Article,
Athanasius on God as Creator and Recreator
Church History and Religious Culture, 90 (2): 175--197 (2010)
Abstract
This article considers the ideas of Athanasius of Alexandria with regard to the relation between creation and recreation. Attention is given to the intention of his apologetic, and internally coherent, work Contra Gentes / De Incarnatione Verbi. This work provides evidence of Athanasius's conviction that the Recreator is no other God than the Creator. In coherence with this fundamental ideas, Athanasius voices four manners of revelation, which are all analyzed in this article: the first manner of revelation appears in the fact that man was created in God's image and likeness, as a result of which man is able to know God. The second manner of revelation is found in the harmony of creation. However, since his Fall, man did not respond to that in the right way either. The third manner is the revelation through the Holy Scriptures of the Jews, the Old Testament. According to Athanasius, these Scriptures were meant for all of mankind. The fourth and final manner of revelation to be discussed, is Athanasius's view of Incarnation.
