On The Incarnation 5

Study Guide Questions for Sections 33-40

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Unbelief, Truth, Justice

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What did Athanasius say serves as a “rebuttal” to the unbelieving Jews?

2. What did Athanasius argue was “indicated exceedingly clearly” in the Old Testament Scriptures?

3. What has happened because of “the sojourn of the Savior?”

4. What had been the case “as long as Jerusalem stood?”

5. According to Athanasius, what was a feature of the death of the Word (Jesus) which was not shared by any of the prophets of patriarchs?

6. How did Athanasius suggest some Jews might try to deny that the Word (Jesus) was the one whom Scripture foretold “without denying what is written” in the Old Testament Scriptures?

7. What things serve as a “sign and great proof” that the “advent of the Word” has already occurred?

8. What analogy did Athanasius use to describe those “alleging that God had not come” in the person of Jesus (the Word)?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why would Athanasius’ attempts to persuade the Jews that the Word (Jesus) is the promised Messiah (Christ) all center around passages from the Old Testament Scriptures?

2. What was Athanasius’ purpose in listing the various prophets and patriarchs and their fathers?

3. What was Athanasius’ point when he mentioned the two Jewish kings (Joas and Josiah) who started ruling at about seven?

4. Why is it significant, for demonstrating that the Word is the true Savior of the world, that “Jerusalem no longer stands” and that there were no more prophets or visions coming to the Jewish people? 

5. What did Athanasius mean by saying “Jerusalem stood for so long, in order that there they might be prepared by the types of the truth?”

6. This reading assignment as a whole is essentially an inductive argument wherein Athanasius argues that the foretold Messiah would have to fulfill certain prophecies of the Old Testament and that the Word (Jesus) alone meets all those conditions. How many lines of evidence (or premises) does Athanasius exhibit in his argument against the Jews? What are they?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. The Jews have access to the same Scriptures (the Old Testament) that the Christians do. Why is it that two people (or groups of people) can look at the exact same information and still draw different conclusions? What kinds of things affect our ability to rightly interpret a text? What role might factors such as education or even personal desires have upon the way we might interpret information? How can we ensure that we are interpreting a text in a faithful way without bending its meaning to our will?

2. Athanasius states, “He it is who is the Life of all, and who like a sheep delivered his own body to death as a substitute for the salvation of all, even if the Jews do not believe.” What is the relationship of truth and belief? To what extent, if any, does what is true depend upon what we believe? If you say that truth is affected by what we believe, explain how. If you say that truth is not affected by what we believe, explain why.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read 2 Corinthians 3 and explain how it relates to the topic of Athanasius using the Scriptures in an attempt to persuade the Jews to believe in the Word (Jesus).