Through the Church Fathers

Voices Proclaiming the Incarnation is a communal Christmas liturgy designed to be read aloud—together. Drawing from Scripture, the early Church Fathers, and the great creeds of the Church, this reading traces the mystery of the Incarnation from prophecy to fulfillment, from the manger to the cross, and from history to hope. Twenty readings are shared among the group, with a congregational refrain spoken together between each proclamation, allowing many voices to bear witness to one Christ. This is not a performance or a lecture, but an act of shared confession: the Word has become flesh, and God is with us. Whether used in a small group, family gathering, or quiet devotional setting, this liturgy invites listeners to slow down, listen carefully, and join the Church across the ages in proclaiming the wonder of Christmas.Explore the Project:Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org#ChristmasLiturgy #Incarnation #WordMadeFlesh #ChurchFathers #Advent #ChristmasDay #HistoricChristianity #Creeds #Scripture #ThroughTheChurchFathers

Final Broadcast of the YearIn today’s reading from On the Incarnation (Sections 53–57), Athanasius brings his great work to a close by pointing to the most astonishing evidence of all: the quiet but total overthrow of the pagan world from within the human conscience itself. Without armies, force, or spectacle, Christ has dismantled idolatry, silenced oracles, exposed demons, emptied magic of its power, and eclipsed the wisdom of the Greeks—not by argument alone, but by transforming lives. Those who once mocked the Cross now worship the Crucified as God; magicians burn their books; philosophers give way to the Gospels; and ordinary men and women live lives of chastity, courage, and hope in immortality. Athanasius insists that no mere man, demon, or magician could accomplish this. Only the Word of God made flesh could conquer the world by suffering, defeat death by dying, and reveal the invisible Father through visible works. He ends by urging us not only to search the Scriptures, but to live pure and disciplined lives, for only a cleansed soul can truly comprehend divine truth. As we celebrate Christmas, we are reminded that the Child born in humility is the eternal King who has silenced every false ruler, illumined the whole world, and will one day return in glory to judge the living and the dead. Merry Christmas.Explore the Project:Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.comPatreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpattonCredo Courses – https://www.credocourses.comCredo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.orgIf this journey through Athanasius has strengthened you, invite others to join us. Our updated and expanded programs now include Early Church Fathers, Early Church Discipleship, and new tracks launching soon. The Church has always grown by invitation—bring as many with you as you can.

In today’s Christmas Eve reading from On the Incarnation (Sections 46–52), Athanasius draws the final lines of his argument by pointing not merely to Scripture, but to the visible collapse of the old world and the undeniable rise of the new. Since the coming of Christ, idolatry has withered, oracles have fallen silent, demons have been driven out, magic has been exposed, and the proud claims of Greek philosophy have been eclipsed. What was once local, divided, and powerless has given way to a single, universal worship of Christ across every nation. Athanasius presses the point with force: no mere man, magician, or spirit could have accomplished this. The Cross itself—mocked by the world—has proven stronger than demons, stronger than death, and stronger than every false god. He contrasts Christ with Asclepius, Heracles, and Dionysus, showing that none healed human nature, none destroyed death, none transformed the passions of mankind, and none conquered the world through suffering. Even Christ’s death stands alone, marked by cosmic signs, followed by a resurrection unparalleled in any pagan myth. For Athanasius, the conclusion is unavoidable and fitting for Christmas: the One born of the Virgin, who sanctified a body, silenced the powers, and filled the earth with His teaching, is no other than the eternal Word, the Son of God, who became man for our salvation.Explore the Project:Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.comPatreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpattonCredo Courses – https://www.credocourses.comCredo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

From now until Christmas, our Early Church Fathers Track is turning all our attention to Athanasius’s On the Incarnation, letting his voice prepare us for the mystery of the Word becoming flesh (John 1:14). Today we hear him dismantle every objection—Jewish, pagan, philosophical—showing that Christ’s coming is the hinge of history, the end of prophecy, the downfall of idols, and the dawning of light for the nations (Isaiah 9:2). As we enter Advent, we’re walking slowly and reverently through this single work to let its truth settle deep. After December 22, we will take one week away from podcast releases so we can reset, reorganize, and gear up to begin a fresh year of the Fathers with renewed clarity and strength.Explore the Project:Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.comPatreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpattonCredo Courses – https://www.credocourses.comCredo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

In today’s reading from On the Incarnation (Sections 39–45), Athanasius presses the question of Christ’s identity with relentless clarity, drawing together prophecy, history, reason, and the visible transformation of the world. Beginning with Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks, he argues that Scripture itself fixed the time of the Messiah’s coming and declared that prophecy, kingship, and Jerusalem itself would cease once the Holy of Holies had appeared (Daniel 9:24–25). Athanasius shows that this has already happened: there is no king, no prophet, no vision, and no temple among the Jews, while the nations now worship the God of Israel through Christ (Genesis 49:10; Matthew 11:13; Psalm 118:27). Turning to the Greeks, he dismantles the charge that the Incarnation is absurd, arguing instead that the Word who fills the whole creation may fittingly reveal Himself in one human body (Acts 17:28). He then answers the deeper objection—why God did not restore man by a mere command—by showing that death had become bound to human nature itself, requiring life to be bound to it as well. The Word therefore became flesh to meet death on its own ground, so that corruption might be undone from within (Isaiah 11:9; Colossians 2:15). For Athanasius, the conclusion is unavoidable: prophecy has ceased, death has been conquered, the nations have turned, and creation itself bears witness that Christ has come.Explore the Project:Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.comPatreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpattonCredo Courses – https://www.credocourses.comCredo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org