On the Incarnation
Lesson 1: Creation and the Fall
Who was St. Athanasius? Born around 293 A.D., as just a young man in or before the year 319, he penned this brilliant treatise On the Incarnation of the Word. Six or seven years later as an Archdeacon, he was secretary to the Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, during the time when another deacon in Alexandria, Arius, began preaching that Jesus was a created being, a godly person but not pre-eternal God in the flesh (incarnate). Athanasius recognized the danger of this heretical idea and preached against it. He became a leading opponent of Arianism, and when the First Ecumenical Council was called in AD 325, the Patriarch of Alexandria was ill so he took Archdeacon Athanasius to Nicaea with him to the council. Athanasius led the debate against Arianism, which the Council then officially proclaimed a heresy; they also decided upon the Nicene Creed.
Also, St. Athanasius later compiled the list of the 27 books that was recognized after his death as the official New Testament canon at the Council of Carthage in A.D. 397, so for the first 365 years after Christ established His Church, we did not have an official New Testament.
St. Athanasius begins his treatise On the Incarnation of the Word by reviewing his "former book" on the person of Jesus Christ, contrasting His human nature with His divine nature. Athanasius hints at one of the main ideas in this treatise by writing - "the renewal of creation has been wrought by the Self-same Word Who made it in the beginning." (See John 1:1-3.) By this, he explains that the pre-incarnate Word (Logos in Greek, from which we get logic in English) created the universe, and the very same Word became incarnate to re-create and restore the whole universe, including the human race. Read on:
Question:
1. This ancient text is relevant for today! In the paragraph that begins with "(2)In regard to the making of the universe...", what modern worldview is the Epicurians' philosophy similar to?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
a) Capitalism
b) Evolution
c) Socialism
We're reading in this first chapter of "On the Incarnation of the Word" about God, creation, and the Fall. What's all this about "spontaneous generation," Plato, a carpenter, and is God limited or unlimited?
What is St. Athanasius getting at, anyway?
a. God needs some raw material to create things from.
b. Subatomic particles: neutrons, protons, and electrons always existed.
c. God created the universe "ex nihilo" - out of nothing.
OK, keep on reading the chapter carefully and thoughtfully, not just scanning for a phrase to answer the next question! The good St. Athanasius continues writing about God and creation, and in the paragraph which starts with "(3) Such are the notions which..." he mentions something called "The Shepherd" that talks about "One God Who created and arranged all things and brought them out of non-existence into being." Did you find that sentence?
Question:
2. Who or what is "The Shepherd" in this context?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
a) The Lord is my Shepherd (Psalm 22/23).
b) Jesus is the Good Shepherd (John 10).
c) A second-century book called "The Shepherd of Hermas."
Now let's continue reading: in the paragraph that begins with "(3) Such are the notions which...", it says that God is fundamentally good, not begrudging us our existence, our rationality, and our freedom. He created mankind with the ability to reason and freely choose what is good and right. He placed man and woman in Paradise with just one command: "Do not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (See footnote 7 in chapter 1.) They already knew what was good because at first, they obeyed God, but they didn't yet know what was bad and evil because they hadn't misused their freedom. They were like children or adolescents, not fully mature... and curious about that forbidden fruit.
(Note: There are many, many Scripture references in the corresponding chapters of the essay by Athanasius. If you click on any footnote number, it takes you to the end of the chapter in the essay, where you can point to the scripture reference and read it. To return to where you were reading, simply press the footnote number of the reference, or press "Alt" and the "left-Arrow" key.)
Question:
3. If Adam and Eve went astray and disobeyed God's command:
(One or more of the following answers may be correct.)
a) They would become vile, throwing away their birthright of beauty.
b) They would become like God, having infinite knowledge.
c) They would come under the natural law of death.
d) They would live forever, never growing old and frail.
In paragraph (4), St. Athanasius tells us "why" he must write about Adam and Eve's fall from innocence into sin, which is falling short of God's ideal plan for us humans. The reason is that the Incarnation (that's what this famous essay is all about!) became necessary because of mankind's sin. God had to become man so that man could again become god-like, be "partakers of the divine nature" (biblia02/nz08/2Petra01.htm#4" target="xrefs" title="Double-click">2 Peter 1:4). Partaking of the divine nature, being restored to sharing God's divinity, being deified, is called theosis, which is the end goal of the process of our salvation. The most famous saying by St. Athanasius is - "Without the Incarnation, there is no Salvation!" Unless God would take on our human nature and become fully man, we humans could not become divine, sharing God's nature by grace. This is St. Athanasius' basic argument against Arianism that taught the eternal Word didn't become fully human in Jesus; instead, He wasn't fully God, He was just a lesser, created being: sort of "godly" or a really good person. Sound familiar? Arianism is still alive today in some "Christian" denominations, in Islam, in some other religions, and in humanism/rationalism.
Question:
4. Adam and Eve, instead of remaining in the state in which God had created them, continued in the process of:
(One or more of the following answers may be correct.)
a) theosis and became demigods.
b) becoming corrupted entirely and eventually dying.
c) returning to non-existence.
d) losing the knowledge of God.
Next, in paragraph (5), the good St. Athanasius introduces that old deceiver, the devil. God created mankind perfect and sinless, but with the ability to reason, to think about "what if" ideas, to imagine these ideas and desire to have them: to choose. Along came the devil who planted in their minds the idea of an easy and quick way to become gods... but what Satan really had in mind was to destroy them. That's why Jesus, the Messiah, came: He revealed and foiled the scheme of the devil, the deceiver, the sneaky thief - it is to "steal, kill, and destroy," but Jesus came so that we "might have life and have it abundantly" (biblia02/nz04/Ioann10.htm#10" target="xrefs" title="Double-click">John 10:10) - this is the "why" of The Incarnation of the Word!
Question:
5. By the envy of the devil, corruption ran riot among mankind.
true /
false.
That's it for now! See you in the next lesson!