Athanasius 21–23 • Augustine Letter 12 • Aquinas Q61.2

The thread running through today’s readings is the sheer nearness of Christ: in Athanasius we watch Him destroy death by refusing both secrecy and sickness; in Augustine we see the Word’s incarnation as the moment when eternal Wisdom stepped into the world to steady even the weakest mind; and in Aquinas we watch the moral life take shape through prudence, the virtue that orders every practical decision (1 Corinthians 15:53–55).

Readings:

Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Sections 21–23

Augustine, Letter 12, Sections 12–14

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 61, Article 2

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#Athanasius #Augustine #SummaTheologica #ChurchFathers #Incarnation #MoralTheology #EarlyChurch

Today’s readings move from incarnation to intellect to virtue: Athanasius reveals how the Word met humanity at its lowest point, taking flesh while remaining present everywhere; Augustine begins his powerful exchange with Volusianus by showing how reason itself witnesses to God’s nature; and Aquinas opens his treatment of the cardinal virtues, explaining why prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance stand at the hinge of the moral life (1 Corinthians 1:21).

Readings:

Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, Sections 15–17

Augustine of Hippo, Letter 137 to Volusianus, Sections 1–5 (Part One)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 61, Article 1

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#Incarnation #Athanasius #Augustine #Volusianus #CardinalVirtues #SummaTheologica #ThroughTheChurchFathers

The thread running through today’s readings is the sheer generosity of God: Athanasius shows how the Word pursued humanity through creation, prophecy, and finally by taking a body; Augustine teaches that prayer itself is a school of desire drawing us toward the life to come; and Aquinas explains how moral virtues differ because different parts of us need to be healed and ordered by reason (Romans 8:24).

Readings:

Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation, Sections 12–14

Augustine of Hippo, Letter 130 to Proba (Final Sections)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 60, Article 5

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#Athanasius #ChurchFathers #Augustine #Proba #SummaTheologica #Virtue #HistoricalTheology

Athanasius leads us deeper today into the logic of the Incarnation, showing that God’s goodness would not allow His creation to remain in darkness and idolatry, while Augustine continues Letter 130 with his careful reflection on vows, reputation, and the serious pastoral weight of keeping one’s word before God and His people, and Aquinas teaches that there cannot be only one moral virtue governing all human operations, because the will reaches toward many different kinds of goods and must be rightly shaped in each distinct area of life (Romans 1:25; Hebrews 2:14–15; Genesis 1:1).

Readings: Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Sections 12–13

Augustine, Letter 130 (Part 2)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 60, Article 4

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#Athanasius #Augustine #SummaTheologica #ChurchFathers #Incarnation #Virtue #HistoricalTheology

The heart of redemption appears today as Athanasius describes how the Word answered our ruin not only by dying for us but by teaching us, restoring what we lost through ignorance and idolatry, while Augustine opens Letter 130 with a surprisingly tender defense of Christian friendship and a sober warning about how easily reputations can be damaged within the body of Christ, and Aquinas draws our attention to how the moral virtues multiply not because reason is divided, but because human desires pull in many directions and must each be shaped toward the good (Wisdom 2:23–24; Psalm 82:6–7; Matthew 19:4–6).

Readings: Athanasius, On the Incarnation, Sections 10–11

Augustine, Letter 130 (Part 1)

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 60, Article 3

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#Athanasius #Augustine #SummaTheologica #ChurchFathers #Incarnation #HistoricalTheology

Our readings continue with Athanasius’s powerful account of how corruption tightened its grip on humanity, why God’s goodness could not allow His handiwork to dissolve back into nothingness (Wisdom 2:23–24), and why only the Word who made us could remake us. Augustine addresses the tension between translation, tradition, and pastoral responsibility as he responds to Jerome, reminding us that fidelity to Scripture requires both courage and charity. Aquinas, meanwhile, explains how the passions can elevate or diminish moral action depending on whether they obey or resist reason—revealing that the heart’s fire can be either virtue’s strength or temptation’s wind. Taken together, the readings show humanity’s need, God’s mercy, the Church’s struggle for truth, and the deep structure of the human soul.

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#ChurchFathers #Athanasius #Augustine #Aquinas #Incarnation #Passions #Soteriology #Patristics

The introduction to Athanasius’s On the Incarnation gives us a wide-angle view of the fourth century, where the Church faced both the brilliance and danger of its own growth, and Athanasius emerges as the unshakable voice who refuses to let the faith drift one inch from the truth about Christ. In this opening section, we explore why Athanasius stands shoulder to shoulder with Augustine and even Luther in long-term influence, how his defense of the full deity of Christ became the axis on which the whole Christian story turns, and why the Incarnation is not just a doctrine but a rescue—God’s dramatic intervention into a world collapsing under sin and corruption (John 1:14). The introduction explains the setting, the enemies of the faith, the stakes of the Arian controversy, and the sheer theological gravity of the bishop of Alexandria, while also highlighting a lesser-known detail: Athanasius wrote some of his finest works during exile, carrying his manuscripts in baskets from place to place as he hid from imperial forces—a reminder that the greatest theology often grows from suffering.

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#ChurchFathers #Athanasius #EarlyChristianity #Incarnation #Theology #Soteriology

The readings today take us deep into Athanasius’s unfolding argument that humanity’s fall into corruption demanded nothing less than the Word Himself entering into the human condition to restore life (Romans 5:17), while Augustine writes with surgical clarity about the dangers of misunderstanding virtue and misplacing spiritual authority, and Aquinas explains how the passions of the soul live in the sensitive appetite rather than in the reason, placing emotion within the architecture of human nature rather than outside it. Athanasius shows why repentance alone could never heal a nature that had collapsed into death, Augustine reminds us why humility guards every Christian debate, and Aquinas begins to map the soul’s movements in a way that anchors all later treatment of love, anger, fear, and desire.

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#ChurchFathers #Athanasius #Augustine #Aquinas #Incarnation #MoralTheology #HistoricalTheology

Today’s readings carry a single theme: how Christians live faithfully when customs differ, emotions rise, and the will wrestles toward obedience. Clement guides behavior with gentleness and firmness, Jerome confronts confusion with precision and honesty, and Aquinas shows how virtue grows stronger when the passions submit to reason.

Readings: Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus (The Instructor), Book [number], Chapter [number]

Jerome, Letter [number] (to Augustine), Section [number]

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 59, Article 5 (Whether There Can Be Moral Virtue Without Passion)

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#Clement #Jerome #Aquinas #ChurchFathers #Virtue #ChristianLife #HistoricalTheology

The thread across today’s readings is the way God shapes the soul through instruction, humility, and ordered desire—whether in Clement’s practical training, Jerome’s sharp defense of Scriptural clarity, or Aquinas’s careful distinctions about the will.

Readings: Clement of Alexandria, Paedagogus (The Instructor), Book [number], Chapter [number]

Jerome, Letter [number] (to Augustine), Section [number]

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part 1–2, Question 59, Article 4 (Whether Moral Virtue Can Exist With Passion)

Explore the Project:

Through the Church Fathers – https://www.throughthechurchfathers.com

Patreon – https://www.patreon.com/cmichaelpatton

Credo Courses – https://www.credocourses.com

Credo Ministries – https://www.credoministries.org

#Clement #Jerome #Aquinas #ChurchFathers #ChristianFormation #HistoricalTheology