37. Which of those borne witness to in the scriptures was pierced
On the Incarnation
Whatever king that ever was, "before he was able to cry out 'father' or 'mother," reigned and gained trophies over his enemies?
Was not David thirty years old when he began to reign, and did not Solomon begin to reign when he had become a young man? Did not Joas come into the kingdom when he was seven, and did not Josiah, a later king, receive the government when he was about seven? And yet they, being of that age, were able to call out "father" and "mother"
Who then is there that almost before birth was reigning and despoiling his enemies? And who was sucha king in Israel and in Judah—let the Jews who have searched this out tell us—in whom all the nations placed their hope and had peace? Were they not rather opposing them from every side? For as long as Jerusalem stood, there was war without respite between them, and they all fought with Israel: the Assyrians oppressing them, the Egyptians persecuting them, the Babylonians falling upon them; and what is strange is that they even had the Syrians, their neighbors, at war with them. Or did not David wage war against those in Moab, and smite the Syrians, Josiah guard against his neighbors, Hezekiah fear the posturing of Sennacherib,
Amalek fight against Moses, and the Amorites oppose Joshua son of Nun, and the inhabitants of Jericho array themselves in opposition?
There was absolutely no treaty of friendship between the Gentiles and Israel. It is worthwhile seeing, then, who it is upon whom the Gentiles have placed their hope. He must exist, as the prophets cannot lie. Which of the holy prophets or patriarchs of old died on the cross for the salvation of all? Or who was wounded and destroyed for the healing of all? Which of the righteous or kings went down to Egypt, and at his descent the idols of the Egyptians fell? Abraham went down, but idolatry was still universal. Moses was born there, yet the superstition of those led astray was no less there.
37.
Which of those borne witness to in the scriptures was pierced in his hands and feet, or was hung at all upon a tree, and completed his life on the cross for the salvation of all? Abraham died, expiring on a bed; Isaac and Jacob also died with feet raised upon a bed.
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Moses and Aaron on the mountain; David died in his house, without being the object of any plotting by the people. Even if he was sought by Saul, yet he was preserved unharmed. Isaiah was sawn asunder, but he was not hanged upon the wood; Jeremiah was abused, but he did not die under condemnation; Ezekiel suffered, but not for the people, but indicating what would happen to the people. Moreover, these, although suffering, were human beings, like everyone else in the similarity of nature; but he who is declared by the scriptures to suffer on behalf of all is not simply human, but is called the Life of all, even if similar in nature to human beings. "You will see; it says, "your life hanging before your eyes" (Deut 28.66) and "Who will declare his generation?" (Isa 53.8) For one could study the generation of all the saints, to expound from of old who and whence each one was, but the generation of the one who is Life the divine words declare to be inexpressible.
Who then is this of whom the divine scriptures say these things?
Or who is so great, that the prophets also foretell such things about him? For no one else is found in the scriptures except the Savior common to all, the God Word, our Lord Jesus Christ. For he it is who came forth from a virgin, and appeared on earth as a human being, and has an inexpressible generation in the flesh. For there is no one who can speak of his father in the flesh, his body not being from a man but from a virgin alone. Just as one can, therefore, trace the genealogy of David and Moses and all the patriarchs, so no one can tell of the generation in the flesh of the Savior from man. For he it is who made the star tell of the birth [genesis] of his body. For as the Word came down from heaven, it was necessary to have a sign from heaven too; and as the king of creation came forth, it was necessary that he be clearly known by the whole inhabited world. He was born in Judaea and they came from Persia to worship him. He it is who even before his bodily manifestation took the victory against the opposing demons and the trophy over idolatry. So all Gentiles from everywhere, rejecting the inherited customs and the godlessness of idols, place their hope henceforth in Christ and dedicate
On the Incarnation
themselves to him, so that one can also see such things with the eyes themselves. For at no other time did the godlessness of the Egyptians cease, except when the Lord ofall, riding as upon a cloud, went down there in the body, destroyed the error of the idols, and brought all to himself and through himself to the Father. He it is that was crucified, with the sun and creation as witnesses together with those who inflicted death upon him; and by his death salvation has come to all, and all creation been ransomed. He it is who is the Life of all, and who like a sheep delivered his own body to death as a substitute for the salvation of all, even if the Jews do not believe.
If they do not think these passages sufficient, let them be persuaded by others, from the oracles which they themselves possess.
For of whom do the prophets say, "I was made manifest to them that sought me not; I was found by those who did not ask for me. I said,
'Here am I to the Gentiles who did not call upon my name. I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and rebellious people" (Isa 65.1-2)?
One might say to the Jews, who then is it that was made manifest?
For if it is the prophet, let them say when he was hidden so as later to appear? And what manner of prophet is this, who becomes manifest after being unseen, and stretched out his hands upon the cross?
None of the righteous, but only the Word of God, who is incorporeal by nature and was manifest in a body for our sake and suffered on our behalf. Even if this is not sufficient for them, let them at least be silenced from other passages, seeing that their rebuttal is so clear. For scripture says, "Be strong, weak hands and feeble knees; be consoled, faint-hearted in spirit; be strong, fear not, for behold our God requites judgment; he will come and save us. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear; then will the lame leap like a hart and the tongue of those who stammer will be clear" (Isa
35.3-6). What, then, can they say about this, or how can they dare to face this at all? For the prophecy indicates the sojourn of God and makes known the signs and time of his advent: they say that at the divine advent the blind regain sight, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the
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tongue of those who stammer is made clear. When, then, did such signs occur in Israel, or any such thing in Judah, let them tell us. A leper, Naaman, was cleansed, but no deaf person heard nor did a lame person walk. Elijah and Elisha raised the dead, but no one blind from birth regained sight. It is truly a great thing to raise the dead, but it is not such as that wonder wrought by the Savior. If scripture was not silent about the leper and the dead son of the widow, if it had happened that a lame man walked and a blind man received sight, the Word would certainly not have omitted to mention these as well. Since, then, there is silence about them in the scriptures, it is clear that they did not happen earlier. When, therefore, did these things happen, apart from when the Word of God himself came in the body? And when did he come, apart from when the lame walked, and those who stammer were clarified, and the deaf heard, and those blind from birth regained sight. Therefore even the Jews then seeing these things said that at no other time had they heard of these things happening, "From the ages never has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing" (Jn 9.32-3).
But perhaps being unable, even they, to contend against the plain facts, they will maintain, without denying what is written, that they are still waiting for these things and that the God Word has not yet come. For chattering about this from dawn to dusk, they do not blush to be so shameless before plain facts. But upon this point, and above all, they shall rather be refuted, not by us, but by the most wise
Daniel, who marks both the present date and the divine sojourn of the Savior, saying, "Seventy weeks are decreed for your people, and your holy city, to put an end to sin, and to seal up sins, and to efface iniquities, and to atone for iniquities, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint the holy of holies; and that you might know and understand from the going forth of the Word to give an answer and to build Jerusalem until Christ be prince" (Dan 9.24-5). Perhaps regarding the other things, they
On the Incarnation
could find pretexts and put off what is written to a future time. But what can they say to this, or can they face it at all—where Christ is indicated, and he that is anointed is declared to be not simply human but the holy of holies, and Jerusalem is to stand until his advent, and then the prophet and vision cease in Israel? Of old David was anointed, and Solomon, and Hezekiah, but then Jerusalem and the place nevertheless stood and prophets were prophesying, Gad, and Asaph, and Nathan, and after them Isaiah, and Hosea, and Amos, and the others. Moreover, those who were anointed were called holy men, but not holy of holies. But if they bring up the captivity, and by it claim that Jerusalem did not exist, what would they say about the prophets? For of old, when the people went down to Babylon, Daniel and Jeremiah were there, and Ezekiel and Haggai and Zechariah prophesied.
So the Jews are telling fables, and putting off the time which is actually now. For when did the prophet or vision cease from Israel if not now, when Christ, the holy of holies, has come? For a sign anda great proof of the advent of the God Word is that Jerusalem no longer stands, nor does a prophet arise, nor is vision revealed to them, and rightly so. For when he who was indicated has come, what is the use of those who indicate? When the truth is present, what need is there any more for the shadow? For this reason they prophesied until there should come justice itself and the one who redeems the sins of all. For this reason, Jerusalem stood for so long, in order that there they might be prepared by the types of the truth. Therefore, when the holy of holies was present, rightly have vision and prophecy been sealed, and the kingdom of Jerusalem has ceased. Kings were anointed among them only so long until holy of holies should be anointed. Moses also prophesied that the kingdom of the Jews would stand until him, saying, "There will not be lacking a prince from Judah or a leader from his loins, until what is laid up for him comes, and he is the expectation of the nations" (Gen 49.10). So the Savior himself cried out, saying, "The law and the prophets prophesied until John"
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(Matt 11.13). If, therefore, there were now among the Jews a king or a prophet or vision, they would rightly deny that Christ has come. But if there is neither king nor vision, but all prophecy has henceforth been sealed up, and the city and the temple taken, why are they so impious and perverse, that they see what has happened, and yet deny
Christ who made these things happen? And why, seeing even those from among the Gentiles abandoning the idols and fixing their hope, through Christ, on the God of Israel, do they deny Christ, who is from the root of Jesse according to the flesh and reigns henceforth?
If the Gentiles worshipped another God and did not confess the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses, they would do well in alleging that God had not come. But if the Gentiles are honoring the God who gave the law to Moses and the promise to Abraham, and whose Word the Jews dishonored, why do they not know, or rather why do they willingly ignore, that the Lord who was prophesied by the scriptures has illumined the inhabited world and has been made manifest bodily to it, just as the scripture says, "The Lord God has appeared to us" (Ps 117.27), and again, "He sent his Word and healed them" (Ps 106.20), and again, "Not a messenger, nor an angel, but the Lord himself has saved them" (Isa 11.9).
They are suffering like one, maimed in mind, who might see the earth illumined by the sun, but denies the sun which illumines it. For what more has he who is expected by them to do when he comes? Call the Gentiles? But they have already been called. To make prophet and king and vision to cease? This has already happened.
To refute the godlessness of idols? It has already been refuted and condemned. To destroy death? It is already destroyed. What then must Christ do, which has not been done? Or what is left unfulfilled, that the Jews now rejoice and disbelieve. For if, as we thus see, they have neither king, nor prophet, nor Jerusalem, nor sacrifice, nor vision, but the whole world is filled with the knowledge of God, and those from the Gentiles are abandoning godlessness, and henceforth taking refuge in the God of Abraham through the Word, our Lord
Jesus Christ, it should be clear even to those who are exceedingly
On the Incarnation
obstinate that Christ has come, and that he illumines absolutely all with his light and teaches the true and divine teaching concerning his Father. So one can rightly refute the Jews from these and many more passages from the divine scriptures.
Refutation of the Gentiles
But one is utterly amazed at the Greeks who laugh at things that should not be mocked, but are blinded to their own disgrace which, having devoted themselves to stones and wood, they do not see. As our own exposition is not short of proofs, come, let us put them to shame with reasonable arguments, especially from what we ourselves see. For what is absurd or worthy of derision on our part?
Is it only that we say that the Word has been made manifest in the body? But even this they would with us confess to have happened without absurdity, if they were but friends of the truth. If they completely deny that there is a Word of God, they are behaving beyond limit, mocking that which they do not know. But if they confess that there is a Word of God, the ruler of everything, and that in him the Father has produced the creation, and that by his providence the universe is enlightened and receives life and being, and that he reigns over all, so that by his providence he is known and through him the Father—consider, I beseech you, if they do not realize that they are bringing ridicule upon themselves.
The philosophers of the Greeks say that the cosmos is a great body, and they speak truly. For we see it and its parts as being subject to our senses. If, then, the Word of God is in the cosmos, which is a body, and has come into it all and into each part of it, what is surprising or absurd if we say that he came in a human being? For if it were completely absurd for him to be in a body, it would be absurd for him to come into the whole, and illumine and move all things by his own providence, for the universe is also a body. But if it is fitting for him to come into the cosmos and to be made known in the universe,
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it would also be fitting for him to appear in a human body and that it should be illumined and moved by him. For the human race is part of the whole; and if the part is unsuitable to be his instrument towards the knowledge of his divinity, it would be most absurd that he should be made known even through the whole cosmos.
For, in the way that, as the whole body is activated and illumined by the human being, if anyone were to say that it is absurd that the strength of the human being should also be in the toe he would be thought mad, because while granting that he pervades and acts in the whole he demurs to his being in the part also; in the same way, one who grants and believes the Word of God to be in all, and that all is illumined and moved by him, should not think it absurd that a single human body should be moved and illumined by him. But if because the human race is created and was made from nothing, for this reason they think that it is unfitting for us to speak of the manifestation of the Savior in a human being, it is time for them to cast him out of creation also, for this also was brought into being from nothing by the Word. But if, even though creation is something made, it is not absurd for the Word to be in it, then neither is it absurd for him to be in a human being. For whatever they think regarding the whole, this they must necessarily conceive regarding the part, for the human being, as I said earlier, is also part of the whole. Therefore it is not at all unfitting for the Word to be in a human being, and that by him and in him all things are illumined and move and live, just as their writers also say, that "in him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17.28). What then merits scorn if we say that the Word uses as an instrument for manifestation that in which the Word is? For if he were not in it, he would not be able to use it. But if we have previously allowed that he is in all and in every part, what is there unbelievable if he manifests himself in those parts in which he is? For as by his own powers he comes wholly in each and in all, and arranges everything ungrudgingly, no one would call it absurd for him to speak, if he wished, by means of the sun or moon
On the Incarnation
or heaven or earth or waters or fire, to make himself and his Father known; inasmuch as he holds together all things, and is with all and in the part in question, and invisibly shows himself. So likewise it would not be absurd if, while arranging all things and giving life to the universe and having willed to be known by human beings, he were to use as an instrument the body of a human being for the true revelation and knowledge of the Father, for humanity is part of the whole. And just as the mind, while pervading the whole of a human being, is indicated by a part of the body, I mean the tongue, and no one says that the essence of the mind is diminished by this, so also if the Word, who pervades all things, made use of a human instrument, this would not seem unfitting. For if, as I said above, it were unfitting to have used a body as an instrument, it would be unfitting also for him to be in the whole.
Nowthen, if they ask why he did not appear through other more noble parts of creation, or use some nobler instrument, as the sun or moon or stars or fire or air, but merely a human being, let them know that the Lord came not to be put on display but to heal and to teach those who were suffering. One being put on display only needs to appear and dazzle the beholders; but one who heals and teaches does not simply sojourn, but is of service to those in need and appears as those who need him can bear, lest by exceeding the need of those who suffer he trouble the very ones in need and the manifestation of the divine be of no benefit to them. Now nothing in creation had gone astray in its notions of God, save the human being only. Why, neither sun nor moon nor heaven nor stars nor water nor air altered their course; but knowing their Creator and King, the Word, they remained as they were made. But human beings alone, having rejected the good, henceforth fabricated things that do not exist instead of the truth, and ascribed the honor due to God, and the knowledge of him, to demons and human beings fabricated in stone.
With reason, then, since it was not worthy of the goodness of God to overlook so grave a matter, yet human beings were not able
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to know him even though he was ordering and guiding the universe, he takes a part of the whole for himself as an instrument, the human body, and came into it, in order that since human beings were not able to know him in the whole they should not fail to know him in the part; and since they were not able to lift up their gaze to his invisible power, they might be able, at any rate, to know and contemplate him from things similar. Being human, they will be able to know the Father more speedily and directly by a body corresponding [to theirs] and the divine works effected through it, considering that the things done by him are not human but the works of God. And if it were absurd, according to them, for the Word to be made known through the works of the body, it would likewise be absurd for him to be known through the works of the universe. For just as he is in creation, yet in no way partakes of creation, but rather everything partakes of his power, so also while using the body as an instrument, he partook of none of the body's properties, but rather himself sanctified even the body. For if even Plato, who is admired by the Greeks, says that because he who begot the world saw it distressed and in danger of sinking into a region of dissimilitude, sitting at the helm of the soul he helped it and corrects all its faults, what then is there incredible in what we say, that humankind being in error, the Word sat at its helm and appeared as human, in order that he might save the distressed by his guidance and goodness?
But perhaps, shamed into agreeing with this, they will choose to say that wishing to teach and save human beings, God should have done so by a nod only, and his Word should not have touched a body, just as when he created them of old, making them out of nothing. To this objection of theirs, the following could reasonably be said: that formerly, when nothing at all existed, only a nod and an act of will was needed for the creation of the universe. But when the human being had once been made, and necessity required the healing, not for things that were not, but for things that had come to be, it followed that the healer and Savior had to come among those who
On the Incarnation
had already been created, to heal what existed. He became a human being for this, and used his body as a human instrument. For if it was not right to happen in this way, how should the Word appear, when he wished to use an instrument? Or whence was he to take it, if not from those who already existed and had need of his divinity through one like [themselves]? For it was not non-existent things that needed salvation, so that a command alone would have sufficed, but the human being, already in existence, who was corrupted and perishing. Whence it was reasonable and good that the Word should use a human instrument and unfold himself to all things.
Next, this must also be known, that the corruption which had occurred was not outside the body, but attached to it, and it was necessary that instead of corruption, life should cleave to it, so that as death had come to be in the body, so too life might come to be in it. If, then, death had been outside the body, life would also have had to be outside it. But if death was interwoven with the body, and dominated it as if united to it, it was necessary for life to be interwoven with the body, so that the body putting on life should cast off corruption. Otherwise, if the Word had been outside the body, and not in it, death would have been conquered by him most naturally, since death has no power against life, but nonetheless the attached corruption would have remained in the body. For this reason, the Savior rightly put on a body, in order that the body, being interwoven with life, might no longer remain as mortal in death, but, as having put on immortality, henceforth it might, when arising, remain immortal.
For, once it had put on corruption, it would not have risen unless it had put on life. And, moreover, death does not appear by itself, but in the body; therefore he put on the body, that finding death in the body he might efface it. For how at all would the Lord have been shown to be Life, if not by giving life to the mortal? And just as straw is naturally destroyed by fire, if anyone keeps the fire away from the straw, the straw does not burn, but remains fully straw, straw fearful of the threat of fire, for fire naturally consumes it. But if someone covers the straw with much asbestos, which is said to be fireproof,
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the straw no longer fears the fire, having security from the covering of asbestos. In the same way one may talk about the body and about death. If death were kept away from it by a command only, it would still be no less mortal and corruptible, according to the principle of bodies. But that this should not be, it put on the incorporeal Word of God, and thus no longer fears death or corruption, having life as a garment and corruption being destroyed in it.
Properly, therefore, the Word of God took a body and used a human instrument, in order to give life to the body and in order that, just as he is known in creation by his works, so also he might act in a human being, and show himself everywhere, leaving nothing barren of his divinity and knowledge. Again, I repeat, resuming what we said before, that the Savior did this in order that as he fills everything everywhere by his presence, so also he might fill all things with the knowledge of himself, as the divine scriptures say, "The whole earth was filled with the knowledge of God" (Isa 11.9). For if anyone wishes to look up to the heavens, he sees its arrangement, or if he cannot raise his gaze to heaven but only to human beings, he sees through his work his power incomparable to that of human beings and knows that he alone among human beings is the Word of God. But if anyone is turned astray by demons, and is in fear of them, he sees him driving them out, and judges that he is their master; if he has sunk into the nature of the waters, and think that they are God—as the Egyptians reverence the water—he sees it transformed by him and knows the Lord to be their creator; if he has descended even to Hades, and gazes in awe at the heroes who have descended there as if they were gods, yet he sees the fact of his resurrection and the victory over death, and concludes that even among them Christ alone is the true Lord and God. For the Lord touched all parts of creation and freed and disabused everything from every error, as Paul said,
"Disarming the principalities and powers, he has triumphed on the Cross" (Col 2.15), in order that no one might be any longer deceived, but might find everywhere the true Word of God. So the human
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being, henceforth closed in on every side and seeing everywhere, that is in heaven, in hell, in the human being, the divinity of the Word unfolded over the earth, is no longer deceived concerning God, but reveres him alone, and through him rightly knows the Father. By these arguments, then, from their coherence, even the Greeks will reasonably be put to shame by us. But if they reckon these remarks insufficient to shame them, let them be convinced of what we say from those things manifest to the sight of all.
When did human beings begin to abandon the worship of idols, except since the true God Word of God came among human beings? Or when have the oracles amongst the Greeks and everywhere ceased and become empty, except since the Savior revealed himself upon earth? Or when did those who are called gods and heroes by the poets begin to be condemned as merely mortal humans, except since the Lord erected the trophy over death and preserved incorruptible the body which he took, raising it from the dead? Or when were the deceit and madness of the demons despised, except when the Power of God, the Word, the Master of all, even of these, condescended, because of the weakness of humans, to appear on earth? When did the craft and teachings of magic begin to be trampled underfoot, except when the divine manifestation of the Word took place among human beings? And when, in short, did the wisdom of the Greeks become foolish (cf. 1 Cor 1.18-24) except when the true Wisdom of God revealed itself upon earth? For formerly the whole inhabited world and every place were led astray by the worship of idols, and human beings regarded nothing else but idols as gods. Now, however, throughout the whole inhabited world, human beings are deserting the superstition of idols, taking refuge in Christ, and worshipping him as God, and through him they know the Father, of whom they had been ignorant. And, what is amazing, is that while there were thousands of diverse objects of worship, and each place had its own idol, and that which was called a god by some had no power to pass over into the neighboring place
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to persuade those of the neighborhood to worship it, but was barely worshipped even among its own people—for no one worshipped his neighbor's god, but each kept his own idol, thinking it to be the lord of all—only Christ is worshipped by all as one and everywhere the same. And what the weakness of idols could not do—persuade even those dwelling nearby—this Christ has done, persuading not only those nearby, but simply the entire inhabited world, to worship one and the same Lord, and through him God, his Father.
And formerly everywhere was filled with the deceit of the oracles, and the utterances of those in Delphi and Dodona and Boeotia and Lycia and Libya and Egypt and Cabiri and the Pythoness were admired in the imagination of human beings. But now, since Christ is announced everywhere, their madness has also ceased and no longer is there anyone among them giving oracles. Formerly demons deceived human fancy, taking possession of springs or rivers, wood or stone, and by their tricks thus stupefied the simple. But now, after the divine manifestation of the Word has taken place, their illusion has ceased. For by the sign of the cross, if a human being but use it, he drives away their deceits. Formerly human beings thought to be gods those spoken of as gods by the poets, Zeus and Chronos and Apollo and the heroes, and went astray in worshipping them. But now that the Savior has appeared among human beings, these are known to be mortal humans, and Christ alone among humans is known to be God of true God, the God Word. What could one say about the magic which was admired among them? That before the sojourn of the Word it was strong and active among the Egyptians and Chaldaeans and Indians, and astounded those who saw it; but at the advent of truth and the manifestation of the Word, this also has been confuted and thoroughly destroyed.
As for Greek wisdom and the grandiloquence of the philosophers, I think that no one needs our argument, as the wonder is before the sight of all, that while the wise among the Greeks had written so much, and were unable to persuade even a few from
On the Incarnation
their neighborhood about immortality and the virtuous life, Christ alone by means of simple words and by means of humans not wise in speech has throughout the inhabited world persuaded whole churches full of human beings to despise death but to think rather of things immortal, and to disregard what is temporal but to consider rather things eternal, and to think nothing of earthly glory but to seek rather only immortality.
Now these things said by us are not merely words, but have the witness of their truth from experience itself. Let him who wishes come up and behold the proof of virtue in the virgins of Christ and in the youth who live a pure life in chastity, and the belief in immortality in so great a company of martyrs. And let him come who wishes to put to test what has been said, and in front of the illusions of the demons and the deceit of the oracles, and the wonders of magic, let him use the sign of the cross, which is mocked by them, merely naming Christ, and he will see how by it demons are put to flight, oracles cease, and all magic and witchcraft are brought to naught. Who, then, and how great is this Christ, who by his naming and presence overshadows and brings to naught everything everywhere, and who is alone powerful over all, and has filled the whole inhabited world with his teaching? Let the Greeks tell us, who greatly mocked and are not ashamed. For if he is a human being, how has one human being exceeded the power of all their gods, and proved by his power that they are nothing? If they call him a magician, how can all magic be destroyed by a magician, rather than being confirmed? For if he conquered human magicians, or prevailed over only one, he would properly be reckoned by them to have surpassed the rest by superior skill. But if his cross has won the victory over absolutely all magic, and over the very name of it, it must be clear that the Savior is not a magician, from whom even those demons invoked by other magicians flee as their master.
Who then is he? Let the Greeks tells us, whose only interest is mockery. Perhaps they might say that he too was a demon and hence
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prevailed. But saying this, they will deserve great ridicule, for once again they will be put to shame by the same arguments. For how can one who drives out demons be a demon? If he simply expelled demons, it would be rightly thought that by the prince of demons he prevailed over the lesser, just as the Jews said to him when wishing to insult him (cf. Matt 12.24). But if all the madness of demons is uprooted and chased away by his name, it should be evident that in this too they are wrong, and that our Lord and Savior Christ is not, as they think, some demonical power. So, then, if the Savior is not simply a human being, nor a magician, nor a demon, but by his divinity has destroyed and overshadowed the suppositions of poets and the illusions of the demons and the wisdom of the Greeks, it should be clear and will be confessed by all that this one is the true
Son of God, being the Word and Wisdom and Power of the Father.
For this reason his works are not human, but beyond human, and they are known to be truly of God both from the very appearances and by comparison with those of human beings.
For what human being that ever existed formed a body for himself from a virgin alone? Or what human being ever healed such diseases as the common Lord of all? Or who restored what was lacking to creation [genesis] and made one blind from birth to see? Asclepios was made a god by them because he practiced healing and discovered herbs for the sufferings of bodies, not forming them himself out of the earth, but discovering them by science from nature. But what was that compared to what was done by the Savior, who did not heal the wound, but formed the creation [genesis] and restored the formation? Heracles is worshipped as a god by the Greeks because he fought with humans equal to himself and killed wild beasts by guile. But what was that compared to what was done by the Word, who banished sicknesses and demons and death itself from human beings? Dionysius was worshipped by them because he taught human beings drunkenness; but the true Savior and Lord of all, teaching sobriety, is mocked by them. But let these things be.
On the Incarnation
What of the other miracles of his divinity? At the death of which human being was the sun darkened and the earth shaken? See, even until now human beings are dying, and they died even from the beginning; when did such a miracle occur in their case? Or, to leave aside the deeds done through his body and recall those after the resurrection of his body: whose teaching, of all those human beings who ever existed, prevailed from one end of the earth to the other, one and the same throughout the whole, so that his worship has spread through the whole world? Or why, if Christ is a man and not the God Word as they hold, is not his worship prevented by their gods from passing into the regions where they are, but rather why does the Word himself, sojourning here, cause their worship to cease by his teaching and put their illusion to shame?
'There have been many kings and tyrants on earth before him; many among the Chaldaeans and Egyptians and Indians are recorded as wise and magicians. Which of these ever—I do not mean after death, but while living—were able to so prevail as to fill the whole earth with his teaching, and to educate so great a multitude away from the superstitions of idols, as our Savior has converted from idols to himself? The philosophers of the Greeks have written much with persuasiveness and eloquence; what then did they prove as great as the cross of Christ? For their sophistries were plausible until their death; but even while they lived what they thought to be conclusive was contested by others, and they fought, declaiming against each other. But the Word of God, in the greatest paradox, teaching with poorer words, has cast into the shade the greatest sophists, and reduced to naught their teachings, and by drawing all to himself has filled his churches. And what is wonderful is that coming as a human being to death, he has destroyed the grandiloquence of the wise concerning the idols. For whose death ever cast out demons? Or of whose death were the demons ever so afraid as that of Christ? For where the name of the Savior is named, there every demon is expelled. And who thus delivered human beings
ST ATHANASIUS THE GREAT
from the natural passions, so that adulterers are chaste, murderers no longer take up the sword, and those overcome by cowardice are courageous? Or, in short, what persuaded human beings from the barbarians and the Gentile regions to lay aside their madness, and to mind peace, except the faith of Christ and that sign of the cross? Or what else has thus assured human beings about immortality as the cross of Christ and the resurrection of his body? For although the Greeks lied in everything, they were unable to fabricate the resurrection of their idols, not supposing at all whether it be possible for the body to exist again after death. In this, in particular, one could accept them, for by thinking such things they have proved the weakness of their idols, and conceded the strength to Christ, so that from this also he is known by all as Son of God.
Who then among human beings, after death or even while alive, taught about virginity and did not think that this virtue was impossible among human beings? But our Savior and king of all, Christ, so prevailed in the teaching of this that even children not yet arrived at the lawful age profess the virginity that is above the law. Who among humans was ever able to travel so far as to reach the Scythians and Ethiopians, or Persians, or Armenians, or Goths, or those said to be beyond the Ocean, or those beyond Hyrcania, or even the Egyptians and Chaldaeans, who think about magic and are superstitious beyond nature and savage in their ways, and to preach only about virtue and sobriety and against the worship of idols, as the Lord of all, the power of God, our Lord Jesus Christ? He not only preached through his own disciples, but even persuaded them in their minds to lay aside the savagery of their manners, and no longer to honor the ancestral gods but to recognize him and through him to worship the Father. For formerly, while they were idolaters, the Greeks and Barbarians made war on each other, and were cruel towards their own kin. There was not anyone at all who crossed land or sea without arming the hand with a sword because of the irreconcilable fighting amongst themselves. For the whole course of their life was
On the Incarnation
under arms, and for them the sword took the place of a staff and was their support in everything. And yet, as I said, they worshiped idols and offered sacrifices to demons, and those who thought such things were altogether incapable of being reeducated from the superstition of idols. But when they were converted to the teaching of Christ then, paradoxically, as truly pricked in their minds, they laid aside the cruelty of murder and no longer think things of war, but every thought of theirs was henceforth peaceful and towards friendship.
Who, then, is it that has done this, or who is he that has united in peace those who hated each other, if not the beloved Son of the Father, the common Savior of all, Jesus Christ, who in his love submitted to all things for our salvation? For even from of old it had been prophesied concerning the peace ushered in by him, the scriptures saying, "They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into sickles, and nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn any more to wage war" (Isa 2.4). And such a thing is not unbelievable, inasmuch as even now the barbarians who have an innate savagery of manners, while they still sacrifice to their idols, rage against one another and cannot bear to remain without a sword for a single hour, but when they hear the teaching of Christ they immediately turn to farming instead of war, and instead of arming their hands with swords stretch them out in prayer, and, in a word, instead of fighting amongst themselves, henceforth they arm themselves against the devil and the demons, subduing them with sobriety and virtue of soul. This is, on the one hand, the proof of the Savior's divinity, that what human beings were unable to learn among idols, they have learned from him, and, on the other hand, no small refutation of the weakness and nothingness of the demons and idols. The demons, knowing their weakness, because of this formerly set human beings at war with each other, lest if they ceased from mutual strife, they should turn to battle against the demons.
Indeed, those who become disciples of Christ, instead of fighting against each other, stand arrayed against the demons by their lives