The Incarnation Of The Word Of God (large Print)

Athanasius was born in the later half of AD 299 and died in AD 373. During this time, in 325, one of the most important Church meetings in history took place (second probably only to the Jerusalem Council). Convened by Constantine, the Council of Nicaea’s primary task was seeking unity in all Christendom on the nature of the person of Jesus and his relation to the Father. While we mostly take it for granted today, most of what is now considered orthodox Christian doctrine were once items up for debate. At the council of Nicaea there were two views on the person of Christ being debated. The first was that of Arius, who believed that the Son was a created creature, albeit the first created, and not God. This makes sense if Jesus is “the Son” he must then come after the father. Colossians calls him the “firstborn of all creation.” Arius argued that the Son was created from nothing and then he was the creator of all other things. This made him a finite being as well as a being capable of wrong. The second view, and the one the council decided on, was that of St. Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria. Alexander argued that the Father’s attributes are eternal, even his fatherhood and so he has always had the Son with him. Technically, he said the son was “begotten” and not created. Begotten of the same substance as the Father. This meant he was God and equal with the Father. Alexander had assistants at the council, the most notable of which was a 26 year old deacon by the name of Athanasius. Athanasius would spend the rest of his life fighting the Arian heresy. He did this most notably through his work On the Incarntion. On the Incarnation is the second half of a two part treatise and in it Athanasius covers creation, the fall, and the incarnation and resurrection as well as some refutations to common objections from Jews and Greeks regarding the Son, or as he calls him, the “God Word.”