Though it deals with the Incarnation, it is silent on most of those ulterior problems in defence of which Athanasius was soon to be summoned by the force of events and the fervour of his own faith to devote the best energies of his life. The work contains no explicit discussion of the nature of the Word's Sonship, for instance; no attempt to draw out the character of Our Lord's relation to the Father; nothing, in short, of those Christological questions upon which he was to speak with such splendid and courageous clearness in time of shifting formularies and undetermined views.
Yet those ideas must have been in the air Soz. Peter, and whose teachings had succeeded in making dangerous headway, even among "the consecrated virgins" of St. Mark's see Epiphanius, Haer. Arius, who seems to have presumed on the charitable tolerance of the primate , was at length deposed Apol. The condemned heresiarch withdrew first to Palestine and afterwards to Bithynia, where, under the protection of Eusebius of Nicomedia and his other "Collucianists", he was able to increase his already remarkable influence, while his friends were endeavouring to prepare a way for his forcible reinstatement as priest of the Alexandrian Church.
Athanasius, though only in deacon's order, must have taken no subordinate part in these events. He was the trusted secretary and advisor of Alexander, and his name appears in the list of those who signed the encyclical letter subsequently issued by the primate and his colleagues to offset the growing prestige of the new teaching, and the momentum it was beginning to acquire from the ostentatious patronage extended to the deposed Arius by the Eusebian faction.
Indeed, it is to this party and to the leverage it was able to exercise at the emperor's court that the subsequent importance of Arianism as a political, rather than a religious, movement seems primarily to be due. The heresy , of course, had its supposedly philosophic basis, which has been ascribed by authors, ancient and modern, to the most opposite sources.
Epiphanius characterizes it as a kind of revived Aristoteleanism Haer. Basil Against Eunomius I. On the other hand, a theologian as broadly read as Petavius De Trin. From whatever school it may have been logically derived, the sect , as a sect , was cradled and nurtured in intrigue. Save in some few instances, which can be accounted for on quite other grounds, its prophets relied more upon curial influence than upon piety , or Scriptural knowledge , or dialectics. That must be borne constantly in mind, if we would not move distractedly through the bewildering maze of events that make up the life of Athanasius for the next half-century to come.
It is his peculiar merit that he not only saw the drift of things from the very beginning, but was confident of the issue down to the last Apol. His insight and courage proved almost as efficient a bulwark to the Christian Church in the world as did his singularly lucid grasp of traditional Catholic belief. His opportunity came in the year , when the Emperor Constantine , in the hope of putting an end to the scandalous debates that were disturbing the peace of the Church , met the prelates of the entire Catholic world in council at Nicaea.
The great council convoked at this juncture was something more than a pivotal event in the history of Christianity. In one sense, and that a very deep and vital one, both the definition and the policy were inevitable. It was inevitable in the order of religious ideas that any break in logical continuity should be met by inquiry and protest. It was just as inevitable that the protest, to be effective, should receive some countenance from a power which up to that moment had affected to regulate all the graver circumstances of life cf.
Harnack, Hist. As Newman has remarked: "The Church could not meet together in one, without entering into a sort of negotiation with the power that be; who jealousy it is the duty of Christians , both as individuals and as a body, if possible, to dispel" Arians of the Fourth Cent. Athanasius, though not yet in priest's orders, accompanied Alexander to the council in the character of secretary and theological adviser.
The term had been proposed in a non-obvious and illegitimate sense by Paul of Samosata to the Father at Antioch , and had been rejected by them as savouring of materialistic conceptions of the Godhead cf. It may even be questioned whether, if left to his own logical instincts , Athanasius would have suggested an orthodox revival of the term at all "De Decretis", 19; "Orat.
His writings, composed during the forty-six critical years of his episcopate, show a very sparing use of the word; and though, as Newman Arians of the Fourth Cent.
The suggestion had in all probability come from Hosius cf. The conspicuous abilities displayed in the Nicaean debates and the character for courage and sincerity he won on all sides made the youthful cleric henceforth a marked man St.
His life could not be lived in a corner. Five months after the close of the council the Primate of Alexandria died; and Athanasius, quite as much in recognition of his talent, it would appear, as in deference to the deathbed wishes of the deceased prelate , was chosen to succeed him. His election, in spite of his extreme youth and the opposition of a remnant of the Arian and Meletian factions in the Alexandrian Church, was welcomed by all classes among the laity "Apol.
The opening years of the saint's rule were occupied with the wonted episcopal routine of a fourth-century Egyptian bishop. Episcopal visitations, synods , pastoral correspondence, preaching and the yearly round of church functions consumed the bulk of his time.
The only noteworthy events of which antiquity furnishes at least probable data are connected with the successful efforts which he made to provide a hierarchy for the newly planted church in Ethiopia Abyssinia in the person of St. Frumentius Rufinus I, ix; Soc. I, xix; Soz. But the seeds of disaster which the saint's piety had unflinchingly planted at Nicaea were beginning to bear a disquieting crop at last. Already events were happening at Constantinople which were soon to make him the most important figure of his time.
Eusebius of Nicomedia , who had fallen into disgrace and been banished by the Emperor Constantine for his part in the earlier Arian controversies, had been recalled from exile. After an adroit campaign of intrigue, carried on chiefly through the instrumentality of the ladies of the imperial household, this smooth-mannered prelate so far prevailed over Constantine as to induce him to order the recall of Arius likewise from exile.
He himself sent a characteristic letter to the youthful Primate of Alexandria, in which he bespoke his favour for the condemned heresiarch, who was described as a man whose opinions had been misrepresented. These events must have happened some time about the close of the year Finally the emperor himself was persuaded to write to Athanasius, urging that all those who were ready to submit to the definitions of Nicaea should be re-admitted to ecclesiastical communion.
This Athanasius stoutly refused to do, alleging that there could be no fellowship between the Church and the one who denied the Divinity of Christ. The Bishop of Nicomedia thereupon brought various ecclesiastical and political charges against Athanasius, which, though unmistakably refuted at their first hearing, were afterwards refurbished and made to do service at nearly every stage of his subsequent trials.
Four of these were very definite, to wit: that he had not reached the canonical age at the time of his consecration ; that he had imposed a linen tax upon the provinces; that his officers had, with his connivance and authority, profaned the Sacred Mysteries in the case of an alleged priest names Ischyras; and lastly that he had put one Arenius to death and afterwards dismembered the body for purposes of magic.
The nature of the charges and the method of supporting them were vividly characteristic of the age. The curious student will find them set forth in picturesque detail in the second part of the Saint's "Apologia", or "Defense against the Arians", written long after the events themselves, about the year , when the retractation of Ursacius and Valens made their publication triumphantly opportune.
The whole unhappy story at this distance of time reads in parts more like a specimen of late Greek romance than the account of an inquisition gravely conducted by a synod of Christian prelates with the idea of getting at the truth of a series of odious accusations brought against one of their number.
Summoned by the emperor's order after protracted delays extended over a period of thirty months Soz. Fifty of his suffragans went with him to vindicate his good name; but the complexion of the ruling party in the synod made it evident that justice to the accused was the last thing that was thought of. It can hardly be wondered at, that Athanasius should have refused to be tried by such a court. He, therefore, suddenly withdrew from Tyre , escaping in a boat with some faithful friends who accompanied him to Byzantium, where he had made up his mind to present himself to the emperor.
The circumstances in which the saint and the great catechumen met were dramatic enough. Constantine was returning from a hunt, when Athanasius unexpectedly stepped into the middle of the road and demanded a hearing. The astonished emperor could hardly believe his eyes, and it needed the assurance of one of the attendants to convince him that the petitioner was not an impostor, but none other than the great Bishop of Alexandria himself. An order was peremptorily sent to the bishops , who had tried Athanasius and, of course, condemned him in his absence, to repair at once to the imperial city.
The command reached them while they were on their way to the great feast of the dedication of Constantine's new church at Jerusalem. It naturally caused some consternation; but the more influential members of the Eusebian faction never lacked either courage or resourcefulness.
The saint was taken at his word; and the old charges were renewed in the hearing of the emperor himself. Athanasius was condemned to go into exile at Treves, where he was received with the utmost kindness by the saintly Bishop Maximinus and the emperor's eldest son, Constantine.
He began his journey probably in the month of February, , and arrived on the banks of the Moselle in the late autumn of the same year. His exile lasted nearly two years and a half. Public opinion in his own diocese remained loyal to him during all that time.
It was not the least eloquent testimony to the essential worth of his character that he could inspire such faith. Constantine's treatment of Athanasius at this crisis in his fortunes has always been difficult to understand. Affecting, on the one hand, a show of indignation, as if he really believed in the political charge brought against the saint , he, on the other hand, refused to appoint a successor to the Alexandrian See, a thing which he might in consistency have been obliged to do had he taken seriously the condemnation proceedings carried through by the Eusebians at Tyre.
Meanwhile events of the greatest importance had taken place. Arius had died amid startlingly dramatic circumstances at Constantinople in ; and the death of Constantine himself had followed, on the 22nd of May the year after. Some three weeks later the younger Constantine invited the exiled primate to return to his see ; and by the end of November of the same year Athanasius was once more established in his episcopal city.
His return was the occasion of great rejoicing. Athanasius refused, noting the Catholic Church could not hold communion with heretics who attacked the divinity of Christ. However, Eusebius did not give up on his cause. He wrote to Athanasius trying to justify Arius and he wrote to the Egyptian Meletians in efforts to have Athanasius impeached.
The Meletians charged Athanasius with the crimes of exacting a tribute of linen for use in his church, sending gold to Philomenus, treason against the emperor and authorizing one of his deputies to destroy a chalice being used at the altar by a Meletian priest.
The Arians didn't stop there though; they came forward with another charge, claiming he murdered a Meletian bishop. Athanasius was ordered to attend a council at Caesarea, but knowing the bishop was alive and in hiding, Athanasius ignored the summons. The council was full of Athanasius' opponents and was led by an Arian.
Athanasius realized his condemnation was already pre-decided. Athanasius was exiled for the first time to Trier, Germany. While there, he kept in touch with his flock by letter. Athanasius' exile lasted for two and a half years.
He returned to Alexandria in to find both Emperor Constantine and Arius had died. After he returned to Alexandria, his enemies continued to try to bring him to exile. They accused him of raising sedition, of promoting bloodshed, and detaining his own use of corn.
Eusebius was able to obtain a second sentence of deposition against Athanasius and get the election of an Arian bishop for Alexandria approved. After this, a letter was written to Pope St. Julius asking for his intervention and a condemnation of Athanasius.
The case for Athanasius was set forth, and the pope accepted the suggestion offered by Eusebius for a synod to discuss the situation. Meanwhile, a Cappadocian named Gregory was installed in Alexandria, and Athanasius went to Rome to await his hearing. Athanasius was completely vindicated by the synod, but was unable to return home to Alexandria until the death of the Cappadocian Gregory in Athanasius returned to Alexandria to scenes of people rejoicing after he had been absent for eight years.
However, in Athanasius would face more condemnations by the Arians in the councils at Arles, France and again in in Milan, Italy. Persecution continued against Athanasius and escalated to physical attacks against him. While he was celebrating a vigil Liturgy in a church in Egypt, soldiers forced their way in and killed some of the congregation.
Athanasius managed to escape and hid in the desert, where a group of monks kept him safe for six years. Athanasius returned to Alexandria after the death of Constantius in and the new emperor, Julian, revoked all sentences of exile enacted by his predecessor. This lasted only a few months though. Emperor Julian's plan for paganizing the Christian world couldn't get very far so long as Athanasius, the champion for Catholic faith, was around. Therefore, Julian exiled Athanasius and he once again sought refuge in the desert.
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