Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word

For if they do not think these proofs sufficient, let them be persuaded at any rate by other reasons, drawn from the oracles they themselves possess. For of whom do the prophets say: “I was109 Isa. lxv. 1, 2; cf. Rom. x. 20, sq. made manifest to them that sought me not, I was found of them that asked not for me: I said Behold, here am I, to the nation that had not called upon my name; I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people.” 2. Who, then, one might say to the Jews, is he that was made manifest? For if it is the prophet, let them say when he was hid, afterward to appear again. And what manner of prophet is this, that was not only made manifest from obscurity, but also stretched out his hands on the Cross? None surely of the righteous, save the Word of God only, Who, incorporeal by nature, appeared for our sakes in the body and suffered for all. 3. Or if not even this is sufficient for them, let them at least be silenced by another proof, seeing how clear its demonstrative force is. For the Scripture says: “Be strong110 Isa. xxxv. 3, sqq. ye hands that hang down, and feeble knees; comfort ye, ye of faint mind; be strong, fear not. Behold, our God recompenseth judgment; He shall come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be plain.” 4. Now what can they say to this, or how can they dare to face this at all? For the prophecy not only indicates that God is to sojourn here, but it announces the signs and the time of His coming. For they connect the blind recovering their sight, and the lame walking, and the deaf hearing, and the tongue of the stammerers being made plain, with the Divine Coming which is to take place. Let them say, then, when such signs have come to pass in Israel, or where in Jewry anything of the sort has occurred. 5. Naaman, a leper, was cleansed, but no deaf man heard nor lame walked. Elias raised a dead man; so did Eliseus; but none blind from birth regained his sight. For in good truth, to raise a dead man is a great thing, but it is not like the wonder wrought by the Saviour. Only, if Scripture has not passed over the case of the leper, and of the dead son of the widow, certainly, had it come to pass that a lame man also had walked and a blind man recovered his sight, the narrative would not have omitted to mention this also. Since then nothing is said in the Scriptures, it is evident that these things had never taken place before. 6. When, then, have they taken place, save when the Word of God Himself came in the body? Or when did He come, if not when lame men walked, and stammerers were made to speak plain, and deaf men heard, and men blind from birth regained their sight? For this was the very thing the Jews said who then witnessed it, because they had not heard of these things having taken place at any other time: “Since111 John ix. 32, sq. the world began it was never heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

Εἰ γὰρ μὴ αὐτάρκη νομίζουσι ταῦτα, κἂν ἐξ ἑτέρων πειθέσθωσαν ἀφ' ὧν αὐτοὶ πάλιν ἔχουσι λογίων. Περὶ τίνος γὰρ λέγουσιν οἱ προφῆται· “Ἐμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν· εἶπα ἰδού εἰμι τῷ ἔθνει οἳ οὐκ ἐκάλεσάν μου τὸ ὄνομα· ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα;” Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ ἐμφανὴς γενόμενος; Εἴποι τις πρὸς Ἰουδαίους· εἰ μὲν γὰρ ὁ προφήτης ἐστί, λεγέτωσαν πότε ἐκρύπτετο, ἵνα καὶ ὕστερον φανῇ· Ποῖος δὲ οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ προφήτης ὁ καὶ ἐμφανὴς ἐξ ἀφανῶν γενόμενος, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐκπετάσας ἐπὶ σταυροῦ; Τῶν μὲν οὖν δικαίων οὐδείς, μόνος δὲ ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος, ὁ ἀσώματος ὢν τὴν φύσιν καὶ δι' ἡμᾶς σώματι φανεὶς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν παθών. Ἢ εἰ μηδὲ τοῦτο αὔταρκες αὐτοῖς, κἂν ἐξ ἑτέρων δυσωπείσθωσαν, οὕτως ἐναργῆ τὸν ἔλεγχον ὁρῶντες· φησὶ γὰρ ἡ γραφή· “Ἰσχύσατε χεῖρες ἀνειμέναι καὶ γόνατα παραλελυμένα· παρακαλέσατε οἱ ὀλιγόψυχοι τῇ διανοίᾳ· ἰσχύσατε, μὴ φοβεῖσθε· ἰδοὺ ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν κρίσιν ἀνταποδίδωσιν, αὐτὸς ἥξει καὶ σώσει ἡμᾶς· τότε ἀνοιχθήσονται ὀφθαλμοὶ τυφλῶν, καὶ ὦτα κωφῶν ἀκούσονται· τότε ἁλεῖται ὡς ἔλαφος ὁ χωλός, καὶ τρανὴ ἔσται γλῶσσα μογγιλάλων.” Τί τοίνυν καὶ περὶ τούτου δύνανται λέγειν, ἢ πῶς ὅλως καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο τολμῶσιν ἀντιβλέπειν; Ἡ μὲν γὰρ προφητεία Θεὸν ἐπιδημεῖν σημαίνει, τὰ δὲ σημεῖα καὶ τὸν χρόνον τῆς παρουσίας γνωρίζει· τό τε γὰρ τυφλοὺς ἀναβλέπειν, καὶ χωλοὺς περιπατεῖν, καὶ κωφοὺς ἀκούειν, καὶ τρανοῦσθαι μογγιλάλων τὴν γλῶσσαν, ἐπὶ τῇ γενομένῃ θείᾳ παρουσίᾳ λέγουσι. Πότε τοίνυν γέγονε τοιαῦτα σημεῖα ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἢ ποῦ τοιοῦτόν τι γέγονεν ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ, λεγέτωσαν. Λεπρὸς ἐκαθαρίσθη Ναιμάν, ἀλλ' οὐ κωφὸς ἤκουσεν, οὐδὲ χωλὸς περιεπάτησε. Νεκρὸν ἤγειρεν Ἠλίας καὶ Ἐλισσαῖος, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐκ γενετῆς ἀνέβλεψε τυφλός. Μέγα μὲν γὰρ καὶ τὸ ἐγεῖραι νεκρὸν ἀληθῶς, ἀλλ' οὐ τοιοῦτον, ὁποῖον τὸ παρὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος θαῦμα. Πλὴν εἰ τὸ περὶ τοῦ λεπροῦ καὶ τοῦ νεκροῦ τῆς χήρας οὐ σεσιώπηκεν ἡ γραφή, πάντως εἰ ἐγεγόνει καὶ χωλὸν περιπατεῖν καὶ τυφλὸν ἀναβλέπειν, οὐκ ἂν παρῆκε τοῦ δηλῶσαι καὶ ταῦτα ὁ λόγος. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ σεσιώπηται ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς, δῆλόν ἐστι μὴ γεγενῆσθαι ταῦτα πρότερον. Πότε οὖν γέγονε ταῦτα, εἰ μὴ ὅτε αὐτὸς ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος ἐν σώματι παραγέγονε; Πότε δὲ παραγέγονεν, εἰ μὴ ὅτε χωλοὶ περιεπάτησαν, καὶ μογγιλάλοι ἐτρανώθησαν, καὶ κωφοὶ ἤκουσαν, καὶ τυφλοὶ ἐκ γενετῆς ἀνέβλεψαν; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ οἱ τότε θεωροῦντες Ἰουδαῖοι ἔλεγον, ὡς οὐκ ἄλλοτε ταῦτα γενόμενα ἀκούσαντες· “Ἐκ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσθη, ὅτι ἀνέῳξέ τις ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλοῦ γεγεννημένου· εἰ μὴ ἦν οὗτος παρὰ Θεοῦ, οὐκ ἠδύνατο ποιεῖν οὐδέν.”