Athanasius: On The Incarnation Summary

Athanasius: On the Incarnation - Book Report

Book Summary:

In the book, Athanasius of Alexandria explores the topic and the reasons why the incarnation of God had to occur. Athanasius starts the paper by introducing people to the tremendous power God has over the World. Athanasius writes that the only reason for God to manifest in a human body is for the salvation of all humanity. Athanasius relates salvation and creation by stating that God has employed the same agent for both.

Another important point of the book was the discussion about how the creation of all things occurred and where it originated. He wrote about some of the different points of views on that topic. The first view he talks about is the Epicurean point of view which basically

states that all things are haphazard; are self originated. Athanasius refutes that argument by saying that if that was the case there would be no distinctions between things in creation, “The distinctness of things argues not a spontaneous generation but a prevenient Cause; and from that Cause we can apprehend God, the Designer and Maker of all”. He also went through the points of views of Plato and the Gnostics but refutes those ideas by declaring that God is the mind behind the universe and creation, “...it did not originate itself; because God is infinite, not finite, it was not made from pre-existent matter…” He argues that God created the universe out of nothing and brought it into being through the Word. Along with that argument, he also argues the initial sin of Adam and Eve who in them, “He set them in His own paradise...if they guarded the grace and retained the loveliness of their original innocence, then the life of paradise should be theirs…” But Adam and Even decided to commit the one thing He prohibited them to do. Athanasius makes the connection between the Word’s becoming Man to Adam and Eve’s sin by saying that the reason that originated the incarnation was “...our sorry case that caused the Word to come down…” and forgive humanity’s transgressions with His love for us. God’s love for us was the single greatest reason for Him to take into a human body.
In the first half chapter of the book, Athanasius makes the argument that God had to take human form because if not the nature of the word would have perished and God’s creation would have been for nothing, “It was unworthy of the goodness of God that creatures made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit of wrought upon man by the devil…” The writes makes the argument that God’s goodness did not allow him to just see his creation perish all caused by evil.

God’s goodness is greater than any evil that tried to neglect his creation. Developing his argument further more Athanasius discusses what other options besides the incarnation could have save God’s creation from the path of destruction. He writes in the book that human repentance was not enough to save humanity. Instead of human repentance as a way to save humanity the Son took to, “Himself a human body, a human body even as our own.” Corruption as it is described in the book could only have been abolished through death. The Father’s Son took into a human body, “...and not only so, but He took it directly from a spotless, stainless virgin, without the agency of human father - a pure body body untainted by intercourse with man.”Later on in the book, Athanasius gives the effect incarnation had on God’s creation. He writes that it put an end to death and He became the “...Lord and Savior of all…” Athanasius provides two things that the sacrifice of His human body’s sacrifice accomplished; the first one is

that it ended the law of death and gave us the hope of resurrection.
In the later chapters of the book Athanasius writes about the death of Christ.

After going through the main reason for the incarnation, this 4th century writer gives details on what Jesus Christ’s earthly life was like. Athanasius also walks through the resurrection and how the Savior “...did not allow that temple of His body to linger long, but forthwith on the third day raised it up…” In the book, Athanasius also writes about the Jews and Gentiles’ refutation and ridicule regarding all the facts behind the resurrection of Christ. Mainly he talks about the unbelief of the Jews and Gentiles even though scriptures clearly refer to Christ’s death clearly. Regarding the Gentiles, Athanasius goes on to talk about their unbelief saying that saying that the Word of God was manifested into a human body was unfitting. The book is an overall look into the incarnation and resurrection and everything in between

it.
Evaluation/Analysis:
The book written by Athanasius on the Incarnation very well made an argument about the incarnation and its causes. Throughout the book, Athanasius highlighted the divinity and the Trinity of God, two of the most important doctrines studied during the lectures. Athanasius, as C.S Lewis described in the introduction to the book, writes about the subject deeply but at the same time its simplicity makes it simple enough to read but most importantly understand this important topic. Throughout the chapters, I could tell that Athanasius had a very deep understanding about the topic of the incarnation and everything that conveys it. I think it was wise for Athanasius to mention the original sin to originate his most important reason for why the Son had to take human form and suffer death. The way the translation of the book originally titled “De Incarnatione” provides a lot of knowledge not only for theology students but anybody who wants a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice. I felt that the book not only listed reasons for the incarnation to occur but it also gave a deep explanation on the results it had on God’s creation. I think the book provides the basic patristic understanding of the Christian religion. Thinking about it, there would be no Christianity if the incarnation and thereafter the resurrection of Jesus Christ’s had not happened. The topic explained in the book, is the foundation of any Christian doctrine. It is important to have document such as this book to understand and use our understanding to explain them to others and spread the word of God.