“God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This simple declaration from the Apostle Paul expresses the fundamental Christian conviction regarding the Incarnation which the Church has labored strenuously to understand, preserve and defend. One of the foremost defenders of orthodox Christology in the history of the Church is Athanasius.
Athanasius was a fourth century bishop-theologian from Egypt. Born around AD 298, he lived in Alexandria. At that time, Alexandria was the chief learning center in the Roman Empire. Around AD 320, Arius, a priest in Alexandria, began teaching that Christ Jesus was “a god,” but that he did not exist eternally as “the God.” At that point in history, Athanasius was a newly ordained deacon and served as an assistant to Bishop Alexander. The deacon responded to the Arian heresy by proclaiming that the Father’s begetting of the Son was to be understood in the context of an eternal relation, not as a temporal event. Arius was condemned by the bishops of Egypt (with the exception of Secundus of Ptolemais and Theonas of Marmorica).
Arius then traveled to Nicomedia, from where he wrote letters of defense and explanation to Church leaders throughout the world. His teachings were creating chaos within the life of the Church all over the empire. Constantine, desiring peace within his realm, called a council of bishops together at Nicea (near modern Instanbul) in AD 325. 317 bishops, from both the East and the West, were present (though most were from the East). Athanasius accompanied Bishop Alexander yet became recognized as the chief spokesman for orthodoxy. He articulated clearly that Jesus Christ is fully God, co-eternal and co-equal with God the Father. The Council of Nicea formulated a creedal statement to express the orthodox view of Christ’s divinity. The Greek term “homoousios,” meaning “of the same substance, essence, or nature,” was employed to prevent the heresy of Arianism from circumventing orthodoxy with clever semantics. Of the 317 bishops, only two did not affirm the creed – Secundus and Theonas.
Shortly following the Council of Nicea the Arians mounted a theological uprising, refusing to accept the decision of the Council. The orthodox bishops began to negotiate with the Arians and considered various creedal statements that would soften the Nicene formula. Athanasius, who succeeded Alexander as Bishop of Alexandria in A.D. 328, refused to negotiate. He declared that if the orthodox made peace with the Arians their ultimate priority, then they would eventually sacrifice the truth. He defended the full deity of Jesus Christ at all costs before bishops, theologians and politicians. His magnum opus in this regard is De Incarnatione Verbi Dei (On the Incarnation). His defense of the faith led his adversaries to brand him as a troublemaker and led to his banishment from Alexandria on five different occasions.
Due to Athanasius’ persistence, Christians began to understand the implications of his arguments, realizing that the surrender of the original Nicene formulation would result in the abandonment of biblical Christianity. For this reason, the Council of Constantinople convened in A.D. 381 and reaffirmed the Nicene formula. Today, the most comprehensive confession regarding the doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the Athanasian Creed (also known as Quicunque Vult). It takes its name, obviously, from the bold bishop from Egypt. Though the bishop did not author this creed, it nonetheless affirms his convictions and those of orthodox Christians around the globe. It maintains:
Whoever desires to be saved should above all
hold to the catholic faith.
Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken
will doubtless perish eternally.
Now this is the catholic faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
neither blending their Persons nor dividing their essence.
For the Person of the Father is a distinct person,
the Person of the Son is another,
and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
Their glory equal, Their majesty co-eternal.
What quality the Father has,
the Son has,
and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated,
the Son is uncreated,
the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable,
the Son is immeasurable,
the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.
The Father is eternal,
the Son is eternal,
the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings;
there is but one eternal Being.
So too there are not three uncreated
or immeasurable beings;
there is but one uncreated
and immeasurable Being.
Similarly, the Father is almighty,
the Son is almighty,
the Holy Spirit is almighty.
Yet there are not three almighty beings;
there is but one almighty Being.
Thus the Father is God,
the Son is God,
the Holy Spirit is God.
Yet there are not three gods;
there is but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord,
the Son is Lord,
the Holy Spirit is Lord.
Yet there are not three lords;
there is but one Lord.
Just as Christian truth compels us to confess
each Person individually
as both God and Lord,
so catholic religion forbids us
to say that there are three gods or lords.
The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
The Son was neither made nor created;
He was begotten from the Father alone.
The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
He proceeds from the Father and the Son.
Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
there is one Son, not three sons;
there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this Trinity is before or after,
nothing is greater or smaller;
in Their entirety the Three Persons
are co-eternal and coequal with each other.
So in everything, as was said earlier,
we must worship Their trinity in their unity
and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the Trinity.
But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.
Now this is the true faith:
That we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ,
God’s Son, is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and He is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Although He is God and human,
yet Christ is not two, but one.
He is one, however,
not by His divinity being turned into flesh,
but by God’s taking humanity to Himself.
He is one, certainly not by the blending of His essence,
but by the unity of His Person.
For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
so too the one Christ is both God and human.
He suffered for our salvation;
He descended to hell;
He arose from the dead;
He ascended to heaven;
He is seated at the Father’s right hand;
from there He will come to judge the living and the dead.
At His coming all people will arise bodily
and give an accounting of their own deeds.
Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.
This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.















Three masked members of an Islamist group, Suna Waljameca, murdered Amina Muse Ali, a Somali Christian, for declining to wear a hijab (veil). Ali, 45, was shot to death in her home in the Puntland region on October 19 at 9:30 p.m. The murder of this Christian woman is one of many carried out by Somali Islamists over the last few months. Please pray for the grieving families to receive comfort, and for God’s grace to reach the Islamists.