I finally started "On the Incarnation" today. It ain't an easy read. But that's probably because I don't know a ton about Greek philosophy. I think if I did it would be easier to understand the presuppositions Athanasius has about matter, corruptibility, and non-being.

So overall I've probably spent like 3-4 hours and I made it about 11 pages. This covers his first divine dilemma. But it's quality reading and makes a lot more sense than most western views of the incarnation. Or at least seems to address the root of the problem better.

What Athanasius really seems to be demonstrating is proper theodicy and tackling it much better than later writers in the west have been able to articulate. Partly because the dilemma isn't about free will really, nor about breaking the law.

The problem with our world is that human nature has become corruptible and through corruption it leads into non-being or death. However, I'm not sure what he means by non-being. It could be that we become mere animals acting solely on instincts and lose the ability to reason.

Or perhaps it is the death of our species. I'll need to ask someone who knows . more to make sure I'm understanding what Athanasius is saying about non-being here. I don't want to infer annihilationism since that appears to be more of a novelty in Christian theology.

Anyway, the main problem Athanasius addresses doesn't seem to be that humans broke the law of God, it's the consequences of breaking that law. Namely that in doing so, we became susceptible to corruption and ultimately death itself.

I might add more to this as I read more. The next section presents another divine dillemma. So we'll see what that reveals and even perhaps adds to my understanding of Athanasius' previous dillemma.