Athanasius, On the Incarnation (9 of 9), Advent 2025

These are some thoughts on Athanasius' "On the Incarnation", a classic Christian text from the 300s which I am reading this advent 2025 along with some colleagues with connections to Bury.

Here are my thoughts on chapter 9 which corresponds to paragraphs 56 and 57.

In the final two paragraphs of "On the incarnation", Athanasius addresses the recipient of the book, Macarius. Athanasius describes his own work as "a brief statement of the faith of Christ and of the manifestation of His Godhead to us".

He goes on to encourage his reader to examine what he has read by studying the Holy Scriptures (Bible), and speaks of Christ's second appearance, namely his second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead.

Athanasius instructs Macarius as to the need for "a good life and a pure soul, and for Christian virtue to guide the mind" in order to apprehend Christian truth.

"... anyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred writers must first cleanse his own life, and approach the saints by copying their deeds. Thus united to them in the fellowship of life, he will both understand the things revealed to them by God... "

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