{"id":5277,"date":"2017-05-07T10:00:24","date_gmt":"2017-05-07T14:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=5277"},"modified":"2017-05-02T13:38:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T17:38:46","slug":"learning-our-faith-from-the-greek-fathers-of-the-church-20170507","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=5277","title":{"rendered":"Learning Our Faith From the Greek Fathers of the Church — 20170507"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Athanasius the Great<\/p><\/div>\n

In continuing Athanasius\u2019 arguments discrediting Arius\u2019 teachings, he reminds his reader that \u201cmy Father is still working, and I also am working (Jn 5:17). And had not the Old Testament wisdom literature averred that \u201cwhen he [God] marked out the foundations of the earth, then I [God\u2019s Wisdom) was beside him, like a mater worker; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race\u201d (Proverbs 8:29-31).<\/p>\n

The logic of worship, then, seems to be plain. If God\u2019s Wisdom and Word creates, as Creator he is worthy of praise and adoration. And if God\u2019s Wisdom and Word is worthy of the Church\u2019s worship, he must be God, though in an ineffable, mysterious fashion.<\/p>\n

The Arians felt that Athanasius was moving much too quickly. Did Proverbs 8 really teach what Athanasius was saying? What of Proverbs 8:22? \u201cThe LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of long ago.\u201d Surely if the text spoke of God\u2019s Wisdom as created, it must have a beginning, even if that beginning was somehow before time itself. Here, at least from Athanasius\u2019 perspective we approach the heart of the Arians\u2019 error. Had not the apostle Paul described the Son as \u201cbefore all things\u201d (Col 1:17). Athanasius reasons that if the Son is \u201cbefore all things,\u201d the creation of Wisdom mentioned in Proverbs must be pointing to a specific purpose in the \u201ceconomy\u201d of God, that is, God\u2019s plan for human salvation.<\/p>\n

Clearly Athanasius believes that if we compare Scripture with Scripture, Paul with the text of Proverbs, we are driven to discover a different interpretation for Proverbs 8:22 than that of the Arians. Athanasius finds his answer in the rhyme and reason of the incarnation and Christ\u2019s redemption of humanity.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 8:22 does speak of God\u2019s Wisdom as created. When did this creation take place? At the time of the incarnation, Athanasius contends, when the Word \u201cput on created flesh.\u201d The Wisdom of God was \u201ccreated for his works,\u201d in the sense that in the incarnation the Son becomes what we are to save us from what we have become. \u201cIf he says that he was \u2018created for the works\u2019 it is clear that he means to signify not his substance but the dispensation [incarnation] which happened \u2018for his works.\u2019<\/p>\n

So we see that the early Church, in attempting to truly understand who Jesus IS, looked to the Scriptures and tried to find an answer there. It is clear, as we consider the arguments on both sides, that this debate evolved out of a real desire to understand Who Jesus IS. It is clear that the Arians didn\u2019t truly believe that Jesus was God Himself incarnate. It is equally clear that the followers of Athanasius embraced the fact that Jesus was and is truly God and truly Man. They were dealing, of course, with a GREAT MYSTERY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In continuing Athanasius\u2019 arguments discrediting Arius\u2019 teachings, he reminds his reader that \u201cmy Father is still working, and I also am working (Jn 5:17). And had not the Old Testament wisdom literature averred that \u201cwhen he [God] marked out the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-athanasius-of-alexandria","category-learning-our-faith-form-the-church-fathers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5278,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5277\/revisions\/5278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}