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Against the Heathen

St Athanasius, NPNF II.4

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Section 1: Introduction:—The Purpose of the Book a Vindication of Christian Doctrine, and…
Section 2: Evil No Part of the Essential Nature of Things. The Original Creation and…
Section 3: The Decline of Man from the Above Condition, Owing to His Absorption in…
Section 4: The Gradual Abasement of the Soul from Truth to Falsehood by the Abuse of Her…
Section 5: Evil, Then Consists Essentially in the Choice of What is Lower in Preference…
Section 6: False Views of the Nature of Evil: viz., that Evil is Something in the Nature…
Section 7: Refutation of Dualism from Reason. Impossibility of Two Gods. The Truth as to…
Section 8: The Origin of Idolatry is Similar. The Soul, Materialised by Forgetting God,…
Section 9: The Various Developments of Idolatry: Worship of the Heavenly Bodies, the…
Section 10: Similar Human Origin of the Greek Gods, by Decree of Theseus. The Process by…
Section 11: The Deeds of Heathen Deities, and Particularly of Zeus
Section 12: Other Shameful Actions Ascribed to Heathen Deities. All Prove that They are…
Section 13: The Folly of Image Worship and Its Dishonour to Art
14. Section 14: Image Worship Condemned by Scripture
Section 15: The Details About the Gods Conveyed in the Representations of Them by Poets…
Section 16: Heathen Arguments in Palliation of the Above: And (1) ‘the poets are…
Section 17: The Truth Probably is, that the Scandalous Tales are True, While the Divine…
Section 18: Heathen Defence Continued. (2) ‘The gods are worshipped for having invented…
Section 19: The Inconsistency of Image Worship. Arguments in Palliation. (1) The Divine…
Section 20: But Where Does This Supposed Virtue of the Image Reside? In the Material, or…
Section 21: The Idea of Communications Through Angels Involves Yet Wilder Inconsistency,…
Section 22: The Image Cannot Represent the True Form of God, Else God Would Be Corruptible
Section 23: The Variety of Idolatrous Cults Proves that They are False
Section 24: The So-called Gods of One Place are Used as Victims in Another
Section 25: Human Sacrifice. Its Absurdity. Its Prevalence. Its Calamitous Results
Section 26: The Moral Corruptions of Paganism All Admittedly Originated with the Gods
Section 27: The Refutation of Popular Paganism Being Taken as Conclusive, We Come to the…
Section 28: But Neither Can the Cosmic Organism Be God. For that Would Make God Consist…
Section 29: The Balance of Powers in Nature Shews that It is Not God, Either…
Section 30: The Soul of Man, Being Intellectual, Can Know God of Itself, If It Be True to…
Section 31: Proof of the Existence of the Rational Soul. (1) Difference of Man from the…
Section 32: (3) The Body Cannot Originate Such Phenomena; and in Fact the Action of the…
Section 33: §33. The Soul Immortal. Proved by (1) Its Being Distinct from the Body, (2)…
Section 34: §34. The Soul, Then, If Only It Get Rid of the Stains of Sin is Able to Know…
Section 35: Creation a Revelation of God; Especially in the Order and Harmony Pervading…
Section 36: This the More Striking, If We Consider the Opposing Forces Out of Which This…
37. Section 37: The Same Subject Continued
Section 38: The Unity of God Shewn by the Harmony of the Order of Nature
39. Section 39: Impossibility of a Plurality of Gods
Section 40: The Rationality and Order of the Universe Proves that It is the Work of the…
Section 41: The Presence of the Word in Nature Necessary, Not Only for Its Original…
42. Section 42: This Function of the Word Described at Length
Section 43: Three Similes to Illustrate the Word’s Relation to the Universe
Section 44: The Similes Applied to the Whole Universe, Seen and Unseen
Section 45: Conclusion. Doctrine of Scripture on the Subject of Part I
46. Section 46: Doctrine of Scripture on the Subject of Part 3
Section 47: Necessity of a Return to the Word If Our Corrupt Nature is to Be Restored