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Reason and Revelation in Saint Athanasius

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2009

Andrew Louth
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Extract

The purpose of this article is to examine the place of reason in Athanasius' theology. We begin by looking at the Contra Gentes and De Incarnatione, a single work in two parts, since this is in some ways the most systematic of Athanasius' writings. Having taken our bearings in these early works we shall try and give some indication of how the notion of submission to the Logos is developed in his later writings (mainly the orations against the Arians and the Serapion correspondence). The notion of submission to the Logos we find to be a key in understanding the place of reason in Athanasius' thought.

Type
Research Article
Information
Scottish Journal of Theology , Volume 23 , Issue 4 , November 1970 , pp. 385 - 396
Copyright
Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1970

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References

page 385 note 1 Despite the arguments of J. Roldanus (Le Christ et l'Homme dans la théologie d'Athanase d'Alexandrie, Leiden, 1968). I find it difficult to believe that Contra Gentes–De Incarnatione is not a work of Athanasius' youth. For the purpose of this article, however, this question does not matter.

page 387 note 1 Athanase d'Alexandrie: Contre les Païens et Sur l'Incarnation du Verbe. Introduction, Traduction et notes de P. Th. Camelot, O.P., p. 45. (Sources Chrétiennes, n. 18).

page 390 note 1 See, e.g., De Incarn. xxi.4, Or. i.35, 36, etc., Ad Serap. i. 19.

page 391 note 1 Newman, , Select Treatises of S. Athanasius (London, 1881), vol. II, p. 250.Google Scholar

page 391 note 2 In the Athanasius volume of NPNF. This point is also emphasised by Meijerling, : Orthodoxy and Platonism in Athanasius (Leiden, 1968), p. 7.Google Scholar

page 393 note 1 Shapland, C. R. B., The Letters of Saint Athanasius concerning the Holy Spirit (London, 1951), p. 114n.Google Scholar

page 393 note 2 Klubertanz, G. P., S. Thomas Aquinas on Analogy (1960)Google Scholar.

page 394 note 1 Ad Scrap. i.16. Cf. Or. i.21, 23, in which Eph. 3.15 is quoted—obviously an important text here.

page 395 note 1 Pöhlmann, H. G.: Analogia entis oder analogia fidei? Die Frage der Analogie bei Karl Barth (Göttingen, 1965), p. 100Google Scholar.

page 396 note 1 The Orthodox Ethos, ed. Philippou, A. J. (London, 1964), p. 73Google Scholar.