On the Incarnation: The Treatise de Incarnatione Verbi Dei

This is a true treasure of Christian literature. For the modern reader, names like "Athanasius" can be a bit daunting. Surely his book would be too deep and complicated to understand fully. How relavent is it to our own day anyhow?Like C.S. Lewis points out in his introduction to the work, often the men of ancient times put things more clearly and without the bothersome "-isms" of modern thinking. This book is encouraging to the Christian and welcoming to those who do not yet know Christ. Athanasius' sense of God's love for man, and his logic that explains how God showed that love is quite breathtaking.

In this day, when a Christian classic is often considered to be a book written 50 or 100 years ago, such as one of my favorites, "Mere Christianity," by C.S. Lewis, it may be a little intimidating for modern readers to consider a volume written during the 4th century by one of the acknowledged leaders of the ancient Christian Church. This is one such work that I've ashamedly ignored for over 30 years--until recently--despite the fact that I've been a huge fan of C.S. Lewis, who wrote the Introduction for this fine translation in about 1944.In both the introduction, and in the words of St. Athanasius, one can quickly see where Lewis developed many of his ideas for "Mere Christianity." Lewis writes here: "Measured against the ages "mere Christianity" turns out to be no insipid interdenominational transparency, but something positive, self-consistent, and inexhaustible."Another reviewer here refers to this book as Catholic, which, unfortunately, may possibly scare away some Protestant readers. However, one could also call it Orthodox (or orthodox), in the sense that St. Athanasius wrote at a time in history when there was only One Undivided Church, whether one calls it Catholic or Orthodox. He was responding to the heresies of his day (and I might add that many of those heresies are still around in one form or another). In doing so, St. Athanasius helped to codify what all Christians everywhere believed about the Incarnation of Christ in those days. As Lewis says in his introduction, some of the best devotional reading is in doctrinal books. This is one such book, but don't let it scare you away, like it did me for 30 years. It's well worth the read, and not as challenging as one would assume.An additional bonus to the St. Vladimir's Press 1996 edition is the appendix: "The Letter of St. Athanasius to Marcellinus on the Interpretation of the Psalms." In this gem, St. Athanasius provides delightful devotional and theological background to the Book of Psalms, which many call the Prayer Book of the Bible. This appendix alone is worth the purchase price of the book (but be sure you get the right edition).

C.S. Lewis fans may be surprised to find one of his most important pieces of writing in his little Introduction to this translation of Athanasius's De Incarnatione Verbi Dei. By all accounts this work by Athanasius is seminal, so with Lewis's Introduction itself worth the price of the whole book, it's a no-brainer--get it.Lewis exhorts plain Christians to not content themselves with modern books and leave the classics to the professionals. The classics are classics precisely because they were written by great writers, whose writing is actually easier to understand than the usually much longer modern works that purport to explain them. Plato's dialogues are an example: "The simplest student will be able to understand...a very great deal of what Plato said; but hardly anyone can understand some modern books on Platonism." He mourns the hegemony of cultured explainers in small group studies where, instead of Luke or Paul, or Augustine, Aquinas, or Hooker, modern authors like Charles Colson, Henry Blackaby, or Charles Stanley (to cite some current bestsellers) dominate. Lewis finds this upside-down. As a modern writer himself he certainly does not wish readers to read no modern books at all, but gives sound reasons for reading at least as many "old books" as new.He even exhorts Christians to read "doctrinal" books instead of "devotional" ones:"For my own part I tend to find the doctrinal books often more helpful in devotion than the devotional books, and I rather suspect that the same experience may await many others. I believe that many who find that 'nothing happens' when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."Lewis's words are even more germane now than they were when he wrote them, no doubt before 1963. Even more, the "old book" that most needs reading with a pipe in the teeth and a pencil in the hand is the Bible itself. Two "doctrinal" books are most suited to guiding the amateur reader of Scripture: The Coming of the Kingdom, and Paul: An Outline of His Theology, both by Herman Ridderbos. These are "tough bits of theology," but they provide readers what is most needful today: a trustworthy and reliable means of sitting at Jesus' feet, listening to his words. It is exactly what C.S. Lewis was trying to say.

The effects of this little book can be felt even today; over 15 centuries since it was written. It answers one of the most fundamental questions in Christianity, "Why did God have to come and take flesh in order to save mankind?" This book is inspiring in that it shows us the purpose of His Incarnation, His life, teachings, miracles, death and resurrection. In a time where the whole world was against him, St. Athanasius shines brigthly as one of the greatest leaders of the Christian Church. It is wise to hear his words. Other inspiring writings: AGAINST THE HEATHEN and THE LIFE OF ST. ANTHONY (a writing that converted even St. Augustine).