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Translated by Cardinal Newman.
St Athanasius the Great Resources Online and in Print
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75 Pages
Page 11
De Incarn. 2.1. ten ton holon pronoian kath' heauton ouk einai mothologousin.
14. 6. tou dia tes idias pronoias...didaskontos peri tou patros.
Epist. Aeg. 15. blepontes...panta taxei kai pronoi& 139; kinoumena.
Apol. Fug. 17. emele gar autois...mete ten horismenen para tes Pronoias krisin prolambanein (and so in S:S:9, 16, 22, 25 of this short tract).
Orat. iii. 37. ;;O Pater en to ;;Uio ton panton ten pronoian poieitai.
If each one of these and numberless other references to Providence is 'very incidental,' those in the Vita may surely claim the benefit (whatever that may be) of the same formula.
The above are the principal materials for a decision as to the genuineness of the Vita: and I do not see how they can justify any opinion but that stated at the outset. Against the Vita we have certain historical difficulties (intercourse with Athanasius, peregrini fratres, Balacius), and arguments ex silentio, a kind of evidence seldom conclusive. For it, we have a quite unusual array of external evidence, including an almost contemporary version, the absence of any room for its date at a safe distance from its traditional author, and the many points of contact, as well as the characteristic differences between the Vita and the writings of Athanasius. Moreover on the kindred question of the origin of monasticism, Weingarten's theory breaks down, and leads him to suicidal steps in more than one direction. Although, therefore, it is permissible to keep an open mind on the subject, we must recognise that the enterprise of the recent assailants of the Vita is at present at a dead halt, that overwhelming probability is against them.
Reference address : https://elpenor.org/athanasius/anthony-life.asp?pg=11
