What a wonderful book!

I am currently studying and preaching through the Gospel of John, and have given 35 sermons on the gospel that clearly declares the deity of Jesus Christ. After seeing a couple of my GR friends had read or reading this (Nick and Bill), I thought that this little book would fit perfectly into my personal study of the fourth gospel.

On the whole, Anathasius does an admirable job of explaining why God had to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth so that sinful man could be redeemed. In nine short chapters, he packs sound reasoning with scriptural references to defend his arguments and position. He writes about Creation and the Creator, about the fall of man and the love of God to rescue man from his fallen, sinful state.

Anathasius writes a chapter directly to Jews, who completely disregard Jesus Christ as the Messiah and ignore their own prophets and holy writings, which all point to the coming of the Messiah. He also writes two chapters to Gentiles (non-Jews) who don’t have a clear understanding of why the Messiah had to come in the first place or why He had to sacrifice Himself on the cross at Calvary.

Anathasius wrote this book, actually a letter in a series of letters, in the early 4th century at the age of 18 or 19 to another young man, new to the Christian faith, who had questions about Jesus Christ. His use of logic is very well done, laying out numerous biblical references and many external proofs for the incarnation of God through Jesus Christ.

The translation was very good, and the narration was very well done, too. Even though it was written over 1600 years ago, it is surprisingly readable, the truth and logic are still sound, and the Word of God is still valid for mankind today.