Tag Archives: Gospel

Blogging thru On the Incarnation: Good is, Evil is not (part 3)

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This is part 3 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.

Having established the proper state of mankind, Athanasius traces the origin and history of evil all the way to its worse form, which for him is idolatry. Don’t worry, we won’t get too bogged down in all of the arguments or the refutations that Athanasius offers against idols.

In Against the Gentiles, he starts off chapter 2 saying:

In the beginning wickedness did not exist. 1

With these words Athanasius takes us back to the Genesis account and creation.

In the early part of On the Incarnation, Athanasius will tell us that it will “be necessary to speak about the creation of the universe” in order to understand why Christ came in bodily form. In that work he will examine more closely the Fall and its impacts. Here, in Against the Gentiles, he delves into how man left the proper state and brought about evil with broader brush strokes.

But men later on began to contrive [wickedness] and to elaborate it to their own hurt. Whence also they devised the invention of idols, treating what was not as though it were. 

Describing God as “good and exceedingly noble”, Athanasius will later say (in chapter 4):

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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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Blogging thru On the Incarnation: Who is Athanasius? (part 1)

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With Christmas coming, I decided to take C.S. Lewis’ advice and read an old book, tackling On the Incarnation by Athanasius during Advent. Up to now I’ve only read excerpts from this work (post), but I plan on reading and blogging through the entire book. I will be using the translation published as part of the Popular Patristics Series. This edition is translated by John Behr and contains the famous preface by C.S. Lewis (see blog post on that here).

Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.

Preface by C.S. Lewis

On the Incarnation

On the Incarnation is considered an apology (or defense) of the cross and is the sequel to an earlier work entitled Against the Gentiles. 1 The dating for On the Incarnation is debated, with some favoring an early date prior to the Council of Nicaea, citing the lack of mentioning Arius. 2 Others suggest it was probably written sometime after the council, given that the author would have been writing at a very young age if it was earlier.3 These provide a range of time for the composition that would fall somewhere between 318 and 337 AD.

that you may be able to know the cause of the manifestation in the body of such and so great Paternal Word, … that, being by nature bodiless and existing as the Word, by the love for humankind and goodness of his own Father he appeared to us in a human body for our salvation.

On the INCARNATION 1

Who was Athanasius?

Athanasius contra mundum

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