Athanasius of Alexandria

Athanasius of Alexandria (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373) was a Christian theologian and the 20th patriarch of Alexandria, known as Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor, and, among Coptic Christians, Athanasius the Apostolic. His episcopacy lasted 45 years (c. 8 June 328 – 2 May 373), but was intermittent: over 17 of those years were spent in five exiles, each ordered by one of four different Roman emperors. A Church Father, he was the leading advocate of Trinitarianism against Arianism and a prominent Egyptian Christian leader in the fourth century. His career was defined by conflict with Arius and Arianism, as well as with successive Roman emperors. In 325, at age 27, Athanasius began his prominent role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria at the First Council of Nicaea. Emperor Constantine the Great had called the council in May–August 325 to settle the Arian claim that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, was of a different substance from the Father. Three years later, Athanasius succeeded his mentor as Patriarch of Alexandria. Besides fighting the Arians—including powerful churchmen like Eusebius of Nicomedia—he also struggled against Emperors Constantine, Constantius II, Julian the Apostate, and Valens. Within a few years of his death, Gregory of Nazianzus called him the "Pillar of the Church." His writings were highly regarded by later Church fathers in both the West and East, who praised his devotion to the Word-become-man, his pastoral care, and his interest in monasticism. Athanasius is honored alongside Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom as one of the four Great Greek Church Fathers. Some argue that in his Easter letter of 367, he was the first to list the 27 books of the New Testament canon used today; others contend that Origen of Alexandria first listed them in his Homilies on Joshua, though a textual variant exists regarding whether he included Revelation. Athanasius is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Church of the East, the Anglican Communion, and Lutheranism. Athanasius was born to a Christian family in Alexandria or possibly the nearby Nile Delta town of Damanhur, between 293 and 298. The earlier date is sometimes suggested because of the maturity in his earliest treatises, *Contra Gentes* and *De Incarnatione*, likely written around 318, before Arianism emerged, as they show no awareness of it. However, Cornelius Clifford places his birth no earlier than 296 and no later than 298, noting that Athanasius indicates no firsthand memory of the Maximian persecution of 303, which he would have recalled if he had been ten. Also, the Festal Epistles record that the Arians accused Athanasius of not yet reaching the canonical age of 35 when he was ordained patriarch in 328, a charge that seemed plausible. The Orthodox Church places his birth around 297. His parents were wealthy enough to provide him with a fine secular education, but he was clearly not part of the Egyptian aristocracy. Some Western scholars, citing his command of Greek in most of his surviving works, suggest he may have been a Greek born in Alexandria. Yet historical evidence shows he was also fluent in Coptic, given the regions where he preached. Some surviving copies of his writings are in Coptic, though scholars disagree whether he originally wrote them in Coptic—which would make him the first patriarch to do so—or whether these are translations from Greek. Rufinus recounts that Bishop Alexander, watching from a window, saw boys playing on the seashore imitating Christian baptism. He sent for them and learned that one boy, Athanasius, had acted as bishop. After questioning him, Alexander told Athanasius the baptisms were valid, since the correct words and water had been used, but warned him not to continue, as those baptized had not been properly catechized. He then invited Athanasius and his playmates to prepare for clerical careers. During Athanasius’s boyhood, Alexandria was a major trade center, reflecting the ethnically diverse Graeco-Roman world intellectually, morally, and politically, much like Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, or Marseilles. Its famous catechetical school, while committed to orthodoxy through figures like Pantaenus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Dionysius, and Theognostus, had broadened its intellectual scope beyond strictly theological concerns, attracting many influential pagan auditors. Peter of Alexandria, the 17th archbishop, was martyred in 311 near the end of the Great Persecution and may have been one of Athanasius’s teachers. His successor, Alexander of Alexandria, became bishop. According to Sozomen, Bishop Alexander “invited Athanasius to be his commensal and secretary.