Athanasius: His Life and Contributions to Christianity

Introduction: Athanasius and the Early Church

While still a young deacon at Nicaea, St. Athanasius, the 20th Patriarch of Alexandria, defended the divinity of Christ and was one of the authors of the Christian Creed that most Christians follow to this day. Besides the writings within the New Testament itself, Athanasius is quite possibly responsible for the preservation of the Christian faith as it was known and has been passed down through time to Christians of the present day.

Born around 298 AD, Athanasius grew up and lived in what was considered the epicenter of learning and wisdom in the entire Roman Empire: Alexandria, Egypt. He eventually became the Patriarch of Alexandria in the 4th century as bishop, and is revered as a saint by both the Roman Catholic Church — which counts him among the thirty-three Doctors of the Church — and the Eastern Orthodox Church, which considers him one of the four Doctors of the Church. He is also greatly admired by Protestants.

The Arian Controversy and the Council of Nicaea

The Edict of Milan, which Emperor Constantine issued in 313 AD, transformed Christianity from a persecuted religion into one of official imperial favor. Shortly after this, while Athanasius was a freshly ordained deacon serving as secretary and a member of the household of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, an elder priest named Arius of Alexandria began to teach concerning the Word of God that, as for Jesus, "God begat him, and before he was begotten, he did not exist" (John 1:1). Athanasius replied to Arius "that the begetting, or uttering, of the Word by the Father is an eternal relation between Them, and not a temporal event" (Williams). Condemned by all but two of the bishops of Egypt, Arius went to Nicomedia to escape their displeasure. From there he wrote letters to bishops around the world explaining his position. To resolve the dispute, Emperor Constantine summoned a council of 317 bishops to Nicaea (Williams).

Accompanying Bishop Alexander to the council, Athanasius became the recognized spokesperson for the view that the Son was fully God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. This was the position held by the majority of the council, and the bishops proceeded to formulate a creed that would express their consensus. After initial efforts to find a suitable statement directly from Holy Scripture proved unsuccessful, the council introduced the word homoousios — translated from ancient Greek as "of the same nature" — to express this idea clearly, without it being appropriated by the Arians for their own purposes (Basictheology.com). Some bishops present, though in complete disagreement with Arius, were reluctant to use a term not found in Scripture. They eventually recognized, however, that the alternative was a creed that both sides could sign while each understanding it in its own way, and that the Church could not afford to leave unanswered the question of whether the Son is truly God — the Arians said merely "a god." The Council therefore adopted a creed that is a shorter version of what is now called the Nicene Creed, declaring the Son to be "of one substance with the Father" (Council of Nicaea).

The peace was short-lived, however. The agreements reached at Nicaea began to fall apart shortly after the council was disbanded because the Arians refused to accept its decisions. Many orthodox bishops were prepared to seek a wording somewhat softer than that of Nicaea — something that sounded orthodox but that the Arians would accept — and all sorts of compromise formulas, with every shade of variation from the Nicene formula, were worked out. An apolytikion sung even today during some services of the Orthodox Church reflects Athanasius's influence during this and subsequent disputes over the Council of Nicaea:

Holy father Athanasius, like a pillar of orthodoxy you refuted the heretical nonsense of Arius by insisting that the Father and the Son are equal in essence. A venerable father, beg Christ our God to save our souls. (St. Gregory Palamas Monastery)

Athanasius as Bishop of Alexandria and His Exiles

When Bishop Alexander died in 328, Athanasius succeeded him as bishop of Alexandria. He suspected that if the orthodox side placed a priority on reaching an agreement, their entire position would eventually break down, and so he refused to participate in the ongoing negotiations. His suspicions proved correct, much to his dismay. He continued to defend the full deity of Christ against major figures of every kind — emperors, magistrates, bishops, and theologians — throughout the world. Because of this unwavering stance, Athanasius was branded an agitator and was banished from Alexandria no fewer than five times by various emperors, only to be restored and then exiled again.

Works Cited

Williams, Rowan. Arius: Heresy and Tradition. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans.

Forbes & Washbourne. Standard Bearers of the Faith: Saint Athanasius. Paternoster Row, London, 1919.

Bible.

Behr, John. The Nicene Faith, Vol. 2 of Formation of Christian Theology. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2004.

"Homoousios." Basictheology.com. http://www.basictheology.com/definitions/Homoousios/ 15 Sept. 2006.

"Athanasius Apolytikion." St. Gregory Palamas Monastery.