Category Archives: Theology

Blogging thru On the Incarnation: Athanasius’ Teleological Argument (part 5)

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This is part 5 of the series blogging through the book On the Incarnation by Athanasius. You might want to start with part 1 and work your way through the series.

In this post we are going to jump right in, picking up where we left off in part 4. We will be looking at the second major argument Athanasius presents in Against the Gentiles related to how creation points to a Creator. And yes, we will eventually get back to On the Incarnation.

Why do we find a Universe that has Order and Harmony?

In the second major argument advanced by Athanasius, we find him making a teleological argument. A teleological argument is one that makes an appeal to what is known of the universe and then moves to argue that it shows evidence of design and purpose. It then asserts that this is evidence for a Designer.

The Fine-Tuning Argument

A popular and modern version of a teleological argument would be the fine tuning argument.

The laws of physics, the shape of the universe and the values of numerous constants appear to be so finely tuned that a slight change in any one of them could radically change how the universe looks and whether it could support life.1 These observations leave physicists, and all of us, to grapple with whether our universe was designed to support life or whether it was something else that brought about the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

In A Brief History of Time, the famous physicist Stephen Hawking writes:

The laws of science, as we know them at present, contain many fundamental numbers, like the size of the electric charge of the electron and the ratio of the masses of the proton and the electron. We cannot, at the moment at least, predict the values of these numbers from theory – we have to find them by observation. It may be that one day we shall discover a complete unified theory that predicts them all, but it is also possible that some or all of them vary from universe to universe or within a single universe. The remarkable fact is that the values of these numbers seem to have been very finely adjusted to make possible the development of life. … it seems clear that there are relatively few ranges of values for the numbers that would allow the development of any form of intelligent life. Most sets of values would give rise to universes, that, although they might be very beautiful, would contain no one able to wonder at that beauty. One can take this either as evidence of a divine purpose in Creation and the choice of the laws of science or as support for the strong anthropic principle. (emphasis added) 2

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Blogging thru On the Incarnation: Athanasius’ Cosmology (part 4)

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This is part 4 of the series blogging through the book On the Incarnation by Athanasius. You might want to start with part 1 and work your way through the series.

On Feb 14, 1990, Voyager 1 sent back its famous image of the “pale blue dot”, capturing how large and vast the universe is. This was taken some 3.7 billion miles from the sun as the probe left our solar system. 1 However, the idea that the universe was larger than our solar system, something we take for granted as a well established fact, was still a debated idea until Jan 1, 1925.2

When we affirm that the heavens declare the glory of God, we have a very different mental model and understanding of these heavens than Athanasius and his contemporaries did living in the fourth century. However, that doesn’t mean that in each age the creation doesn’t “make known, and witness to, the Father of the Word, Who is the Lord and Maker of these [things]” 3

In noting that “it is first necessary to speak about the creation of the universe and its Maker”, Athanasius quickly affirms creation ex nihilo, an act performed by the Father through the Word.

God is not weak, but from nothing and having absolutely no existence God brought the universe into being through the Word 3

On the Incarnation chap 3

In On the Incarnation, Athanasius explores creation as it relates to the incarnation and the cross. A topic that we will explore later in this series. In Against the Gentiles the emphasis is on how creation declares a Creator. It is in this earlier work that we get a brief description of how Athanasius understands the universe. That will be the focus on this particular entry in the blogging series.

For Athanasius, as noted already, the model of the universe was very different from what we know today. It would be incredibly smaller, at least from our point of view. In a prior series we explored ancient cosmology and the major characteristics from the point of view of a person living in the fourth century5

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Blogging thru On the Incarnation: The Prequel (part 2)

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This is part 2  of the series blogging through the book On the Incarnation by Athanasius. You might want to start with part 1 and work your way through the series.

The opening statements of the first chapter in On The Incarnation refer to a prior work of Athanasius. That work is Against the Gentiles.

In what preceded we have sufficiently treated a few points from many, regarding the error of the Gentiles concerning idols and their superstition, how their invention was from the beginning, and that out of wickedness human beings devised for themselves the worship of idols.

On the INcarnation chap 11

The translator Behr suggests that “[both works] need to be considered together, for the first work sets up the problem that the second resolves.”2 Therefore, before reading On the Incarnation, I took the time to read Against the Gentiles.

In Against the Gentiles, Athanasius explores how idolatry came into existence and then spends a great portion of the work refuting it in all of its forms. If I were to summarize the work, Against the Gentiles is a full length treatment of the concepts laid out in Romans 1:18-28. Athanasius will start by explaining the power all people have to direct their attention to God. He will then show that each person knows God but suppresses the truth that is available. He then traces the history of futility as mankind traded the Creator for the created. An exchange that leads down a path deeper and deeper into darkness, accepting various forms of idolatry and adopting sinful behaviors. He will also point to our need to avail ourselves of the ability we have to turn back to God. Throughout the work, Athanasius focuses on the rationality that exists in mankind. Therefore he dedicates part of the work toward defending the existence of the soul, for him the seat of rationality. He concludes by showing that Nature reveals a Creator.

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