Many of the Greeks in Athanasius’ time argued that it was improper for the Word of God, which they believed in, to exist locally in a part of the universe that he fully indwelled and orchestrated. But we see an interesting rebuttal: if we can speak of the strength of a man as fully indwelling a man, then it is not absurd to say that that strength can manifest in that man’s toe. He continues developing this argument by saying that the Word can simultaneously exist both omnipresent in the whole universe and in the flesh of a man without being limited. Just as the sun is not limited by or defiled by what its rays touch, the Son is not defiled or limited by the body He chooses to inhabit, but rather He sanctifies it and makes it holy.

Next, we see objection to the form in which the Word had incarnated. In Greek pagan thought, a body such as the planets, sun, or stars were seemingly more noble a thing to manifest into personally, but Athanasius rightly points out that even according to Plato, whom the Greeks revered, that the problem with creation was uniquely human, so to manifest as a celestial body would only serve to dazzle the eyes of men and would keep healing and salvation far from reach, not being able to reveal anything about the Father to mankind. In the incarnation the Word of God is able to make visible the invisible and show not the works of men but the works of the Father. Making God relatable and accessible through these divine acts in human flesh. The Greeks continue their objection. Stating that God could have just nodded and immediately restored creation. but interestingly Athanasius says that because death and non-being has become interwoven into creation, it was more fitting that life itself come down and interweave itself into creation. Not to say that God could not instantly heal, but rather His goodness is shown in extending healing to creation through the incarnation.

If Christ had not assumed a corruptible body, He would not have been able to destroy the corruption from within, which ultimately culminated in the cross, where at the very epicenter of history, Christ faces this corruptibility head on and is ultimately victorious. If this had been a planet or a star that had done this, how would one have faith in such a distant and un

relatable object. The whole point is that the remedy had to reach where the wound actually was. Death had taken hold of human flesh, so it was human flesh that had to be the place where death was undone. A distant cosmic display would have been impressive, but it would not have touched the actual problem.

When you look at all these chapters together, we see that the Incarnation fits what it was meant to do. The Word took a body because the problem was in the body, He took on a human body because the problem was human, and He took on a mortal body because problem was death. And He died publicly because the solution to these problems needed to be seen so that men could believe and partake of the healing. What the Greeks had thought below the dignity of God, turned out to be exactly the remedy for creation.

Athanasius furthers his rebuttal against the Greeks. They had believed that for God to maintain His dignity He should have stayed distant. But he argues just as a king maintains his dignity entering a humble household, so too does God retain His glory when entering into creation, and that rather than the sullying himself, he honors the household with his presence. Only a lesser god would not have been able to enter into his own creation, so for God to incarnate, it shows that He is capable of anything while still maintaining His divinity. Rather than the incarnation being contrary to the nature of God, rather it more fully shows the goodness and glory of God’s nature, to personally come down and be the doctor to heal all of creation. and to lift it back out of corruption back into the good graces of the Father, who is praised and glorified forever and ever, amen.

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In previous chapters Athanasius defends the incarnation by means of appealing to the senses. In which ways we saw, heard, and touched the very God-man walking among us. Here in refuting the unbelieving Jews, he appeals to something greater than our very own senses. He speaks to the shared belief in the Old Testament scriptures, pointing to both law and prophets in the ways in which they speak of a coming figure. Both speaking of Him as a man, but also as a divine figure.

In speaking of the birth, the prophet foretells a virgin whom Jesus is the seed of, saying this child will be “God with us”, giving no room to doubt that this is not just a mere human, but God Himself dwelling with His creation. Athanasius also points to the prophecies of miracles never seen before, such as the lame man walking and the blind men seeing, things which Isaiah explicitly attributes not to a prophet but to the very coming of God Himself in chapter 35:4-5:

“Behold, your God will come... Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as a deer.”

Giving the Jews no doubt that Christ is the God-man spoken of in antiquity, doing the very works which God alone was said to do. Even pointing to the unique geography of the Messiah from these ancient texts, being fulfilled only in the person of Christ.

We likewise see the conclusion of Christ’s ministry foretold. A sacrifice long awaited. Untold suffering brought on for the salvation of many. Athanasius draws from the famous passage in Isaiah 53 to show the fact that the man spoken of was to die for the iniquities of us all. Who else more capable of absorbing sin and death and destroying such things than the Word Himself? Who else but Christ had died in such a manner upon a cross, receiving the condemnation of mankind? When we draw the parallels, we make two connections. First: that the man spoken of in scriptures by Moses and the prophets was born, had lived, and had died in the same manner as the historic figure of Jesus of Nazareth. Second: that the man foretold had to be of divine origin, for his birth, life, and death all bear marks of one who is of the divine nature itself, and so therefore Christ Himself is divine in nature.

Athanasius also points to the timing of prophecies, such as the one given in Daniel talking about the end of sins, the finish of transgressions, and the bringing in of everlasting righteousness. Daniel 9:24 reads:

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.”

This prophecy gives a definite measure of time, and the works described at the end of it are no small things. To put an end to sin, to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, these are not works that any prophet, priest, or king of Israel ever accomplished, nor could any mere man accomplish them. Only one of divine nature could finish transgression itself and bring in a righteousness that is everlasting, for a righteousness that endures forever can only proceed from One who is Himself eternal. And we know that this period has long since passed, with Jerusalem and the temple destroyed in the year of our Lord seventy by the Romans under Titus, just as Daniel foretold. So either the prophecy failed, which cannot be, or the One who came in that period accomplished what was promised, and that One is Christ, who by His divine nature alone was able to do so.

Finally, Athanasius points to what is happening before our very eyes, that is, the calling of the Gentiles. The prophets foretold that the nations would abandon their idols and turn to the God of Israel, and we see this fulfilled in no other way than through Christ. Before His coming, the worship of the true God was confined to the borders of Judea, and the nations sat in darkness sacrificing to wood and stone. But after His coming, whole peoples have abandoned their ancestral gods, not by the sword nor by force of arms, but by the simple preaching of the cross. This too is a work proper to God alone, for who else can turn the heart of an entire nation, who else can cast down idols which had stood for generations, who else can be worshiped

by Greek and Scythian and Roman alike as the one true God? If Christ were not Himself divine, the prophecies of the nations coming to God would still be unfulfilled. But they are fulfilled, and they are fulfilled in Christ, therefore Christ is the God to whom the nations come.

And so we conclude this section seeing that the argument from prophecy is itself an argument for divinity. The prophets did not merely foretell that a man would come, but that God Himself would come, doing the works of God, bearing the names of God, and accomplishing what only God could accomplish. And He has come, the Word made flesh, foretold by Moses and the prophets, born of the virgin, healing as the eternal God heals, dying as no mere man could die, raising as only the Author of Life could raise, and drawing the nations as only the true God could draw them. To Him be glory and honor and power forever and ever, Amen.

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Athanasius continues in this section of the book talking about the apparent livingness of Christ as contrasted by the apparent deadness of idols and demons. He points to the worship and belief in Christ as subjecting the believer to desires of things eternal, such as virtue, and knowledge of the Father as revealed through the Son. Whereas we can assume that a love for and belief in idols will result in love of temporal goods, as each god was dedicated to temporal affairs. And when we look at history we see just how living Christ is and how dead the idols were, with Christianity growing at an unprecedented rate, destroying the idols in the hearts of men which were already dead.

Next, we draw from what Paul writes extensively about in his epistles to the Corinthians in chapter 8, talking about the non-existence of idols and how food sacrificed to them has no power over the Christian, thus once again showing the living power of Christ in comparison to idols. He is quoted in verses 4-6 as saying:

“⁴ Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” ⁵ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— ⁶ yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

Because we KNOW that God is one Father and one Lord Jesus Christ, we can KNOW therefore that no other god can exist and does not live in the same way Jesus Christ lives though He once was dead. And we witness now that the name of Jesus bears great power over the demonic, because they know and confess that He is resurrected.

Now looking at the argument from His divinity, we know that the Son of God is eternal. As the bishops and elders decreed of Him in the council of Nicaea:

“Begotten of the Father before all ages.

Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten not made,

of one essence with the Father by whom all things were made.”

And Athanasius being at this council, drawing from this fact, states that it would have been outside of His nature as the Son of God to not have resurrected His own human body. The body dying as was its nature, but because of the Life inside of it, it was raised again to eternal glory at the right hand of God, showing the power that Christ had over death, rendering it weak and futile. And extending these benefits to all those who have spiritually died and resurrected with Him, being promised to likewise resurrect bodily.

And finally, in conclusion, we see all the visible signs, in the historical growth of faith, never seen before as no other religion experienced such exponential growth without military conquest. Where we see mass conversions of pagans to Christianity, many abandoning or destroying their idols, once in for all declaring the truth of the One God revealed to us by the resurrected Son. In the witness of Paul, confessing only One God and one Lord, meaning there is only one who is alive. And the witness of the fathers including Athanasius that Christ is eternal and the God of all life and creation, therefore being able to give life to His own human nature.

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The cross bears witness to the fact that death no longer has its power over us, but that as Christians, we even stand over it and mock it. Athanasius uses an example of a dethroned tyrant king who now sits in the streets. Where the people of the kingdom once feared him, they now pass by him and spit on him and mock him. Mirroring the mocking language that Paul quotes to the Corinthians the book of Hosea chapter 13 verse 14.

“O death, where is your victory? O hell, where is your sting?”

Where once it was scandalous to imagine your own death, it is now something that Christians are eager to face for the sake of Christ our Lord.

It is human nature to despise death, just like any other animal, but when imbued with the Spirit of God given to us by Christ through faith in Him, we defy our physical nature, now living in the Spirit, we now look forward only to the spiritual things, which are now recognized as higher goods. As such, the thought of a merely physical death no longer scandalizes us. In the flesh, we fear the things of the flesh. In the Spirit we fear only the things of the Spirit as Jesus says in Matthew 10:38:

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

We also see as noted in previous chapters of this book, Christ once again appeals to our human senses, giving us a means by which we can have faith. In this section we see that Christ shows visibly the victory that has been had over death. In His visible resurrection, and in the faith of the martyrs as they oppose death, showing its weakness. Athanasius uses the parallel of fire and asbestos. Where one may fear fire until they are shown its weakness in being unable to destroy asbestos. Likewise, when we fear death, once simply must look towards Christ, which death could not conquer, and in seeing and believing this fact, we no longer are afraid of death.

On a side note, we previously have seen arguments that whatever it is that Christ assumed, he perfects and brings back to Himself. Likewise, when Christ entered a human death, He perfects it, wherein He entered sheol, and saved all the righteous, preaching to them the good news of His coming and victory, leading those righteous to heaven. So after the harrowing, those in Christ now have a perfect death, entering heaven to reign with Christ forever, rather than imperfectly entering sheol.

And so, to conclude, we see now the final evidence for this conquering of death, that if Christ were still dead, we would not see the martyrs spilling their blood, defying their human desire to flee from death. We would not see that idolatry in the hearts of men is being destroyed, leaving no more power for idols to take men captive. Also, if Christ were dead, we would not see that men would give up their fathers’ laws for that of Christs law. A man given himself over to Christ no longer lives by the teachings of Epicurus, or Aristotle, or Plato, but by the teachings of Christ. Where these men are dead, Christ lives forevermore and his teachings hold a much greater value and power, being a living testimony forever and ever, amen.

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We see and read here that it was for no arbitrary reason that the God Word chose to die in the way that He did. We know from previous chapters why the death itself was necessary, and why in particular the incarnation itself was made known and visible to mankind, but then arises a second question: why a visible death? It was necessary if we were to follow the logic of the incarnation. Who in their right mind would see a man on Friday morning, and on Sunday morning believe that he had died and resurrected in the time you had spent apart. God appeals to us in the simplest ways to reach us. He is not some impersonal far-off force, but rather One who loves us and wishes to save those whom He loves. So once again He appeals to our common sense and reaches us in the state that we are in, not forcing us to accept some impossible or imperceivable reality.

Continuing, we also question not only the perceptibility of His death, but also the way our Lord chose to die. If He was truly the king and creator of all, why die in a way so unbefitting of royalty and power? The answer likewise is very simple and goes to show the ability of God to relate to our logic and senses. He died a shameful death at the hand of His enemies to remove any doubt or dispute of His death being at His own hands, leaving open the possibility of a faked death. But rather, in allowing for the pharisees and romans to kill him, He removes any doubt that he would have been left alive. And likewise we see Athanasius pointing out the incorruptibility of His body, although experiencing tiredness and hunger, He is not overcome by them, and in the same manner, being the divine Healer, is unable to attain any natural ailment that would require healing, as He Himself contains the Life necessary to overcome such things, only giving in to what is required of God for humanity, i.e. death at the hands of evil.

We also see in the smallest of details the purpose His death serves. The sky being the realm of the spiritual, where spirits dwell and in some mysterious way, God also dwells there according to the evangelist in Matthew 16:9

“Our Father who art in Heaven”

And in Christ we see that He, attached to the ground via a tree, is raised up to the heavens, a sort of middle way, and in touching that middle way, purifies it, leaving it open for God to be able to reach us, and for us to reach Him. Likewise in His outstretched hands, showing the openness of His love for both the Jew and the Greek.

Finally, in keeping the theme of purification of all that the Light touches, we see that even the plots of the devil used for evil are for good. For the devil hated this man Christ, using the hearts of even Christ’s disciples in order to bring Him to death and finally claim victory over all, but we know and testify that He defeated death itself, resurrected, and made known to all men who hear and believe, bringing the first fruits to the Father which pleased Him greatly, preparing for us a great harvest that will culminate in the universal resurrection, completing the work of creation for all time, showing the goodness of our God.

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It is understood that Christs purpose was not simply that of taking our sin consequence and destroying it, for that in it of itself would not reverse the disease of sin but only stop the spread for those united to Him in His death and resurrection. As previously talked about in chapters 11-15, the rational soul was given sense to perceive God. And if the Word had only died, we would not have sense to see and hear the Creator God of our universe. But by His birth, life, words, and deeds we indeed see that He is the Creator God who orchestrates the universe by His Word of power. His purity was not only for the sake of justifying and sanctifying the soul in death under sin and Satan, but also for the purpose of sanctifying all that He touched. Athanasius uses the sun for example, that the sun is not sullied by what it gives light to, so how much more is the Son who created the sun able to lighten that which he encounters in our senses. In his birth he sanctified life itself by being within it. In His life, we hear and see the things He says and does, sanctifying both the intellect and the senses, and finally, in His passion we experience a sanctification of the will. That Christ, bearing a human will of His own, touches it, and allows for it to likewise be subject to the Father.

In the incarnation, the Son did not stop being the Son. For He is eternal and He is God (Hebrews 1:8). What could this mean? It means the Son continued in His omnipresence and His orchestration of the universe, as described in Job 38. He had always been within and outside of all creation, but in the taking on of His human nature and in such a simple act as prayer, He makes visible to us what is known, that God is in all, and outside of all (as He prayed to the Father who was evidently outside of His created body, in which He (the Son) was inside. But not forgetting that as the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son, thus the Father maintains His omnipresence even in the human nature of the Son). All of this to say one simple fact: God had looked to restore every aspect of us, inside and out, not as an external actor, but as an agent internally. He lacked nothing in His humanity, as He ate, slept, laughed, and wept, but was also lacking nothing in His divinity, as He commanded, restored, created from nothing, and truly lived.

John the evangelist spoke clearly of the life that was in the Son, giving life to His very body which he indwelled. John 1:4:

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

We see the very essence of the incarnation in the evangelists first chapter of his gospel. Very clearly the purpose of Christ’s life being the illumination to men and the entirety of their natures, from the highest of goods (that is; the soul) to the lowest (that is; the mind, will, and body), leaving no stone unturned, as is proper to the nature of an omnibenevolent God, that all may seek restoration in Him, for He Himself is restoration, He is life, and He is love.

We know that we are made in the image of God. So that creation itself would know love and acknowledge its Creator. An animal lacking rationality and understanding would not be able to perceive its Creator because its body is ordered to its own instincts for the purpose of survival. But us being made in God’s image, are endowed with rationality and understanding, and from the start were completely ordered towards God in our perfect understanding. We had not yet “discovered” in a sense, the ability to order our senses to something lower than that of God. But the forces of evil then tainted this, putting in man a sort of pride to order their hearts to themselves rather than God. This then darkened their senses. Before they looked toward the light, being fully illuminated by God’s goodness, but then they looked inward, in which there was no source of light, and likewise receiving the just penalty of God, that “if you eat of the tree, you shall surely die” knowing that perception driven away from Himself, would drive His creation into non-being, i.e. falling out of grace.

In speaking of such, Athanasius builds a sort of cascade, that we go from looking to God to looking at His creation, and when sin continues to dull our senses, we start looking from that to ourselves, seeking nothing but self-pleasure. This ultimately culminates in the worship of created beings and men, because them we can perceive. In seeking our own senses, we try to satisfy the desire to acknowledge the Creator but fail due to the veil of sin blocking out the knowledge of God and his Son, in whom we derive our very being and image.

Finally, we see the purpose of the incarnation, that to restore our senses, He must first encounter the senses personally, in a visible, physical body. Like the bronze serpent in the wilderness, it gave to God’s people a visible and tangible object upon which their burdens be laid (prefiguring the crucifixion). And in His preaching, he appealed to the darkened intellect as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:21:

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”

Although Christ Himself speaks of the unfortunate state of God’s chosen people due to the ongoing corruption of sin, quoting from the prophet Isaiah in Matthew 13:15:

“For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are heavy of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should perceive with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and turn for me to heal them.”

Seeing that the state of sin is not a static legal declaration, but rather a poison that slowly infiltrates every aspect of creation, up to and including the senses and the minds of men. But the faith we hold is a gift (Philippians 1:29) that is the very instrument of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) by which our minds are once again illuminated (2 Corinthians 4:6). As a result, we know that the incarnation of the God Word was most fitting for us in our fallen state as to appeal to us and meet us where we were to offer a Grace so sweet, where we, undeserving of God’s mercy, were finally able to perceive God once again, in the words and acts of Christ.

The basic ontology we are presented with is simply this: God created, God is good, therefore creation is good. Next, because we are created from nothing, we are prone to going back to nothing. God’s grace prevents this “nothingness” as creation is meant to mirror His own eternality, particularly humans, as God declared that he was made in His own image. Finally, sin is the absence of God, absence of God and His grace means non-being and corruption for the thing affected. So, sin is what allows us to enter corruption or non-being, as Athanasius would describe.

With the basic principles laid out, Athanasius describes a general theory of why the Word became flesh. He begins with two propositions: God is good, and God is truth. Starting from the first; if God is good, then it would be not good for God to allow creation to enter fully into non-being, as He created it from His goodness, so He must reverse this. Second, God is truth. There need not debate over whether this is truth because God said so, or because this was a logical reality that naturally exists due to the nature of God, but regardless, God said “if you eat of this tree, you shall surely die”. So, this must be fulfilled consequently for mankind. These two propositions and their conclusions seem to be at odds, how can God bring creation back into the fullness of being without lying, that is, while upholding the declaration that man shall surely perish at the introduction of this corruption and trajectory towards non-being. The answer is clearly revealed to us in the scriptures. God, being incorruptible, must enter creation in our likeness, and fully take on the death that He Himself decreed, so that He be not a liar, and restores the goodness of His creation.

The question remains for the reader, “How do we fit into this”. On account of the Word taking on our very nature, and we, being the body, that is, the church, being united to the Word in this nature, likewise partake of the victory over corruption and non-being. Receiving that grace, which was from the beginning, allowing us to once again become incorruptible as God intended for us, being made in the image of Him, who is incorruptible, and is being itself.

And this, we know, is supremely fitting, that God, being a king, would not allow rivaling principalities overtake what is rightfully His, though for a time he permits this. God in His ultimate goodness thus orders all for this goodness, that all that is bad is recapitulated and made good. Like Athanasius says, in Adam all die, but in Christ, all may live.

St. Athanasius starts by talking about the ridicule that Christ receives from unbelievers (whether that be Greeks or Jews). This is not to show the inferiority, but rather strangely, the superiority of Christ, the living Word and Son of God the Father. Taking into principle what Joseph said to his brothers in Egypt in Genesis 50:20. “²⁰ As for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Showing that the apparent destruction of Christ, in a roundabout way, was rather meant for the opposite; that is, the restoration of His Father’s creation. Paul in Hebrews 2:10-11 captures this perfectly in saying:

“¹⁰ In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. ¹¹ Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.”

We see that the one for and through whom all exists, is also the one who endures this shame for His and our glory. To put it simply, because everything was made for and through the Son as the modus and the telos of creation, the Father in His wisdom saw it most fit that the Son be the one to restore that creation. The Word being the instrument through and for which creation happens, we see then at the annunciation, once again that the plan of redemption was to happen through the same instrument, that is, the Word, now being incarnate.

The Word, or Logos, in the Greek, implies a rationality to this creation. Athanasius points out this rationality, an existing distinction between objects which our minds observe, which is contrary to the Epicureans of his time, which suggest a spontaneous impersonal force behind the creation. The logical end of this being that without a personality, or rather a plurality of personalities, there would be no form or distinction in creation. To create, and to be all-powerful, is to imply a lack of creation before a creation. Augustine heavily leans on this logic in his work, “The City of God”, in which he argues against the Roman pagans saying that the God of Christianity is superior to that which the ancients conceived simply because they claim that their Gods ‘are’ the soul of the earth, the earth itself, and the planets around, whereas God, before all time, by His eternal Word, CREATED these things from nothing. Although far from his only argument, this being a significantly impactful one (how can the soul be greater than one who created the soul). All of this to say, the logic of the philosophers leaves something to be desired. A true explanation of existence that doesn’t lead to logical absurdities.

Athanasius furthers his argument by pointing to the rationality of the human soul. Where could this have come about if not the imprint of the rational Creator, which was proved to exist by the nature of creation itself, existing by some cause, and having an order and logic to its design. Showing that in the sin of man, choosing to abandon that which is good, leaving behind the rationality that was imprinted there by the Word. There leaves behind a perfection to be desired, and inherent in all men is this desire for perfection, and Athanasius argues that this perfection can only be found once again in the Word, the Logos. The very thing which ordered all of creation towards and for Himself from the beginning. The Instrument the Father uses to bring about His kingdom, glory, power, forever and ever, Amen.

Ultimately, what is shown in these chapters is that we witness Christs divinity all the more, when we observe His humility in taking on a great shame, in order that His creation become whole and ordered towards His own rationality and Logos once again, escaping the corrupting power of death, and in joining Him, we may be able to do the same.

I’m here to bridge the gap between ancient wisdom and a modern life. This space is a digital common-place book. A collection of amateur intellectual works where I’ll be wrestling with theology, from the early Church Fathers to contemporary thinkers.

II. The Philosophy (Who this is for)

This isn’t a platform for definitive answers, but a record of my search. I’m writing primarily to track my own intellectual and spiritual growth, but the door is wide open. If you’re someone who values ‘thinking out loud’ or looking for a starting point into complex theological subjects, you’re welcome here. Critique is welcome, but curiosity is preferred.

III. The Rhythm (What to expect)

Consistency is a spiritual discipline. Every Tuesday – my dedicated day for studying – I will share an essay or an examen on a specific text. Interspersed with these weekly reflections, I’ll occasionally release more exhaustive, long-form essays on broader topics that I study separately from my weekly discipline.

IV. The Voice behind the Alias

I write under the name Reuven Pilov. I’m a Christian, a student of history, and a firm believer that we cannot know where we are going if we don’t know where we’ve been. I’ve chosen to keep my specific denominational ties in the background; my goal isn’t to defend a sect, but to seek the Truth. Everything here is done for the glory of God and the sharpening of the mind.