Chapter fifty-one

The virtue of virginity. The effectiveness of Christ’s teaching in changing brutal dispositions and the tendency to murder and war.

1- Who, after his death or even during his life, taught about virginity and that this virtue is not impossible among people? As for Christ, our Savior and King of all, his teachings about her had such great power that even minors who had not yet reached the legal age would vow themselves to live a life of virginity that surpasses the law.(1).

2- And any person who was able to spread his influence even to the Scythians, Ethiopians, Persians, Armenians, or Goths.(2) Or those who are said to live beyond the seas(3) Or the inhabitants of the country of Arcania(4) Rather, to the Egyptians and Chaldeans(5)Those who are preoccupied with magic and exaggerate their inclination to superstition(6) They have fierce tempers, and what human being could preach virtue and self-control and denounce idolatry as did the Lord of all, the power of God, our Lord Jesus Christ?

3- Christ not only preached through his disciples, but also convinced people’s minds(7) By abandoning their rude nature and ceasing to worship the gods of their fathers(8)And even to learn to know Him and to worship the Father through Him.

4- The Greeks and the barbarians(9)When they were still worshiping idols, they used to fight each other(10). They were cruel even to their families(11). It was not possible at all for any of them to cross sea or land without being armed with swords due to the ongoing wars between them.

5 - They used weapons throughout their lives, as they relied on the sword(12) Instead of sticks as a support for them. They could not worship idols with everything in them while offering sacrifices to demons(13) To change their savage spirit.

6- But when they moved to follow the teachings of Christ, a strange thing happened, as they were pricked in their consciences.(14) Indeed, they abandoned the brutality of killing, and no longer thought about fighting and war, but rather began to live in complete peace, and everything that led to affection and friendship became the most important thing to them.

Chapter fifty-two

Wars motivated by demons were abolished by Christianity.

1- Who, then, is the one who did this?(15)? Who has united those who hated one another and made them at peace except the beloved Son of the Father, the Savior of all, Jesus Christ, who in His love endured all things for our salvation?(16)? Peace has been foretold since ancient times(17) Which He was about to bring, as the Book says, “And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore.”(18).

2- There is no doubt about this, as barbarians have brutal morals by nature(19)When they were still in their pagan worship, they fought each other madly, and could not bear to remain for a single hour without weapons.

3- But when they hear Christ’s teaching, they immediately turn to agricultural work instead of fighting, and instead of arming their hands with swords, they raise them in prayer.(20)In general, instead of fighting each other, they arm themselves against Satan and evil spirits(21)They overcome it with virtue and self-control.

4- This is undoubtedly proof of the Savior’s divinity, because he taught humanity(22) What they could not learn from idols(23)It is also quite a revelation of the weakness of demons and idols and proof that they are nothing. Demons, because they know their weakness, used to incite humans in ancient times to fight each other(24)Lest, if they stop doing that, they turn to fighting demons.

5- Instead of fighting each other, Christ’s disciples line up to confront the devils with their morals and virtuous deeds.(25)And they expel her(26) And they mock its president. Thus, Christ's disciples control themselves in their youth and endure trials(27)They persevere in their hardships, and when they are insulted they are patient, and if they are robbed they do not care. What is even more surprising is that they despise death itself(28)And they become martyrs for Christ.

Chapter fifty-three

All pagan worship was brought down to the lowest level by one stroke of Christ, as He spoke secretly to the conscience of man.

1- Let us also mention a very strange proof of the divinity of the Savior, so we say:(29)Any ordinary person, magician, tyrant, or king was able to personally confront and fight against every pagan cult and all the forces of demons.(30) And all the magic and all the wisdom of the Greeks while all these people were at the height of their power and prosperity, extending their influence over everyone? Who could defeat them all with one blow?(31) Just as our Lord, the true Word of God, did(32), which reveals the secret(33) The errors of all people, and He Himself saves all people from all these errors, to the point that they began to trample the idols that they used to worship before? As for those who were famous for magic, they started burning their books(34). The wise men began to prefer the interpretation of the Gospels over all other studies.

2- Now they have begun to abandon the deities that they worshiped before(35)And the one whom they mocked as being crucified, they now worship as the Messiah, acknowledging that He is God. Those who were called gods among them were defeated by the sign of the cross. As for the crucified Savior, he is being called throughout the inhabited world as God and the Son of God. The gods that the Greeks worshiped fell because they stumbled to them(36). As for those who accept the teachings of Christ, they live a more chaste life than them.

3- If these things and similar things are human works, then let him - whoever wants - mention to us similar works done by humans in a previous era, and thus he can convince us.(37). But if it is proven that these things are not the works of men, but rather the works of God, and they really are, then why do non-believers remain in their misguidance and do not acknowledge the Lord who did them?(38)

4- Their likeness is like a human being who is unable to know God, the Creator, from the works of His creation. Because if they had known His divinity through His authority over the universe, they would have realized that the works of Christ that He did in the flesh are not human works, but rather the works of the Savior of all, the Word of God.(39). If they had known this at the time, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” as the Apostle Paul said(40).

Chapter fifty-four

The incarnate Word is known to us by His works, as is the case with the invisible God. Through his works, we realize his message with which he wants to make us gods. Let us just mention a few of them, leaving their dazzling abundance to those who want to see.

1- Thus, just as if anyone wants to see God, who is invisible, who is by nature invisible and can never be seen, he can know Him and comprehend Him by His works.(41) Likewise for those who cannot see Christ with their minds(42) To at least realize it by the works of his body, and examine whether these are human works or the works of God.

2- If they are human actions, it is permissible for him to mock them(43)However, if they are not human, but are the works of God, then he should not ridicule what does not deserve ridicule, but rather should be amazed, because by means of very ordinary means such as these the divine things have been revealed to us.(44)And because through death, immortality extended to everyone, and because through the Word’s incarnation, His care for all things was known, just as the Word of God Himself, its Creator and Giver, was known.

3- Because the Word of God became man in order to divinize us(45)And He revealed Himself in flesh so that we might gain knowledge of the invisible Father(46)He endured human humiliation so that we might inherit immortality(47). Because while He Himself was not touched by any harm, because He is not subject to pain or corruption, since He is the Word Himself(48) He is God, and by His inability to suffer, He preserved and saved humanity(49) Those who suffer and for whom I endure all this(50).

4- In short, the deeds that the Savior accomplished by becoming human are very great(51) In their type and in their number, they are so numerous that if anyone wanted to count them, he would become like those who gaze at the open sea and want to count its waves. Because just as a person cannot count all the waves with his eyes, because the waves follow in a way that confuses the mind of everyone who tries to do so, so whoever tries to count all the works of Christ in the flesh, it is impossible to comprehend them all, since the great works that exceed his mind are more than those. Which he thinks he has realized(52).

5- Therefore, it is better for a person not to try to talk about all of them as long as he cannot do justice to even part of them, and if we mention another work of them, we will leave all the rest of the works for you to marvel at. Because they are all equally strange. Wherever a person directs his gaze, he sees the divinity of the Word and is overwhelmed with great amazement.

Chapter fifty-five

Summary of the above. The abolition of pagan divination, etc., and the spread of faith. The true king has come and silenced all the usurpers.

1 - After all that we have said, you have the right to know this as well and to place it as a basis for everything that we have previously decided and to be greatly amazed by it, which is that since the Savior came among us, pagan worship has no longer grown, but rather what existed before has begun to gradually diminish and disappear. Likewise, the progress of Greek (pagan) philosophy was not only nullified, but what existed of it now began to wither. Demons are no longer able to deceive people with illusions, divination, and magic, and if they dare to try to do so, they will be shamed with the sign of the cross.(53).

2- We summarize the conversation thus: Notice how the teaching of the Savior is becoming more and more widespread everywhere, while every pagan worship and everything that contradicts the faith of Christ withers, weakens, and disappears every day. Thus, when you see this, worship the Savior who is above all(54)And the Powerful, meaning God the Word, and denounced those whom He defeated and annihilated.

3- Because just as when the sun comes, darkness no longer prevails, and if any of it remains in any place, it dissipates.(55)This is what happens now. When the divine manifestation of the Word of God came, the darkness of pagan worship no longer prevailed, and all parts of the inhabited world became enlightened by his teaching.

4- Just as if there is a king who reigns in a country, but he does not appear to his people, but rather stays in his palace, then the rogues, taking advantage of the opportunity of his not appearing, announce themselves, and each of them claims that he is a king and tries to influence the simple and convince them that he is a king, and so the people are deceived by this name, because while they hear There is a king, but they do not see him because they cannot enter the palace(56)But when the true king comes out and appears, then the matter of those rogues will be exposed by his appearance(57). When people see the true king, they abandon those who previously misled them.

5- In the same way, evil spirits misled humans in the past, impersonating God’s dignity for themselves. But when the Word of God appeared in the flesh and made His Father known to us, then the deceptions of evil spirits were nullified and dissipated. As humans began to turn their attention to the true God, the Word of the Father, they began to abandon idols, and now they knew the true God.(58).

6- Now this is the proof that Christ is God, the Word, and the power of God. Because if human things are nullified and the word of Christ stands, then it will be clear to everyone that what is nullified is temporary.(59)As for what is proven, He is God and the true Son of God, His only-begotten Word.

Chapter fifty-six

Search the books and thus complete this research. Learn to anticipate His second coming and the Day of Judgment.

1- Let this, then, be our offering to you, O man who loves Christ, as brief basic principles about Christ’s faith and his divine appearance to us. This gives you an opportunity to examine the texts of the Holy Books and apply your mind to them sincerely, so that you learn from them more fully and with greater clarity.(60) The exact details of what we previously said.

2- Because they are texts(61) They were spoken and written from God by people who spoke from God. We introduce you to what we learned from teachers who studied the Holy Books and who became witnesses to the divinity of Christ.(62)This is to increase your jealousy of your role in studying and learning.

3- You will also learn from the books about his second glorious, divine and true appearance. Where he no longer appears in poverty but in glory, and no longer appears in humble disguise but in his greatness. He will come not to suffer again, but to offer everyone the fruit of his cross, that is, resurrection and incorruption. Nor that He should be judged any longer, but that He should condemn all according to what each one has done in the body, whether good or evil(63) Where the kingdom of heaven was prepared for the righteous, but for those who committed evil, eternal fire and outer darkness.

4- For thus the Lord Himself also says: “From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven in the glory of the Father.”(64).

5- For this same reason, we also find a word from the Savior that prepares us for that day when He says, “Be prepared and watch, for it is coming at an hour that you do not know.”(65) Because according to the words of the Apostle Paul, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or evil.”(66).

Chapter fifty-seven

Above all, live a life that qualifies you to eat from this tree, the tree of knowledge and life, and enjoy eternal joys. A final hymn.

1- Studying the Holy Books and knowing them truly requires a good life and a pure soul(67) And the life of virtue that is in Christ(68). This is so that the mind - guided by it - can achieve what it desires and understand, to the best of its ability, human nature, what concerns God the Word.(69).

2- Without a pure mind, and imitating the lives of the saints, a person cannot understand the words of the saints. Just as if a person wants to see the light of the sun, he must wipe and clear his eyes, in order to come somewhat close to the purity of the light that he wants to see, so that when the eye is enlightened, it can see the light of the sun. Or just as if a person wants to see a city or village, he must go there to see it(70)Thus, who wants to know the thoughts of those who speak about God?(71) He must necessarily begin by washing and purifying himself by changing his way of life and drawing closer to the saints themselves by imitating their works. Thus, by sharing their behavior with them, he can also understand what has been revealed to them from God, and then, having become closely associated with them, he will escape the danger of sinners and fire on the Day of Judgment, and obtain what has been prepared for the saints in the kingdom of heaven, “unless you see “Eye has not heard, but ear has not heard, and it has not occurred to the mind of man.”(72) What has been prepared for those who live in virtue and love God the Father through Christ Jesus our Lord, through whom and with whom the Father himself, with the Son himself, in the Holy Spirit, is worthy of honor, power, and glory for ever and ever.(73) Amen.

 

It was done by the grace of the Lord

 

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(1) 1 See Chapter 30/5-7.

(2) 2 Goths: ancient Germans.

(3) 3 Perhaps he means the British.

(4) 4 Arkania is an old name for a province in Asia between Persia and the Caspian Sea on the borders of Russia.

(5) 5 Here Saint Athanasius mentions the names of peoples from within the borders of the Roman Empire and from outside it as well.

(6) 6 See Chapter 4/47.

(7) 7 See Chapter 14.

(8) 1 See Chapter 30/5.

(9) 2 Barbarians: They are the peoples who did not speak the Greek language and did not know Greek culture in that era, as the Greek language at that time was the language of culture and science. Thus, we can call these peoples in today’s language that they were “uncivilized” peoples.

(10) 3 See Chapter 12 of the article “Against the Pagans.”

(11) 4 In Chapter 45 of his article “Against the Pagans,” Saint Athanasius mentions in detail the manifestations of this cruelty.

(12) 5 This is instead of relying on the Lord and trusting Him, as stated in Psalm 23:4 and Proverbs 12:26.

(13) 6 In Chapter 11/5 of Against the Pagans, Saint Athanasius mentions that human sacrifices were offered.

(14) 7 Acts 2:27 This is the opposite of what the demons did, who misled people’s minds and hardened their souls. See chapter 14/4, 47/2. In Chapter 30/5, Saint Athanasius refers to some facts to prove the truth of Christ’s resurrection and asks: Is it possible for a dead person to prick the consciences of others in order to make them reject the inherited laws of their fathers and submit to the teachings of Christ?

(15) 1 Saint Athanasius here repeats this question that he previously mentioned in Chapter 48/4 in the field of comparison between the extraordinary actions of Jesus Christ and what others do.

(16) 2 See Chapters 1/3, 4/3, 32/6.

(17) 3 Saint Athanasius referred to some of these predictions in chapters 36 and 37.

(18) 4 Isaiah 4:2.

(19) 5 In the letter against the pagans 3/25, Saint Athanasius mentions the names of many barbarian peoples, including the Scythians, whose morals are characterized by dangerous brutality, explaining the manifestations of this brutality.

(20) 6 In another place, Saint Athanasius mentions that “the hands are for completing necessary tasks and for raising them in prayer, but the sin of humans “moved their hands to the opposite and made them commit murder.” See Against the Pagans 4/4, 5/1.

(21) 1 Since the fall, Satan has become an enemy of man. When a person is connected to the teachings of Jesus Christ, Christ opens his eyes and strengthens him to struggle against Satan (see Ephesians 6:10). As an example of fighting Satan, Saint Athanasius mentions the temptations to which Saint Anthony was exposed. See Life of Antony, chapter 5.

(22) 2 About Christ being the good teacher, see Chapter 15.

(23) 3 He means that their worship of idols could not change their brutal nature or their rude behavior. See Chapter 51/5.

(24) 4 The so-called gods, because of their mutual jealousy, pushed even human beings to clash and dispute among themselves. See Against the Pagans, Chapter 12/2. Saint Athanasius mentions an example of the Greeks’ continuous fight against the barbarians. See Chapter 51/4.

(25) 5 Although Saint Athanasius uses phrases from military life such as “line up,” “confrontation,” what he wants to make clear most is the difference between what Christians, whom he describes as “disciples of Christ,” do and what non-believers do. Perhaps Saint Athanasius was thinking about the reality of his time. Since Constantius took over the empire, there were no longer wars like there were before, and instead of wars between humans, there were wars with the real enemy of man, that is, against Satan. See the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to Ephesians 6:10, and Saint Athanasius explains these verses in his book The Life of Anthony, Chapter 21.

(26) 6 See also Chapter 30, where it is mentioned that the demons would flee as soon as they heard the name of Christ.

(27) 1 About these experiments, see Chapter 27.

(28) 2 On the contempt of Christ’s disciples for death, see Chapters 27, 28, 29/4.

(29) 1 Saint Athanasius does not mention new proofs here, but rather he presents a summary of what he had previously pointed out in the previous chapters.

(30) 2 Saint Athanasius points out in his book “The Life of Anthony,” Chapter 23, that one of the devils’ deceptions toward humans is that they frighten souls by assuming terrifying images, including that they appear in the form of crowds of forces.

(31) 3 The expression that Christ eliminated pagan worship and all acts of magic “with one stroke” indicates that the battle did not last long, but rather that he did this as soon as he appeared divinely in the flesh. See also Chapter 47/2.

(32) 4 See “The Life of Anthony,” chapter 28. In chapter 55 of the Incarnation of the Word, he explains the result of the coming of the Savior and its impact on pagan worship.

(33) 5 Christ works in secret and invalidates all the errors that fallacious people teach openly. See chapter 50.

(34) 6 Perhaps he means what was mentioned in Acts 19:19-20.

(35) 1 See Chapter 31 et seq.

(36) 2 Saint Athanasius mentions in “Against the Pagans” the shameful things the Greeks do to please their gods (see Chapters 11-12), and that these actions have spread in every city (see Chapter 25/4).

(37) 3 In this sentence, Saint Athanasius summarizes what he previously talked about in Chapter 49 and beyond.

(38) 4 The works of Jesus Christ that He did in the body testify to His divinity, see Chapter 32.

(39) 1 Whoever does not acknowledge the divinity of Christ through his works that he performed while in the flesh is condemned (see The Incarnation of the Word, Chapter 32).

(40) 2 Ako 8:2.

(41) 1 One of God’s essence is that He is invisible, yet He is known through His works. See Chapter 23/1.

(42) 2 Whoever cannot see Christ with his mind is spiritually blind, and for this reason he must use his physical eyes to know Christ through his works in the body and through them acknowledge his divinity. See Chapter 32/2.

(43) 3 On the Greeks’ ridicule of things that do not deserve ridicule, see Chapter 41/1.

(44) 4 See Chapter 1.

(45) 5 This phrase is one of the famous phrases of the great Church Fathers, such as Saint Irenaeus, Athanasius, Cyril, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. Saint Athanasius often uses it in his other writings (about 10 times). This expression according to the Fathers does not mean that man naturally becomes a god, but rather it means that he participates in the divine life, the life of righteousness and holiness.
[Man does not become a god by nature, but a god by grace... So what does this mean according to the fathers? See, in the network, but not limited to: “The deification of human nature“, “deification" And the"The independence of the divine incarnation from the fall of man"… (the network)]

(46) 1 Humanity's restoration of its knowledge of God the Father was the second reason for the incarnation, see Chapters 11-19.

(47) 2 With this sentence, Saint Athanasius briefly expresses his teaching about redemption. See also chapters 20 and 32 and the first article against the Arians, paragraphs 38 and 39.

(48) 3 The Word itself is God.”AÙtolÒgojThis term is related to another term, which is “AÙtosof…a“God Himself is Wisdom and He Himself is the Word. See the fourth article against the Arians, paragraph 2.

(49) 4 The incarnation was for our salvation. God the Word took on a body capable of pain and death even though He was neither suffering nor dead, in order to eliminate death and corruption. See Chapters 8-9.

(50) 5 Saint Athanasius summarizes in this paragraph what he previously reviewed in Chapter 26.

(51) 6 Saint Athanasius describes the deeds that the Savior accomplished by becoming human as “great deeds.” katorqèmataThis expression was previously used to describe what Jesus Christ did, as through him the whole world was filled with the knowledge of God. See Against the Pagans 1/6.

(52) 7 Saint Athanasius uses this simile to explain the many deeds that the Savior accomplished and the difficulty of enumerating them. What can be done is to talk about some of these works. It is worth noting that Saint Athanasius used this method when he was speaking against the misguidance of the nations in worshiping idols. He pointed out at the beginning of the first chapter of his book The Incarnation of the Word, saying, “We were satisfied with what we explained in our previous research, even though it is only a few of many, in explaining the error of the nations in worshiping idols and their superstitions.”

(53) 1 In this paragraph, Saint Athanasius summarizes what he reviewed in Chapter 53.

(54) 2 Romans 5:9.

(55) 3 This simile was previously used in Chapter 29/3.

(56) 1 By this parable, Saint Athanasius does not mean that God was absent from the world and uninterested in it before God the Word became incarnate, because if any of that had happened, this would have shown God’s weakness and not His goodness. See Chapter 6/8. What he wanted to stress here is that God is the One who controls everything and that He works in His palace, except that people cannot come to Him. After the fall, humans were unable to recognize God in His heaven, as they did not see Him, but rather heard about Him. Their failure to verify the existence of the true king is not due to the non-existence of this true king, as he already exists in His heaven. Rather, it is due to the fact that humans did not want to believe in the prophecies regarding this true king, see Chapter 12/2.

(57) 2 The analogy to the life of the king was also mentioned in Chapter 8/3-4.

(58) 3 In the previous paragraph, Saint Athanasius indicated that these renegades are some people who led people astray. In this paragraph, he refers to the evil spirits who also led people astray, and in chapter 47 he explains in detail these misguidance.

(59) 1 When humans believed in Jesus Christ, they were convinced to care about eternal matters and turned a blind eye to what was temporal. See Chapter 47/5.

(60) 1 Saint Athanasius explained that the Holy Scriptures clearly predicted the coming of God in the flesh, see Chapter 38. He says that the Jews did not pay attention to the Holy Scriptures sincerely, see Against the Gentiles 46/4, even though the inspired Holy Books are sufficient to clarify the truth, see Against the Gentiles 1/3 and also that “the books are sufficient for teaching.” See the Life of Anthony, Chapter 16.

(61) 2 Saint Athanasius also refers to these texts in Against the Pagans 1/3.

(62) 3 Perhaps he refers to the writings of the fathers of the Alexandrian school.

(63) 4 2 Corinthians 10:5, in his apologetic writings, Saint Athanasius does not talk much about the second coming of Christ to judge the world, but rather mentions it very briefly. See Against the Gentiles 47/4, Incarnation of the Word 10/5, and this does not mean that he is not concerned with the eschatological dimension, as this The writings focus more on Jesus Christ as Creator and Savior. For example, Saint Athanasius writes his defensive book “Against the Arians,” in which he considers the heresy of Arianism to be the antichrist, chapter 1/1. He also mentions the same matter in his book, Life of Anthony 9/6.

(64) 1 This verse is from Matthew 26:62, and the phrase “in the glory of the Father” was added to it, and perhaps this was under the influence of the verse “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels” which came in Matthew 16:27, where the next verse refers to the judgment of the world, which It agrees with the previous context. This state of glory is the opposite of the state of poverty and humility mentioned in the previous paragraph.

(65) 2 This verse is composed of the two verses mentioned in Matthew 24:42 and Matthew 24:44, and they were mentioned in the third defensive article against the Arians, paragraphs 45 and 49, to prove the divinity of the Son and that he knows the hour, since he is a true God.

(66) 3 2Co 10:5.

(67) 1 “Purity of the soul is sufficient in itself for contemplation of God.” See Against the Pagans 2/4.

(68) 2 See Against the Gentiles, chapter 34.

(69) 3 God's essence is incomprehensible ¢kat£lhptoj See Defense of the Council of Nicaea 22, of the Council of Armenia and Silvia 35. Therefore, the mind can comprehend, as much as human nature is capable of, what pertains to God the Word, because the Son, since He is the true image of the Father, whoever sees the Son also sees the Father, see the first article Against the Arians 21 , 23, 27, 28, on the Council of Sylvia 42, defense of the Council of Nicaea 10.

(70) 4On the importance of one going to a country to ascertain for oneself what is happening there, see Chapter 28/3-5, where Saint Athanasius states that similarly, whoever wants to see the victory of Christ over death must go to the Church of Christ.

(71) 5 He means the saints, the writers of divine revelation.

(72) 1 Corinthians 9:2.

(73) 2 Saint Athanasius uses this and similar hexology in many of his writings, including the Defense of the Council of Nicaea, chapter 32, and his letter to Serapion, chapters 7, 23.