The Calvinist International
Athanasius of Alexandria’s doctrine of the deity of Christ rest upon two basic concepts. These are that the divine nature is simple and incapable of division and that the Son is generated or begotten from the essence of the Father, that divine essence which is simple. When you combine these two concepts, you get a […]
Athanasius of Alexandria actually has a lot to say about the divine nature. He says that it is fruitful. He says that its essence and its existence are identical. He says that it is simple and infinite. And yet, he also says that the divine nature is, in itself, unknowable to us. We have nothing […]
In an most interesting section of his Orations Against the Arians, Athanasius fields an objection against the eternal generation of the Son based on a parallel with creation. Athanasius has been arguing that certain divine names (Father, Wisdom, Word) show us that God must have always had a second hypostasis who was nevertheless consubstantial. For God […]
“Theosis” and “deification” are culpably ambiguous terms. On the other hand, using one of them in the title did get you to click on the link, did it not? There are unobjectionable (as well as objectionable) ways of construing the concept behind the term, and there were senses in which the Reformers did so, as […]
I’ve noted before that the so called extra calvinisticum is really the extra patristicum, that is, that it’s an idea found already in the Christology of the Fathers. One place we see this is in Athanasius, On the Incarnation 17: For [the Word] was not, as might be imagined, circumscribed in the body, nor, while present in the […]
So Athanasius, anyway, from the end of the first section of On the Incarnation of the Word: And it is fitting that we who speak about this [i.e., salvation] first speak about the creation of all things, and about God, its [i.e., creation’s] demiurge, in order that someone may contemplate that its [i.e., creation’s] renewal has […]
It almost goes without saying that the state of play in the study of the fourth century Arian controversy has undergone a sea change over the course of the last century. This might lead one to conclude that the older writers are no longer worth reading. But that conclusion would be a mistake. To draw a […]
Gregory’s twenty-first Oration, again. Last time we saw that Athanasius’ fluency in the Word was, in Gregory’s view, his chief characteristic. The importance of the Word for the Arian conflict returns again later in the oration. The Council of Nicaea spoke against, but did not end, the Arian problem, and so Athanasius saw much conflict in […]
Oh, you wanted more on yesterday’s theme? That’s a relief; I thought you’d never ask. After sketching some aspects of Athanasius’ character, Gregory goes on to say: On these grounds, as I have said, I leave others, who have leisure to admire the minor details of his character, to admire and extol him. I call […]
Who was the churchman in charge of the whole world in the fourth century? According to Gregory of Nazianzus, it was Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. Thus in Oration 21 (“On the Great Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria”), referred to briefly yesterday, Gregory writes: Thus brought up and trained, as even now those should be who are to […]