Athanasius of Alexandria
On the Incarnation
Written before he was thirty and addressed to a reader who did not believe him. Not a devotional but an argument: why the Word would take a body at all, and why it had to end in a public execution.
Translated for this recording from the public-domain Greek of Robertson's 1893 critical edition. Each part is its own listen — choose one to begin.
The problem
What went wrong, and why could God not simply overlook it?
1 Creation, and the Fall into Corruption §§1–5 14:41 2 The Divine Dilemma, and the Coming of the Word §§6–10 13:27The answer
Why did the Word have to become man, and why end at a cross?
3 Why the Word Was Made Man §§11–19 25:04 4 The Death upon the Cross §§20–25 17:37 5 The Resurrection, and the Victory over Death §§26–32 19:49The defence
If this is true, why do the Jews not accept it, and why do the Greeks laugh?
6 The Unbelief of the Jews Confuted from the Scriptures §§33–40 25:29 7 The Scoffing of the Greeks Put to Shame §§41–53 38:18