So...we're starting this book club thing...and the first book is Athanasius' "On the Incarnation of the Word." The questions in this post are "pre-book" questions and will hopefully stay in our minds.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS:
Q. Who wrote the book?
St. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria
Q. To whom was it written?
"Incarnation" was written to Christians who were being influenced by various heresies undermining the understanding of the life and death of Jesus.
Q. When was it written?
4th Century
Q. Where was it written?
Alexandria
Q. Why was it written?
The book explains why God chose to approach his fallen people in human form and defends the incarnation of Christ against the derision of 4th century non-believers
Exploratory Questions
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Why would one's view of creation influence one's view of incarnation?
All things were created by and through the Word. The Word created man, the Word became Man; because He because one of us, those who walked with Him gave testimony about Him
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Why is Christ's incarnation necessary anyway?
When we were separated from God by our sin, our very nature changed from one of perfection to one that is permeated by sin.
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Equally, why are his death and resurrection necessary?
Only the perfect could satisfy the Perfect. Jesus’ death was the payment for sin, and His resurrection was proof that the Father accepted the payment.
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Should the death of Christ be seen as a triumph? Why or why not?
Absolutely. When Adam sinned, the very nature of mankind was changed and without hope of reconciliation.
Because Christ died and was raised from the dead, we who are in Christ have hope for eternity.
My dad died a week ago today. Because Jesus died, I know I will see him again. Right now, my dad is reunited with his mom and dad, and his sister that he knew, and is getting to know his brothers and sisters who died before he was born.
That is a triumph.
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If Adam had not sinned, would God the Son have become incarnate? Why or why not?
I don't believe Jesus would have walked on earth to save us, if we didn't need saving.
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Has Jesus achieved anything since his incarnation that is not directly related to dealing with the consequences of sin? (You might like to take a look at Genesis 1:26-28; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-2; 2:5-8.
Jesus holds the universe together by the word of his power.
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“Jesus died with his arms outstretched, showing his desire to draw all men to himself.” What do you think of this kind of exegesis? (THESE ARE NOT ON TheCity)
Jesus died with His arms outstretched because that fulfilled a prophesy that He would die on a tree (cross.)
I think this is not exegesis at all, rather it is eisogesis -
Exegesis takes what is in the text and allows us to determine what it means, and so it steers our beliefs.
Eisogesis starts with what we believe, and allows us to read into the text what we want it to mean, steering what we think is in the text.
