To Maximus the Philosopher

To our beloved and most truly longed-for son, Maximus the philosopher, Athanasius sends greeting in the Lord. Having read the letter that has just come from you, I approve your piety. But, amazed at the rashness of those “who understand neither what they are saying nor the things about which they make confident claims,” I had really decided to say nothing. For to reply on matters so plain, matters clearer than light, simply gives such lawless men an excuse for their shamelessness. And we have learned this from the Savior. For when Pilate had washed his hands, and gave way to the false accusation of the Jews of that day, the Lord answered him no further, but instead warned Pilate’s wife in a dream, so that he who was being judged might be believed to be God not in word, but in power. And after he had given Caiaphas no reply to his folly, he himself, by his promise, brought everyone to knowledge. So for some time I held back, and I have given way reluctantly to your zeal for the truth, because of the quarrelsomeness of shameless men. I have dictated nothing beyond what your letter contains, so that from now on the opponent may be convinced on the points he objected to, and may “keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.” I wish they would no longer join the Jews who passed by long ago and mocked him who hung on the tree: “If you are the Son of God, save yourself.” But if even after this they will not give in, then remember the apostle’s instruction: “Reject a man who is a heretic after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person is perverted and sins, being self-condemned.” For if those who are so daring are Gentiles, or among those who follow Jewish ways, let them, as Jews, think the cross of Christ a stumbling block, or, as Gentiles, foolishness. But if they claim to be Christians, let them learn that the crucified Christ is at once the Lord of glory, and the power of God and the wisdom of God. [a]

But if they doubt whether he is God at all, let them revere Thomas, who touched the crucified one and declared him Lord and God. Or let them fear the Lord himself, who said after washing the disciples’ feet, “You call me Lord and Teacher, and you are right, for so I am.” And in the same body in which he was when he washed their feet, he also carried our sins up to the tree. And he was attested as Master of creation, for the sun withdrew its rays, the earth trembled, the rocks were split, and the executioners recognized that the crucified one was truly the Son of God. For the body they saw was not the body of some man, but of God; and being in it, even while he was being crucified, he raised the dead. So it is no good venture of theirs to say that the Word of God came into a certain holy man. That was true of each of the prophets and of the other saints, and on that assumption he would plainly be born and die in the case of each one of them. But it is not so. Far from it! Rather, once for all, “at the completion of the ages, to put away sin,” “the Word became flesh,” and came forth from Mary the Virgin, man in our likeness; as he also said to the Jews, “Why do you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth?” And we are made divine not by sharing in the body of some man, but by receiving the body of the Word himself. [e]

This too greatly surprises me: how they have dared to entertain the idea that the Word became man as a result of his nature. If that were so, the commemoration of Mary would be needless. For nature knows nothing of a virgin giving birth without a man. That is why, by the good pleasure of the Father, he, being true God, and the Word and Wisdom of the Father by nature, became man in the body for our salvation, so that, having something to offer for us, he might save us all, “as many as through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.” For it was not some man who gave himself up for us, since every man is under sentence of death, according to what was said to all in Adam: “Earth you are, and to earth you will return.” Nor was it any other of the creatures, since every creature is liable to change. But the Word himself offered his own body on our behalf, so that our faith and hope might not be in man, but that we might have our faith in God the Word himself. Why, even now that he has become man, we see his glory, “glory as of the only Son from his Father, full of grace and truth.” For what he endured through the body, he made great as God. While he was hungry in the flesh, as God he fed the hungry. And if anyone stumbles because of the conditions of the body, let him believe because of what God does. For as a man he asks where Lazarus has been laid, but as God he raises him up. Let no one, then, laugh and call him a child, pointing to his age, his growth, his eating, drinking and suffering, or else, while denying what belongs to the body, he will utterly deny his stay among us as well. And just as he did not become man as a result of his nature, so it was fitting that, having taken a body, he should show what belonged to it, so that the fantasy of Manichaeus would not prevail. Again, it was fitting that, as he went about in the body, he should not hide what belonged to the Godhead, so that the man from Samosata would not find an excuse to call him a man distinct in person from God the Word. [g]

So let the unbelievers see this, and learn that while he lay as a baby in a manger, he brought the Magi under him and was worshiped by them; while he went down to Egypt as a child, he brought to nothing the handmade objects of its idolatry; and, crucified in the flesh, he raised the dead who had long since decayed. And it has been made plain to all that he underwent everything not for his own sake but for ours, so that through his sufferings we might put on freedom from suffering and incorruption, and remain for eternal life. [i]

This, then, I have dictated briefly, following, as I said above, the lines of your own letter. I have not worked out any point further, but have only mentioned what concerns the holy cross, so that those who despise it may be taught better on the points where they stumbled, and may worship the crucified one. But you must thoroughly persuade the unbelievers; perhaps somehow they may come from ignorance to knowledge, and believe rightly. And although what your own letter contains is enough, it is just as well to have added what I have, as a reminder, because of quarrelsome people: not so much so that, refuted in their reckless statements, they may be put to shame, as so that, being reminded, they may not forget the truth. For let what the fathers confessed at Nicaea prevail. It is correct, and enough to overthrow every heresy, however ungodly, and especially that of the Arians, which speaks against the Word of God and, as a logical consequence, profanes his Holy Spirit. Greet all who hold the faith rightly. All who are with us greet you.