Athanasius [Paperback]

Alvyn Pettersen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1996

Present at the Council of Nicea, which produced the famous creed declaring Christ truly divine, Athanasius (297-373) proved to be an enormous influence on the teaching that "the Word was made flesh". Now, this study presents a complete look at one of the most important of the early church fathers, focusing on his thought and influence.

Product Details

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: Morehouse Pub Co; 1st American ed edition (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0819216550
• ISBN-13: 978-0819216557
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,088,269 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to Athanasius' theology, October 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Athanasius (Paperback)

Pettersen wrote a good and ssytematic survey of Athanasius' theology and the book will provide excellent services to those seeking introductory information beyond that delivered by encyclopedia's. He also gives large and representative portions of the text of Athanasius' main writings in English translation. I would have loved however a bit more attention for Athanasius' other writings, e.g. his ascetic writings.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Needs more substance, February 12, 2007

By 

G. Stucco "mr guido" (usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Athanasius (Paperback)

I was a bit disappointed reading this book. I was hoping it would either be a new biography of the great saint, or an answer to revisionist works (e.g., Hanson) that portray Athanasius in an unfavorable light. It was neither. The book is just a series of chapters reviewing some of Athanaius' views on various theological issues. Great prominence is given to Athanasius' struggles with the Arians. Very little criticism, insights or help in understanding Athanasius better. This book is NOT to be recommended to students.
In De incarnatione, Athanasius make the point that God cannot just forgive sin by divine fiat ("Dieu pardonnera': c'est son metier"): that would be at best "ambulance work", mopping up blood without treating the wound or removing the wound's cause. Forgiveness would not be renewal in the divine image, but absolution of past errors; worse yet, it would not preclude subsequent error (C. Arrianos 2.68). This renewal, though does not consist in mystical union with the One or re-absorption into divinity, but in a personal encounter with Jesus: we need creaturely salvation rather than salvation from creatureliness. (as Porphyry envisioned. In his Sententiae ad intelligibilia ducentes he claimed that detachment from material world for the sake of contemplation and purgation of the soul lead to deification of the soul).
We are creatures by nature, but become sons afterwards, by adoption:
C. Arrianos 1.37; 2.59; 3.19
Also, just because the Logos assumed human nature in the Incaranation, does not mean everyone is redeemed: you need to respond in faith, as Athanasius rightly pointsout in De incarnatione I.29 (Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, p.378)
Jesus as God: not just God drawing near; or God coming upon a passible person; or Jesus being a representative of God; or mankind producing the man-God or the result of the Spirit unfolding in the world (De incarnatione 54)

2.0 out of 5 stars Uninspiring, March 16, 2001

By 

Quentin D. Stewart - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Athanasius (Paperback)

Since this work appeared in 1996 there has been an upsurge of interest in patristics and a growing corpus of works on the great bishop of Alexandria. Considering how pivotal Athanasius was to the defense of the Nicene definition of Christ as 'homoousios' with the Father, as well as his insights into the relation between Christology and soteriology, this work was disappointing.

Pettersen first assumes Athanasius was culpable of abusing his power as bishop of Alexandria despite the lack of evidence; history itself testifies to Athanasius' innocence regarding the trumped-up charges of his Arian opponents. Edward Gibbon, no friend of Christianity, begrudgingly acknowledges Athanasius' greatness more readily than Petterson, and also gives a more interesting account in "The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire." Pettersen then describes Athanasius' theology in seven chapters:

Creation & Providence; (Divine)Revelation & (Human)Resistance; Renewed in the Knowledge of God; From Godly life to death and corruption, and back; The Incarnation; The Trinity and trinitarian terms; and The Triune God.

Pettersen's seven-chapter description of Athanasius' theology is rather bland, failing to capture the genius of Athanasius, his continuity with earlier Alexandrian thought as well as the significance of the bishop's most important work, "On the Incarnation" - a work that would not be surpassed until Anselm wrote "Cur Deus Homo?" more than half a millennium later.

Besides more recent works that have appeared in the last few years, better to read Athanasius' works themselves in something such as volume 4 of the Nicene Post-Nicene Fathers. Volume 4 of the NPNF also provides a detailed introduction to Athanasius' life and thought, and explanatory footnotes. To get a grasp of Athanasius' theology one could just as easily read J.N.D. Kelly's "Early Christian Doctrines," Jaroslav Pelikan's first volume of his "History of Christian Doctrine," and Johannes Quasten's "Patrology,", for more precise and concise descriptions of the Alexandrian's theology.