Athanasius: On the Incarnation




Preview

  1. Preview
  2. Chapter 1: Creation and Fall
  3. Chapter 2: The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution
  4. Chapter 3: The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution (Continued)
  5. Chapter 4: The Death of Christ
  6. Chapter 5: The Resurrection
  7. Chapter 6: Refutation of the Jews
  8. Chapter 7: Refutation of the Gentiles
  9. Chapter 8: Refutation of the Gentiles (Continued)
  10. Chapter 9: Conclusion
  11. Overview of Atonement Theories ↢ BONUS MINI-LESSON
  12. Review
  13. Sources
Only Man [1 ⇑ ↝ ]
“Nothing in creation had erred from the path of God’s purpose for it, save only man… Men alone having rejected what is good, have invented nothings instead of the truth, and have ascribed the honor due to God and the knowledge concerning Him to demons and men in the form of stones.” Chap 7, Sec 43

Chapter 1: Creation and Fall

Creation – Epicureans (Sec 2) [2 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
Epicureans “The Epicureans are among these; they deny that there is any Mind behind the universe at all.”
Christians “For if all things had come into being in this automatic fashion, instead of being the outcome of Mind, though they existed, they would all be uniform and without distinction. In the universe everything would be sun or moon or whatever it was, and in the human body the whole would be hand or eye or foot.”


Creation – Platonists (Sec 2) [3 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
Platonists “Others take the view expressed by Plato, that giant among the Greeks. He said that God had made all things out of pre-existent and uncreated matter, just as the carpenter makes things only out of wood that already exists.”
Christians “If He only worked up existing matter—and did not Himself bring matter into being, He would be not the Creator but only a craftsman.”


Creation – Gnostics (Sec 2) [4 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
Gnostics “Then, again, there is the theory of the Gnostics, who have invented for themselves an Artificer of all things other than the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Christians “These simply shut their eyes to the obvious meaning of Scripture.”


Impress of His Own Image (Sec 3) [5 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“He made all things out of nothing through His own Word, our Lord Jesus Christ; and of all these His earthly creatures He reserved especial mercy for the race of men. Upon them, therefore, upon men who, as animals, were essentially impermanent, He bestowed a grace which other creatures lacked—namely, the impress of His own Image, a share in the reasonable being of the very Word Himself, so that, reflecting Him and themselves becoming reasonable and expressing the Mind of God even as He does, though in limited degree, they might continue for ever in the blessed and only true life of the saints in paradise.”

Why Are Talking About the Origin of Man? (Sec 4, 5) [6 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“You may be wondering why we are discussing the origin of men when we set out to talk about the Word’s becoming Man. The former subject is relevant to the latter for this reason: it was our sorry case that caused the Word to come down, our transgression that called out His love for us, so that He made haste to help us and to appear among us…Indeed, they [human beings] had in their sinning surpassed all limits.”

Chapter 2: The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution

The FIRST Cause [7 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“This, then, is the first cause of the Saviour’s becoming Man.”

Death and Corruption Were Gaining Ever Firmer Hold (Sec 6) [8 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“We saw in the last chapter that, because death and corruption were gaining ever firmer hold on them, the human race was in process of destruction. Man, who was created in God’s image and in his possession of reason reflected the very Word Himself, was disappearing, and the work of God was being undone.”

The Dilemma [9 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“It would, of course, have been unthinkable that God should go back upon His word and that man, having transgressed, should not die; …”

“but it was equally monstrous that beings which once had shared the nature of the Word should perish and turn back again into non-existence through corruption.”

Repentance Not the Answer (Sec 7) [10 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“But repentance would not guard the Divine consistency, for, if death did not hold dominion over men, God would still remain untrue. Nor does repentance recall men from what is according to their nature; all that it does is to make them cease from sinning. Had it been a case of a trespass only, and not of a subsequent corruption, repentance would have been well enough; but when once transgression had begun men came under the power of the corruption proper to their nature and were bereft of the grace which belonged to them as creatures in the Image of God. No, repentance could not meet the case.”

Christ Appears (Sec 8) [11 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“He saw how unseemly it was that the very things of which He Himself was the Artificer should be disappearing. He saw how the surpassing wickedness of men was mounting up against them; He saw also their universal liability to death. All this He saw and, pitying our race, moved with compassion for our limitation, unable to endure that death should have the mastery, rather than that His creatures should perish and the work of His Father for us men come to nought, He took to Himself a body, a human body even as our own.”

A Body Capable of Death [12 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“The Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father’s Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for all, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for all others as well, by the grace of the resurrection.”

Chapter 3: The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution (Continued)

Chapter 3 – The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution in the Incarnation - Continued [13 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“There are, however, other things which show how wholly fitting is His blessed presence in our midst; and these we must now go on to consider.”

God Provides Ways to Know Him … (Sec 12) [14 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
  1. “the grace of being made in His Image was sufficient to give them knowledge of the Word and through Him of the Father,”
  2. “provided the works of creation also as means by which the Maker might be known.”
  3. “against this further frailty also God made provision by giving them a law, and by sending prophets, men whom they knew.”
Yet … (Sec 12, 13) [15 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“Yet men, bowed down by the pleasures of the moment and by the frauds and illusions of the evil spirits, did not lift up their heads towards the truth. So burdened were they with their wickednesses that they seemed rather to be brute beasts than reasonable men, reflecting the very Likeness of the Word.

§ 13 What was God to do in face of this dehumanising of mankind, this universal hiding of the knowledge of Himself by the wiles of evil spirits?”

Since Men Were Looking at Created Things to Worship (Sec 15) [16 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“Men had turned from the contemplation of God above, and were looking for Him in the opposite direction, down among created things and things of sense. The Saviour of us all, the Word of God, in His great love took to Himself a body and moved as Man among men, meeting their senses, so to speak, half way. He became Himself an object for the senses, so that those who were seeking God in sensible things might apprehend the Father through the works which He, the Word of God, did in the body. Human and human-minded as men were, therefore, to whichever side they looked in the sensible world they found themselves taught the truth.”

Man, Word, Son (Sec 17) [17 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“His body was for Him not a limitation, but an instrument, so that He was both in it and in all things, and outside all things, resting in the Father alone. At one and the same time—this is the wonder—as Man He was living a human life, and as Word He was sustaining the life of the universe, and as Son He was in constant union with the Father. Not even His birth from a virgin, therefore, changed Him in any way, nor was He defiled by being in the body. Rather, He sanctified the body by being in it.”

Man and God (Sec 18) [18 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“From such ordinary acts as being born and taking food, He was recognised as being actually present in the body; but by the extraordinary acts which He did through the body He proved Himself to be the Son of God… To speak authoritatively to evil spirits, for instance, and to drive them out, is not human but divine; and who could see Him curing all the diseases to which mankind is prone, and still deem Him mere man and not also God? He cleansed lepers, He made the lame to walk, He opened the ears of the deaf and the eyes of the blind, there was no sickness or weakness that He did not drive away. Even the most casual observer can see that these were acts of God.”

[19 ↜ ⇑ ↝]


Chapter 4: The Death of Christ

To Settle Man’s Account With Death [20 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“Here, then, is the second reason why the Word dwelt among us, namely that having proved His Godhead by His works, He might offer the sacrifice on behalf of all, surrendering His own temple to death in place of all, to settle man’s account with death1 and free him from the primal transgression. In the same act also He showed Himself mightier than death, displaying His own body incorruptible as the first-fruits of the resurrection.” This describes the Ransom Theory of the Atonement, one of the two theories still held by the Eastern Orthodox Church.



Going to the Length of Public Crucifixion? (Sec 22, 23) [21 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“If He had died quietly in His bed like other men it would have looked as if He did so in accordance with His nature, and as though He was indeed no more than other men.” [Old Age not possible] “How could He fall sick, Who had healed others?” [Sickness not possible]

Going to the Length of Public Crucifixion? (Sec 23) [22 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“Then, again, suppose without any illness He had just concealed His body somewhere, and then suddenly reappeared and said that He had risen from the dead He would have been regarded merely as a teller of tales, and because there was no witness of His death, nobody would believe His resurrection... A secret and unwitnessed death would have left the resurrection without any proof or evidence to support it.” [Public death necessary]

Going to the Length of Public Crucifixion? (Sec 24) [23 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“Some might urge that, even granting the necessity of a public death for subsequent belief in the resurrection, it would surely have been better for Him to have arranged an honourable death for Himself, and so to have avoided the ignominy of the cross. But even this would have given ground for suspicion that His power over death was limited to the particular kind of death which He chose for Himself; and that again would furnish excuse for disbelieving the resurrection. Death came to His body, therefore, not from Himself but from enemy action, in order that the Saviour might utterly abolish death in whatever form they offered it to Him. A generous wrestler, virile and strong, does not himself choose his antagonists, lest it should be thought that of some of them he is afraid. Rather, he lets the spectators choose them, and that all the more if these are hostile, so that he may overthrow whomsoever they match against him and thus vindicate his superior strength.” [Ignominious death required]

Going to the Length of Public Crucifixion? (Sec 25) [24 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“Again, the death of the Lord is the ransom of all, and by it ‘the middle wall of partition” is broken down and the call of the Gentiles comes about. How could He have called us if He had not been crucified, for it is only on the cross that a man dies with arms outstretched? Here, again, we see the fitness of His death and of those outstretched arms: it was that He might draw His ancient people with the one and the Gentiles with the other, and join both together in Himself.”

Going to the Length of Public Crucifixion? (Sec 25) [25 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“’I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto Myself.’ Again, the air is the sphere of the devil, the enemy of our race who, having fallen from heaven, endeavours with the other evil spirits who shared in his disobedience both to keep souls from the truth and to hinder the progress of those who are trying to follow it. …But the Lord came to overthrow the devil and to purify the air and to make ‘a way’ for us up to heaven, as the apostle says, ‘through the veil, that is to say, His flesh.’ This had to be done through death, and by what other kind of death could it be done, save by a death in the air, that is, on the cross?”

Chapter 5: The Resurrection

Why Not An Immediate Resurrection (Sec 26) [26 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“It was, of course, within His power thus to have raised His body and displayed it as alive directly after death. But the all-wise Saviour did not do this, lest some should deny that it had really or completely died.”

Why Three Days(Sec 26) [27 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“[H]ad the interval between His death and resurrection been but two days, the glory of His incorruption might not have appeared. He waited one whole day to show that His body was really dead, and then on the third day showed it incorruptible to all. The interval was no longer, lest people should have forgotten about it and grown doubtful whether it were in truth the same body. No, while the affair was still ringing in their ears and their eyes were still straining and their minds in turmoil, and while those who had put Him to death were still on the spot and themselves witnessing to the fact of it, the Son of God after three days showed His once dead body immortal and incorruptible;”

Christus Victor(Sec 29) [28 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“If, then, it is by the sign of the cross and by faith in Christ that death is trampled underfoot, it is clear that it is Christ Himself and none other Who is the Archvictor over death and has robbed it of its power. Death used to be strong and terrible, but now, since the sojourn of the Saviour and the death and resurrection of His body, it is despised; and obviously it is by the very Christ Who mounted on the cross that it has been destroyed and vanquished finally.”

Christus Victor

Hold His Faith And Bear the Sign of the Cross (Sec 29) [29 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“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 realise 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 cross1?” 1 I am fairly sure Athanasius bounces back and forth between the sign of the cross being a human gesture signaling our belonging to Christ and the invisible seal of the Holy Spirit

Proofs that Christ is Alive (Sec 30) [30 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“Dead men cannot take effective action; their power of influence on others lasts only till the grave. Deeds and actions that energise others belong only to the living.” Yet…

Chapter 6: Refutation of the Jews

Refutation of the Jews [31 ↜ ⇑ ↝]


Chapter 7: Refutation of the Gentiles

It is Impossible for God to Enter Matter (Sec 41) [32 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
Anthony replies, “But if it is right and fitting for Him to enter into the universe and to reveal Himself through it, then, because humanity is part of the universe along with the rest, it is no less fitting for Him to appear in a human body, and to enlighten and to work through that. And surely if it were wrong for a part of the universe to have been used to reveal His Divinity to men, it would be much more wrong that He should be so revealed by the whole!”

Why Didn’t He Manifest Himself in Miraculous Form? (Sec 43) [33 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
Anthony replies, “Some may then ask, why did He not manifest Himself by means of other and nobler parts of creation, and use some nobler instrument, such as sun or moon or stars or fire or air, instead of mere man? The answer is this. The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering men.”

Chapter 8: Refutation of the Gentiles (Continued)

The Power of the Incarnation [34 ↜ ⇑ ↝]

  1. Effective Action on Living Men (Sec 30)
    “How is it that He makes the living to cease from their activities, the adulterer from his adultery, the murderer from murdering, the unjust from avarice, while the profane and godless man becomes religious?”

  2. Idol Worship Abandoned (Sec 46)
    “When did people begin to abandon the worship of idols, unless it were since the very Word of God came among men? “

  3. Oracles Deserted (Sec 46)
    “When have oracles ceased and become void of meaning, among the Greeks and everywhere, except since the Savior has revealed Himself on earth?“

  4. Gods and Heroes Rejected (Sec 46)
    “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?”

  5. Demons Overthrown (Sec 46)
    “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?”

  6. Magic Spurned (Sec 46)
    “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?”

  7. Philosophers Become Fools(Sec 46)
    “In a word, when did the wisdom of the Greeks become foolish, save when the true Wisdom of God revealed Himself on earth?”

  8. Chastity Established (Sec 51)
    “Again, who among men, either after his death or while yet living, taught about virginity and did not account this virtue impossible for human beings? But Christ our Savior and King of all has so prevailed with His teaching on this subject that even children not yet of lawful age promise that virginity which transcends the law.”

  9. Barbarians Pacified (Sec 52)
    “The barbarians of the present day are naturally savage in their habits, and as long as they sacrifice to their idols they rage furiously against each other and cannot bear to be a single hour without weapons. But when they hear the teaching of Christ, forthwith they turn from fighting to farming, and instead of arming themselves with swords extend their hands in prayer. In a word, instead of fighting each other, they take up arms against the devil and the demons, and overcome them by their selfcommand and integrity of soul.”



Chapter 9: Conclusion

United to them in the Fellowship of Life (Sec 56) [35 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
“[A]nyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred writers must first cleanse his own life, and approach the saints by copying their deeds. Thus united to them in the fellowship of life, he will both understand the things revealed to them by God and, thenceforth escaping the peril that threatens sinners in the judgment, will receive that which is laid up for the saints in the kingdom of heaven.”

Overview of Atonement Theories

Questions About the Atonement [36 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
Boyd & Eddy, 113

Atonement Theories Listed Chronologically [37 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
  1. Ransom – Early Church
  2. Christus Victor – Early Church
  3. Satisfaction - Anselm
  4. Moral Influence - Abelard
  5. Penal Substitution – The Reformers
  6. Moral Government – Hugo Grotius
  7. Socinian – Radical Reformation
Summaries of Major Atonement Theories [38 ↜ ⇑ ↝]
THEORY DESCRIPTION
SUBJECTIVE
Moral Influence
 Christ died to show us how much God loves us. Look, and be humbled and changed.
Socinian/Example
Christ died to show how us how we should live a life of self-denial. (Socinians deny almost every orthodox belief the church holds.)
OBJECTIVE
Ransom
 Christ’s death was a ransom that redeemed us from Death/Satan.
Christus Victor
 Christ died to destroy Satan and his works.
Satisfaction
 Christ died to placate an offended God.
Penal Substitution
 Christ died to pay our sin debt to God.


Sources