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

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

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