our repentance wouldn't have restored creation (plus, corruption had already set in); only "the God Word" was able to "recreate the universe" by "suffer[ing] on behalf of all" [Christ put on corruptibility and death for us]
8: absurdity and impropriety again; the body was Christ's instrument to make God more known to us; his body took on all of death—the power of the law (corruption of humanity) was totally spent on Christ, and so undone for us; we were turned toward corruption, and Christ's incarnation/death/resurrection turned us back
9: Christ's body participates in the Word—that's how he's capable to take on death for us all (and remain incorruptible himself) and make corruption cease; we are clothed with incorruptibility; analogy of a king who dwells in a house (brings honor to the whole city, and enemies don't attack the city because of the king's residence in a single house)—so Christ's having a body repels the enemy from other bodies; the King of all enters our realm (cf.here); Christ's body completed death and prevented the dissolution of the human race
10: king analogy again; fitting that the one who made humans should become human to save humans (Heb. 2:10); fitting that, since death came through humans, through the God Word [God-human] came the dissolution of death; "his gracious advent"
The Divine Dilemma regarding Knowledge and Ignorance
11: it seems profitless to create rational humans (made in the image of their creator) who they cannotknowtheir creator (like irrational animals); the Father's image is the Son, through whom weknowthe Father, which leads to a happy/blessed life; humans turned from God by worshipping created idols and demons (calling them gods); pursuit of magic and astrology
12: being made in the image of God made us sufficient to know the Father through the God Word, but humans were inclined not to recognize their creator; besides nature (though which we can know the creator), God sent the law and the prophets to make himself known—senttothe Jews, but sentforthe whole world; blinded by pleasures and demonic deceit, humans became more and more irrational
13: dilemma: What was God to do—let humans be ignorant of him? If yes, then what was the point of creating humans in the image of God and with the capacity for knowing him? How is God glorified when humans don't revere him (but rather other things) as maker? [and if no, then how would God restore that knowledge?]; king analogy again (pursues subjects); God chose to renew/recreate the "in the image" capacity to know him (which we had lost) by sending us the Image of the Father (Christ)
14: analogy of an image on wood being effaced by dirt—but the owner returns to restore the image (doesn't destroy the entire piece of wood); the knowledge of God couldn't be restored by a regular human (what's warped can't fix itself) or creation (it wasn't enough to keep us from falling the first time); demonic deceit mentioned again; humanity's gaze was downward, not upward; God used the works of the body (Christ's actions as "the God Word" ) to teach humans about the Father
15: God, as a good teacher, condescends to help us simple folks understand; we were sunk in an abyss with our eyes downward, focusing on things created and perceptible—so God took on a body and draws our perception by his bodily actions; his works outshine those of any human and surpass anything we might be predisposed toward (creation, human beings, demons, dead heroes in poetry)
16: language of Eph. 3:17–19 (breadth, length, height, and depth) applied to Christ's works (above/creation, below/incarnation, depths/hell, breadth/world); sacrifice couldn't have been immediate, or else he would have been invisible (no one would have seen his works through his body, which make him known as no mere human, but rather the king of the universe)
17: being in a body did not mean that he wasnotelsewhere; normal humans do not control/move things other than their bodies, but the Word of God was not bound to his body; his presence in a body sanctified the body
18: Christ ate and drank—he had a real (not illusory) body; his power over demons and all sickness, his virgin birth, and his power over nature (water into wine, calming sea, feeding 5,000)—his works in the body—show that he is divine
19: if creation wasn't enough, then Christ's works in the body make his divinity known; creation confessed his divinity at the crucifixion; next section concerns Christ's death
[The first sections are more concerned with Christ's creation, nativity, and life. The next section has to do with his death and resurrection. So the basic structure of the book is the life of Christ.]
The Death of Christ and the Resurrection of the Body
20: summary (Savior needed to be incorruptible; image-restorer needed to be the Image of the Father; life-giver needed to be immortal; teacher needed to be the Word); not worried about repetition; yes, the virgin birth made Christ a unique human, but his death proved that he was actually human; his body simultaneously took the death for all and destroyed death/corruption
21: "For as seeds sown in the ground, we do not perish when we are dissolved, but as sown we shall arise again, death having been destroyed by the grace of the Savior."; why couldn't Christ have died some other way (instead of being crucified)? —> bc dying from sickness would have been unfitting for the one who healed sickness; preventing his own death would nullify the whole point of the incarnation, and it would prevent the resurrection too
22: fleeing from the Jews would have been unfitting; "he...waited for death to destroy it"; he came to complete humanity's death, not his own; resurrection is a trophy of victory over death; it's also a pledge of our future resurrection; able/unwilling vs. unable/willing
23: death/resurrection needed to be public (with witnesses who could then be bold); Pharisees forced some who had witnessed the resurrection to keep silent (if res. had been private, far fewer would have spoken about it)
24: why not have had a glorious death instead of an ignominious one? —> it would have seemed that Christ was powerful only over an easy death that he had contrived for himself; wrestler analogy (he fought whichever champion the enemies chose); ignominious death became a trophy; his body was undivided, unlike Isaiah or John the Baptist (church should not be divided)
25: previous comments are for outsiders; if an insider (lover of knowledge, not a lover of contention) asks why the death had to be crucifixion, the answer is that he became a curse (Gal. 3:13) by hanging on a tree (Deut. 21:23); hands stretched out—gathering both Jews and Gentiles; devil/demons controlled the "lower airs" and prevented our ascension, but the cross was raised up into the lower airs and purified it and reopened the gates for us to ascend
26: why wait 3 days instead of rising immediately on the same day? —> some might have said that Christ had not actually died (obscuring the glory of Christ's power over corruption); why not wait a longer time? —> people would forget the details of the death
27: it's clear that death has no more power, because people fear death before believing in Christ, but afterward they mock death (similar to how people mock a defeated and bound tyrant); only the devil remains dead
28: something about children practicing dying; just as those with asbestos know they cannot burn, and just as those who see the tyrant bound know that he has lost power, so also those who see the courage of martyrs (who mock death) know that death no longer has any power [C. S. Lewis'sPreface to Paradise Lostmentions the "mocking courage of Christian martyrdom" (p. 15)]
29: just as the sun rises and dispels darkness, so Christ was raised up, and it's clear that he destroyed death; Christians "leap toward death...with an eager spirit"; only those who are "maimed/perverted in mind" can't understand this; just as, when we see a snake trampled or a lion disturbed, we understand that the snake/lion is powerless/dead, so we understand that when people no longer fear death, it is Christ who destroyed death's power
30: those with mental sight understand the argument (death is dead because Christ has risen); but the visible facts are even clearer—if Christ were dead, would so many people be denying their ancestors' religion and turning from adultery, murder, injustice, and impiety, and would demons flee and idolatry cease?; clearly the works of Christ prove that he has risen
31: works of Christ include "drawing to piety, persuading to virtue, teaching about immorality, leading to a desire for heavenly things, revealing the knowledge of the Father, inspiring power against death, showing himself to each, and purging away the godlessness of idols"; "by the sign of the cross all magic ceases, all witchcraft is brought to naught, all idols are deserted and abandoned, all irrational desire ceases"; "the works are a proof of the resurrection"
32: it's natural not to see the invisible God, but it's difficult to deny his works; even blind people can feel the work/heat of the sun—only the "lame in mind" can deny "the power of others who believe"; even the demons confess what the impious deny (demons flee at the name of Christ); repetition of the works of Christ
See the rest of the reviewhere.
June 12, 2018
Just checking, and yup - St Athanasius is still my FAVOURITE Church Father.
--
(Review originally posted onVintage Novels)
Sometime in the 290s was born a child whose stature in the annals of history would far outstrip his physical stature. In his day, he was known as The Black Dwarf, and to the heretic Arius, his lifelong nemesis, probably something even less sensitive. St Athanasius of Alexandria is known most famously, of course, for standing contra mundum (against the world)--for standing up for the right thing when the whole world was wrong. He opposed the Arian heresy--which stated that Christ is not truly God, not of the same substance, but rather a creation (since a pure spiritual being like God could not possibly, according to Arius, take on diseased flesh). It was, as CS Lewis points out in his introduction to On the Incarnation, "one of those 'sensible,' synthetic religions which are so strongly recommended today." It was a religion that agreed with all the best scientific and philosophical minds of the day.
But it was wrong, and Athanasius dedicated his life to fighting it. Even after the victory at the Council of Nicaea, Arianism died hard and Athanasius continued to be periodically exiled from his home, persecuted, hunted, and assaulted for his unpopular stand. He never gave in. He fought the good fight till his death, sometime in his 70s.
But before all this happened, an earnest, devout, and irrepressibly optimistic teenager wrote a book-length letter to his friend Macarius explaining the Christian faith. That book became a theological classic and one of the great books of Western Civilisation.
Unlike many of the great books of Western Civilisation,On the Incarnationis quite short and pithy, explaining the whys behind many of the doctrines of Christianity, but most importantly, why Christ had to come in the flesh, truly God, truly Man, to die and rise again. It explains exactly why this was the only thing that could have worked: this was the only sacrifice that would both pay for our sins and redeem us from Hell. In addition the book discusses other aspects of redemption, and contains quite a bit of apologetic material.
On the Incarnationdiffers from other great books in another important way. The author's youthfulness, high spirits, and vim come off the page at you. Athanasius lived during exciting times, when in just over two brief centuries the Christian faith had swept the Roman world. Just a few years later, the new emperor Constantine himself was to convert to Christianity and decriminalise it for the first time, meaning that you no longer faced death and dismemberment just for being a Christian (Christianity was not made the official religion of the Empire for several more years, by Theodosius of the Eastern Empire).
The young Athanasius's enthusiasm reflects the high spirits of the exciting first two centuries of Christendom. Not jaded, as so many Christians today seem to be, by the sheer back-breaking difficulty of spreading the good news of the kingdom of heaven, Athanasius happily proclaims the death of idols, the end of the reign of demons, and the death of death itself:
These excerpts are lengthy, but I did so want to introduce you to the irrepressible Athanasius!
But wait, you may be saying. Athanasius was writing three centuries after the birth of Christ. Here we are, two millenia later, and Athanasius's optimism seems ill-founded. Look at the world! It's a mess! The Church seems to be doing nothing about what really matters!
But slow down a bit. Athanasius didn't live during a perfect time in world history either! During his lifetime the great Arian controversy nearly shipwrecked the entire Faith. He stood almost alone against heresy. When he wroteOn the Incarnation,Christians were still being fed to lions, and no end in sight. By the time he died fifty years later, he'd spent half his life in hiding, away from the Arians who were trying to discredit and silence him.
You see, Athanasius's optimism was not based upon some mistaken idea that everything was just fine. It wasn't, and he knew that it wasn't. But he knew Who he believed in. He knew the power of his King, and he had the eyes of faith to look around the world and see the wonderful things that were happening. For wonderful things were happening! The world has never been as dark and dreadful, even now, as it was in the centuries before Christ. And Athanasius had seen with his own eyes that depraved, corrupt, and deadened world come to life in the power of Christ. He knew that God was perfectly capable of cleaning up the mess that remained.
Read this book. And, just for a while, look at our own world through the eyes of Athanasius. Look at the wonderful things that have happened since his time. The advances in science, learning, and industry. Look at the wonderful things that are happening right now: the missionary efforts in all corners of the world, the new Bible translations, the power of the Gospel at work. Then fight the long victory just like Athanasius did.
--
(Review originally posted onVintage Novels)
Sometime in the 290s was born a child whose stature in the annals of history would far outstrip his physical stature. In his day, he was known as The Black Dwarf, and to the heretic Arius, his lifelong nemesis, probably something even less sensitive. St Athanasius of Alexandria is known most famously, of course, for standing contra mundum (against the world)--for standing up for the right thing when the whole world was wrong. He opposed the Arian heresy--which stated that Christ is not truly God, not of the same substance, but rather a creation (since a pure spiritual being like God could not possibly, according to Arius, take on diseased flesh). It was, as CS Lewis points out in his introduction to On the Incarnation, "one of those 'sensible,' synthetic religions which are so strongly recommended today." It was a religion that agreed with all the best scientific and philosophical minds of the day.
But it was wrong, and Athanasius dedicated his life to fighting it. Even after the victory at the Council of Nicaea, Arianism died hard and Athanasius continued to be periodically exiled from his home, persecuted, hunted, and assaulted for his unpopular stand. He never gave in. He fought the good fight till his death, sometime in his 70s.
But before all this happened, an earnest, devout, and irrepressibly optimistic teenager wrote a book-length letter to his friend Macarius explaining the Christian faith. That book became a theological classic and one of the great books of Western Civilisation.
Unlike many of the great books of Western Civilisation,On the Incarnationis quite short and pithy, explaining the whys behind many of the doctrines of Christianity, but most importantly, why Christ had to come in the flesh, truly God, truly Man, to die and rise again. It explains exactly why this was the only thing that could have worked: this was the only sacrifice that would both pay for our sins and redeem us from Hell. In addition the book discusses other aspects of redemption, and contains quite a bit of apologetic material.
For it is a fact that the more unbelievers pour scorn on Him, so much the more does He make His Godhead evident. The things which they, as men, rule out as impossible, He plainly shows to be possible; that which they deride as unfitting, His goodness makes most fit; and things which these wiseacres laugh at as "human" He by His inherent might declares divine. Thus by what seems His utter poverty and weakness on the cross He overturns the pomp and parade of idols, and quietly and hiddenly wins over the mockers and unbelievers to recognize Him as God.
On the Incarnationdiffers from other great books in another important way. The author's youthfulness, high spirits, and vim come off the page at you. Athanasius lived during exciting times, when in just over two brief centuries the Christian faith had swept the Roman world. Just a few years later, the new emperor Constantine himself was to convert to Christianity and decriminalise it for the first time, meaning that you no longer faced death and dismemberment just for being a Christian (Christianity was not made the official religion of the Empire for several more years, by Theodosius of the Eastern Empire).
The young Athanasius's enthusiasm reflects the high spirits of the exciting first two centuries of Christendom. Not jaded, as so many Christians today seem to be, by the sheer back-breaking difficulty of spreading the good news of the kingdom of heaven, Athanasius happily proclaims the death of idols, the end of the reign of demons, and the death of death itself:
When the sun rises after the night and the whole world is lit up by it, nobody doubts that it is the sun which has thus shed its light everywhere and driven away the dark. Equally clear is it, since this utter scorning and trampling down of death has ensued upon the Savior's manifestation in the body and His death on the cross, that it is He Himself Who brought death to nought and daily raises monuments to His victory in His own disciples. How can you think otherwise, when you see men naturally weak hastening to death, unafraid at the prospect of corruption, fearless of the descent into Hades, even indeed with eager soul provoking it, not shrinking from tortures, but preferring thus to rush on death for Christ's sake, rather than to remain in this present life? If you see with your own eyes men and women and children, even, thus welcoming death for the sake of Christ's religion, how can you be so utterly silly and incredulous and maimed in your mind as not to realize that Christ, to Whom these all bear witness, Himself gives the victory to each, making death completely powerless for those who hold His faith and bear the sign of the cross?
[...]
When did people begin to abandon the worship of idols, unless it were since the very Word of God came among men? When have oracles ceased and become void of meaning, among the Greeks and everywhere, except since the Savior has revealed Himself on earth? When did those whom the poets call gods and heroes begin to be adjudged as mere mortals, except when the Lord took the spoils of death and preserved incorruptible the body He had taken, raising it from among the dead? Or when did the deceitfulness and madness of demons fall under contempt, save when the Word, the Power of God, the Master of all these as well, condescended on account of the weakness of mankind and appeared on earth? When did the practice and theory of magic begin to be spurned under foot, if not at the manifestation of the Divine Word to men? In a word, when did the wisdom of the Greeks become foolish, save when the true Wisdom of God revealed Himself on earth? In old times the whole world and every place in it was led astray by the worship of idols, and men thought the idols were the only gods that were. But now all over the world men are forsaking the fear of idols and taking refuge with Christ; and by worshipping Him as God they come through Him to know the Father also, Whom formerly they did not know. The amazing thing, moreover, is this. The objects of worship formerly were varied and countless; each place had its own idol and the so-called god of one place could not pass over to another in order to persuade the people there to worship him, but was barely reverenced even by his own. Indeed no! Nobody worshipped his neighbor's god, but every man had his own idol and thought that it was lord of all. But now Christ alone is worshipped, as One and the Same among all peoples everywhere; and what the feebleness of idols could not do, namely, convince even those dwelling close at hand, He has effected. He has persuaded not only those close at hand, but literally the entire world to worship one and the same Lord and through Him the Father.
These excerpts are lengthy, but I did so want to introduce you to the irrepressible Athanasius!
But wait, you may be saying. Athanasius was writing three centuries after the birth of Christ. Here we are, two millenia later, and Athanasius's optimism seems ill-founded. Look at the world! It's a mess! The Church seems to be doing nothing about what really matters!
But slow down a bit. Athanasius didn't live during a perfect time in world history either! During his lifetime the great Arian controversy nearly shipwrecked the entire Faith. He stood almost alone against heresy. When he wroteOn the Incarnation,Christians were still being fed to lions, and no end in sight. By the time he died fifty years later, he'd spent half his life in hiding, away from the Arians who were trying to discredit and silence him.
You see, Athanasius's optimism was not based upon some mistaken idea that everything was just fine. It wasn't, and he knew that it wasn't. But he knew Who he believed in. He knew the power of his King, and he had the eyes of faith to look around the world and see the wonderful things that were happening. For wonderful things were happening! The world has never been as dark and dreadful, even now, as it was in the centuries before Christ. And Athanasius had seen with his own eyes that depraved, corrupt, and deadened world come to life in the power of Christ. He knew that God was perfectly capable of cleaning up the mess that remained.
Read this book. And, just for a while, look at our own world through the eyes of Athanasius. Look at the wonderful things that have happened since his time. The advances in science, learning, and industry. Look at the wonderful things that are happening right now: the missionary efforts in all corners of the world, the new Bible translations, the power of the Gospel at work. Then fight the long victory just like Athanasius did.
January 30, 2023
A masterpiece in every sense of the word. Written simply, yet intelligently and above all: logically. "On the Incarnation" should be read by every Christian and everyone wishing to broaden his/her understanding of the Christian faith. It is by far the ideal work of literature to do so.
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria pray for us!
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria pray for us!
December 18, 2022
This short book has had a long life. Written in the 4th century, it continues to speak wisdom and hope and life to the church of every age, including our own. This is my fourth or fifth time reading it. And won’t be my last. It is largely due to Athanasius that the church was rescued from the various and widely popular anti-trinitarian heresies of his day. He was said to be the man who stood against the world. If you’ve never read him, start here. You won’t stop.
December 13, 2021
2021: A favorite -again.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. From the introduction by C.S. Lewis to the appendix, this book is a jewel.
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. From the introduction by C.S. Lewis to the appendix, this book is a jewel.
December 20, 2021
This was not what I expected for an Advent read, but it was a wonderful one nonetheless.
The Incarnation changes everything about how we approach life, learning, thought, practice:
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
The intro by John Behr was a challenging read. Lewis and Athanasius were delightful.
The Incarnation changes everything about how we approach life, learning, thought, practice:
For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25
The intro by John Behr was a challenging read. Lewis and Athanasius were delightful.
Read
February 10, 2019I am not giving this book a rating because the subject of this book can get very complex.
I will admit after reading this book, I have some knots in my brain.
I will admit after reading this book, I have some knots in my brain.
January 22, 2016
What a wonderful book!
I am currently studying and preaching through the Gospel of John, and have given 35 sermons on the gospel that clearly declares the deity of Jesus Christ. After seeing a couple of my GR friends had read or reading this (NickandBill), I thought that this little book would fit perfectly into my personal study of the fourth gospel.
On the whole, Anathasius does an admirable job of explaining why God had to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth so that sinful man could be redeemed. In nine short chapters, he packs sound reasoning with scriptural references to defend his arguments and position. He writes about Creation and the Creator, about the fall of man and the love of God to rescue man from his fallen, sinful state.
Anathasius writes a chapter directly to Jews, who completely disregard Jesus Christ as the Messiah and ignore their own prophets and holy writings, which all point to the coming of the Messiah. He also writes two chapters to Gentiles (non-Jews) who don’t have a clear understanding of why the Messiah had to come in the first place or why He had to sacrifice Himself on the cross at Calvary.
Anathasius wrote this book, actually a letter in a series of letters, in the early 4th century at the age of 18 or 19 to another young man, new to the Christian faith, who had questions about Jesus Christ. His use of logic is very well done, laying out numerous biblical references and many external proofs for the incarnation of God through Jesus Christ.
The translation was very good, and the narration was very well done, too. Even though it was written over 1600 years ago, it is surprisingly readable, the truth and logic are still sound, and the Word of God is still valid for mankind today.
I am currently studying and preaching through the Gospel of John, and have given 35 sermons on the gospel that clearly declares the deity of Jesus Christ. After seeing a couple of my GR friends had read or reading this (NickandBill), I thought that this little book would fit perfectly into my personal study of the fourth gospel.
On the whole, Anathasius does an admirable job of explaining why God had to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth so that sinful man could be redeemed. In nine short chapters, he packs sound reasoning with scriptural references to defend his arguments and position. He writes about Creation and the Creator, about the fall of man and the love of God to rescue man from his fallen, sinful state.
Anathasius writes a chapter directly to Jews, who completely disregard Jesus Christ as the Messiah and ignore their own prophets and holy writings, which all point to the coming of the Messiah. He also writes two chapters to Gentiles (non-Jews) who don’t have a clear understanding of why the Messiah had to come in the first place or why He had to sacrifice Himself on the cross at Calvary.
Anathasius wrote this book, actually a letter in a series of letters, in the early 4th century at the age of 18 or 19 to another young man, new to the Christian faith, who had questions about Jesus Christ. His use of logic is very well done, laying out numerous biblical references and many external proofs for the incarnation of God through Jesus Christ.
The translation was very good, and the narration was very well done, too. Even though it was written over 1600 years ago, it is surprisingly readable, the truth and logic are still sound, and the Word of God is still valid for mankind today.
June 6, 2020
A tiny volume but incredibly powerful.
The 7-page introduction by C.S. Lewis is worth the price of this book alone. He describes a propensity in students to seek out booksabouta classic work instead of reading the work itself. I am so guilty of this myself I almost winced. To use Lewis's own example, it seems much easier to read a book about Plato's philosophy than it does to actually read theSymposium.And yet the very thing that makes theSymposiumso worth reading is that it continues to connect with readers thousands of years later. A summary or explanation of the book would never do its universality full justice.
Lewis then provides a second reason for reading classic works, this one aimed specifically at Christian works:
"For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
Amen and amen!
But as much as I loved the introduction, I was surprised to find I loved the actual work by St. Athanasius even more. Lewis is, after all, only the appetizer in this volume. (But for more on the use of theology for encouraging the spiritual life, I recommend hisLetters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer.)
On the Incarnationis exactly that: a short look at what the incarnation means. I grew up in the church and in many ways the incarnation feels as natural as the air I breathe, something I have always taken for granted because it seems I've always known it. But St. Athanasius's work really shook it up for me in a way I hadn't thought about it before. It was like seeing a familiar painting, but suddenly details jump out that I never previously noticed. To use Lewis's words, I felt my "heart sing unbidden" as I caught the contagiousness of St. Athanasius's joy and confidence.
Three favorite quotes:
"Every one is by nature afraid of death and of bodily dissolution; the marvel of marvels is that he who is enfolded in the faith of the cross despises this natural fear and for the sake of the cross is no longer cowardly in face of it."
"Had death been kept from [the body] by a mere command, it would still have remained mortal and corruptible, according to its nature. To prevent this, it put on the incorporeal Word of God, and therefore fears nether death nor corruption any more, for it is clad with Life as with a garment and in it corruption is clean done away."
"For, indeed, everything about [the Incarnation] is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe."
The third section of this volume is a letter concerning the Psalms. It reminded me of an early version of those charts at the end of my Bible with suggested readings for various emotions. It was a moving tribute to the Psalms and quite thought provoking in its own way.
If you take one thing away from this review I hope it will be that the early church fathers are not nearly as intimidating as they seem, and indeed, continue to provide wisdom and encouragement today.
The 7-page introduction by C.S. Lewis is worth the price of this book alone. He describes a propensity in students to seek out booksabouta classic work instead of reading the work itself. I am so guilty of this myself I almost winced. To use Lewis's own example, it seems much easier to read a book about Plato's philosophy than it does to actually read theSymposium.And yet the very thing that makes theSymposiumso worth reading is that it continues to connect with readers thousands of years later. A summary or explanation of the book would never do its universality full justice.
Lewis then provides a second reason for reading classic works, this one aimed specifically at Christian works:
"For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
Amen and amen!
But as much as I loved the introduction, I was surprised to find I loved the actual work by St. Athanasius even more. Lewis is, after all, only the appetizer in this volume. (But for more on the use of theology for encouraging the spiritual life, I recommend hisLetters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer.)
On the Incarnationis exactly that: a short look at what the incarnation means. I grew up in the church and in many ways the incarnation feels as natural as the air I breathe, something I have always taken for granted because it seems I've always known it. But St. Athanasius's work really shook it up for me in a way I hadn't thought about it before. It was like seeing a familiar painting, but suddenly details jump out that I never previously noticed. To use Lewis's words, I felt my "heart sing unbidden" as I caught the contagiousness of St. Athanasius's joy and confidence.
Three favorite quotes:
"Every one is by nature afraid of death and of bodily dissolution; the marvel of marvels is that he who is enfolded in the faith of the cross despises this natural fear and for the sake of the cross is no longer cowardly in face of it."
"Had death been kept from [the body] by a mere command, it would still have remained mortal and corruptible, according to its nature. To prevent this, it put on the incorporeal Word of God, and therefore fears nether death nor corruption any more, for it is clad with Life as with a garment and in it corruption is clean done away."
"For, indeed, everything about [the Incarnation] is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze he sees the Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe."
The third section of this volume is a letter concerning the Psalms. It reminded me of an early version of those charts at the end of my Bible with suggested readings for various emotions. It was a moving tribute to the Psalms and quite thought provoking in its own way.
If you take one thing away from this review I hope it will be that the early church fathers are not nearly as intimidating as they seem, and indeed, continue to provide wisdom and encouragement today.
December 26, 2020
2020: five stars
Death is no longer terrible.
I want to read thiseveryAdvent for the rest of my life. It is a gem of an essay bookended by C.S. Lewis's impeccable introduction and Athanasius's letter about interpreting the psalms, both of which are worth the price of the book.
Like Handel'sMessiah,On the Incarnationdevelops a full-orbed view of the life and death of Christ. It truly is comfort and joy. Someone I love just received a terminal diagnosis. Reading this book in this season gave me the perspective I needed for this hard providence.
2015: four stars
To begin: the introduction by C.S. Lewis is fantastic! Google "cslewis introduction of on the incarnation" to read it yourself. You'll read the famous quote, "The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books."
But I loved this one, too: "I believe that many who find that" nothing happens "when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
What surprised me Athanasius' book: how much it was about death and resurrection.
"Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death in place of all, and offered it to the Father."
"The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man made after the Image."
"The supreme object of His coming was to bring about the resurrection of the body."
Something I never before considered: "He neither endured the death of John, who was beheaded, nor was He sawn asunder, like Isaiah: even in death He preserved His body whole and undivided, so that there should be no excuse hereafter for those who would divide the Church."
It's the kind of book where I discovered after having followed the lines (I can't really call it 'reading') for three or four pages that I hadn't a *clue* what I had just read. I took my time, went back and followed the argument. Yes, it is work to read this book.
I'm adding this book to a short list of books I want to read if I received a terminal diagnosis. The perspective on death is why.
Death is no longer terrible.
I want to read thiseveryAdvent for the rest of my life. It is a gem of an essay bookended by C.S. Lewis's impeccable introduction and Athanasius's letter about interpreting the psalms, both of which are worth the price of the book.
Like Handel'sMessiah,On the Incarnationdevelops a full-orbed view of the life and death of Christ. It truly is comfort and joy. Someone I love just received a terminal diagnosis. Reading this book in this season gave me the perspective I needed for this hard providence.
2015: four stars
To begin: the introduction by C.S. Lewis is fantastic! Google "cslewis introduction of on the incarnation" to read it yourself. You'll read the famous quote, "The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books."
But I loved this one, too: "I believe that many who find that" nothing happens "when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
What surprised me Athanasius' book: how much it was about death and resurrection.
"Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death in place of all, and offered it to the Father."
"The Word of God came in His own Person, because it was He alone, the Image of the Father, Who could recreate man made after the Image."
"The supreme object of His coming was to bring about the resurrection of the body."
Something I never before considered: "He neither endured the death of John, who was beheaded, nor was He sawn asunder, like Isaiah: even in death He preserved His body whole and undivided, so that there should be no excuse hereafter for those who would divide the Church."
It's the kind of book where I discovered after having followed the lines (I can't really call it 'reading') for three or four pages that I hadn't a *clue* what I had just read. I took my time, went back and followed the argument. Yes, it is work to read this book.
I'm adding this book to a short list of books I want to read if I received a terminal diagnosis. The perspective on death is why.
April 24, 2018
Am I giving this extra stars because it was written in the 4th century and thus, getting some sort of extra credit for a very readable translation? Perhaps.
But it is what it is and what it is, is this: a simple, wonderful, foundational, Biblically-doctrinal book of great importance.
Easy to read.
Thick with Biblical truth.
Glorifies Christ in the highest.
I read this at the same time as Advent and I can't think of a better book to read during the holidays.
There is a lot of books that Christians should not read (namely, any book that likes to talk about you). This book should be one of those ones that are given away for free to help us understand the significance and importance of the Word becoming flesh or as C.S. Lewis so aptly puts it:
"The Son of God became a man so that men would become sons of God."
But it is what it is and what it is, is this: a simple, wonderful, foundational, Biblically-doctrinal book of great importance.
Easy to read.
Thick with Biblical truth.
Glorifies Christ in the highest.
I read this at the same time as Advent and I can't think of a better book to read during the holidays.
There is a lot of books that Christians should not read (namely, any book that likes to talk about you). This book should be one of those ones that are given away for free to help us understand the significance and importance of the Word becoming flesh or as C.S. Lewis so aptly puts it:
"The Son of God became a man so that men would become sons of God."
January 10, 2021
Athanasius, a 4th century Christian, wrote this as a long letter to a recent convert to help him understand Christ's Incarnation. It is ripe with orthodox Christian doctrine, and one of the more powerful sections of the book is how he ties the passage in 1 Cor. 15:55 (O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?) to the martyrdom of the early Christian church. That in Christ's conquest of death, He not only provided reconciliation with the Father, culminating in eternal life, but also followers who embraced death while standing on the truth of these claims.
Not to be missed is C.S. Lewis's quotable introduction where he discusses the value of old books and recommends, as a "good rule: after reading a new book, never allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." Good advice made all the wiser when choosing classic texts like this one from Athanasius.
Not to be missed is C.S. Lewis's quotable introduction where he discusses the value of old books and recommends, as a "good rule: after reading a new book, never allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between." Good advice made all the wiser when choosing classic texts like this one from Athanasius.
October 20, 2020
A breath of fresh air from our 4th century Father amidst a theologically turbulent and culturally hostile time--a letter I find myself reading over and over again.
For Athanasius, soteriology appears less forensic in nature, but more ontological. The incarnation is primarily concerned with the entrance of corruptibility in human nature rather than humanity’s sin guilt. A reminder to present-day evangelicals who are preoccupied with cross-centric penal atonement, when it is the entirety of Christ's life that accomplishes a true defeat of death.
Not to mention, Lewis pens a baller introduction that renders me weak in the knees and feeling warm and fuzzy toward the classics.
For Athanasius, soteriology appears less forensic in nature, but more ontological. The incarnation is primarily concerned with the entrance of corruptibility in human nature rather than humanity’s sin guilt. A reminder to present-day evangelicals who are preoccupied with cross-centric penal atonement, when it is the entirety of Christ's life that accomplishes a true defeat of death.
Not to mention, Lewis pens a baller introduction that renders me weak in the knees and feeling warm and fuzzy toward the classics.
February 16, 2019
I found Athanasius of Alexandria case for Christ in his Incarnation extremely well thought and convincing. Spiritually awakening!💖
April 27, 2017
It's frankly embarrassing to admit how little I've read from the Patristics directly. This is the first time I've read Athanasius, "On the Incarnation," and wow, what have I been doing with my life??
What I found most striking about this little work is clear Athanasius is. Somehow, I've been led to believe that the early Church Fathers are too cryptic and mysterious for modern readers to understand (I don't know where I got that idea, so there's no one to blame but myself), but Athanasius writes with incredible precision and clarity. Furthermore, it's not as if Athanasius is writing with primitive, half-baked theological categories that still need hundreds of years to perfect; reading this little work, it's clear that Athanasius has a specific, robust theological system that he's working with--he has a fully developed Christology, which is more than can be said about many of the modern Christological discussions.
What I particularly found interesting is how closely Athanasius links the incarnation as a redemptive, atoning act in and of itself. For Athanasius, it's not simply that Christ took on a human body so that such a human body could be used as an arbitrary means for atonement. I have heard Athanasius' views summarized simply as: "he believed that Christ had to become a human so that he could die." Which is true--both of the incarnation and of Athanasius' view of the incarnation--but it doesn't nearly say enough. For Athanasius, the incarnation wasn't simply a means to crucifixion, rather, the crucifixion wouldn't mean anything at all without the incarnation being what it is: a redemptive act in which Christ begins to reverse the curse in his own body--the final blow of this reversal being the atonement for sin and the triumph over death through crucifixion and resurrection. I found this passage helpful:
"this must also be known, that the corruption which had occurred was not outside the body, but attached to it, and it was necessary that instead of corruption, life should cleave to it, so that as death had come to be in the body, so too life might come to be in it. If, then, death had been outside the body, life would also have had to be outside it. But if death was interwoven with the body, and dominated it as if united to it, it was necessary for life to be interwoven with the body, so that the body putting on life should cast off corruption. Otherwise, if the Word had been outside the body, and not in it, death would have been conquered by him most naturally, since death has no power against life, but nonetheless the attached corruption would have remained in the body. For this reason, the Savior rightly put on a body, in order that the body, being interwoven with life, might no longer remain as mortal in death, but, as having put on immortality, henceforth it might, when arising, remain immortal." Section 44.
This book was incredibly helpful for me. Count me down as one more believer in the importance of reading patristics for developing a healthy theology.
What I found most striking about this little work is clear Athanasius is. Somehow, I've been led to believe that the early Church Fathers are too cryptic and mysterious for modern readers to understand (I don't know where I got that idea, so there's no one to blame but myself), but Athanasius writes with incredible precision and clarity. Furthermore, it's not as if Athanasius is writing with primitive, half-baked theological categories that still need hundreds of years to perfect; reading this little work, it's clear that Athanasius has a specific, robust theological system that he's working with--he has a fully developed Christology, which is more than can be said about many of the modern Christological discussions.
What I particularly found interesting is how closely Athanasius links the incarnation as a redemptive, atoning act in and of itself. For Athanasius, it's not simply that Christ took on a human body so that such a human body could be used as an arbitrary means for atonement. I have heard Athanasius' views summarized simply as: "he believed that Christ had to become a human so that he could die." Which is true--both of the incarnation and of Athanasius' view of the incarnation--but it doesn't nearly say enough. For Athanasius, the incarnation wasn't simply a means to crucifixion, rather, the crucifixion wouldn't mean anything at all without the incarnation being what it is: a redemptive act in which Christ begins to reverse the curse in his own body--the final blow of this reversal being the atonement for sin and the triumph over death through crucifixion and resurrection. I found this passage helpful:
"this must also be known, that the corruption which had occurred was not outside the body, but attached to it, and it was necessary that instead of corruption, life should cleave to it, so that as death had come to be in the body, so too life might come to be in it. If, then, death had been outside the body, life would also have had to be outside it. But if death was interwoven with the body, and dominated it as if united to it, it was necessary for life to be interwoven with the body, so that the body putting on life should cast off corruption. Otherwise, if the Word had been outside the body, and not in it, death would have been conquered by him most naturally, since death has no power against life, but nonetheless the attached corruption would have remained in the body. For this reason, the Savior rightly put on a body, in order that the body, being interwoven with life, might no longer remain as mortal in death, but, as having put on immortality, henceforth it might, when arising, remain immortal." Section 44.
This book was incredibly helpful for me. Count me down as one more believer in the importance of reading patristics for developing a healthy theology.
April 13, 2009
Wonderful.
November 24, 2023
2023 reads: 36
Rating: 4.5 stars
Superb.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Superb.
August 18, 2010
I read this book with others in a lunchtime discussion group. Our meetings were led by a local Orthodox minister.
This book, at first glance, is easier to read than you might expect. The sentences (a translation from Greek) are in simple structures. The vocabulary is fairly ordinary, and the chapters are short - but the content goes much, much deeper.
This book is a logical, reasoned proof for the incarnation of the Creator God in the person of Jesus Christ. Athanasius moves through the objections against Christ as the son of God systematically, de-constructing poor arguments and burning straw men. This book will make you think. The more comfortable you are with logic, the better.
This is not a book that will necessarily have you flipping through a Bible. Because Athanasius was creating an argument for people, mostly, that did not believe in the Bible as a credible source he builds his arguments (in some chapters more than others) without using much of the Scripture.
The Orthodox minister who led my group was a wealth of encyclopedic information about the culture of Athanasius. I have no doubt this greatly enriched my reading experience. If you don't have someone like this at your disposal I would think having a text about the ancient Greco-Roman culture that you can easily reference would be handy. Occasionally Athanasius references items or beliefs current to his time that would be obscure to the average reader today.
I highly recommend reading this if you like to think, and if you like to be challenged. It's a well-thought argument. If you're a believer you'll find it enriching. If you're a non-believer you might look for holes in his argument, or who knows, maybe be swayed by it. It's a classic either way.
This book, at first glance, is easier to read than you might expect. The sentences (a translation from Greek) are in simple structures. The vocabulary is fairly ordinary, and the chapters are short - but the content goes much, much deeper.
This book is a logical, reasoned proof for the incarnation of the Creator God in the person of Jesus Christ. Athanasius moves through the objections against Christ as the son of God systematically, de-constructing poor arguments and burning straw men. This book will make you think. The more comfortable you are with logic, the better.
This is not a book that will necessarily have you flipping through a Bible. Because Athanasius was creating an argument for people, mostly, that did not believe in the Bible as a credible source he builds his arguments (in some chapters more than others) without using much of the Scripture.
The Orthodox minister who led my group was a wealth of encyclopedic information about the culture of Athanasius. I have no doubt this greatly enriched my reading experience. If you don't have someone like this at your disposal I would think having a text about the ancient Greco-Roman culture that you can easily reference would be handy. Occasionally Athanasius references items or beliefs current to his time that would be obscure to the average reader today.
I highly recommend reading this if you like to think, and if you like to be challenged. It's a well-thought argument. If you're a believer you'll find it enriching. If you're a non-believer you might look for holes in his argument, or who knows, maybe be swayed by it. It's a classic either way.
April 19, 2020
The first half was excellent. Athanasius dedicated a lot of time to (in relatively simple terms) explain the narrative and internal logic of Christianity, which is still highly relevant today and elucidates a lot of of common misconceptions about Christianity. I loved this first half, which used simple but effusive language and actually learned a lot. Athanasius was like the kind, passionate, engaging teacher many of us had in school.
The second half took a strange turn. Athanasius transformed from the kindly teacher to the fiery old Bishop he became in his later years, full of righteous indignation. He was on the offensive. It was a passionate, fiery and often uncomfortably derogatory refutation of Judaism, Traditional Greek Religion and other forms of 'idolatry'. This half argues for the truth of Christianity over these forms of belief. The arguments are not compelling to a modern audience, but definitely allow us to understand the Christian mindset at the time, as well as the fractured relationship between the communities in Alexandria In Athanasius' lifetime.
All in all, the first half was excellent and while the second half was passable, it paled in comparison, both in its content and manner of writing. We must remember that Athanasius was a man of his time and place, a time characterised by the conflicts between Christians of Various sects, Jews and Greeks.
The second half took a strange turn. Athanasius transformed from the kindly teacher to the fiery old Bishop he became in his later years, full of righteous indignation. He was on the offensive. It was a passionate, fiery and often uncomfortably derogatory refutation of Judaism, Traditional Greek Religion and other forms of 'idolatry'. This half argues for the truth of Christianity over these forms of belief. The arguments are not compelling to a modern audience, but definitely allow us to understand the Christian mindset at the time, as well as the fractured relationship between the communities in Alexandria In Athanasius' lifetime.
All in all, the first half was excellent and while the second half was passable, it paled in comparison, both in its content and manner of writing. We must remember that Athanasius was a man of his time and place, a time characterised by the conflicts between Christians of Various sects, Jews and Greeks.
September 21, 2020
In the fourth century work, On the Incarnation, Athanasius' defense of Christ's advent encompasses a much broader scope than a surface level brush with the title may suggest. The book is not limited to the event of the incarnation, but ties this to the story of Scripture - the story of redemption. Creation, fall, and revelation through law and prophets are all explored in reference to the Word’s appearing in flesh, and his life, death and resurrection. There are three themes, or lines of defense, in his work. These are the dilemmas of life and death, ignorance and knowledge, and death and resurrection. In the first dilemma, Athanasius explains that humans were God’s special creation, made for life in his presence. Having sinned and ushered themselves to destruction, the writer argues it would be unfitting for God to stand back and do nothing. The Word came to bring life to the dead. In the second section, the dilemma of ignorance and knowledge, he explains how sin has darkened human apprehension of God, and that only through God himself coming to awaken this knowledge could they be saved. In the final section Athanasius explains how Jesus’ death is representative for others, how his resurrection inaugurates the resurrection of others, and why the manner of his death and resurrection was fitting.
October 8, 2023
Probably more like a 3.5.
Some points:
- the preface from CS Lewis was pretty inspiring tbh.
- the beginning portion is an Introduction to the actual work by Athanasius, which starts about halfway into the book
- perhaps need to revisit certain parts, but the book seems to be more about 'God becoming man' than 'man becoming god'. Which I guess makes sense since the book is about the incarnation.
- A lot of reasoning and explanation of why it was 'fitting', 'good', 'reasonable', and 'necessary' (in a sense) for Christ to do what He did, in coming to Earth, taking on human form, living a public life as He did, dying the death He died, and being raised. I thoroughly enjoyed some of these points as they provide more logic and insight into the effects and 'goodness' of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Overall pretty good, but not as organized or concise as I would've hoped. Also, some of the more philosophical arguments might be kinda weak in my opinion.
Some points:
- the preface from CS Lewis was pretty inspiring tbh.
- the beginning portion is an Introduction to the actual work by Athanasius, which starts about halfway into the book
- perhaps need to revisit certain parts, but the book seems to be more about 'God becoming man' than 'man becoming god'. Which I guess makes sense since the book is about the incarnation.
- A lot of reasoning and explanation of why it was 'fitting', 'good', 'reasonable', and 'necessary' (in a sense) for Christ to do what He did, in coming to Earth, taking on human form, living a public life as He did, dying the death He died, and being raised. I thoroughly enjoyed some of these points as they provide more logic and insight into the effects and 'goodness' of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
Overall pretty good, but not as organized or concise as I would've hoped. Also, some of the more philosophical arguments might be kinda weak in my opinion.
January 25, 2022
3.5 thoughtful and articulate. Honestly, it was a book I needed in this season. It stirred up affections in the person of Jesus as God from a source independent of the cultural idolatries of modern evangelicalism. It was refreshing and renewing, even if it wasn’t necessarily the most relevant to the kinds of arguments against the incarnation we hear today.
The book really challenged me to consider how I relate to death. St. Athanasius’ descriptions on the early church’s disdain for death and rejection of fear made me pause and consider if this is the courage I live in in light of the resurrection. I’m very thankful for that.
I’m hungry to read more early church thinkers after finishing this.
The book really challenged me to consider how I relate to death. St. Athanasius’ descriptions on the early church’s disdain for death and rejection of fear made me pause and consider if this is the courage I live in in light of the resurrection. I’m very thankful for that.
I’m hungry to read more early church thinkers after finishing this.
January 22, 2021
This was at least my second time through and I definitely enjoyed and appreciated it more this time around. Five stars.
Previous review: The introduction by C.S. Lewis is superb. The treatise by Athanasius is not merely about the incarnation but also the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is followed by an appendix where Athanasius recounts wise counsel he received about reading the psalms. All three are worth reading. Four stars.
Previous review: The introduction by C.S. Lewis is superb. The treatise by Athanasius is not merely about the incarnation but also the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is followed by an appendix where Athanasius recounts wise counsel he received about reading the psalms. All three are worth reading. Four stars.
January 27, 2022
Thankful for Dr. Johnson who inspired me to come back to this. I’ll definitely revisit it again in the future. It’s so grounding to read ancient wisdom of super complicated stuff that still feels relevant today. May we all reflect more on the deep love that God revealed to us by becoming flesh.
October 1, 2020
If you think modern man is smarter than our fathers, read this and you shall be put right. Fantastic little book.
June 24, 2024
"For it is a fact that the more unbelievers pour scorn on HIM, so much the more does He make His Godhead evident." - Athanasius of Alexandria,On the Incarnation,Ch. 1
Sometime before the year 319 A.D., Pope Athanasius of Alexandria penned his reflections on the subject of Jesus Christ and the nature of the Holy Spirit. Partly, his purpose was to refute the views held by the Jews at the time, Gentiles, and a contemporary Egyptian church deacon named Arius. This text is cited as one of the most influential of early Christianity. The Roman Empire sought to exile Athanasius numerous times because of his writings. His church, in Egypt, desired to preserve his writing in order that future generations might benefit from his teachings. This particular edition was translated by Sister Penelope Lawson, a nun who spent her life devoted to ancient Christian texts.
"The sun veiled his face, the earth quaked, the mountains were rent asunder, all men were stricken with awe. These things showed that Christ on the cross was God, and that all creation was His slave and was bearing witness by its fear to the presence of its Master." (Ch.4)
I find that along my Christian journey, I NEED to be reminded what I believe and who I am in accordance with what I believe about God. Up until the Renaissance period and even still after that, many believers were not allowed access to the Bible. We needed, and still need, to be reminded what we actually believe about Jesus. The truths in this timeless work of Athanasius were rightly exalted as a defensive weapon since theological daggers from all directions flew. Today is no different. We need grounded theological basics to guide us. But not blindly or because it is passed on to us. We can and should know why we believe what we believe.
Sometime before the year 319 A.D., Pope Athanasius of Alexandria penned his reflections on the subject of Jesus Christ and the nature of the Holy Spirit. Partly, his purpose was to refute the views held by the Jews at the time, Gentiles, and a contemporary Egyptian church deacon named Arius. This text is cited as one of the most influential of early Christianity. The Roman Empire sought to exile Athanasius numerous times because of his writings. His church, in Egypt, desired to preserve his writing in order that future generations might benefit from his teachings. This particular edition was translated by Sister Penelope Lawson, a nun who spent her life devoted to ancient Christian texts.
"The sun veiled his face, the earth quaked, the mountains were rent asunder, all men were stricken with awe. These things showed that Christ on the cross was God, and that all creation was His slave and was bearing witness by its fear to the presence of its Master." (Ch.4)
I find that along my Christian journey, I NEED to be reminded what I believe and who I am in accordance with what I believe about God. Up until the Renaissance period and even still after that, many believers were not allowed access to the Bible. We needed, and still need, to be reminded what we actually believe about Jesus. The truths in this timeless work of Athanasius were rightly exalted as a defensive weapon since theological daggers from all directions flew. Today is no different. We need grounded theological basics to guide us. But not blindly or because it is passed on to us. We can and should know why we believe what we believe.
February 13, 2023
I wish I had encountered this book earlier in my seminary career. I’m immensely glad I was made to read it for class. Too much to digest in one sitting and I look forward to revisiting this work again in the parish.
I think this work is like Handel’s Messiah, everyone assumes because of it’s title it is a Christmas work, but in reality it is an Easter work.
“…Christ alone by means of simple words and by means of humans not wise in speech has throughout the inhabited world persuaded wholes churches full of human beings to despise death but to think rather of things immortal, and to disregard what is temporal but to consider rather things eternal, and to think nothing of earthly glory but to seek rather only immortality.” - Athanasius, On the Incarnation, para.47
I think this work is like Handel’s Messiah, everyone assumes because of it’s title it is a Christmas work, but in reality it is an Easter work.
“…Christ alone by means of simple words and by means of humans not wise in speech has throughout the inhabited world persuaded wholes churches full of human beings to despise death but to think rather of things immortal, and to disregard what is temporal but to consider rather things eternal, and to think nothing of earthly glory but to seek rather only immortality.” - Athanasius, On the Incarnation, para.47
October 22, 2015
As an ancient classic of apologetics and Christology, it feels a bit frivolous to give Athanasius'sOn the Incarnationa starred rating. But what else could I give it, given its eloquent terseness and simplicity, and the incalculable influence it has had on all subsequent Christian thought, both eastern and western? Furthermore, my five stars are as much for Fr. John Behr's excellent translation, as well as his helpful and necessary introduction, as they are for the text itself.
On the Incarnationwas probably penned shortly after Constantine's triumph at the Milvian Bridge, a turn of events that understandably caused much celebration among the growing Christian community of the Mediterranean. A political shift towards the legalization and legitimization of Christian practice and evangelization was certainly a welcome change for a community of faith more accustomed to violent persecution from legal authorities and rhetorical scorn from intellectuals.
There is certainly an air of triumphalism in Athanasius's writings; a heavy sigh of vindication. He spends much of the latter part of this work taunting the Jews and Greeks alike for their continuing skepticism in the face of a movement that was casting down false idols throughout the world and overturning centuries of classical pagan tradition. But as Fr. Behr writes in the introduction, Athanasius's real purpose was not so much to celebrate the triumph of Christianity as it was to remind the Church, through his reiteration of the doctrine of the Incarnation, that the real victory was not being won by men like Constantine, but rather through the work of Christ himself; the living Word of God.
One might assume from the title that the scope of this work is limited to the narrow subject of how, theologically speaking, God could take on a physical human body; how the God who created Heaven and Earth could show up in the womb of a young woman. This is not the case, because for Athanasius, the Incarnation is not simply an event in history, but a permanent condition with ubiquitous implications.
The Incarnation refers not only to the embodiment of the Word of God, but also to the teachings, sacrifice, and resurrection of that body, as Christ's death and resurrection in particular were the ultimate purpose and consummation of his human life. His continued life as a resurrected body - the eternal God-Man - is itself a permanent act of Incarnation. By living on in triumph over death, Christ holds open the gates, so to speak, for those who live in him to follow him through the breach and free themselves from death's shadow as he did.
Athanasius reads the Incarnation through the lens of the Creation story. His interpretation of Genesis, of the Fall of Man, is that before Man ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and had been made to worship God in his own image, he lived completely unselfishly, in contemplation of God and his creation rather than of his own particular affairs; the carnal affairs of his own physical body. When Adam and Eve realized they were naked after eating from the Tree and covered themselves up with fig leaves, their attention had been turned from the contemplation of the God who made all things to the narrower contemplation of themselves.
Mankind forgot God and lived for himself, or put various idols or animistic deities (Athanasius would call them demons) in his place. All the war, oppression, and civil strife that accompanies human civilization, as it certainly did in Athanasius's time, was a product of Man's continuing and worsening violation of God's law, best summarized as the turn to idolatry.
Given the bleakness of the human condition and God's love for his creation, what was God to do? On the one hand, given God's nature as the being and sustenance of all of existence, he couldn't simply remove his own law for the sake of mankind, or he would no longer be God. But having created Man in his own image, and desiring that Man should take on his likeness, he couldn't simply abandon his most favored creation to wallow in its own mire. According to Athanasius, Incarnation was then the only logical outcome. Because Man had become so preoccupied with himself, with his own physical body, God had to meet him on his own terms. The Word of God, through which God had created Heaven and Earth in Genesis, sojourned on Earth in a human body in order to reconnect with a body-obsessed humanity. In becoming a man, God led mankind gradually back from the contemplation of the body to the contemplation of God.
I think the order and structure of the Gospels testifies well to this interpretation. In Mark, we have an understanding of Christ as a great prophet and as the awaited Messiah. In Matthew and Luke, Christ is not only the Messiah and a prophetic voice, but he is also a new Moses, giving a new dispensation for the People of God to live by. Finally, the author of John's Gospel takes it back even further, crafting his Gospel as a sort of mirror of Genesis, identifying Christ with the creative Word of God itself. In reading the Gospels, we are thus taken from an understanding of Jesus as a great human teacher, onwards and upwards to a greater understanding of a Christ who shares in God himself.
On the Incarnationwas probably penned shortly after Constantine's triumph at the Milvian Bridge, a turn of events that understandably caused much celebration among the growing Christian community of the Mediterranean. A political shift towards the legalization and legitimization of Christian practice and evangelization was certainly a welcome change for a community of faith more accustomed to violent persecution from legal authorities and rhetorical scorn from intellectuals.
There is certainly an air of triumphalism in Athanasius's writings; a heavy sigh of vindication. He spends much of the latter part of this work taunting the Jews and Greeks alike for their continuing skepticism in the face of a movement that was casting down false idols throughout the world and overturning centuries of classical pagan tradition. But as Fr. Behr writes in the introduction, Athanasius's real purpose was not so much to celebrate the triumph of Christianity as it was to remind the Church, through his reiteration of the doctrine of the Incarnation, that the real victory was not being won by men like Constantine, but rather through the work of Christ himself; the living Word of God.
One might assume from the title that the scope of this work is limited to the narrow subject of how, theologically speaking, God could take on a physical human body; how the God who created Heaven and Earth could show up in the womb of a young woman. This is not the case, because for Athanasius, the Incarnation is not simply an event in history, but a permanent condition with ubiquitous implications.
The Incarnation refers not only to the embodiment of the Word of God, but also to the teachings, sacrifice, and resurrection of that body, as Christ's death and resurrection in particular were the ultimate purpose and consummation of his human life. His continued life as a resurrected body - the eternal God-Man - is itself a permanent act of Incarnation. By living on in triumph over death, Christ holds open the gates, so to speak, for those who live in him to follow him through the breach and free themselves from death's shadow as he did.
Athanasius reads the Incarnation through the lens of the Creation story. His interpretation of Genesis, of the Fall of Man, is that before Man ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and had been made to worship God in his own image, he lived completely unselfishly, in contemplation of God and his creation rather than of his own particular affairs; the carnal affairs of his own physical body. When Adam and Eve realized they were naked after eating from the Tree and covered themselves up with fig leaves, their attention had been turned from the contemplation of the God who made all things to the narrower contemplation of themselves.
Mankind forgot God and lived for himself, or put various idols or animistic deities (Athanasius would call them demons) in his place. All the war, oppression, and civil strife that accompanies human civilization, as it certainly did in Athanasius's time, was a product of Man's continuing and worsening violation of God's law, best summarized as the turn to idolatry.
Given the bleakness of the human condition and God's love for his creation, what was God to do? On the one hand, given God's nature as the being and sustenance of all of existence, he couldn't simply remove his own law for the sake of mankind, or he would no longer be God. But having created Man in his own image, and desiring that Man should take on his likeness, he couldn't simply abandon his most favored creation to wallow in its own mire. According to Athanasius, Incarnation was then the only logical outcome. Because Man had become so preoccupied with himself, with his own physical body, God had to meet him on his own terms. The Word of God, through which God had created Heaven and Earth in Genesis, sojourned on Earth in a human body in order to reconnect with a body-obsessed humanity. In becoming a man, God led mankind gradually back from the contemplation of the body to the contemplation of God.
I think the order and structure of the Gospels testifies well to this interpretation. In Mark, we have an understanding of Christ as a great prophet and as the awaited Messiah. In Matthew and Luke, Christ is not only the Messiah and a prophetic voice, but he is also a new Moses, giving a new dispensation for the People of God to live by. Finally, the author of John's Gospel takes it back even further, crafting his Gospel as a sort of mirror of Genesis, identifying Christ with the creative Word of God itself. In reading the Gospels, we are thus taken from an understanding of Jesus as a great human teacher, onwards and upwards to a greater understanding of a Christ who shares in God himself.
December 3, 2023
The introduction by C.S. Lewis was incredibly helpful for approaching the work of Athanasius with the correct mindset. He points out the immense value of reading old works, not works about old works. As a Christian, I found Athanasius’ working out of the gospel, explaining the logic of the incarnation, to be food for the soul and mind.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,078 reviews