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Saint Athanasius' "On the Incarnation" CHAPTER VIII
Refutation of the Gentiles-continued(46) When did people begin to abandon
the worship of idols, unless it were since the very Word of God
came among men? When have oracles ceased and become void of meaning,
among the Greeks and everywhere, except since the Savior has
revealed Himself on earth? When did those whom the poets call
gods and heroes begin to be adjudged as mere mortals, except
when the Lord took the spoils of death and preserved incorruptible
the body He had taken, raising it from among the dead ? Or when
did the deceitfulness and madness of demons fall under contempt,
save when the Word, the Power of God, the Master of all these
as well, condescended on account of the weakness of mankind and
appeared on earth? When did the practice and theory of magic
begin to be spurned under foot, if not at the manifestation of
the Divine Word to men? In a word, when did the wisdom of the
Greeks become foolish, save when the true Wisdom of God revealed
Himself on earth? In old times the whole world and every place
in it was led astray by the worship of idols, and men thought
the idols were the only gods that were. But now all over the
world men are forsaking the fear of idols and taking refuge with
Christ; and by worshipping Him as God they come through Him to
know the Father also, Whom formerly they did not know. The amazing
thing, moreover, is this. The objects of worship formerly were
varied and countless; each place had its own idol and the so-called
god of one place could not pass over to another in order to persuade
the people there to worship him, but was barely reverenced even
by his own. Indeed no! Nobody worshipped his neighbor's god,
but every man had his own idol and thought that it was lord of
all. But now Christ alone is worshipped, as One and the Same
among all peoples everywhere; and what the feebleness of idols
could not do, namely, convince even those dwelling close at hand,
He has effected. He has persuaded not only those close at hand,
but literally the entire world to worship one and the same Lord
and through Him the Father.
(47) Again, in former times every place
was full of the fraud of the oracles, and the utterances of those
at Delphi and Dordona and in Boeotia and Lycia and Libya and
Egypt and those of the Kabiri and the Pythoness were considered
marvelous by the minds of men. But now, since Christ has been
proclaimed everywhere, their madness too has ceased, and there
is no one left among them to give oracles at all. Then, too,
demons used to deceive men's minds by taking up their abode in
springs or rivers or trees or stones and imposing upon simple
people by their frauds. But now, since the Divine appearing of
the Word, all this fantasy has ceased, for by the sign of the
cross, if a man will but use it, he drives out their deceits.
Again, people used to regard as gods those who are mentioned
in the poets-- Zeus and Kronos and Apollo and the heroes, and
in worshipping them they went astray. But now that the Savior
has appeared among men, those others have been exposed as mortal
men, and Christ alone is recognized as true God, Word of God,
God Himself. And what is one to say about the magic that they
think so marvelous? Before the sojourn of the Word, it was strong
and active among Egyptians and Chaldeans and Indians and filled
all who saw it with terror and astonishment. But by the coming
of the Truth and the manifestation of the Word it too has been
confuted and entirely destroyed. As to Greek wisdom, however,
and the philosophers' noisy talk, I really think no one requires
argument from us; for the amazing fact is patent to all that,
for all that they had written so much, the Greeks failed to convince
even a few from their own neighborhood in regard to immortality
and the virtuous ordering of life. Christ alone, using common
speech and through the agency of men not clever with their tongues,
has convinced whole assemblies of people all the world over to
despise death, and to take heed to the things that do not die,
to look past the things of time and gaze on things eternal, to
think nothing of earthly glory and to aspire only to immortality.
(48) These things which we have said
are no mere words: they are attested by actual experience. Anyone
who likes may see the proof of glory in the virgins of Christ,
and in the young men who practice chastity as part of their religion,
and in the assurance of immortality in so great and glad a company[1]
of martyrs. Anyone, too, may put what we have said to the
proof of experience in another way. In the very presence of the
fraud of demons and the imposture of the oracles and the wonders
of magic, let him use the sign of the cross which they all mock
at, and but speak the Name of Christ, and he shall see how through
Him demons are routed, oracles cease, and all magic and witchcraft
is confounded.
Who, then, is this Christ and how great is He, Who by His Name
and presence overshadows and confounds all things on every side,
Who alone is strong against all and has filled the whole world
with His teaching? Let the Greeks tell us, who mock at Him without
stint or shame. If He is a man, how is it that one man has proved
stronger than all those whom they themselves regard as gods,
and by His own power has shown them to be nothing? If they call
Him a magician, how is it that by a magician all magic is destroyed,
instead of being rendered strong? Had He conquered certain magicians
or proved Himself superior to one of them only, they might reasonably
think that He excelled the rest only by His greater skill. But
the fact is that His cross has vanquished all magic entirely
and has conquered the very name of it. Obviously, therefore,
the Savior is no magician, for the very demons whom the magicians
invoke flee from Him as from their Master. Who is He, then? Let
the Greeks tell us, whose only serious pursuit is mockery! Perhaps
they will say that He, too, is a demon, and that is why He prevailed.
But even so the laugh is still on our side. for we can confute
them by the same proofs as before. How could He be a demon, Who
drives demons out? If it were only certain ones that He drove
out, then they might reasonably think that He prevailed against
them through the power of their Chief, as the Jews, wishing to
insult Him, actually said. But since the fact is, here again,
that at the mere naming of His Name all madness of the demons
is rooted out and put to flight, obviously the Greeks are wrong
here, too, and our Lord and Savior Christ is not, as they maintain,
some demonic power.
If, then, the Savior is neither a mere man nor a magician, nor
one of the demons, but has by His Godhead confounded and overshadowed
the opinions of the poets and the delusion of the demons and
the wisdom of the Greeks, it must be manifest and will be owned
by all that He is in truth Son of God, Existent Word and Wisdom
and Power of the Father. This is the reason why His works are
no mere human works, but, both intrinsically and by comparison
with those of men, are recognized as being superhuman and truly
the works of God.
(49) What man that ever was, for instance,
formed a body for himself from a virgin only? Or what man ever
healed so many diseases as the common Lord of all? Who restored
that which was lacking in man's nature or made one blind from
birth to see? Aesculapius was deified by the Greeks because he
practiced the art of healing and discovered herbs as remedies
for bodily diseases, not, of course, forming them himself out
of the earth, but finding them out by the study of nature. But
what is that in comparison with what the Savior did when, instead
of just healing a wound, He both fashioned essential being and
restored to health the thing that He had formed? Hercules, too,
is worshipped as a god by the Greeks because he fought against
other men and destroyed wild animals by craft. But what is that
to what the Word did, in driving away from men diseases and demons
and even death itself? Dionysus is worshipped among them, because
he taught men drunkenness; yet they ridicule the true Savior
and Lord of all, Who taught men temperance.
That, however, is enough on this point. What will they say to
the other marvels of His Godhead? At what man's death was the
sun darkened and the earth shaken? Why, even to this day men
are dying, and they did so also before that time. When did any
such marvels happen in their case? Now shall we pass over the
deeds done in His earthly body and mention those after His resurrection?
Has any man's teaching, in any place or at any time, ever prevailed
everywhere as one and the same, from one end of the earth to
the other, so that his worship has fairly flown through every
land? Again, if, as they say, Christ is man only and not God
the Word, why do not the gods of the Greeks prevent His entering
their domains? Or why, on the other hand, does the Word Himself
dwelling in our midst make an end of their worship by His teaching
and put their fraud to shame?
(50) Many before Him have been kings
and tyrants of the earth, history tells also of many among the
Chaldeans and Egyptians and Indians who were wise men and magicians.
But which of those, I do not say after his death, but while yet
in this life, was ever able so far to prevail as to fill the
whole world with his teaching and retrieve so great a multitude
from the craven fear of idols, as our Savior has won over from
idols to Himself? The Greek philosophers have compiled many works
with persuasiveness and much skill in words; but what fruit have
they to show for this such as has the cross of Christ? Their
wise thoughts were persuasive enough until they died; yet even
in their life-time their seeming influence was counterbalanced
by their rivalry with one another, for they were a jealous company
and declaimed against each other. But the Word of God, by strangest
paradox, teaching in meaner language, has put the choicest sophists
in the shade, and by confounding their teachings and drawing
all men to Himself He has filled His own assemblies. Moreover,
and this is the marvelous thing by going down as Man to death
He has confounded ail the sounding utterances of the wise men
about the idols. For whose death ever drove out demons, or whose
death did ever demons fear, save that of Christ? For where the
Savior is named, there every demon is driven out. Again, who
has ever so rid men of their natural passions that fornicators
become chaste and murderers no longer wield the sword and those
who formerly were craven cowards boldly play the man? In a word,
what persuaded the barbarians and heathen folk in every place
to drop their madness and give heed to peace, save the faith
of Christ and the sign of the cross? What other things have given
men such certain faith in immortality as have the cross of Christ
and the resurrection of His body? The Greeks told all sorts of
false tales, but they could never pretend that their idols rose
again from death: indeed it never entered their heads that a
body could exist again after death at all. And one would be particularly
ready to listen to them on this point, because by these opinions
they have exposed the weakness of their own idolatry, at the
same time yielding to Christ the possibility of bodily resurrection,
so that by that means He might be recognized by all as Son of
God.
(51) Again, who among men, either after
his death or while yet living, taught about virginity and did
not account this virtue impossible for human beings? But Christ
our Savior and King of all has so prevailed with His teaching
on this subject that even children not yet of lawful age promise
that virginity which transcends the law. And who among men has
ever been able to penetrate even to Scythians and Ethiopians,
or Parthians or Armenians or those who are said to live beyond
Hyrcania, or even the Egyptians and Chaldeans, people who give
heed to magic and are more than naturally enslaved by the fear
of demons and savage in their habits, and to preach at all about
virtue and self-control and against the worshipping of idols,
as has the Lord of all, the Power of God, our Lord Jesus Christ?
Yet He not only preached through His own disciples, but also
wrought so persuasively on men's understanding that, laying aside
their savage habits and forsaking the worship of their ancestral
gods, they learnt to know Him and through Him to worship the
Father. While they were yet idolaters, the Greeks and Barbarians
were always at war with each other, and were even cruel to their
own kith and kin. Nobody could travel by land or sea at all unless
he was armed with swords, because of their irreconcilable quarrels
with each other. Indeed, the whole course of their life was carried
on with the weapons, and the sword with them replaced the staff
and was the mainstay of all aid. All this time, as I said before,
they were serving idols and offering sacrifices to demons, and
for all the superstitious awe that accompanied this idol worship,
nothing could wean them from that warlike spirit. But, strange
to relate, since they came over to the school of Christ, as men
moved with real compunction they have laid aside their murderous
cruelty and are war-minded no more. On the contrary, all is peace
among them and nothing remains save desire for friendship.
(52) Who, then, is He Who has done these
things and has united in peace those who hated each other, save
the beloved Son of the Father, the common Savior of all, Jesus
Christ, Who by His own love underwent all things for our salvation?
Even from the beginning, moreover, this peace that He was to
administer was foretold, for Scripture says, "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into sickles, and nation shall not take sword
against nation, neither shall they learn any more to wage war."[2]
Nor is this by any means incredible.
The barbarians of the present day are naturally savage in their
habits, and as long as they sacrifice to their idols they rage
furiously against each other and cannot bear to be a single hour
without weapons. But when they hear the teaching of Christ, forthwith
they turn from fighting to farming, and instead of arming themselves
with swords extend their hands in prayer. In a word, instead
of fighting each other, they take up arms against thedevil and
the demons, and overcome them by their selfcommand and integrity
of soul. These facts are proof of the Godhead of the Savior,
for He has taught men what they could never learn among the idols.
It is also no small exposure of the weakness and nothingness
of demons and idols, for it was because they knew their own weakness
that the demons were always setting men to fight each other,
fearing lest, if they ceased from mutual strife, they would turn
to attack the demons themselves. For in truth the disciples of
Christ, instead of fighting each other, stand arrayed against
demons by their habits and virtuous actions, and chase them away
and mock at their captain the devil. Even in youth they are chaste,
they endure in times of testing and persevere in toils. When
they are insulted, they are patient, when robbed they make light
of it, and, marvelous to relate, they make light even of death
itself, and become martyrs of Christ.
(53) And here is another proof of the
Godhead of the Savior, which is indeed utterly amazing. What
mere man or magician or tyrant or king was ever able by himself
to do so much? Did anyone ever fight against the whole system
of idol-worship and the whole host of demons and all magic and
all the wisdom of the Greeks, at a time when all of these were
strong and flourishing and taking everybody in, as did our Lord,
the very Word of God? Yet He is even now invisibly exposing every
man's error, and single-handed is carrying off all men from them
all, so that those who used to worship idols now tread them under
foot, reputed magicians burn their books and the wise prefer
to all studies the interpretation of the gospels. They are deserting
those whom formerly they worshipped, they worship and confess
as Christ and God Him Whom they used to ridicule as crucified.
Their so-called gods are routed by the sign of the cross, and
the crucified Savior is proclaimed in all the world as God and
Son of God. Moreover, the gods worshipped among the Greeks are
now falling into disrepute among them on account of the disgraceful
things they did, for those who receive the teaching of Christ
are more chaste in life than they. If these, and the like of
them, are human works, let anyone who will show us similar ones
done by men in former time, and so convince us. But if they are
shown to be, and are the works not of men but of God, why are
the unbelievers so irreligious as not to recognize the Master
Who did them? They are afflicted as a man would be who failed
to recognize God the Artificer through the works of creation.
For surely if they had recognized His Godhead through His power
over the universe, they would recognize also that the bodily
works of Christ are not human, but are those of the Savior of
all, the Word of God. And had they recognized this, as Paul says,
"They would not have crucified
the Lord of glory."[3]
(54) As, then, he who desires to see
God Who by nature is invisible and not to be beheld, may yet
perceive and know Him through His works, so too let him who does
not see Christ with his understanding at least consider Him in
His bodily works and test whether they be of man or God. If they
be of man, then let him scoff; but if they be of God, let him
not mock at things which are no fit subject for scorn, but rather
let him recognize the fact and marvel that things divine have
been revealed to us by such humble means, that through death
deathlessness has been made known to us, and through the Incarnation
of the Word the Mind whence all things proceed has been declared,
and its Agent and Ordainer, the Word of God Himself. He, indeed,
assumed humanity that we might become God. He manifested Himself
by means of a body in order that we might perceive the Mind of
the unseen Father. He endured shame from men that we might inherit
immortality. He Himself was unhurt by this, for He is impassable
and incorruptible; but by His own impassability He kept and healed
the suffering men on whose account He thus endured. In short,
such and so many are the Savior's achievements that follow from
His Incarnation, that to try to number them is like gazing at
the open sea and trying to count the waves. One cannot see all
the waves with one's eyes, for when one tries to do so those
that are following on baffle one's senses. Even so, when one
wants to take in all the achievements of Christ in the body,
one cannot do so, even by reckoning them up, for the things that
transcend one's thought are always more than those one thinks
that one has grasped.
As we cannot speak adequately about even a part of His work,
therefore, it will be better for us not to speak about it as
a whole. So we will mention but one thing more, and then leave
the whole for you to marvel at. For, indeed, everything about
it is marvelous, and wherever a man turns his gaze he sees the
Godhead of the Word and is smitten with awe.
(55) The substance of what we have said
so far may be summarized as follows. Since the Savior came to
dwell among us, not only does idolatry no longer increase, but
it is getting less and gradually ceasing to be. Similarly, not
only does the wisdom of the Greeks no longer make any progress,
but that which used to be is disappearing. And demons, so far
from continuing to impose on people by their deceits and oracle-givings
and sorceries, are routed by the sign of the cross if they so
much as try. On the other hand, while idolatry and everything
else that opposes the faith of Christ is daily dwindling and
weakening and falling, see, the Savior's teaching is increasing
everywhere! Worship, then, the Savior "Who is above
all" and mighty, even God the Word, and condemn
those who are being defeated and made to disappear by Him. When
the sun has come, darkness prevails no longer; any of it that
may be left anywhere is driven away. So also, now that the Divine
epiphany of the Word of God has taken place, the darkness of
idols prevails no more, and all parts of the world in every direction
are enlightened by His teaching. Similarly, if a king be reigning
somewhere, but stays in his own house and does not let himself
be seen, it often happens that some insubordinate fellows, taking
advantage of his retirement, will have themselves proclaimed
in his stead; and each of them, being invested with the semblance
of kingship, misleads the simple who, because they cannot enter
the palace and see the real king, are led astray by just hearing
a king named. When the real king emerges, however, and appears
to view, things stand differently. The insubordinate impostors
areshown up by his presence, and men, seeing the real king, forsake
those who previously misled them. In the same way the demons
used formerly to impose on men, investing themselves with the
honor due to God. But since the Word of God has been manifested
in a body, and has made known to us His own Father, the fraud
of the demons is stopped and made to disappear; and men, turning
their eyes to the true God, Word of the Father, forsake the idols
and come to know the true God.
Now this is proof that Christ is God, the Word and Power of God.
For whereas human things cease and the fact of Christ remains,
it is clear to all that the things which cease are temporary,
but that He Who remains is God and very Son of God, the sole-begotten
Word. |