Athanasius. (ca. 296–373).
“For he was made man that we might be made God.” (On the Incarnation, ca. 321)
Athanasius, defender of Christ's divinity and manhood.
The Egyptian deacon is barely into his twenties but already shows the genius of a mature mind. Deacon Athanasius, assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, is the latest of several major theologians to emerge from the North African city, which, for over a century, has been noted for its theological education and innovation. Conscious of his powers, he writes a book designed to refute heathen arguments and to establish the reasonableness of Christianity. In so doing, he is both imitating his predecessors and setting a new standard for Christian argumentation. The first part of his book has shown the failure of world philosophies and religions; in the second part he intends to show the triumph of Christ.
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The key question with which he grapples is, “Why did Christ become a man?” His answer takes in the fact that humans had lost sight of God and were wasting away. God had to deal with their departure from him. Through the incarnation, He revealed in human form His invisible Godhead. God was choosing to remedy the effects of mankind’s fall into sin and overcoming death through the death of one who could not by His nature remain dead or be permanently injured by the experience. As Athanasius sees it, the beauty of Christ’s life, the spectacle of his death, and the power of his resurrection form an irresistible revelation of God, by which believers are changed and society transformed.
A person looking at Christ’s works can see that they are God’s, says Athanasius. If it is not so, scoff; but if it is so, recognize that in Christ God has been made known. And why? In his answer, the young deacon shows he has grasped promises of Scripture that perhaps his contemporaries have overlooked: Christ’s promise that we will be one with the Father as He is one with Him; Paul’s claim that God will become all and in all; Peter’s assurance that we may participate in the Divine nature.
Christ became a man not merely to deal with the human mess that existed, but, in His grace, to create a glorious new potential for mankind. It is this idea that triumphantly caps the young deacon’s argument: “For he was made man that we might be made God; and He showed himself in the body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and he endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality.”
His insight into the nature and meaning of Christ will make Athanasius the obvious champion of orthodox Christology in face of Arianism, which is just beginning to raise a challenge to the church, denying the full divinity of Christ. In a few years, Athanasius will become Bishop of Alexandria and suffer repeated exiles and persecution for defending the divinity of Christ, the eternal Son of God, who became a man.
—Dan Graves
Dig a Little Deeper
- Athanasius. “On the Incarnation.” The Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Vol. IV. St. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters, edited by Philip Schaff. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdman, reprinted from the 1891 edition.
- “Athanasius.” Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
- Hough, Lynn Harold. Athanasius: the Hero. Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1906
- Petersen, Alvyn. Athanasius. Ridgefield, Connecticut: Morehouse Publishing, 1995.
