Athanasius of Alexandria among many people who attended the Council of Nicaea was a young

Deacon Alexandrian of dark complexion, and short of stature that his enemies mocked him

calling him a dwarf. It was Athanasius, Secretary of Alexander, who would soon become one of

the central figures in the controversy, and the principal and most determined defender of the

Nicene faith. Early us is impossible to know exact birth of Athanasius, the date and place but it

seems to have been a small village or city of little importance on the banks of the Nile, around

the year 299. Post that talked about the Coptic, which was the language of the original

inhabitants of the region who had been conquered by the Greeks and the Romans, and since his

complexion was dark as the Copts, is very likely that he belonged to that group, and that

therefore their social origin is in the lower classes of the Egypt. Certainly, Athanasius never

pretended to be distinguished or knowledgeable person of the subtleties of the Greco-Roman

culture. We also know that from date very early Athanasius related closely the monks of the

desert. Jerome tells us that our character the hermit gave a blanket to Paul. And the own

Athanasius, who wrote the life of San Antonio, said he used to visit this famous monk and wash

his hands. This last detail has made some think that child, Athanasius served to Antonio.

Although this is possible, we only have evidence of this, and it is therefore risky to make it. But

what is unquestionable is that through his life Athanasius had very close relations with the

monks of the desert, that more of that on more than one occasion they protected him against the

authorities, as we will see later. The monks, Athanasius learned a rigid discipline to his person,

and austerity that won him the admiration of his friends and at least the respect of their enemies.

Of all the opponents of Arianism, Athanasius was the scariest. And this, not because their logic

is more subtle - which wasn't it - or because his style was more grinding - that was not - nor

because Athanasius was endowed with great political skill - that was not - but because
Athanasius was close to town, and lived his faith and your religion without the subtleties of the

Arians and many other bishops of large venues pumps. His monastic discipline, its popular roots,

his fiery spirit and her deep conviction made him invincible. Even before exploding the Arian

controversy, Athanasius had written two works, one against the gentiles, and other approaches of

the incarnation of the word. There is nothing in these works of the speculations of Clemente or

origins. But there is a deep conviction that the central fact of the Christian faith, and all of human

history, is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The presence of God in the midst of humanity, made

man: here is the heart of Christianity according to Athanasius understanding. In a beautiful

passage, Athanasius compares the incarnation to the visit of the Emperor in a city. The Emperor

decides to visit her, and takes residence one of the houses of the same. The result is that not only

this House, but throughout the city, receives an honor and special protection, in such a way that

the bandits do not dare to attack it. Similarly the monarch of the universe you've come to visit

our human city, living in one of our houses, and thanks to its presence in Jesus all we were

protected from attacks and Wiles of the evil one. Now, by virtue of that visit of God in Jesus

Christ, we are free to be what God He wants us to be, that is, beings capable of living in

communion with Him.

As can be seen, the presence of God in history was the central element of Athanasius' faith - as it

has been for so many other Christians throughout the centuries. Therefore, it should not surprise

us that Athanasius saw in Arian doctrines a serious threat to the Christian faith. In effect, what

Arius said was that whoever came in Jesus Christ was not God himself, but an inferior being, a

creature. The Word was the first of God's creatures, but always a creature. Such opinions

Athanasius could not accept - as they could not accept the monks who had retired to the desert
for the love of God incarnate, nor the parishioners who met to participate in the liturgy that

Athanasius directed. For him, the Arian controversy was not a question of theological subtleties,

but had to do with the very center of the Christian faith.

When Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria, became ill with death, all took it for granted that

Athanasius would be his successor. But Athanasius, who wanted to live quietly offering the

sacraments and worshiping with the people, retired to the desert. On his deathbed, Alejandro

sought him out, probably to let those present know that he wanted Atanasio to succeed him; but

Athanasius was not there. Finally, several weeks after the death of Alexander, and against the

wishes of Athanasius himself, the young pastor was elected bishop of Alexandria. It was the year

328, and that same year Emperor Constantine lifted the sentence of exile against Arius. Arianism

was beginning to gain ground, and the fight was preparing.

The first exile

Eusebio de Nicomedia and the other Arian leaders knew that Athanasius was one of his most

fearsome enemies. Therefore, they soon began to do everything possible to destroy him,

circulating rumors in the sense that he practiced magic, and that he tyrannized his subjects

among the Christians of Egypt. At last Constantine ordered him to appear before a council

meeting in Tire, where he would have to answer serious charges. In particular, he was accused of

having killed a certain Arsenio, bishop of a rival sect, and having cut off his hand to use it in

magical rites. Athanasius went to Tire, as he was ordered, and after hearing the accusation

against him was made to introduce a man in the room covered with a large blanket. After making

sure that several of those present knew Arsenio, he revealed the face of the hooded man, and his
accusers were confused when they recognized the bishop who had supposedly been killed. Soon,

however, someone said that although Athanasius had not killed Arsenio, he had cut off his hand.

At the insistence of the assembly, Athanasius discovered one of Arsenio's hands, and showed

that it was intact. "It was the other!" Shouted some of those present, who had allowed themselves

to be persuaded by the rumors thrown by the Arians. Then Athanasius showed that Arsenio's

other hand was also in place, and in a sarcastic tone asked: "Tell me, what kind of monster do

you think Arsenio is, that he has three hands?" At these words, some broke into laughter, others

could not help but say that the Arians had deceived them. The council ended in the most

complete disorder, and Athanasius was free.

The bishop of Alexandria took this opportunity to present his case before the emperor. He went

to Constantinople and one day he jumped before the emperor's horse, held him by the bridle, and

did not release him until Constantine promised to give him an audience. Perhaps due to the

influence of Eusebio de Nicomedia in the court such methods were necessary. But anyone who

knew Constantine would know that in that action the young bishop had earned both the

emperor's respect and hatred. When some time later Eusebius of Nicomedia told Constantine that

Athanasius had boasted of being able to stop the shipments of wheat from Alexandria to

Constantinople, Constantine believed what the Arian bishop told him, and ordered that

Athanasius be exiled to Trier, West.

But shortly after Constantino died - after being baptized by Eusebio de Nicomedia - and

succeeded by his three sons Constantino II, Constant and Constantius. The three brothers, after

the slaughter of all their relatives that we have referred to earlier, decided that all the bishops

who were exiled for their opposition to Arianism could return to their headquarters, and
Athanasius could return from exile.

The many vicissitudes

But the return of Athanasius to Alexandria was not the end, but the beginning of a lifetime of

struggles and repeated exiles. In Alexandria there were some who supported the Arians, and who

now said that Athanasius was not the legitimate bishop of that city. Who claimed to be entitled to

this position was a certain Gregorio, Arian, who had the support of the government. Since

Athanasius did not want to give him the churches, Gregory decided to take them by force, and

consequently such outrages occurred that Athanasius decided that, in order to avoid further

outrages and desecrations, it was better that he leave the city and he will leave the field free to

Gregorio. However, when he arrived at the port and tried to obtain passage, he discovered that

the governor had prohibited him from leaving the city, or that he be offered passage to do so. At

last he managed to convince one of the ship's captains to take him secretly from the port of

Alexandria, and take him to Rome.

The exile of Athanasius in Rome was fruitful, as both the Nicaeans and the Arians had asked the

Bishop of Rome, Julius, to lend their support. Now the presence of Athanasius greatly

contributed to the triumph of the Nicene cause in that city, and at last a synod assembled in it

declared that Athanasius was the legitimate bishop of Alexandria, and that Gregory was a

usurper. Although for the time being, given the political situation, this did not mean that
Athanasius could return to Alexandria, it did mean that the Western Church lent him his moral

support, with which Gregorio could no longer count. Finally, after a long series of negotiations,

Constant, who had remained the only emperor in the West after the death of his brother

Constantine II, appealed to his other brother, Constantius, who ruled in the East, to be allowed to

Athanasius return to his city.

Since at that time Constantius had reason to try to win the friendship of his brother, he agreed to

the latter's requests, and once again Athanasius was able to return to Alexandria.

The excesses of Gregory in Alexandria had been such that the people now received Athanasius

as a hero or a deliverer. The people threw themselves into the street to cheer him up. And the

monks came down from the desert to welcome him. Faced with such signs of Athanasius'

popularity, his enemies dared not attack him directly for some time, and Athanasius and the

church of Alexandria enjoyed a period of relative tranquility that lasted for about ten years,

during which Atanasius strengthened his alliances with others. Orthodox bishops through a large

correspondence, and also wrote several treaties against the Arians.

But the Emperor Constantius was determined Arian, and was willing to get rid of the champion

of the Nicene faith. While Constantius lived, Constantius did not dare to attack Athanasius

openly. Then a certain Magnentius tried to usurp the western throne, and Constantius was forced

to concentrate his efforts on the campaign against him.

Finally, in the year 353, Constancio felt strong enough to give free rein to his proarrian policy.

By force he was forcing all the bishops to accept the Arian doctrine. It is said that when he
ordered a group of bishops to condemn Athanasius, they replied that they could not do so, since

the canons of the church prohibited the condemnation of someone without giving him an

opportunity to defend himself. To this the emperor replied indignantly: "My will is also a canon

of the church." In view of such an attitude on the part of the emperor, many bishops signed the

condemnation of Athanasius, and those who refused to do so were sent into exile.

In the meantime, Constantius did his best to drive Athanasius away from Alexandria, where he

was too popular. He wrote him a letter saying that he was willing to grant him the hearing he had

asked for. But Athanasius answered very politely that there had been some error, for he had not

requested an audience with the emperor, and that in any case he did not want to waste his lord's

time. The emperor then ordered to concentrate in Alexandria all the legions available nearby,

fearing that there would be an uprising. Once the troops were available, the governor ordered

Atanasio, in the name of the emperor, to leave the city. Athanasius replied by showing him the

old written order in which Constantius gave him permission to return to Alexandria, and told the

governor that there must certainly be some mistake, for the emperor could not contradict himself

in that way.

Shortly thereafter, when Athanasius was celebrating communion in one of his churches, the

governor had the temple surrounded, and suddenly burst into the sanctuary in front of a group of

armed soldiers. The tumult was enormous, but Athanasius did not flinch, but ordered the faithful

to sing Psalm 136: "For his mercy endureth for ever." The soldiers made their way through the

crowd, while some sang and others tried to escape. Around Athanasius the shepherds who were

present formed a circle. Athanasius refused to flee until he made sure that his flock was safe. In

the end, in the midst of the tumult, Athanasius fainted, and it was then that his clerics took
advantage of him to sneak him out of the church and put him to safety.

From then on, Athanasius appeared to be a ghost. Everywhere he was sought; but the authorities

could not find him. What had happened was that he had taken refuge among the desert monks.

These monks had ways of communicating with each other, and each time the emperor's officers

approached the bishop's hiding place, they simply moved him to another monastery. For five

years Athanasius lived among the desert monks. And during those five years the Nicene cause

suffered rough blows. The imperial policy was no longer hidden in its support for the Arians.

By force, several synods declared themselves in favor of Arianism. In the end, even the old

Osius of Cordoba and the Bishop of Rome, Liberius, signed confessions of Arian faith. Although

there were many bishops and other ecclesiastical leaders who had convinced themselves that

Arianism was not acceptable, it was difficult to oppose him when the state so decidedly

supported him. Finally a council meeting in Sirmium promulgated what was later called "the

blasphemy of Sirmium," which was a document that openly rejected the faith proclaimed at the

Council of Nicaea.

Unexpectedly Constantius died, and Julian the apostate succeeded him. Since Julian had no

interest in supporting one or the other of the two sides in contention, he simply ordered that all

exile orders issued against the bishops be canceled. Julian's purpose was that the two sides bleed

each other, while he went ahead with his program to restore paganism. But in any case the result

of Juliano's advent to power was that Athanasius was able to return to Alexandria and engage in

an urgent task of theological diplomacy.

The theological agreement

During his years of struggle, Athanasius had realized that the reason why many opposed the

Nicene Creed was that they feared that the claim that the Son was of the same substance as the

Father could be understood as meaning that there is no distinction some between the Father and

the Son. For that reason, some preferred to say, instead of "of the same substance", "of such

substance". The two Greek words are homousios (of the same substance) and homoiusios (of

such substance). The Council of Nicea had said that the Son was homousious with the Father.

Now some said that, although the declaration of the Council seemed dangerous to them, they

were willing to affirm that the Son was homoiusios with the Father.

Earlier, Athanasius would have insisted exclusively on the Nicene formula, and declared that

those who insisted on saying "of such a substance" were as heretics as the Arians. But now, after

several years of experience, the old bishop of Alexandria was willing to see the legitimate

concern of these Christians who, while not wanting to be Arians, were not willing to completely

abandon any distinction between the Father and the Son, for that distinction was found in the

Bible and had been the doctrine of the church from its very beginnings.

Now, through a whole series of negotiations, Athanasius approached these Christians, and made

them see that the Nicene formula could be interpreted in such a way as to do justice to the

concerns of those who preferred to say "of such substance." Finally, at a synod gathered in

Alexandria in the year 362, Athanasius and his followers declared that it was acceptable to speak

of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as "a substance" (a "hypostasis"), as long as this was
not understood as if there were no distinction between the three, and also as "three substances"

(three "hypostases"), as long as this was not understood as if there were three gods.

On the basis of this understanding, the majority of the church met again in support of the Council

of Nicaea, until, as we shall see later, the Second Ecumenical Council, meeting in Constantinople

in 381, ratified the Nicene doctrine. But Atanasio would not live to see the final triumph of the

cause to which he had dedicated most of his life.

The vicissitudes continue

Although Julian had proposed not to persecute the Christians, they soon began to disturb the

news that came to him from Alexandria. In other cities the restoration of paganism marched

more or less slowly. But in Alexandria it was not going. In fact, the bishop of that city, while he

was dedicated to healing the wounds caused by the long years of controversy, was also dedicated

to strengthening the church. His prestige was such that Julian's programs were unsuccessful.

Moreover, the old bishop was openly opposed to the designs of the emperor, and that opposition

inspired the masses. In view of all this, Julian decided to send Athanasius to a new exile.

After a series of episodes that need not be told here, it was clear that Julian wanted Athanasius to

leave, not only Alexandria, but also Egypt. Athanasius was forced to accede to the first, since in

the city there was not really where to hide. But he decided to remain in Egypt, hidden once more

among the monks. To avoid this, the Imperial soldiers were ordered to arrest him. It was then

that the famous episode occurred that we narrate next.

Athanasius was in a boat that was going up the Nile, heading towards the monks' dwellings,

when the boat, faster, was approaching, leading to the soldiers who were pursuing him. "Have

you seen Atanasio? "Shouted the other boat. "Yes," Athanasius answered truthfully, "go ahead of

you, and if you hurry you will catch up." At this news, the officer ordered that the paddlers hurry

the pace, and soon left Athanasius and his family behind.

As we have seen, however, Julian's reign did not last long. Upon his death Jovian succeeded him,

who, in addition to being tolerant of all sides in dispute, felt a deep admiration for Athanasius.

Once again the Alexandrian bishop was called from exile, although he could not remain in his

see for a long time before the new emperor called him to Antioch, so that the famous bishop

would instruct him about the true faith. When Athanasius finally returned to Alexandria,

everything seemed to indicate that his long chain of exile had come to an end.

But he still had one more Atanasio, because after a few months Jovian died and his successor,

Valente, declared himself defender of the Arians. For various reasons there were riots in

Alexandria, and Athanasius, fearing that the new emperor would blame him for those riots, and

to try to take revenge on the faithful of the city, decided to retire once more. But it soon became

clear that Valente, while doing everything possible to restore the preponderance of Arianism,

would not dare to touch the venerable Bishop of Alexandria. The experiences of Constantius and

Julian were enough to show him that little Athanasius was a giant whom it was better to leave

alone.

Therefore, Athanasius could remain in Alexandria, pastoring his flock, until death claimed him
in the year 373.

Athanasius never saw the final triumph of the Nicene cause. But whoever reads his works will

realize that his conviction of the justice of that cause was such that he always confided that,

before or after his death, the Nicene faith would prevail. In fact, after the first fights, Athanasius

began to see around him, in various regions of the empire, other giants that began to rise for the

same cause.