Athanasius of Alexandria

Athanasius of Alexandria was a fourth-century bishop and theologian who defended the Nicene confession that the Son is fully divine against Arian teachings.

Alexander of Alexandria: A bishop of Alexandria who opposed Arius and presided over the council that condemned him. Athanasius served as Alexander’s secretary and succeeded him as bishop.
Nicene Creed: A Christian statement of faith first adopted at the Council of Nicaea in 325. Athanasius defended its claim that the Son is of the same essence as the Father.
On the Incarnation: A treatise by Athanasius explaining why the Word became human and how the incarnation defeats corruption and death. It presents his account of salvation through the incarnate divine Word.
Council of Constantinople: A council held in 381 that reaffirmed Nicene Christianity and developed its teaching about the Holy Spirit. Its settlement advanced the theology Athanasius had defended, though he died before it convened.
Arius: A Christian presbyter whose teachings denied that the Son was coeternal and equal in divinity with the Father. Athanasius became the most prominent opponent of the doctrine associated with Arius.
Homoousion: The Greek term meaning “of the same substance,” used in the Nicene Creed to describe the Son’s relation to the Father. Athanasius made this contested word central to his account of the Son’s full divinity.
Athanasius's Festal Letters: Annual letters by Athanasius announcing the date of Easter and addressing church matters and Christian teaching. His thirty-ninth Festal Letter contains an early list of the books of the New Testament.
Desert Fathers: Early Christian hermits and monks whose ascetic practices shaped monastic traditions. Athanasius’s Life of Antony helped spread their example beyond Egypt.
Constantius II: Roman emperor from 337 to 361 who favored theological positions opposed by Athanasius. His policies drove Athanasius into exile and shaped the bishop’s conflicts with imperial power.
Arianism: A theological position that treats the Son as subordinate to, and not coeternal with, the Father. Athanasius’s writings repeatedly challenge this account of the Son.

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