Renewal in Christ: Athanasius on the Christian Life

Chapter 7 Refutation of the Gentiles

After refuting the Jews, Athanasius anticipates the disagreements that will come from the gentiles. With Alexandria being a diverse and influential city, Athanasius needed to understand the beliefs of the pagans to persuade them about the good news of Jesus. He refutes the gentiles by demonstrating the reasonableness of the gospel and arguing that Jesus is greater than all power, magic, idols, and gods. *** §41 – The Reasonableness of the Incarnation We come now to the unbelief of the gentiles; and this is indeed a matter for complete astonishment, for they laugh at that which is no fit subject for mockery, yet fail to see the shame and ridiculousness of their own idols. But the arguments on our side do not lack weight, so we will confute them too on reasonable grounds, chiefly from what we ourselves also see.

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