Through the Church Fathers

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

Today’s readings press us right up against the heart of the Christian confession, where Athanasius keeps insisting that the Cross and Resurrection are not ideas to ponder but facts that reshape reality (Romans 4:25). Augustine then pulls us into the mystery of desire itself, reminding us how hungry we are for God even when our lives pull us toward lesser loves (Psalm 42:1). Aquinas closes the day by lifting our gaze above the visible world to the ordered work of the angelic hosts, showing how every good action in creation echoes the goodness of the God who sends them (Hebrews 1:14). These three Fathers—each in a different way—urge us to understand salvation not as a theory to defend but a living power that heals the human person.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

Athanasius 12–14 • Augustine Letter 12 • Aquinas Q61.3Today’s readings pull us into the question of what counts as adequate proof of God’s majesty: Athanasius reminds us that the Incarnation brought new works into the world, not a new world; Augustine unfolds how Christ’s teaching corrected human pride and restored the soul’s desire for God; and Aquinas explains why the four cardinal virtues stand as the foundational pillars of the moral life (John 1:1–3).Readings:Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Sections 12–14Augustine, Letter 12, Sections 13–14Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 61, Article 3Explore 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#Athanasius #Augustine #SummaTheologica #ChurchFathers #Incarnation #Virtue #EarlyChurch

The cross has altered our entire relation to death, turning what once terrified the world into something mocked, trampled, and ultimately defeated in the lives of ordinary believers who now rush toward martyrdom with unshakable confidence. Athanasius explains how Christ’s victory displays itself in His people, how doubt collapses under the weight of lived evidence, and how the triumph of the cross is as self-evident as sunrise. Augustine then reflects on Scripture’s unique ability to teach all minds—simple or learned—by speaking plainly and hiding depths in mystery, before offering pastoral counsel on endurance, hope, and the heavenly city. Aquinas concludes with the unity of the virtues, showing why true prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance cannot exist in isolation but rise together as one moral harmony (1 Corinthians 15:55; Matthew 22:37–39).Readings:Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Sections 27–29Augustine, Letter to My Noble Lord — Sections 18–20Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 2–2, Question 61, Article 5Explore 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#Athanasius #Augustine #SummaTheologica #Virtue #DeathDefeated #ChurchFathers