One of the most important early theologians of the Christian Church, whose brilliant mind helped to destroy the Arian heresy and established the deity of Christ and, therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity on a foundation that is honest to Scriptures.
An Egyptian by birth, though Greek in education, his keen mind and passionate pastoral heart easily attracted the attention of Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, who soon afterwards ordained him a deacon. In that capacity he served as the bishop's companion and secretary, during the height the infamous Arian controversy.
He followed the bishop to the Council of Nicea (325), where—though he was not an official candidate—he defended with great rigour the divinity and humanity of Jesus, over against the Arians. He succeeded Alexander as bishop of Alexandria upon the latter's death, and was well loved by his people. His rigourous defence of the truth of Christ's deity naturally incurred the wrath of the Arianizing parties who schemed and—five times—managed to engineer his exile from his office and home. He never wasted his time in mourning his loss, however; exiled amidst the arid deprivations of the desert, e.g., he thought, he wrote, and he prayed, convinced that truth would prevail. Changing politics, true friends, his sure grasp of Scriptures, and his authentic credibility, however, returned him to his home and office again and again. His triumph over over Arianism finally came when the Council of Constantinople convened in 381 and Arianism was condemned once and for all.
Among the many works he wrote, The Incarnation—in which he expounded how God the Word became flesh, one with humanity, and by his death and resurrection, overcame death—remains a classic; it is the heart of his theology. His arguments against Arianism, which consumed his life's ministry, are found in Against the Arians, while his understanding of the Trinity is continued in Letters Concerning the Holy Spirit. His The Life of Antony remains an important work for understanding the origin of monasticism.
You may wish to read:
Bruce Ware, Systematic Theology. Lecture 13: The Trinity. BiblicalTraining.org.
html N 4-5 (Open on Phone)
Henry Bettenson's entry on Athanasius in The Early Christian Fathers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1969),24-27.
Louis Berkhof's entry on the Doctrine of the Trinity in The History of Christian Doctrines, first published in 1937.
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