Pocket Bible

One of the treasures in my edition of On the Incarnation is the appendix which contains Athanasius’s letter to Marcellinus on the interpretation of Psalms. He relates what he was once taught by ‘a certain studious old man’. If each book of the Bible is a garden growing one special kind of fruit, then ‘the Psalter is a garden which, besides its special fruit, grows also some of those of all the rest’, mentioning subjects in the historical books, as well as the prophets. One of the great qualities of the Psalter, however, is this:

“Besides the characteristics which it shares with others, it has this peculiar marvel of its own, that within it are represented and portrayed in all their great variety the movements of the human soul. It is like a picture, in which you see yourself portrayed and, seeing, may understand and consequently form yourself upon the pattern given… In the Psalter… you learn about yourself. You find depicted in it all the movements of your soul, all its changes, its ups and downs, its failures and recoveries. Moreover, whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you do not merely hear and then pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill… In fact, under all the circumstances of life, we shall find that these divine songs suit ourselves and meet our own souls’ need at every turn.” pp. 103-104.

This ancient view of the interpretation of the Psalter is strikingly Christocentric. Christ in his incarnation was the perfect life on display, a model to be imitated by his people, a perfect life which was outlined in advance in the Psalter:

“Before He came among us, He sketched the likeness of this perfect life for us in words, in this same book of Psalms; in order that, just as he revealed Himself in flesh to be the perfect, heavenly Man, so in the Psalms also men of good-will might see the pattern life portrayed, and find therein the healing and correction of their own.” pp. 106-107

When we are recommended Psalms that speak of the Saviour, we are told ‘you will find something in almost all of them’, but there are a number that speak of the various elements of his life and ministry:

His Divine Begetting from the Father and His coming in the flesh - 45, 110
The cross - 22, 69
The snares and malice of the Jews and Iscariot - 3, 109
His identity as Judge, His Second Coming, and the Gentiles’ call - 21, 50, 72
His resurrection from the dead in flesh - 16
His ascension into heaven - 24, 47
The benefits of his passion - 93, 96, 98, 99

We are also given a comprehensive catalogue of Psalms to say for every occasion:

Declaring any one to be blessed - 1, 32, 41, 112, 119 and 128
Rebuking the conspiracy of the Jews against the Saviour - 2
Persecuted by your own family and opposed by many - 3
Thanksgiving at affliction’s end - 4, 75, 116
Seeing the wicked wanting to ensnare you - 5 (early in the morning)
Feeling beneath the cloud of God’s displeasure - 6, 38
Discovering that someone is plotting against you - 7
Humanity’s redemption and the Saviour’s universal grace - 8
For victory over the enemy and the saving of created things - 9
Any wishing to alarm you - 11
Seeing the boundless pride of many and evil passing great - 12
If this state of things be long drawn out - 27
Hearing others blaspheme the providence of God - 14, 53
The citizen of heaven’s kingdom - 15
Praying against your enemies - 17, 86, 88, 140
Deliverance from enemies and oppressors - 18
Marvelling at the order of creation, God’s good providence, and the holy precepts of the Law - 19, 24
Praying with and comforting those in distress - 20
Fed and guided by the Lord - 23
Surrounded by enemies -25
If enemies persist - 26, 35, 43
If foes press harder - 27, 28
Thankfulness with spiritual understanding - 29
Dedication of home/soul - 30, 127
Hated and persecuted by friends and kinsfolk because of faith in Christ - 31
Seeing people baptised - 32
When a number want to sing together - 33
Fallen amongst enemies and escaped by wise refusal of evil counsel - 34 (with other holy men)
Seeing the zeal of the lawless in their evildoing - 36
Warning the weak when wicked men attack them - 37
When one’s own safety is in question - 39
Endurance of afflictions - 40
Seeing people in poverty and inciting others to works of mercy - 41
Aflame for longing with God (i.e. not depression) - 42
The loving-kindness of God and ingratitude of men - 44, 78, 9, 105, 106, 107, 114, 115
Thanksgiving after deliverance from affliction - 46
Penitent after sin - 51
Seeing slanderers boasting - 52
Persecuted and slandered - 54, 56
If persecution follows hard on you - 57, 142
Escaping when plotters watch your house - 59
If friends reproach and slander you - 55
Against hypocrites - 58
Submission to the will of God when people want to take your life - 62
Driven into the desert by persection - 63
Fearful of foes and unceasing plots - 64, 65, 70, 71
Singing praise to God - 65
The Resurrection - 66
Asking mercy from the Lord - 67
Seeing wicked men enjoy prosperity and good men in sore trouble - 73
When God is angry with his people - 74
Testifying concerning God - 9, 71, 75, 92, 105-108, 111, 118, 126, 136, 138
Answering the heathen and heretics - 76
When God hears your crying when your place of refuge is taken - 77
When the house of God is profaned - 79
Singing at a festival with other servants of God - 81, 95
When the enemy musters - 83
Longing for the house of God and his eternal dwelling - 84
When their anger is abated and you are free again - 85, 116
Confounding schismatics - 87
Encouragement in the fear of God - 91
Thanksgiving on the Lord’s Day - 24
Thanksgiving on Monday - 95
Thanksgiving on Friday - 93
If God’s house has been captured, destroyed and rebuilt - 96
When the land has rest from war - 97
Singing on Wednesday - 94
Seeing providence and power of God in all things - 100
Experiencing God’s power in judgment - 101
Downcast and poor - 102
Thankful praise - 103, 104
Why and how to praise God - 105, 107, 113, 117, 135, 146-150
If you have faith and believe the prayers you utter - 116.10ff
Pressing forward, forgetting all that lies behind - the Psalms of Ascent
Led astray by others’ arguments - 137
Thanksgiving for testing safely past - 139
If the enemy once more gets hold of you and you want to be free - 140
Prayer and supplication - 5, 141-143, 146
Goliath rising up against the people and yourself - 144
Marvelling at God’s kindnesses to every one - 105
Wanting to sing to God - 96, 98
Praising God - 105-107, 111-118, 135, 136, 146-150

Moreover, we are exhorted not merely to say the Psalms, but to sing (specifically, chant) them. The benefits of this include the expression of man’s love to God ‘with all the strength and power they possess’ and the bringing into harmony of a man’s whole being. ‘To praise God tunefully upon an instrument,’ we are told, ’such as well-tuned cymbals, cithara, or ten-stringed psaltery, is, as we know, an outward token that the members of the body and the thoughts of the heart are, like the instruments themselves, in proper order and control, all of them living and moving by the Spirit’s cry and breath.’

Let us therefore, like Marcellinus, be diligent students and singers of the Psalms. They will teach us of our saviour, they will show us ourselves and reshape us after the likeness of Christ whom they anticipate, and they will teach us the language with which we can express ourselves to God, in every situation of life.

Charismaticism: uncatholic?

In Daniel 9.24 we read:

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put and end to sin and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place/thing/one.” (ESV)

The events referred to in this verse clearly centre on the cross of Christ and is bound up with the sealing of revelation from God; this can only mean that visions and prophecies come to an end with this package of events. Like tombs or documents, they are no longer to be added to. Sealing here doesn’t just mean that there’s no more need for prophecy (without ruling out the possibility of it continuing), just as sealing doesn’t meant that there is no more need to add to a document. It is far more definitive than that. Sealing indicates completion.

As a wise brother commented to me the other day, biblical theology is obviously better than proof-texting (although this is a pretty good proof text, actually!), but that’s all right, because this fits in very nicely with the whole idea of God’s special revelation being linked to redemptive-historical works. With the first advent of Christ and all that entailed, there are no more genuine visions and prophecies (in the sense that individuals receive unmediated revelation from the Lord).

Interestingly, this appears to be the understanding of the early church and the emphasis by the modern charismatic movement on ongoing visions and prophecies is a therefore a departure from the orthodox faith of the church in the first few centuries A.D. Claims of ongoing revelation actually undermine the past reality of Christ’s work.

In his work On the Incarnation, Athanasius addresses the unbelief of the Jews in Christ, in a section which the editors of my edition wrongly advise the non-student reader to skip, for in this section we see clearly Athanasius’s admirable grasp of the whole sweep of the metanarrative of Scripture. I shall let him speak for himself on Daniel 9:

“Not only does [this prophecy] expressly mention the Anointed One, that is the Christ, it even declares that He Who is to be anointed is not man only, but the Holy One of holies! And it says that Jerusalem is to stand till His coming, and that after it prophet and vision shall cease in Israel! …

When did prophet and vision cease from Israel? Was it not when Christ came, the Holy One of holies? It is, in fact, a sign and notable proof of the coming of the Word that Jerusalem no longer stands, neither is prophet raised up nor vision revealed among them. And it is natural that it should be so, for when He that was signified had come, what need was there any longer of any need to signify Him? And when the Truth had come, what further need was there of the shadow?” (p. 73)

Amen!

Athanasius - On the Incarnation (4)

There’s so much about which I could post on Athanasius’s On the Incarnation - the way he refutes the Jews by showing how Christ fulfilled their Scriptures, displaying a superb grasp (as Pete has noted in a comment on my first post on the book) of redemptive history, passing the question of visions and prophecies on the way, the way he refutes the Gentiles by its effect on idolatry and on individuals’ lives. Perhaps these will get a mention in due course. At this point, however, I want to reflect on Athanasius’ devotion to Scripture.

Athanasius views his letter to Macarius as a starting point, but doesn’t want Macarius simply to take his word for it. He exhorts him to go to the Bible to test what he is saying and from which to learn further. He is committed to the nature of the Bible as God’s word written. He writes:

“This will give you a beginning, and you must go on to prove its truth by the study of the Scriptures. They were written and inspired by God.” p. 95

In those Scriptures, Macarius will read of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in glory “no longer in humiliation but in majesty, no longer to suffer but to bestow on us all the fruit of His cross - the resurrection and incorruptibility.” On that day, he will judge “each and all according to their deeds done in the body, whether good or ill. Then for the good is laid up the heavenly kingdom, but for those that practise evil outer darkness and the eternal fire.”

But how is Macarius going to be able read and understand the Scriptures? By living a holy life.

“But for the searching and right understanding of the Scriptures there is need of a good life and a pure soul, and for Christian virtue to guide the mind to grasp, so far as human nature can, the truth concerning God the Word. One cannot possibly understand the teaching of the saints unless one has a pure mind and is trying to imitate their life.” p. 96

He’s so right, isn’t he? If at the deepest level of our being we do not want to go God’s way, we will not understand the Scriptures (cf. John 7:16-17). If we live in disobedience and refuse to submit to Scripture, then our understanding of it will be distorted to suit our own ends. We will see what we want to see and we will not see what we don’t want to see.

So let us heed the advice of Athanasius and, recognising that the Bible has as its author God, humble ourselves in obedience to it, so that as we diligently study it, the truth of what we have been taught about Christ may be confirmed, and so that we may grow in our knowledge and understanding and love of him.

Athanasius - On the Incarnation (3)

We shall now consider the revelatory purpose of the Incarnation. We are made to know God. Athanasius asks, “Why should God have made them [men] at all, if He had not intended them to know Him?” Originally, we bore God’s image and through this God was made known to us. Knowledge of God, even from the beginning was meant to be distinctly Trinitarian:

“The good God has given them a share in His own Image, that is, in our Lord Jesus Christ, and has made even themselves after the same Image and likeness. Why? Simply in order that through this gift of God-likeness in themselves they may be able to perceive the Image Absolute, that is the Word Himself, and through Him to apprehend the Father; which knowledge of their Maker is for men the only really happy and blessed life.” p. 38

God ‘provided the works of creation also as a means by which the Maker might be known’ as well as making himself known through the law and the prophets, so that through looking at creation, through acquaintance with the prophets and reading of the law, men might learn to know God. Interestingly, Athanasius notes the intention of the law for the revelation of God to the whole world, not just to the Jews, which of course fits in very well with Deuteronomy 4.5-8, where God reveals his law to Israel, who are then to keep it in the sight of the peoples, who too will come to see wisdom and understanding.

However, through the Fall and the ensuing wickedness, this knowledge of God is hidden. Again, this problem is a supremely God-centred one:

“Things being as they were, what was the use of their [men] ever having had the knowledge of God? Surely it would have been better for God never to have bestowed it than that men should subsequently be found unworthy to receive it. Similarly, what possible profit could it be to God Himself, Who made men, if when made they did not worship Him, but regarded others as their makers? This would be tantamount to His having made them for others and not for Himself.” p. 40

Salvation is therefore also about the renewing of God’s image in human beings and this is only possible through the coming of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God.

“What else could He possibly do, being God, but renew His Image in mankind, so that through it men might once more come to know Him? And how could this be done save by the coming of the very Image Himself, our Saviour Jesus Christ.” p. 41

Creation is insufficient for this task. It can only be through Christ alone.

“Creation was there all the time, but it did not prevent men from wallowing in error… Men had neglected to consider the heavens before and now they were looking in the opposite direction. Wherefore in all naturalness and fitness, desiring to do good to men, as Man he dwells, taking to Himself a body like the rest; and through his actions done in that body, as it were on their own level, He teaches those who would not learn by other means to know Himself, the Word of God, and through Him the Father.” pp. 42-43

Athanasius - On the Incarnation (2)

For Athanasius, the Incarnation of Christ had a twofold purpose: redemption and revelation. Much of the redemption theme has already been dealt with as part of my series of reviews of Pierced for Our Transgressions, but it bears repetition here.

The place of the Incarnation in redemption is profoundly God-centred. It takes place to resolve the dilemma that the Fall produces. God’s truthfulness must be upheld and so the penalty of death for transgression must be upheld. But God’s goodness must also be upheld and so his creation cannot be undone by sin:

“It would, of course, have been unthinkable that God should go back upon his word and that man, having transgressed, should not die… It was unworthy of the goodness of God that creatures made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit wrought upon man by the devil; and it was supremely unfitting that the work of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits… Surely it would have been better never to have been created at all than, having been created, to be neglected and perish; and besides that, such indifference to the ruin of His own good work before His very eyes would argue not goodness in God but limitation, and that far more than if He had neer created men at all. It was impossible therefore, that God should leave man to be carried off by corruption, because it would be unfitting and unworthy of himself.” p. 32

This tension between God’s goodness and truthfulness is perhaps something that needs to be recovered and expounded alongside the more usual presentation of the cross as the place where God’s love and justice are shown to be in perfect harmony.

Athanasius then goes on to explain that repentance would not be sufficient to address the prolem because “if death did not hold dominion over men, God would still remain untrue” and it doesn’t address the fundamental issue of human nature being corrupted.

Redemption can only be wrought through penal substitutionary sacrifice, received by faith. Corruption was ‘the penalty for the Transgression’ and so Christ suffered death in the place of sinners. There are hints that Athanasius thought that sex was sinful, hence the need for virgin birth, but his basic argument is sound:

“Taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death in place of all, and offered it to the Father. This he did out of sheer love for us, so that in His death all might die, and the law of death thereby be abolished because, when He had fulfilled in His body that for which it was appointed, it was thereafter voided of its power for men. This He did that He might turn again to incorruption men who had turned back to corruption, and make them alive through death by appropriation of his body and by the grace of resurrection.” p. 34

The Incarnation is necessary, because ‘corruption could not be got rid of otherwise than through death; yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father’s Son, was such as could not die. For this reason, therefore He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for all.’ Here again is the idea of substitutionary atonement. In terms of terminology, it is worth noting that Athanasius uses ‘body’ and ‘human nature’ apparently interchangeably.

Perhaps slightly inconsistently, Athanasius insists on the need for ‘appropriation of his body’ for men to be made ‘alive through death’ yet teaches that through the ‘union of the immortal Son of God with our human nature, all men were clothed with corruption’ as a consequence of the ’solidarity of mankind’.

Athanasius - On the Incarnation (1)

In order to address my negligible knowledge of the writings of the Church Fathers, I am embarking on Athanasius’s On the Incarnation. I have been very impressed so far and am lamenting the sad fact that I never discovered him sooner.

All references are to the St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press edition (Popular Patristics Series), ISBN 0-913836-40-0

Athanasius begins with creation because creation and salvation are part of the same grand work. The purpose of the Word’s incarnation in salvation is to restore God’s creation which has been brought into decay through sin. He writes:

“He has been manifested in a human body for this reason only, out of the love and goodness of His Father, for the salvation of us men. We will begin then, with the creation of the world and with God its Maker, for the first fact that you must grasp is this: the renewal of creation has been wrought by the Self-same Word Who made it in the beginning. There is thus no inconsistency between creation and salvation,; for the One Father has employed the same Agent for both works, effecting the salvation of the world through the same Word Who made it in the beginning.” p. 26

Athanasius considers various pagan opinions about the creation of the world, such as that “all things are self-originated and, so to speak, haphazard, a view held by the Epicureans who “deny that there is any mind behind the universe at all”. Isn’t that strikingly contemporary? He then moves on to consider the Christian doctrine of creation, particularly that of man, upon which alone of all creatures is impressed his image, with the intention that they enjoy “the blessed and only true life of the saints in paradise”, a blessing that is conditional upon the obedience of man to God’s commandment.

Men of course “turned from the contemplation of God to evil of their own devising” and so came under the dominion of death. The consequence of sin is, in effect decreation. Athanasius writes:

“For the transgression of the commandment was making them turn back again according to their nature; and as they had at the beginning come into being out of non-existence, so were they now on the way to returning, through corruption, to non-existence again.” pp. 29-30

What is particularly noticeable about Athanasius’s writings is that every step of the way he is arguing from the Bible, and from the Bible in its breadth. To prove that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and not another was indeed the creator of the world, he does to Matthew 19.4-6 and John 1.3. To show that there is a mind behind the universe and that the universe was created ex nihilo he takes us to Genesis 1.1 and Hebrews 11.3. The conditionality of the blessing in Eden is shown from Genesis 2.16f. And when expounding the plight of men who “in their sinning surpassed all limits”, “devising new kinds of sins”, making the world a place where “adulteries and thefts were everywhere”, filled with war and violence, he grounds it in the worlds of the apostle Paul in Romans 1.16f. Here is a man who was steeped in Scripture, a true Bible-beaver, who thought and taught systematically from it, and what a model and a challenge that is to us all. May we too have such a grasp of God’s word and allow our thinking to be so shaped by it.

Look at where Athanasius’s fingers are pointing in this icon: are they not directing us to the word of God?

All this, only from the first chapter! By the way, according to Blogger the next post will be my two hundredth…