Athanasius, On the Incarnation (chapter 6 = paragraphs 33-40), Advent 2025

These are reflections on my reading during advent 2025 of a work by Athanasius of Alexandria (d. 373) entitled, "On the incarnation of the Word". 

Chapter 6 specifically addresses objections to the gospel raised by Jews. Remember that Alexandria had a sizeable and longstanding Jewish population. From a post-Holocaust perspective, the church father's forthrightness can feel rather robust where we might tread more sensitively, but he is speaking in defence of the Jewish Messiah, hoping to win over God's ancient people; he is not being antisemitic.

"We have dealt thus far with the Incarnation of our Saviour, and have found clear proof of the resurrection of His Body and His victory over death. Let us now go further and investigate the unbelief and the ridicule with which Jews and Gentiles respectively regard these same facts. It seems that in both cases the points at issue are the same, namely the unfittingness or incongruity (as it seems to them) alike of the cross and of the Word's becoming man at all."

Athanasius quotes a series of well-known Christian proof-texts from the Old Testament scriptures which point forward to Christ: Isaiah 7, Numbers 24, Hosea 11. 

He also refers to the well-known passage in Isaiah 53. 

He refers to texts such as Psalm 22, referring to the specifics of crucifixion. 

He declares Christ's uniqueness in being born of a virgin (as per Isaiah 7), and whose birth was announced by a star. Likewise, "Then, again, what king that ever was reigned and took trophies from his enemies before he had strength to call father or mother?" (presumably referring to the homage of the Magi) 

Athanasius refers to the impact of Christ in his own time and place: "The thing is happening before our very eyes, here in Egypt; and thereby another prophecy is fulfilled, for at no other time have the Egyptians ceased from their false worship save when the Lord of all, riding as on a cloud, came down here in the body and brought the error of idols to nothing and won over everybody to Himself and through Himself to the Father."

Athanasius quotes Isaiah 35: "Be strong, hands that hang down and feeble knees, take courage, you of little faith, be strong and do not fear. See, our God will recompense judgment, He Himself will come and save us. Then the eyes of blind men shall be opened and the ears of deaf men shall hear, and stammerers shall speak distinctly." He issues a rhetorical challenge: "Can the Jews tell us when such signs occurred in Israel, or when anything of the kind took place at all in Jewry?"

While Judaism would see the promises of the Old Testament as yet to be fulfilled, Athanasius challenges them with Daniel's prophecy of the "seventy weeks" (Daniel 9:24,25) 

Athanasius sees the end of prophetic ministry and the demise of the temple as signs that Christ has indeed come. "It is, in fact, a sign and notable proof of the coming of the Word that Jerusalem no longer stands, neither is prophet raised up nor vision revealed among them. And it is natural that it should be so, for when He that was signified had come, what need was there any longer of any to signify Him? And when the Truth had come, what further need was there of the shadow?"

Another sign is the conversion of pagan Gentiles to faith in the God of Israel. "Again, they see the heathen forsaking idols and setting their hopes through Christ on the God of Israel; why do they yet deny Christ Who after the flesh was born of the root of Jesse and reigns henceforward? Of course, if the heathen were worshipping some other god, and not confessing the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses, then they would do well to argue that God had not come. But if the heathen are honoring the same God Who gave the law to Moses and the promises to Abraham—the God Whose word too the Jews dishonoured, why do they not recognize or rather why do they deliberately refuse to see that the Lord of Whom the Scriptures prophesied has shone forth to the world and appeared to it in a bodily form?"

"It was no ambassador, no angel who saved us, but the Lord Himself." (Isaiah 63:9)

"What more is there for their Expected One to do when he comes? To call the heathen? But they are called already. To put an end to prophet and king and vision? But this too has already happened. To expose the Goddenyingness of idols? It is already exposed and condemned. Or to destroy death? It is already destroyed. What then has not come to pass that the Christ must do? What is there left out or unfulfilled that the Jews should disbelieve so light-heartedly? The plain fact is, as I say, that there is no longer any king or prophet nor Jerusalem nor sacrifice nor vision among them; yet the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of God, and the Gentiles, forsaking atheism, are now taking refuge with the God of Abraham through the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ."