Saint Athanasius’ primary focus is to explain
why the Creator God had to take on bodily flesh for the salvation of humanity.[1] To that
end, he first addresses the dilemma of life/death and knowledge/ignorance
before looking at the death of Jesus and his resurrection. The final two
sections of the book deals with the Jewish and Gentile objections to the
incarnation and resurrection. Athanasius ends the book with a request for the
reader to not only study the scriptures, but to live a “life modeled on the
saints”[2] so that they
can fully understand the words of the scripture. This ending effectively drives
home the point that the incarnation cannot be fully understood by those who are
not actively following Jesus and allowing the Spirit to cleanse their soul.
[1] Athanasius, On the Incarnation, trans. John Behr (Yonkers, New Jersey: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011), 49-50.
[2] Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 110..