the soteriology of saint athanasius of alexandria the conformation of ...

THE SOTERIOLOGY OF SAINT ATHANASIUS OF ALEXANDRIA 265
Christ opens the door of the soul to the infusion of the charity
of the Spirit. But, the theological virtue of charity is the principle
of new supernatural life. It not only elevates man's being to the
state of divine sonship and participation in God's nature, but it
also transforms the will. This supernatural or theological virtue,
like faith and hope, makes us pleasing to God because of the excellence
of the acts they enable us to perform 256 .
a) Imitatio Christi Capitis
We have seen that redeemed man experiences a gradual
transformation of his being and his activity 'in the Spirit': «Tr)v
Ы aapxa SEXTIXTJV той Лоуои хатастхЕоааа?, £Jtoir|CT£v ^(ха? [лг)Х£Т1
хата аарха гсершхтеТу, аХХа хата IIv£U[xa [cf. Rom. 8, 4]» — having
rendered the flesh capable of the Word, he made us no longer
walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit 257 . Our
flesh is made capable of possessing the Word when it is cleansed
of sin. And «to walk according to the Spirit* is to be interiorly
transformed by the Spirit of Christ, to become another Christ.
The dual presence of the Son and the Spirit is also evident in St.
Paul where there is no essential difference between Eivai iv Xptarco
and Etvai iv Ilv£u[xaTi — to be in Christ and to be in the Spirit.
To know Christ is the gift par excellence of the Spirit 258 .
The gift of the Spirit is a supernatural virtue or habitus
that renders the invisible Word visible in the human nous. Man's
spiritual progress is a gradual assimilation to the Word that is
accomplished by renouncing the passions and desiring greater
union or identity with the Word: «our increase (aol-fjaai) is no
other than the renouncing of fleshly things and coming to the
Word himself* 259 . It is similar to the growth of Our Lord in
«stature»:
«ОЗте yap auijdvovToc; iv r|Xixta той аа>[хато?, OUV£7TE8I8OTO iv
айтф xal T) TTJS @E6TT]TO[iaTi». —
For as the body increases in stature, the manifestation of
the Godhead developed there, and it is shown to all that
the body was God's temple and that God was in the
temple 260 .