Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, Section 13
"What was God to do in the face of the dehumanizing of mankind? The less human they acted, the less they knew Him. So burdened were men with their wickedness that they seemed more like brute beasts than reasonable men… What else could God possibly do but renew His Image in mankind, so that through that true Image, men might once more come to know Him?
And how could this be done except by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Savior Jesus Christ? … The Savior of us all, the Word of God, in His great love took to Himself a body and moved as Man among men, engaging their senses, so that those who were seeking God in sensible things might really see the Father through the very Word of God's word to them.
Human and human-minded as men were, wherever they looked in the sensible world, they found themselves taught the truth.
Were they awe-stricken by creation? They found creation confessing Christ as Lord.
Did their minds tend to regard men as gods? Then the uniqueness of the Savior’s works marked Him unique among all men as the one true Son of God.
Were they drawn to evil spirits? They saw those demons driven out by the Lord, and learned that the Word of God alone was God and that the evil spirits were not Gods at all.
Were they inclined to hero-worship and the cult of the dead? Then the fact that the Savior had risen from the dead showed them how false these other deities were, and that the Word of the Father is the one true Lord, the Lord even of death.
This is the reason He was born and manifested as Man, for this He died and rose, in order that, by His works all other human deeds are eclipsed; that He might recall man from all the paths of error; and that He might cause them to know the Father.
As he says Himself, 'I came to seek and to save that which was lost.'"
"What was God to do in the face of the dehumanizing of mankind? The less human they acted, the less they knew Him. So burdened were men with their wickedness that they seemed more like brute beasts than reasonable men… What else could God possibly do but renew His Image in mankind, so that through that true Image, men might once more come to know Him?
And how could this be done except by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Savior Jesus Christ? … The Savior of us all, the Word of God, in His great love took to Himself a body and moved as Man among men, engaging their senses, so that those who were seeking God in sensible things might really see the Father through the very Word of God's word to them.
Human and human-minded as men were, wherever they looked in the sensible world, they found themselves taught the truth.
Were they awe-stricken by creation? They found creation confessing Christ as Lord.
Did their minds tend to regard men as gods? Then the uniqueness of the Savior’s works marked Him unique among all men as the one true Son of God.
Were they drawn to evil spirits? They saw those demons driven out by the Lord, and learned that the Word of God alone was God and that the evil spirits were not Gods at all.
Were they inclined to hero-worship and the cult of the dead? Then the fact that the Savior had risen from the dead showed them how false these other deities were, and that the Word of the Father is the one true Lord, the Lord even of death.
This is the reason He was born and manifested as Man, for this He died and rose, in order that, by His works all other human deeds are eclipsed; that He might recall man from all the paths of error; and that He might cause them to know the Father.
As he says Himself, 'I came to seek and to save that which was lost.'"
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the Word!
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