Renewal in Christ: Athanasius on the Christian Life

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Renewal in Christ: Athanasius on the Christian Life

way many Christians do today (referring to the moment of Christ taking on flesh). Rather, for Athanasius, the incarnation refers to the whole of Christ’s work, including not only his assuming human nature but also his life, death, and resurrection. 8 And yet, while Athanasius wants us to see the significance of all of Christ’s work, he also boldly declares that the cross is “the very center of our faith,” 9 which is why he introduces On the Incarnation as a defense of the cross. 10 For Athanasius, to be Christ-centered is to be cross-centered. Framed by the Story of Scripture While Jesus is the center of Christianity for Athanasius, Christ can only truly be understood within the whole biblical narrative that begins with creation and ends with re-creation. 11 This is especially relevant today because many contemporary Christians (especially American evangelicals) are prone to read Scripture as a two-chapter story: fall and redemption—with a gospel message that 8 According to Peter Leithart, “For Athanasius, ‘incarnation’ describes not merely the event of the Son becoming flesh but the whole life and work of Jesus” ( Athanasius , Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality [Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2011], 126). 9 On the Incarnation , §19. Anatolios notes, “The death of Christ thus occupies a central place in Athanasius’s presentation of the rationale and salvific efficacy of the humanization of the Word” ( Athanasius , 56–57). 10 See On the Incarnation , §1. John Behr explains, “These works are clearly, first and foremost, understood by their author to be an apology for the cross: they will show that ‘he who ascended the cross is the Word of God’ and that therefore the Christian faith is not ‘without its word,’‘irrational’ ( alogos )” (“Introduction,” 21). 11 Thomas Weinandy asserts, “The biblical narrative is Athanasius’s soteriological template, beginning with the act of creation and concluding with Jesus’s glorious Second Coming at the end of time” (“Athanasius’s Incarnational Soteriology,” in Adam J. Johnson, ed., T&T Clark Companion to Atonement [New York: T&T Clark, 2017], 135).