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Apostolic & Patristic · Saint
St Athanasius of Alexandria
Patriarch of Alexandria
Church FatherDoctor of the ChurchConfessor
c. 296 – 373
unknown
Ordained
328
Consecrated Bishop
Alexandria
Diocese
Egypt
Country
The Life
St Athanasius was Bishop of Alexandria and the foremost champion of Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism. He had attended the Council of Nicaea (325) as a deacon and succeeded Bishop Alexander in 328.
His unyielding defense of the divinity of the Son earned him the title 'Father of Orthodoxy' and five exiles spanning some seventeen years. His 'On the Incarnation' and 'Life of St Antony' profoundly shaped theology and monasticism.
Notable Actions
- Defended the consubstantiality (homoousios) of the Son at and after Nicaea (325)
- Wrote 'On the Incarnation' and 'Four Orations Against the Arians'
- Wrote the 'Life of St Antony', spreading monasticism across the Christian world
- His 39th Festal Letter (367) lists the 27 books of the New Testament canon
- Endured five exiles over ~17 years ('Athanasius contra mundum')
He was made man that we might be made God.
On the Incarnation, ch. 54Portrait: Byzantine Institute staff / Wikimedia Commons