On the Incarnation by Athanasius of Alexandria

It was a functional explanation that gave color and vibrancy to the Christological formulations of the Councils (Anatolios 33). His was a theology that aimed at explicating the importance of the incarnation rather than working out the precise philosophy (which is equally important). Whereas the Councils expounded upon – in the rich philosophical tradition of the Greeks – the coeternal existence of Christ and the Father and the divine and human natures of Christ respectively, Athanasius sought to fit the Incarnation into the wider Economy of Salvation (Anatolios 32-33). The Word’s becoming flesh was necessary to liberate man from the chains of sin and to return him to a state of immortality, recreated in the Image of God.Īthanasius’ description of the Incarnation had a very different purpose – and was of a divergent construction – than the metaphysical Christology that was the product of the Councils of Nicaea and Chalcedon. It was through the Incarnation that Christ entered into human history in physical form, appearing to man in a perceptible manner, re-instilling knowledge of the one, true God that had been lost since the Fall. One of the greatest expositors of the theological narrative of the Incarnation was Saint Athanasius of Alexandria (298-373 A.D.) in On the Incarnation. It is, among other things, a time to reflect on the Incarnation of the Word, fully divine and fully human, and the role He played in salvation history.

In less than a month, on 26 May, Christians will celebrate the Feast of the Ascension, marking the moment the incarnate Christ ascended into heaven, taking his seat at the right hand of the Father.

On the Incarnation by Athanasius of Alexandria