The flesh taken for our deification and redemption
Athanasius continues his argument that the Word's taking flesh brings honor, not shame, and now turns to the purpose of the incarnation and the impiety of those who reject the flesh.
And if God sent his Son born of a woman, the matter brings us no shame, but rather glory and great grace. For he became human so that he might make us divine in himself; and he was born of a woman and begotten of a Virgin, so that he might transfer our wayward birth to himself, and that we might from then on become a holy race and sharers of the divine nature, as the blessed Peter wrote (2 Peter 1:4). And what the law could not do, weakened as it was through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3).
The flesh, then, was taken up by the Word for the purpose of freeing all human beings, raising all from the dead, and redeeming them from sin. How, then, do those who despise this flesh, or who because of this flesh accuse the Son of God as a thing made or a creature, not show themselves ungrateful and worthy of every hatred? For they are all but shouting to God and saying: Do not send your only-begotten Son in flesh; do not make him take flesh from a Virgin, lest he redeem us from death and sin. We do not want him to become in a body, lest he take upon himself death for us. We do not want the Word to become flesh, lest in it he become our mediator of access to you and we dwell in the heavenly rooms. Let the gates of heaven be shut, lest through the curtain of his flesh your Word inaugurate for us the way into heaven.
These are the voices they utter with devilish boldness, through which they have devised evil thoughts for themselves. For those who do not want to worship the Word become flesh are ungrateful for his incarnation; and those who divide the Word from the flesh believe that no redemption from sin has taken place, nor any destruction of death.
Where will the impious find the flesh by itself, which the Savior took, so that they dare to say: We do not worship the Lord with the flesh; rather, we divide the body and serve him alone? The blessed Stephen saw the Lord in heaven standing at God's right hand; and the angels said to the disciples: He will come in the same way you saw him going into heaven. And the Lord himself said, addressing the Father: I desire that where I am, they also may always be with me. And in short, if the flesh is inseparable from the Word, must they not necessarily put away their error and from then on worship the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ? Or, if they do not worship or serve the Word who came in flesh, must they not be cast out from every side and no longer be counted as Christians, but as pagans or numbered with the Jews?
Such, then, as we said before, is their madness and boldness. But our faith is right, and it springs from apostolic teaching and the tradition of the Fathers, and is confirmed by both the New and the Old Testament. The prophets say: Send out your Word and your truth (Psalm 42:3 LXX); and: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated, God with us (Isaiah 7:14).
Greek
Καὶ εἰ ὁ Θεὸς δὲ ἀπέστειλε τὸν Υἱὸν αὐτοῦ γεννώμενον ἐκ γυναικὸς, οὐκ αἰσχύνην ἡμῖν ἐπάγει τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον εὐδοξίαν καὶ μεγάλην χάριν. Γέγονε γὰρ ἄνθρωπος, ἵν' ἡμᾶς ἐν ἑαυτῷ θεοποιήσῃ· καὶ γέγονεν ἐκ γυναικὸς, καὶ γεγέννηται ἐκ Παρθένου, ἵνα τὴν ἡμῶν πλανηθεῖσαν γέννησιν εἰς ἑαυτὸν μετενέγκῃ, καὶ γενώμεθα λοιπὸν γένος ἅγιον, καὶ κοινωνοὶ θείας φύσεως, ὡς ἔγραψεν ὁ μακάριος Πέ τρος· Καὶ τὸ ἀδύνατον δὲ τοῦ νόμου, ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκὸς, ὁ Θεὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Υἱὸν πέμψας ἐν ὁμοιώματι σαρκὸς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας κατέκρινε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῇ σαρκί. Τὴν τοίνυν προσληφθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Λόγου σάρκα, ἐπὶ τῷ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἐλευθερῶσαι, καὶ πάντας ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆσαι, καὶ ἁμαρτίας λυτρώσασθαι, πῶς οἱ ταύτην ἐξουδενοῦντες, ἢ οἱ διὰ ταύτην κατηγοροῦντες τοῦ Υἱοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὡς ποιήματος ἢ κτίσματος, οὐκ ἀχάριστοι φαίνονται, καὶ παντός εἰσι μίσους ἄξιοι; Μόνον γὰρ οὐχὶ βοῶσι τῷ Θεῷ λέγοντες· Μὴ πέμψῃς σου τὸν Υἱὸν τὸν μονογενῆ ἐν σαρκί· μὴ ποιήσῃς αὐτὸν ἐκ Παρθένου σάρκα λαβεῖν, ἵνα μὴ λυτρώσηται ἡμᾶς τοῦ θανάτου καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Οὐ θέλομεν αὐτὸν ἐν σώματι γενέσθαι, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀναδέξηται θάνατον· οὐ βουλόμεθα τὸν Λόγον σάρκα γενέσθαι, ἵνα μὴ ἐν ταύ τῃ μεσίτης ἡμῶν γένηται τῆς πρὸς σὲ προσόδου καὶ τὰς ἐν οὐρανοῖς οἰκήσωμεν μονάς. Κλεισθήτωσαν αἱ πύλαι τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἵνα μὴ διὰ τοῦ καταπετάσμα τος τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἡμῖν ὁδὸν ἐγκαινίσῃ ὁ σὸς Λόγος. Αὗται μὲν αἱ ἐκείνων φωναὶ μετὰ διαβολικῆς τόλμης εἰσὶ προφερόμεναι, δι' ἧς ἐπενόησαν ἑαυτοῖς κακονοίας· οἱ γὰρ μὴ θέλοντες σάρκα γενόμενον τὸν Λόγον προσκυνεῖν, ἀχαριστοῦσι τῇ ἐνανθρωπήσει αὐτοῦ· καὶ οἱ διαιροῦντες τὸν Λόγον ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς οὐδὲ μίαν λύτρωσιν τῆς ἁμαρτίας γενέσθαι, οὐδὲ κατάλυσιν τοῦ θανάτου νομίζουσι. Ποῦ δὲ ὅλως οἱ ἀσεβεῖς καὶ καθ' ἑαυτὴν εὑρήσουσι τὴν σάρκα, ἣν ἔλαβεν ὁ Σωτὴρ, ἵνα καὶ τολμῶσι λέγειν· Οὐ προσκυνοῦμεν ἡμεῖς τὸν Κύριον μετὰ τῆς σαρκός· ἀλλὰ διαιροῦμεν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ μόνῳ τούτῳ λατρεύομεν; Ὁ μὲν οὖν μακάριος Στέφανος ἐν οὐρανοῖς εἶδε τὸν Κύριον ἐκ δεξιῶν ἑστῶτα· οἱ δὲ ἄγγελοι ἔλεγον τοῖς μαθηταῖς· Οὕτως ἐλεύσεται ὃν τρόπον ἐθεά σασθε αὐτὸν πορευόμενον εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Κύριος εἴρηκε, προσφωνῶν τῷ Πατρί· Θέλω, ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, ἵνα καὶ αὐτοὶ πάντοτε μετ' ἐμοῦ ὦσι. Καὶ ὅλως, εἰ ἀδιαίρετός ἐστιν ἡ σὰρξ ἀπὸ τοῦ Λόγου, πῶς οὐκ ἀνάγκη τούτους ἀποθέσθαι τὴν πλάνην, καὶ προσκυνεῖν λοιπὸν τὸν Πατέρα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· ἢ, μὴ προσκυνοῦντας, μηδὲ λατρεύοντας τῷ ἐν σαρκὶ γενομένῳ Λόγῳ, πανταχόθεν ἐκβάλλεσθαι, καὶ μηκέτι Χριστιανοὺς, ἀλλ' ἢ ἐθνικοὺς, ἢ μετὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων συναριθμεῖσθαι; Ἐκείνων μὲν οὖν, καθὰ προείπομεν, ἡ τοιαύτη μανία καὶ τόλμα· ἡμῶν δὲ ἡ πίστις ἐστὶν ὀρθὴ, καὶ ἐκ διδασκαλίας ἀποστολικῆς ὁρμωμένη καὶ παραδόσεως τῶν Πατέρων, βεβαιουμένη ἔκ τε Νέας καὶ Παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης, τῶν μὲν προφητῶν λεγόντων· Ἀπόστειλον τὸν Λόγον σου καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειάν σου· καὶ, Ἰδοὺ ἡ Παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται Υἱὸν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ, ὅ ἐστι μεθερμηνευόμενον, Μεθ' ἡμῶν ὁ Θεός.