York, 1884). Consult also: A. E. Burn, The Athanasian Creed and Its Early Commentators (Cambridge, 1896); G. D. W. Ommanney, Critical Dissertation on the Athanasian Creed (Oxford, 1897).
ATHANASIUS, uth'a-na'zhl-us,
Saint (Gk. Ἀϑανάσιος, Athanasios) (c. 293-373). The father of Greek orthodoxy. Bishop of Alexandria, and the most eminent theologian of the Fourth Century. He was born probably in A.D. 293, in Alexandria, where he died in 373. His parents are said to have been Christians. We know little about his youth, except that he was well educated and brought up for the service of the Church. Rutinus tells us that in early boyhood Athanasius played at being bishop and baptized some of his mates according to the rules of the Church, and that the bishop afterwards recognized their baptism as valid; but this story rests upon no sufficient evidence. Athanasius began to serve the Church as reader, and was advanced to the office of deacon before the beginning of the great theological struggle which led up to the Council of Nicæa (A.D. 325), where he appears as an opponent of the presbyter Arius, who also lived in Alexandria. His life is intimately connected with the progress of the Arian controversy, and he was by far the most formidable antagonist whom that heresy encountered. For many years it was 'Athanasius contra mundum'; but his great ability and perseverance gained the victory in the end. (For particulars respecting this struggle, see Nicæa, Council of; and Arius.) Athanasius advocated the famous homoousion doctrine, which was that the Son of God is of the same essence or substance with the Father, whereas Arius maintained that the Son was a creature, something less than God, though more than man. All the Trinitarian and Christological speculations of the Fourth and Fifth centuries have their roots in this controversy.
Athanasius became Bishop of Alexandria, probably in A.D. 326, and his episcopate lasted until his death, forty-seven years afterwards. At this time Alexandria was not only one of the leading cities of the Empire, but also one of the most important in the Church. For more than a century the greatest theologians had worked and taught here, and here, too, divergencies from Catholic orthodoxy were by no means rare. During the progress of the Arian controversy politics mingled with theology, and each side labored to win Imperial favor. The Arian party was influential at court and very active. Five times Athanasius was sent into exile, and more than one-third of his long episcopate was spent away from his see. Almost from the first, charges of immorality, sacrilege, sorcery, treason, and even murder were brought against him by his enemies; but in every case the verdict of history has pronounced him innocent. A grossly partisan synod at Tyre (335) condemned him, and the outcome was his first banishment, lasting two years, which he spent at Treves. He was pardoned after the death of Arius, and returned to Alexandria amid the acclamations of the people (337). The Emperor Constantius banished him again in 339, and this second exile extended over seven years. Athanasius sought refuge with Julius, Bishop of Rome, where he was well received, and where, according to an unreliable tradition, he is said to have written the Athanasian creed (q.v.). Leaving Rome, he visited Gaul, Dacia, Aquileia, and Antioch. In 346 he was permitted to return to his see, and the joyful people streamed forth to meet him 'like another Nile.' By favor of the Emperor Constans Athanasius now enjoyed ten years of comparative quiet; but in 356, owing to the renewed ascendency of the Arian party, who had gained control of all the churches in Alexandria, he was once more compelled to seek safety in flight. For six years he dwelt among the Egyptian hermits, or concealed himself in the neighborhood of the capital, where he could secretly watch the fortunes of his church. These years were fruitful in literary labor, and at the same time they gave him a more intimate knowledge of the monastic life. Athanasius was the first episcopal patron of the monks, and it is largely through him that the Western Church came to know of the Egyptian hermits. After Julian's accession, a policy of religious toleration was inaugurated, and Athanasius was recalled. But the Emperor had a personal falling out with the Bishop the same year (362), and issued a special edict against him, so that he fled to Thebaïs, where he remained about eighteen months. His fifth and last exile lasted only four months, and brings us down to the year A.D. 366. Seven years of life remained to the aged Bishop, and these were spent in quiet labor at his post, enjoying the honors which his fidelity had earned. The theological battle was practically over, and the victory rested with the cause of Nicene orthodoxy. Athanasius's disciples, especially Basil the Great and the two Gregories, were instrumental in securing the final verdict in its favor at the second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople (381).
Athanasius was a voluminous writer. His works are chiefly controversial and dogmatic, though some are exegetical and pastoral. Highly valuable to the historian are such works as the Discourses Against the Arians, the History of the Arians, the Apolopy Against the Arians, and On the Decrees of the Nicene Synod. The Life of Saint Anthony purports to describe that famous hermit, but it is full of legendary material. A series of Festal Epistles, relating to the celebration of Easter, contains much valuable material of various kinds, e.g. the Thirty-ninth Epistle, for the year 367, gives a very important list of the canonical books of the Bible.
The Benedictine edition of Athanasius's works appeared in Paris (3 vols., 1698). Migne's Patrologia Græca (Vols. XXV.-XXVIII., Paris, 1857) is more nearly complete, but has the usual faults of that collection. The Festal Epistles were edited by Cureton (London, 1848). An English translation of the Historical Tracts and Treatises in Controversy with the Arians may be found in The Library of the Fathers (Oxford, 1843). Selections from his writings, including all the most important, and also his letters, are translated by Archibald Robertson, who furnishes elaborate prolegomena discussing "The Life and Theology of Athanasius," in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (second series. Vol. IV., New York, 1892, edited by Schaff and Wace). Bibliography: William Bright, Lessons from the Lives of Three Great Fathers (London, 1890); F. W. Farrar, Lives of the Fathers (Vol. I., New York, 1889); W. Cave, Lives of the Fathers (Vol. II., edited by Cary, Oxford, 1840);
