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| Pope of Alexandria; Confessor and Doctor of the Church |
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria is an egyptian although others argued that he was of greek origin. His life of faith, dedication and service to the Lord as Bishop of Alexandria led him to various exiles because of his contradictions to the common belief regarding who the Lord Jesus Christ really is. He became known as "Athanasius Contra Mundum" (Latin for Athanasius Against the World) but nonetheless, St. Gregory of Nazianzus called him the "Pillar of the Church".
Who is Jesus Christ?
In Athanasius time, the Arian position is that "the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father. Christ was the divine Son of God, made, not begotten". This was the common Christological view in Alexandria at the time.
He held that not only was the Son of God consubstantial with the Father, but so was the Holy Spirit, which had a great deal of influence in the development of later doctrines regarding the Trinity.
At the Council of Nicaea, St Athanasius was quoted saying, "Jesus that I know as my Redeemer cannot be less than God".
Both from the confession of the evil spirits and from the daily witness of His works, it is manifest, then, and let none presume to doubt it, that the Savior has raised His own body, and that He is very Son of God, having His being from God as from a Father, Whose Word and Wisdom and Whose Power He is.
He it is Who in these latter days assumed a body for the salvation of us all, and taught the world concerning the Father. He it is Who has destroyed death and freely graced us all with incorruption through the promise of the resurrection, having raised His own body as its first-fruits, and displayed it by the sign of the cross as the monument to His victory over death and its corruption. – The Incarnation of the Word, Chapter 5, The Resurrection (5:32)
"The Son of God became man so that we might become God. He became what we are, so that He might make us what He is...." [On The Incarnation of The Word, St. Athanasius, Section 54.3]
"Some may then ask, why did He not manifest Himself by means of other and nobler parts of creation, and use some nobler instrument, such as sun or moon or stars or fire or air, instead of mere man? The answer is this. The Lord did not come to make a display. He came to heal and to teach suffering men...." [On The Incarnation of The Word, St Athanasius, Chapter 7].
St. Athanasius was born around 293–298 and died 2 May 373. He was the twentieth bishop of Alexandria (as Athanasius I). His episcopate lasted 45 years (c. 8 June 328 – 2 May 373), of which over 17 were spent in five exiles ordered by four different Roman emperors. Athanasius is a renowned Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century. His episcopate began on 9 May 328 as the Alexandrian Council, elected Athanasius to succeed the aged Alexander.
In 361, Athanasius appealed for unity among all those who had faith in Christianity, even if they differed on matters of terminology. This prepared the groundwork for his definition of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. However, the council also was directed against those who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit, the human soul of Christ, and Christ's divinity. Mild measures were agreed on for those heretic bishops who repented, but severe penance was decreed for the chief leaders of the major heresies.
Athanasius put forward the belief that the Son of God, the eternal Word through whom God created the world, entered that world in human form to lead men back into the harmony from which they had earlier fallen away.
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