An Interesting Athanasius Quote on the Incarnation and Atonement

The following quote was originally posted on the Calvin and Calvinism list. The implications of what Athanasius is saying is worth a considerable amount of meditation. Christ legally represented all men, as the last Adam, in his death since he took their nature.

I. Archibald T. Robertson’s 1892 translation:

§ 8. The Word, then, visited that earth in which He was yet always present; and saw all these evils. He takes a body of our Nature, and that of a spotless Virgin, in whose womb He makes it His own, wherein to reveal Himself, conquer death, and restore life

For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God comes to our realm, howbeit he was not far from us³ before. For no part of Creation is left void of Him: He has filled all things everywhere, remaining present with His own Father. But He comes in condescension to shew loving-kindness upon us, and to visit us. 2. And seeing the race of rational creatures in the way to perish, and death reigning over them by corruption; seeing, too, that the threat against transgression gave a firm hold to the corruption which was upon us, and that it was monstrous that⁴ before the law was fulfilled it should fall through: seeing, once more, the unseemliness of what was come to pass: that the things whereof He Himself was Artificer were passing away: seeing, further, the exceeding wickedness of men, and how by little and little they had increased it to an intolerable pitch against themselves: and seeing, lastly, how all men were under penalty of death: He took pity on our race, and had mercy on our infirmity, and condescended to our corruption, and, unable to bear that death should have the mastery—lest the creature should perish, and His Father’s handiwork in men be spent for nought—He takes unto Himself a body, and that of no different sort from ours. 3. For He did not simply will to become embodied, or will merely to appear⁵. For if He willed merely to appear, He was able to effect His divine appearance by some other and higher means as well. But He takes a body of our kind, and not merely so, but from a spotless and stainless virgin, knowing not a man, a body clean and in very truth pure from intercourse of men. For being Himself mighty, and Artificer of everything, He prepares the body in the Virgin as a temple unto Himself, and makes it His very own⁶ as an instrument, in it manifested, and in it dwelling. 4. And thus taking from our bodies one of like nature, because all were under penalty of the corruption of death He gave it over to death in the stead of all, and offered it to the Father—doing this, moreover, of His loving-kindness, to the end that, firstly, all being held to have died in Him, the law involving the ruin of men might be undone (inasmuch as its power was fully spent in the Lord’s body, and had no longer holding-ground against men, his peers), and that, secondly, whereas men had turned toward corruption, He might turn them again toward incorruption, and quicken them from death by the appropriation⁷ of His body and by the grace of the Resurrection, banishing death from them like straw from the fire.⁸

§ 9. The Word, since death alone could stay the plague, took a mortal body which, united with Him, should avail for all, and by partaking of His immortality stay the corruption of the Race. By being above all, He made His Flesh an offering for our souls; by being one with us all, He clothed us with immortality. Simile to illustrate this

For the Word, perceiving that no otherwise could the corruption of men be undone save by death as a necessary condition, while it was impossible for the Word to suffer death, being immortal, and Son of the Father; to this end He takes to Himself a body capable of death, that it, by partaking of the Word Who is above all, might be worthy to die in the stead of all, and might, because of the Word which was come to dwell in it, remain incorruptible, and that thenceforth corruption might be stayed from all by the Grace of the Resurrection. Whence, by offering unto death the body He Himself had taken, as an offering and sacrifice free from any stain, straightway He put away death from all His peers by the offering of an equivalent. 2. For being over all, the Word of God naturally by offering His own temple and corporeal instrument for the life¹ of all satisfied the debt by His death. And thus He, the incorruptible Son of God, being conjoined with all by a like nature, naturally clothed all with incorruption, by the promise of the resurrection. For the actual corruption in death has no longer holding-ground against men, by reason of the Word, which by His one body has come to dwell among them. 3. And like as² when a great king has entered into some large city and taken up his abode in one of the houses there, such city is at all events held worthy of high honour, nor does any enemy or bandit any longer descend upon it and subject it; but, on the contrary, it is thought entitled to all care, because of the king’s having taken up his residence in a single house there: so, too, has it been with the Monarch of all. 4. For now that He has come to our realm, and taken up his abode in one body among His peers, henceforth the whole conspiracy of the enemy against mankind is checked, and the corruption of death which before was prevailing against them is done away. For the race of men had gone to ruin, had not the Lord and Saviour of all, the Son of God, come among us to meet the end of death.³

§ 10. By a like simile, the reasonableness of the work of redemption is shewn. How Christ wiped away our ruin, and provided its antidote by His own teaching. Scripture proofs of the Incarnation of the Word, and of the Sacrifice He wrought

Now in truth this great work was peculiarly suited to God’s goodness. 1. For if a king, having founded a house or city, if it be beset by bandits from the carelessness of its inmates, does not by any means neglect it, but avenges and reclaims it as his own work, having regard not to the carelessness of the inhabitants, but to what beseems himself; much more did God the Word of the all-good Father not neglect the race of men, His work, going to corruption: but, while He blotted out the death which had ensued by the offering of His own body, He corrected their neglect by His own teaching, restoring all that was man’s by His own power.

2. And of this one may be assured at the hands of the Saviour’s own inspired writers, if one happen upon their writings, where they say: “For the love of Christ⁴ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then all died, and He died for all that we should no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him Who for our sakes died and rose again,” our Lord Jesus Christ. And, again: “But⁵ we behold Him, Who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that by the grace of God He should taste of death for every man.” 3. Then He also points out the reason why it was necessary for none other than God the Word Himself to become incarnate; as follows: “For it became Him, for Whom are all things, and through Whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering;” by which words He means, that it belonged to none other to bring man back from the corruption which had begun, than the Word of God, Who had also made them from the beginning. 4. And that it was in order to the sacrifice for bodies such as His own that the Word Himself also assumed a body, to this, also, they refer in these words⁶: “Forasmuch then as the children are the sharers in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same, that through death He might bring to nought Him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” 5. For by the sacrifice of His own body, He both put an end to the law which was against us, and made a new beginning of life for us, by the hope of resurrection which He has given us. For since from man it was that death prevailed over men, for this cause conversely, by the Word of God being made man has come about the destruction of death and the resurrection of life; as the man which bore Christ⁷ saith: For⁸ since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive:” and so forth. For no longer now do we die as subject to condemnation; but as men who rise from the dead we await the general resurrection of all, “which⁹ in its own times He shall show,” even God, Who has also wrought it, and bestowed it upon us. 6. This then is the first cause of the Saviour’s being made man. But one might see from the following reasons also, that His gracious coming amongst us was fitting to have taken place.
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3 Acts 17:27.
4 Cf. vi. 3.
5 Cf. 43. 2.
6 Cf. Orat. iii. 33, note 5, also ib. 31, note 10.
7 Cf. Orat. iii. 33, note 5, also ib. 31, note 10.
8 The simile is inverted. Men are the ‘straw,’ death the ‘fire.’ cf. xliv. 7.
1 ἀντίψυχον.
2 Possibly suggested by the practice of the emperors. Constantinople was thus dignified a few years later (326). For this simile compare Sermo Major de Fide, c. 6. 3 Or, “to put an end to death.”
4 2 Cor. 5:14.
5 Heb. 2:9, sq.
6 Heb. 2:14, sq.
7 Cf. Gal. 6:17.
8 1 Cor. 15:21, sq.
9 1 Tim. 6:15.

Athanasius of Alexandria, “On the Incarnation of the Word,” in St. Athanasius: Select Works and Letters, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, trans. Archibald T. Robertson, vol. 4, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series (New York: Christian Literature Company, 1892), 40–42.

II. T. Herbert Bindley’s 1902 translation:

VIII. The Incarnation of the Word

For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God came into our region, not, however, being far from it before. For no part of creation has been left without Him, but He has filled all things everywhere, while present with His own Father. But He comes condescending in His loving-kindness and manifestation to us. And seeing the rational (λογικόν) race perishing, and death reigning over all in corruption; beholding, too, the threat against the transgression confirming the corruption upon us, and how monstrous it would be for the law to become a dead letter before it was fulfilled; beholding also the unseemliness of what had happened—namely, that the very things of which He was Artificer were disappearing; beholding, again, the exceeding wickedness of men, how gradually and overwhelmingly they had increased it against themselves; seeing, besides, the liability of all men to death—He pitied our race and compassionated our weakness and condescended to our corruption, and, unable to bear the mastery of death—lest His creature should perish and the work of His Father in man come to naught—He takes to Himself a body, and that one like our own.

For He did not will simply to become embodied, or merely to appear; for He might, if He willed simply to appear, as well have made His Divine Manifestation through some other and more excellent method: but He took our body, and not simply so, but from a spotless and stainless virgin, knowing not a man—a body pure and truly untarnished by intercourse with men. For being Himself mighty, and Artificer of the universe, He prepares in the Virgin the body as a temple for Himself, and personally appropriates this as an instrument, being made known in it and dwelling in it.

And thus, taking from our bodies one similar, because all were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered it to death instead of all, and offered it to the Father; and this He did of His loving-kindness, in order that, by all dying in Him, the law with respect to the corruption of mankind might be abolished (inasmuch as its power was exhausted in the Lord’s body, and no longer had place against like men), and that He might turn again to incorruption men who had turned back to corruption, and quicken them from death by the personal appropriation of His body, and, by the grace of the resurrection, making death to completely vanish from them, as straw from fire.

IX. By the Incarnation we are freed from death

For the Word, being conscious that no otherwise could the corruption of man be abolished save through death at any rate, while yet it was impossible for the Word to die, being immortal and Son of the Father, for this reason takes to Himself a body capable of death, in order that it, by being made a partaker of the Word who is above all, might be a sufficient representative of all in the (discharge of the penalty of) death, and, through the indwelling Word, might remain incorruptible, and that for the future corruption should cease from all by the grace of the resurrection. Whence, by offering to death the body He Himself took as an offering and sacrifice free from every stain, He forthwith obliterated death from all His peers by the offering of the equivalent.

For it was only reasonable that the Word of God, being above all, by offering His own temple and bodily instrument as a substitute for the life of all, satisfied all that was required in His death: and thus the incorruptible Son of God, being united with all in virtue of a like nature, naturally clothed all with incorruption in the promise of the resurrection. For the corruption itself in death no longer has force against men by virtue of the Word dwelling in them through His one body.

Just as when a great emperor has entered into some large city and dwelt in one of its houses, such city is naturally deemed worthy of much honour, and no enemy or bandit any longer descends upon it to overthrow it, but rather it is deemed worthy of all respect because of the emperor dwelling in one house there; so, too, is it with the Monarch of all. For having come into our region, and dwelt in one body amongst His peers, for the future all the design on the part of the enemy against mankind has collapsed, and the corruption of death which of old prevailed against them has vanished away. For the human race had utterly perished, had not the Master and Saviour of all, the Son of God, come among us to put an end to death.

X. The fitness of the Incarnation

In fact this great work was especially befitting God’s goodness. For if an emperor, who has founded a house or a city, when from the carelessness of its inhabitants it is besieged by bandits, does not by any means neglect it, but avenges and preserves it as his own work; regarding not the carelessness of the inhabitants, but what is befitting his own person: much more did God, the Word of the all-good Father, not overlook the human race called into being by Him, which was utterly going to corruption; but He abolished the death they had incurred by the offering of His own body, and corrected their carelessness by His own teaching, completely restoring the whole nature of man by His power.

Now of this one may be assured by the Saviour’s own inspired disciples, if one reads their writings, when they say: ‘For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died on behalf of all, then all died; and He died for all, that we should no longer live unto ourselves, but unto Him who for our sakes died and rose from the dead,’ our Lord Jesus Christ; and again: ‘But we behold Him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man.’

Next it signifies also why it was necessary that none other than God the Word should become man, saying: ‘For it became Him for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, having brought many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through suffering;’ meaning by this that it was the part of none other to bring back mankind from the corruption they were in but God the Word, who also had made them in the beginning. But that it was on account of the sacrifice for bodies similar to His own that the Word Himself assumed a body, they signify, saying: ‘Since then the children have been made sharers in blood and flesh, He also Himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death He might bring to naught him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver all those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.’

For by the sacrifice of His own body He both put an end to the law which was against us, and renewed to us a beginning of life, having given a hope of the resurrection. For since it was from man that death obtained the mastery over man, for this reason, through the Word of God becoming man, the abolition of death took place, and the resurrection of life; as the Christ-bearing man says: ‘For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be quickened;’ and so forth.

For no longer now do we die as condemned, but as men who rise we await the common resurrection of all, ‘which in its own times’ God, who hath wrought it and freely given it to us, ‘shall show.’

This indeed is the first cause of the Saviour’s becoming man.

But one might perceive also from the following considerations that His beneficent appearance among us fitly took place.

Athanasius of Alexandria, Athanasius: On the Incarnation of the Word of God, trans. T. Herbert Bindley, Second Edition Revised (London: The Religious Tract Society, 1903), 55–60.

III. John Behr translation:

8 For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God comes into our realm, although he was not formerly distant. For no part of creation is left void of him; while abiding with his own Father, he has filled all things in every place. But now he comes, condescending towards us in his love for human beings and his manifestation. For seeing the rational race perishing, and death reigning over them through corruption, and seeing also the threat of the transgression giving firm hold to the corruption which was upon us, and that it was absurd for the law to be dissolved before being fulfilled, and seeing the impropriety in what had happened, that the very things of which he himself was the Creator were disappearing, and seeing the excessive wickedness of human beings, that they gradually increased it to an intolerable pitch against themselves, and seeing the liability of all human beings to death—having mercy upon our race, and having pity upon our weakness, and condescending to our corruption, and not enduring the dominion of death, lest what had been created should perish and the work of the Father himself for human beings should be in vain, he takes for himself a body and that not foreign to our own. For he did not wish simply to be in a body, nor did he wish merely to appear, for if he had wished only to appear he could have made his divine manifestation through some other better means. But he takes that which is ours, and that not simply, but from a spotless and stainless virgin, ignorant of man, pure and unmixed from intercourse with men. Although being himself powerful and the creator of the universe, he prepared for himself in the Virgin the body as a temple, and made it his own, as an instrument, making himself known and dwelling in it. And thus, taking from ours that which is like, since all were liable to the corruption of death, delivering it over to death on behalf of all, he offered it to the Father, doing this in his love for human beings, so that, on the one hand, with all dying in him the law concerning corruption in human beings might be undone (its power being fully expended in the lordly body and no longer having any ground against similar human beings), and, on the other hand, that as human beings had turned towards corruption he might turn them again to incorruptibility and give them life from death, by making the body his own and by the grace of the resurrection banishing death from them as straw from the fire.

9 For the Word, realizing that in no other way would the corruption of human beings be undone except, simply, by dying, yet being immortal and the Son of the Father the Word was not able to die, for this reason he takes to himself a body capable of death, in order that it, participating in the Word who is above all, might be sufficient for death on behalf of all, and through the indwelling Word would remain incorruptible, and so corruption might henceforth cease from all by the grace of the resurrection. Whence, by offering to death the body he had taken to himself, as an offering holy and free of all spot, he immediately abolished death from all like him, by the offering of a like. For being above all, the Word of God consequently, by offering his own temple and his bodily instrument as a substitute for all, fulfilled in death that which was required; and, being with all through the like [body], the incorruptible Son of God consequently clothed all with incorruptibility in the promise concerning the resurrection. And now the very corruption of death no longer holds ground against human beings because of the indwelling Word, in them through the one body. As when a great king has entered some large city and made his dwelling in one of the houses in it, such a city is certainly made worthy of high honor, and no longer does any enemy or bandit descend upon it, but it is rather reckoned worthy of all care because of the king’s having taken residence in one of its houses; so also does it happen with the King of all. Coming himself into our realm, and dwelling in a body like the others, every design of the enemy against human beings has henceforth ceased, and the corruption of death, which had prevailed formerly against them, perished. For the race of human beings would have been utterly dissolved had not the Master and Savior of all, the Son of God, come for the completion of death.

10 Truly this great work supremely befitted the goodness of God. For if a king constructed a house or a city, and it is attacked by bandits because of the carelessness of its inhabitants, he in no way abandons it, but avenges and saves it as his own work, having regard not for the carelessness of the inhabitants but for his own honor. All the more so, the God Word of the all-good Father did not neglect the race of human beings, created by himself, which was going to corruption, but he blotted out the death which had occurred through the offering of his own body, and correcting their carelessness by his own teaching, restoring every aspect of human beings by his own power. One may be convinced of these things by the theologians³ of the Savior himself, taking their writings, which say, “For the love of Christ constrains us, as we judge this, that if one died for all, then all died; and he died for all that that we should no longer live for ourselves but for him who died and rose” from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor 5:14–15). And again, “We see Jesus who, for a little while, was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the passion of death, that by the grace of God he might taste death on behalf of all” (Heb 2:9). Then, he also points out the reason why it was necessary for none other than the God Word to be incarnate, saying, “For it was fitting that he, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb 2:10). Saying this, he means that it was for none other to bring human beings out from the corruption that had occurred except the God Word who had also created them in the beginning. And that the Word himself also took to himself a body as a sacrifice for similar bodies, this they indicated, saying, “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of them, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is the devil, and might deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage” (Heb 2:14–15). For by the sacrifice of his own body, he both put an end to the law lying against us and renewed for us the source of life, giving hope of the resurrection. For since through human beings death had seized human beings, for this reason, again, through the incarnation of the God Word there occurred the dissolution of death and the resurrection of life, as the Christ-bearing man says, “For as by a human being came death, by a human being has come also the resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive” and that which follows (1 Cor 15:21–22). For now we no longer die as those condemned, but as those who will arise do we await the common resurrection of all, which God, who wrought and granted this, “in his own time will reveal” (1 Tim 6:15; Titus 1:3).

This, therefore, is the first cause of the incarnation of the Savior. One might also recognize that his gracious advent consistently occurred from the following.
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3 By this expression (see also Inc. 18, 56), Athanasius specifically means the writers of Scripture (CG 46 describes David in this way); John, as the only evangelist to call Christ “God,” is referred to simply as “the theologian” (CG 42).

St Athanasius the Great of Alexandria, On the Incarnation: Translation, ed. and trans. John Behr, vol. 44a, Popular Patristics Series (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011), 65–73.

IV. The Greek text:

8 Τούτου δὴ ἕνεκεν ὁ ἀσώματος καὶ ἄφθαρτος καὶ ἄϋλος τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος παραγίνεται εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν χώραν, οὔτι γε μακρὰν ὢν πρότερον. Οὐδὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ κενὸν ὑπολέλειπται τῆς κτίσεως μέρος· πάντα δὲ διὰ πάντων πεπλήρωκεν αὐτὸς συνὼν τῷ ἑαυτοῦ Πατρί. Ἀλλὰ παραγίνεται συγκαταβαίνων τῇ εἰς ἡμᾶς αὐτοῦ φιλανθρωπίᾳ καὶ ἐπιφανείᾳ. Καὶ ἰδὼν τὸ λογικὸν ἀπολλύμενον γένος, καὶ τὸν θάνατον κατʼ αὐτῶν βασιλεύοντα τῇ φθορᾷ· ὁρῶν δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀπειλὴν τῆς παραβάσεως διακρατοῦσαν τὴν καθʼ ἡμῶν φθοράν· καὶ ὅτι ἄτοπον ἦν πρὸ τοῦ πληρωθῆναι τὸν νόμον λυθῆναι· ὁρῶν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀπρεπὲς ἐν τῷ συμβεβηκότι, ὅτι ὧν αὐτὸς ἦν δημιουργός, ταῦτα παρηφανίζετο· ὁρῶν δὲ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπερβάλλουσαν κακίαν, ὅτι κατʼ ὀλίγον καὶ ἀφόρητον αὐτὴν ηὔξησαν καθʼ ἑαυτῶν· ὁρῶν δὲ καὶ τὸ ὑπεύθυνον πάντων τῶν [SC om τῶν] ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸν θάνατον, ἐλεήσας τὸ γένος ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν ἀσθένειαν ἡμῶν οἰκτειρήσας, καὶ τῇ φθορᾷ ἡμῶν συγκαταβάς, καὶ τὴν τοῦ θανάτου κράτησιν οὐκ ἐνέγκας, ἵνα μὴ τὸ γενόμενον ἀπόληται καὶ εἰς ἀργὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς τὸ εἰς ἀνθρώπους ἔργον αὐτοῦ γένηται, λαμβάνει ἑαυτῷ σῶμα, καὶ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀλλότριον τοῦ ἡμετέρου. Οὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς ἠθέλησεν ἐν σώματι γενέσθαι, οὐδὲ μόνον ἤθελε φανῆναι· ἐδύνατο γάρ, εἰ μόνον ἤθελε φανῆναι, καὶ διʼ ἑτέρου κρείττονος τὴν θεοφάνειαν αὐτοῦ ποιήσασθαι· ἀλλὰ λαμβάνει τὸ ἡμέτερον, καὶ τοῦτο οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλʼ ἐξ ἀχράντου καὶ ἀμιάντου ἀνδρὸς ἀπείρου παρθένου, καθαρὸν καὶ ὄντως ἀμιγὲς τῆς ἀνδρῶν συνουσίας. Αὐτὸς γὰρ δυνατὸς ὢν καὶ δημιουργὸς τῶν ὅλων, ἐν τῇ παρθένῳ κατασκευάζει ἑαυτῷ ναὸν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἰδιοποιεῖται τοῦτο ὥσπερ ὄργανον, ἐν αὐτῷ γνωριζόμενος καὶ ἐνοικῶν. Καὶ οὕτως ἀπὸ τῶν ἡμετέρων τὸ ὅμοιον λαβών, διὰ τὸ πάντας ὑπευθύνους εἶναι τῇ τοῦ θανάτου φθορᾷ, ἀντὶ πάντων αὐτὸ θανάτῳ παραδιδούς, προσῆγε τῷ Πατρί, καὶ τοῦτο φιλανθρώπως ποιῶν, ἵνα ὡς μὲν πάντων ἀποθανόντων ἐν αὐτῷ λυθῇ ὁ κατὰ τῆς φθορᾶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων νόμος (ἅτε δὴ πληρωθείσης τῆς ἐξουσίας ἐν τῷ κυριακῷ σώματι, καὶ μηκέτι χώραν ἔχοντος κατὰ τῶν ὁμοίων ἀνθρώπων)· ὡς δὲ εἰς φθορὰν ἀναστρέψαντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους πάλιν εἰς τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν ἐπιστρέψῃ, καὶ ζωοποιήσῃ τούτους ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου, τῇ τοῦ σώματος ἰδιοποιήσει, καὶ τῇ τῆς ἀναστάσεως χάριτι, τὸν θάνατον ἀπʼ αὐτῶν ὡς καλάμην ἀπὸ πυρὸς ἐξαφανίζων.

9 Συνιδὼν γὰρ ὁ Λόγος ὅτι ἄλλως οὐκ ἂν λυθείη τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ φθορὰ εἰ μὴ διὰ τοῦ πάντως ἀποθανεῖν, οὐχ οἷόν τε δὲ ἦν τὸν Λόγον ἀποθανεῖν ἀθάνατον ὄντα καὶ τοῦ Πατρὸς Υἱόν, τούτου ἕνεκεν τὸ δυνάμενον ἀποθανεῖν ἑαυτῷ λαμβάνει σῶμα, ἵνα τοῦτο τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων Λόγου μεταλαβὸν ἀντὶ πάντων ἱκανὸν γένηται τῷ θανάτῳ, καὶ διὰ τὸν ἐνοικήσαντα Λόγον ἄφθαρτον διαμείνῃ, καὶ λοιπὸν ἀπὸ πάντων ἡ φθορὰ παύσηται τῇ τῆς ἀναστάσεως χάριτι. Ὅθεν ὡς ἱερεῖον καὶ θῦμα παντὸς ἐλεύθερον σπίλου, ὃ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ ἔλαβε σῶμα προσάγων εἰς θάνατον, ἀπὸ πάντων εὐθὺς τῶν ὁμοίων ἠφάνιζε τὸν θάνατον τῇ προσφορᾷ τοῦ καταλλήλου. Ὑπὲρ πάντας γὰρ ὢν ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰκότως τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ναὸν καὶ τὸ σωματικὸν ὄργανον προσάγων ἀντίψυχον ὑπὲρ πάντων ἐπλήρου τὸ ὀφειλόμενον ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ· καὶ ὡς συνὼν δὲ διὰ τοῦ ὁμοίου τοῖς πᾶσιν ὁ ἄφθαρτος τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς εἰκότως τοὺς πάντας ἐνέδυσεν ἀφθαρσίαν ἐν τῇ περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐπαγγελίᾳ. Καὶ αὐτὴ γὰρ ἡ ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ φθορὰ κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων οὐκέτι χώραν ἔχει διὰ τὸν ἐνοικήσαντα Λόγον ἐν τούτοις διὰ τοῦ ἑνὸς σώματος. Καὶ ὥσπερ μεγάλου βασιλέως εἰσελθόντος εἴς τινα πόλιν μεγάλην καὶ οἰκήσαντος εἰς μίαν τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ οἰκιῶν, πάντως ἡ τοιαύτη πόλις τιμῆς πολλῆς καταξιοῦται, καὶ οὐκέτι τις ἐχθρὸς αὐτὴν οὔτε λῃστὴς ἐπιβαίνων καταστρέφει, πάσης δὲ μᾶλλον ἐπιμελείας ἀξιοῦται διὰ τὸν εἰς μίαν αὐτῆς οἰκίαν οἰκήσαντα βασιλέα· οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ πάντων βασιλέως γέγονεν. Ἐλθόντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν ἡμετέραν χώραν, καὶ οἰκήσαντος εἰς ἓν τῶν ὁμοίων σῶμα, λοιπὸν πᾶσα ἡ κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων παρὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιβουλὴ πέπαυται, καὶ ἡ τοῦ θανάτου ἠφάνισται φθορὰ ἡ πάλαι κατʼ αὐτῶν ἰσχύουσα. Παραπωλώλει γὰρ ἂν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος, εἰ μὴ ὁ πάντων Δεσπότης καὶ Σωτὴρ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱὸς παρεγεγόνει πρὸς τὸ τοῦ θανάτου τέλος.

10 Πρέπον δὲ καὶ μάλιστα τῇ ἀγαθότητι τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀληθῶς τὸ μέγα τοῦτο ἔργον. Εἰ γὰρ βασιλεὺς κατασκευάσας οἰκίαν ἢ πόλιν, καὶ ταύτην ἐξ ἀμελείας τῶν ἐνοικούντων πολεμουμένην ὑπὸ λῃστῶν τὸ σύνολον οὐ παρορᾷ, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἴδιον ἔργον ἐκδικεῖ καὶ περισῴζει, οὐκ εἰς τὴν τῶν ἐνοικούντων ἀμέλειαν ἀφορῶν, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ πρέπον· πολλῷ πλέον ὁ τοῦ παναγάθου Θεὸς Λόγος Πατρὸς εἰς φθορὰν κατερχόμενον τὸ διʼ αὐτοῦ γενόμενον τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος οὐ παρεῖδεν· ἀλλὰ τὸν μὲν συμβεβηκότα θάνατον ἀπήλειψε διὰ τῆς προσφορᾶς τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος, τὴν δὲ ἀμέλειαν αὐτῶν διωρθώσατο τῇ ἑαυτοῦ διδασκαλίᾳ, πάντα τὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως κατορθώσας. Ταῦτα δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος θεολόγων ἀνδρῶν πιστοῦσθαί τις δύναται ἐντυγχάνων τοῖς ἐκείνων γράμμασιν, ᾗ φασιν· «Ἡ γὰρ ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ συνέχει ἡμᾶς κρίναντας τοῦτο, ὅτι εἰ εἷς ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἄρα οἱ πάντες ἀπέθανον· καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπέθανεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς μηκέτι ἑαυτοῖς ζῶμεν, ἀλλὰ τῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανόντι καὶ ἀναστάντι» ἐκ νεκρῶν, τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ· καὶ πάλιν· «Τὸν δὲ βραχύ τι παρʼ ἀγγέλους ἠλαττωμένον βλέπομεν Ἰησοῦν, διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφανωμένον, ὅπως χάριτι Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ παντὸς γεύσηται θανάτου». Εἶτα καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ μὴ ἄλλον δεῖν ἢ αὐτὸν τὸν Θεὸν Λόγον ἐνανθρωπῆσαι σημαίνει λέγων· «Ἔπρεπε γὰρ αὐτῷ διʼ ὃν τὰ πάντα, καὶ διʼ οὗ τὰ πάντα, πολλοὺς υἱοὺς εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόντα τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν διὰ παθημάτων τελειῶσαι.» Τοῦτο δὲ σημαίνει λέγων, ὡς οὐκ ἄλλου ἦν ἀπὸ τῆς γενομένης φθορᾶς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀνενεγκεῖν, ἢ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου τοῦ καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν πεποιηκότος αὐτούς. Ὅτι δὲ διὰ τὴν περὶ τῶν ὁμοίων σωμάτων θυσίαν σῶμα καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Λόγος ἔλαβεν ἑαυτῷ, καὶ τοῦτο σημαίνουσι λέγοντες· «Ἐπεὶ οὖν τὰ παιδία κεκοινώνηκεν αἵματος καὶ σαρκός, καὶ αὐτὸς παραπλησίως μετέσχε τῶν αὐτῶν, ἵνα διὰ τοῦ θανάτου καταργήσῃ τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, τουτέστι τὸν διάβολον, καὶ ἀπαλλάξῃ τούτους, ὅσοι φόβῳ θανάτου διὰ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν ἔνοχοι ἦσαν δουλείας.» Τῇ γὰρ τοῦ ἰδίου σώματος θυσίᾳ καὶ τέλος ἐπέθηκε τῷ καθʼ ἡμᾶς νόμῳ, καὶ ἀρχὴν ζωῆς ἡμῖν ἐκαίνισεν, ἐλπίδα τῆς ἀναστάσεως δεδωκώς· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων εἰς ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος ἐκράτησε, διὰ τοῦτο πάλιν διὰ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου ἡ τοῦ θανάτου κατάλυσις γέγονε καὶ ἡ τῆς ζωῆς ἀνάστασις, λέγοντος τοῦ χριστοφόρου ἀνδρός· «Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ διʼ ἀνθρώπου θάνατος, καὶ διʼ ἀνθρώπου ἀνάστασις νεκρῶν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ πάντες ἀποθνῄσκουσιν, οὕτως καὶ ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ πάντες ζωοποιηθήσονται», καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα. Οὐκέτι γὰρ νῦν ὡς κατακρινόμενοι ἀποθνῄσκομεν, ἀλλʼ ὡς ἐγειρόμενοι περιμένομεν τὴν κοινὴν πάντων ἀνάστασιν, «ἣν καιροῖς ἰδίοις δείξει» ὁ καὶ ταύτην ἐργασάμενος καὶ χαρισάμενος Θεός.

Αἰτία μὲν δὴ πρώτη τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τοῦ Σωτῆρος αὕτη. Γνοίη δʼ ἄν τις αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀγαθὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς παρουσίαν εὐλόγως γεγενῆσθαι καὶ ἐκ τούτων.

St Athanasius the Great of Alexandria, “On the Incarnation: Text,” ed. John Behr, Popular Patristics Series (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011), 64–72.