After the fall, humanity entered a state of imperfection. The fact that humans were made in the image of God had been skewed. Athanasius expounds on this subject in On the Incarnation, showing that the fallen state is not one of just corruption, but also of non-being. God, who loves man deeply, chose for mankind not to stay this way forever but to redeem it. Non-being is a state of corruption caused by turning away from God, the source of perfection, and in order to remedy this downfall, Jesus became incarnate.
Existing in the state of corruption also means one is non-being. Non-being does not mean that something does not exist or is not real. Instead, non-being means that something is no longer functioning how it should or is not fulfilling its purpose. Non-being is not being what something was created to be. A table is no longer a table if someone uses it as a chair. However, the table is not a chair either because that is not its intended purpose. Since the object is not a table (what the object was originally designed for) nor a chair, it is without purpose and has entered non-being. The essence of the table is corrupted, just like humans became corrupted after separating themselves from the Lord. God created Adam and Eve in his image and to have a personal relationship with Him. However, they ate the forbidden fruit and gained knowledge of evil which separated them from God, putting them outside of their purpose. Athanasius uses the example of good and evil, saying “evil is non-being, the good is being, since it has come into being from the existing God” (53). Everything that comes from God is naturally good because He is good. Evil is a state devoid of good, or is something that is no longer within its original nature, just like non-being is the absence of being and is caused in the same manner. Man separated himself from the good that comes from God and aligned with evil, therefore moving from being into non-being.
Since humans no longer had being, that meant they could also no longer have eternal being like they were originally designed to have. As a result of sin entering the world, humans did not lead perfect lives because they were no longer partaking in God’s goodness, which is called “natural corruption” (53). Natural corruption instigates separation from God. It causes this division because it is a state of sin, and a person’s sins cause him to become removed from God. Athanasius states, “But because of his likeness to the One who Is… [this likeness] would have blunted his natural corruption, [and] he would have remained incorruptible” (53). Humanity’s likeness to God is what would have kept it from corruption, since, being in the image of He who is incorruptible, people would have that eternal aspect, too. However, humans sinned which put them closer to death, which corrupts, instead of God who has the power to make creation eternal. People did not act as though they were made in God’s image, and so they shunned the blessing of incorruptibility and living for eternity with Him, choosing instead what brought natural corruption. To reach eternal being again, humanity had to be brought back into God’s fold. In order for this restoration to happen, the corruption and death that clung to humans had to be destroyed, and to accomplish this task God sent Jesus.
The origin of human beings and the incarnation of Jesus are connected. If the downfall of humanity had never happened, the incarnation would not have been necessary. Athanasius states that “in order that you might know that our own cause was the occasion of his descent and that our own transgression evoked the Word’s love for human beings, so that the Lord both came to us and appeared among human beings” as the reason that Christ came to live and die for humanity (53). The non-being of His image bearers grieved Him so deeply that He came to this earth to redeem them and bring them back into the state of being. Without the incarnation, humanity would have been slaves to death and corruption for all time (52). Part of saving humanity meant placing them back into the state of being to where they could live with God eternally and to restore them to their purpose. Furthermore, Athanasius says that “[i]t was not worthy of the goodness of God that those created by him should be corrupted through the deceit wrought by the devil among human beings” (55). God is omnipotent, and so that His power and love would be known He was not willing to let the corruption that gripped mankind triumph, but instead He sought to save them. Athanasius also explains that it was fitting and necessary for Jesus to come and be the one to save humans from corruption because He is their creator, and because when He became man His body became incorruptible due to His dwelling in it (59). Upon His death and resurrection mankind became that way, too, because Jesus gave “them life from death” (57). In no other way could humanity be rid of the corruption that plagued it. Jesus became the incarnate word so that man might once more participate in being.
Athanasius details the downfall of mankind and the negative effects of it, namely that humans were no longer pure being. People forsook the purpose God created them for, and, as a result, entered into the state of non-being. Human nature was then tainted with natural corruption which kept them separated from God and distorted the fact that they were made in His image. In order to bring His children back to Him, He sent His son to live a perfect life and die to destroy the corruptibility. Additionally, the Lord, out of grace and because of His nature, desired that His creation should be redeemed. In doing so, man became like God again, being able to be incorruptible and live eternally.
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