athanasius

2. According to C. S. Lewis, did Athanasius write the "Athanasian Creed"?

3. What does the phrase "Athanasius contra mundum" mean? To what does it refer?

4. Of what diocese was Athanasius the bishop?

5. What Athanasius at the Council of Nicea? If so, in what capacity?

6. What was the relationship between Athanasius and the hermit Antony (whose "life" by Athanasius we will be reading later on in the course)?

7. What is the relationship between Antony, Athanasius, and the development of monasticism around Rome?

Chapter I: Creation and the Fall

8. Why, according to Athanasius, is there "no inconsistency between creation and salvation"?

9. Athanasius describes three different opinions on creation (other than the opinion of Christians): the opinions of (a) the Epicureans, (b) the Platonists, and (c) the Gnostics. Describe each.

10. If God created man from nothing and bestowed upon him the impress of His own image, what happened that has caused all the trouble?

11. At his creation, man was created out of nothing. Where, according to Athanasius, was he going before God intervened to become incarnate?

Chapter II: The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution in the Incarnation

12. What is the "divine dilemma"?

13. Why was the answer to the divine dilemma not simply repentance on the part of man?

14. According to Athanasius, does Christ take to Himself a real human body?

15. According to Athanasius, the Word perceived that corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than by what means? Why was it impossible for the Word Himself, as the Word, to resolve the problem? So what did the Word do?

16. In sections 8 and 9 of his text, Athanasius makes use of the image of how thieves and robbers will not enter a town in which there is a great king. Explain this analogy.

17. What, according to Athanasius, is "the first cause of the Saviour's becoming Man"?

Chapter III: The Divine Dilemma and Its Solution in the Incarnation – cont.

18. According to Athanasius, God created man with knowledge of his Creator and unfolded it in many forms and ways. Name three ways mentioned by Athanasius to know God.

19. In section 14, Athanasius used the analogy of a portrait painter and a portrait which has become damaged. What does the portrait painter do? How does the analogy enlighten our understanding of the Incarnation?

20. Why is it necessary for the Son of God to do this re-imaging? Why can't it be done by men?

21. In section 15, Athanasius suggests that, because men were looking for God among sensible things, God "met them half-way, as it were." What does he mean? How does the Son teach us about the Father in ways that refute the idolatrous opinions of the day?

22. Wasn't Christ's body a limitation? What does Athanasius say to this objection?

Chapter IV: The Death of Christ

23. What, according to Athanasius, is "the very centre of our faith"?

24. Was Christ on the cross God?

25. According to Athanasius, why did Christ not die privately, say, at the end of His life?

26. Why did Christ not prevent His own death?

27. Did Christ hunger?

28. Why did Christ not die privately and then rise from the dead?

29. Why did Christ not die a more honorable death?

30. Why was it appropriate for Christ to die on a cross?

Chapter V: The Resurrection

31. Why was it appropriate that Christ rose on the third day?

32. What, for Athanasius, is the "proof" that Christ, with His death, has brought about the "destruction of death."

33. In section 30, Athanasius give a series of "proofs" for the resurrection (four, by my counting). Discuss each briefly.

Chapter VI: Refutation of the Jews

34. Most of Athanasius's "refutation of the Jews" consists in what?

Chapter VII: Refutation of the Gentiles

35. What is Athanasius's reply to the complaint that it is unfitting or ridiculous for the Word to be manifested in a body?

36. As part of his response to the above-mentioned complaint, Athanasius makes use of an analogy of the relationship between man's mind and man's body. Explain.

37. Why, according to Athanasius, did Christ not come in a nobler form, such as that of the sun, moon, stars, or fire?

38. Why did Christ not help mankind by a simple act of His will?

39. According to Athanasius, the world was already filled with God's presence; what did Christ come to do?

Chapter VIII: Refutation of the Gentiles – cont.

40. According to Athanasius, what

41. What does Athanasius say (in section 47) about "the fraud of the oracles"? What about "the Greek wisdom" and "the philosophers' noisy talk"? What distinguishes the Greek talk from Christianity?

42. In the next section (section 48), Athanasius concludes: "These things which we have said are no mere words: they are attested by actual experience." He then proceeds to give three examples of specific, remarkable actions that prove his point. What are they?

43. In section 49, Athanasius compares Christ with the three Greek gods, Aesculapius (whom Socrates mentions at the very end of his life), Hercules, and Dionysus. Explain why, according to Athanasius, Christ is superior to each.

Chapter IX: Conclusion

44. At the end of his meditations "On the Incarnation," Athanasius describes himself as one of those who "became martyrs for the God-head of Christ." What does he mean?

45. What, according to Athanasius, should we all be preparing for? When will what we are preparing ourselves for happen?

46. According to Athanasius, what is needed for "the searching and the right understanding of the Scriptures"? What would a modern biblical exegete say about that?