The Church has existed for 2000 years, twice that if you trace our heritage to Abraham. And that history is peppered with sinners and saints who have amazing (and horrifying) things in the name of Jesus. Some of them are worth knowing. Athanasius is one of those guys. Frankly, we celebrate Christmas because of him. Christmas was not a holiday recognized right away by the Church. In fact, it took a few hundred years to be recognized. Easter, by contrast, was celebrated almost immediately (in the context of Passover celebrations and as a part of regular worship). Today, we couldn't imagine a church year without Christmas. When our country was founded, several Christian churches banned the celebration of Christmas. And people talk about a war on Christmas now! But that's a topic for another day, let's focus on Athanasius a little bit.
Athanasius wrote a book called "On the Incarnation of the Word." It's a good read, although it struggles from issues of translation (like any translated book would). In it, Athanasius takes us on a deeper understanding of our salvation from the Christmas story. The Incarnation, God taking on human skin and bones, is a necessary part of the salvation story- not only because this makes Jesus a better sacrifice, but because God loves creation and entering creation was necessary to save it.
"He became what we are that he might make us what he is."
Athanasius
What do you think? Why was it important for Jesus to be fully human and fully divine?
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