\u201cSt. Athanasius the Apostolic\u201d
St. Athanasius of Alexandria (\u1f08\u03b8\u03b1\u03bd\u03ac\u03c3\u03b9\u03bf\u03c2 \u1f08\u03bb\u03b5\u03be\u03b1\u03bd\u03b4\u03c1\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2, ca AD 296-373) was, beyond dispute, the principal figure behind the formulation of the Nicene Creed.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Christ\u2019s\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at Christmas.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why did the divine Son of God\u00a0take our human flesh upon himself?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cChrist was made man that we might be made God.\u201d<\/strong> \u00a0(Athanasius, On the Incarnation<\/em>)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Christ\u2019s\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at Christmas. \u00a0 Why did the divine Son of God\u00a0take our human flesh upon himself? \u00a0 \u201cChrist was made man that we might be made God.\u201d \u00a0(Athanasius, On the Incarnation) \u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
What was the point of Christ's coming to earth?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Christ's\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What was the point of Christ's coming to earth?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Christ's\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-12-05T07:18:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2015\/12\/419px-St_Athanasius_the_Apostolic.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html\",\"name\":\"What was the point of Christ's coming to earth?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-05T07:18:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-05T07:18:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Christ's\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What was the point of Christ’s coming to earth?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What was the point of Christ's coming to earth?","description":" Christ's\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What was the point of Christ's coming to earth?","og_description":" Christ's\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2015-12-05T07:18:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2015\/12\/419px-St_Athanasius_the_Apostolic.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html","name":"What was the point of Christ's coming to earth?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-05T07:18:44+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-05T07:18:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Christ's\u00a0advent, his incarnation (or, literally, his enfleshment), his birth as a human baby, is what Christian believers celebrate at","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2015\/12\/what-was-the-point-of-christs-coming-to-earth.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What was the point of Christ’s coming to earth?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28528\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"St.](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2015\/12\/419px-St_Athanasius_the_Apostolic.jpg\")
<\/a>