Introduction to This Volume

How this book is arranged

This is the twenty-second volume of a series that gathers the writings of the early Church in order of date, from the generation after the apostles down to the eighth century. This volume holds Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation and the Arian Controversy, from the period about AD 318 – 360.

Within each work the text is divided into chapters and numbered sections, so that any passage can be found again and cited. The small bold figures in the text are the section numbers.

The translations

The text is in English only. Wherever a modern English version has been prepared for SermonIndex it is used here; otherwise the book prints an older public-domain translation. In both cases the wording is the translator’s own: older translations have not been altered beyond dividing them into sections. The sources for every work are listed at the back of the book, together with the licence under which each text is released. The modern English version prepared for SermonIndex is used for On the Incarnation of the Word (Athanasius of Alexandria); the other works are printed in older public-domain translations.

Short notes by the translator appear at the foot of the page of the modern English versions. They explain a difficult word, name a person or place, point to a parallel elsewhere, or say where the modern English departs from the earlier translation. They are numbered afresh for each work.

Scripture references

In the works printed in modern English, passages that quote or clearly echo the Bible are marked in brackets at the end of the section. These references are an aid to the reader, not a complete list: some parallels are not marked, and a marked passage may be a loose quotation or an echo rather than an exact match. The older translations are not marked in this way. The Scripture Index at the end of the book lists the marked references and the pages on which they are found.

In this volume

Athanasius was bishop of Alexandria from AD 328 until his death in AD 373, and he was sent into exile five times for his defence of the faith of Nicaea. His writings include his early work On the Incarnation, his long answers to the Arians, his letters, and the Life of Antony.

Against the Heathen and On the Incarnation of the Word are two parts of one work. They are traditionally dated to about AD 318, though some scholars place them later.

Dates and authorship

Dates are approximate and are debated by scholars. Each work begins with a short introduction that states what is known about its author and its date, and what is uncertain.