"For the . . . right understanding of the Scriptures there is need of a good life and a pure soul, and for Christian virtue to guide the mind to grasp, so far as human nature can, the truth concerning God the Word. One cannot possibly understand the teaching of the saints unless one has a pure mind and is trying to imitate their life . . . . Anyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred writers must first cleanse his own life, and approach the saints by copying their deeds. Thus united to them in the fellowship of life, he will understand the things revealed to them by God and, thenceforth escaping the peril that threatens sinners in the judgment, will receive that which is laid up for the saints in the Kingdom of Heaven. Anyone who wants to look at sunlight naturally wipes his eye clear first, in order to make, at any rate, some approximation to the purity of that on which he looks; and a person wishing to see a city or country goes to the place in order to do so."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
At the end of the work titled On the Incarnation of the Word. As quoted in Christopher Check, Athanasius Contra Mundum: The Courage to Act Alone, Catholic.com (May 5, 2014)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Athanasius of Alexandria
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 297 – 373) was the twentieth bishop of Alexandria. He who was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, a Doctor of the Church for Roman Catholics, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century.
15 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Athanasius of Alexandria →
Related Quotes
"The people who walk angelically according to their free will and practice discipline in the life of the angels remove…"
"For in other matters also which go to make up life, we shall find differences according to circumstances. For example…"
"He was made man in order that we might be made gods.[Christ] manifested himself by a body that we might receive the i…"
"Perhaps you marvel, because having determined to speak of the Incarnation of the Logos, we now treat of the beginning…"
"Jesus that I know as my Redeemer cannot be less than God."
"For never at any time did Christian people take their title from the Bishops among them, but from the Lord, on whom w…"
"For thus, the former Jews also, denying the Word, and saying, 'We have no king but Cæsar John 19:15,' were immediatel…"
"Wherefore, in their craft, as children of this world, after feeding their so-called lamp from the wild olive, and fea…"
"If he [Anthony] heard of a good man anywhere, like the prudent bee, he went forth and sought him, nor turned …"
"He had given such heed to what was read that none of the things that were written fell from him to the ground, but he…"