LIBERTY
UNIVERSITY
LIBERTY
BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
ATHANASIUS CONTRA MUNDUM: DEFENDING THE FULL DIVINITY OF THE FATHER, SON, AND
HOLY SPIRIT
A RESEARCH PAPER
SUBMITTED TO DR. MARVIN JONES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE COURSE CHHI 520
BY
NATHAN MERRILL (ID#
01189706)
CONTENTS
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………............... 1
Arianism………………………………………………………………………………............. 2
The Anti-Nicaea Reaction to Homoousios: A Problematic Word………………….……… 4
Athanasius
on the Defense of the Holy Spirit as Homoousios
………………..……………. 6
Athanasius’s
Exiles………………………………………….………………………………… 6
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….... 9
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………… 12
Introduction
The
fourth century could be characterized as the “advent of Christian theology.” It
was dominated by ecclesiastical controversies, church councils, and the
establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire.[1]
The Arian controversy was the first great doctrinal debate to shake Christendom.
It stemmed from the difficulty that had troubled the church since the early
second century: the concept of the Trinity. The early church, because of its
Jewish roots, acknowledged the oneness of God, yet it also recognized that
Christ and the Holy Spirit functioned as God.[2]
How were the early Christians to deal with this conundrum? They were sure that
God was One, so how were they to relate Christ and the Spirit to God? Initially,
the church fathers found analogies and employed language from contemporary
philosophies they were familiar with.[3]
As time went on, however, they found these analogies to be inadequate. The
notion of the Trinity was just too novel. Eventually, controversies arose among
them, ultimately forming the basis of orthodox theology.
The first
of these controversies, as mentioned above, was the Arian controversy. It
involved the Arians and their archrival, Athanasius (ca. 298-372 AD).[4]
Athanasius
toiled relentlessly for more than a half century to establish and defend the
doctrine of the Trinity against the Arians. He persevered through five exiles
(a total of seventeen years in exile) and withstood recurrent
harassments/persecutions from emperors, colleagues in clergy, and other
Arians/Arian sympathizers. Despite this overwhelming pressure, he stood
steadfast in his denunciation of Arianism. In fact, his tireless resolve earned
him the moniker “Athanasius contra mundum”
(against the world).[5]
Finally, toward the end of Athanasius’s
life the tower of Arianism began to crumble under the weight of his
unassailable arguments from Scripture. He was able to convince Christendom that
his view of the Trinity was the right one according to Scripture. Hence, his
unyielding tenacity and inexorable fight against the Arians became the impetus
that established and cemented the doctrine of the Trinity within orthodox
Christianity.
Arianism
The Arian controversy was spawned by Arius (ca. 250-318 AD), a presbyter in the church
at Alexandria.[6]
Arius, deducing certain unwarranted conclusions from Origen’s theology,
rejected the full divinity of Christ.[7]
He argued the Son was a created being (albeit the highest of God’s created
beings). For example, he writes in his letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia:
But what do we
say and think and what have we previously taught and do we presently
teach? — that the Son is not unbegotten, nor a part of an unbegotten
entity in any way, nor from anything in existence, but that he is subsisting in
will and intention before time and before the ages, … the only-begotten, unchangeable. Before he
was begotten, or created, or defined, or established, he did not exist.
For he was not unbegotten. But we are persecuted because we have said the Son has
a beginning…[8]
Thus, Arius promulgated a form of
monarchism in which the Son was subordinate to the Father. Moreover, he
reasoned the Son cannot be the same substance (homoousios) as the Father since he was created by that Father.[9]
In addition to diminishing the deity of Christ, Arius also depreciated
the deity of the Holy Spirit. In fact, he denied the personhood of the Holy
Spirit altogether.[10]
He understood the Holy Spirit as an influence or force emanating from the
Father.[11]
The Council of Nicaea
As Arius’s distinctive Christological teachings began to spread, it
became an important matter of debate in and around Alexandria. Bishop Alexander
of Alexandria thus convened a synod in Alexandria of almost a hundred bishops
to discuss the issue.[12]
Though Arius was condemned at this synod, the dispute did not abate; rather, it
intensified because Arius refused to concede, enlisting the support of other
leading bishops in the East.[13]
As the debate widened, it threatened to split the Eastern Church.[14]
Hence, to stem this tide of disunity imperiling the Roman State, Emperor
Constantine convoked the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea (325 AD). He
summoned more than 250 bishops and hundreds of other clergy to deal with the
matter.[15]
Of these clergy, Athanasius, a deacon of Bishop Alexander, played the most
active role in opposing Arius.[16]
He contended that the Son was not created and was consubstantial (homoousios) with the Father, thus He was
fully God as the Father is God.[17]
Ultimately, Athanasius’s view won the day; the council embraced, almost
unanimously, this homoousion position
of the Trinity, declared Arius a heretic, and formulated the orthodox statement
on the Trinity, i.e., the Nicene Creed.[18]
The
Anti-Nicaea Reaction to Homoousios: A
Problematic Word
Though the homoousion position had been officially declared, the great
majority of Eastern Church Fathers still found it difficult to accept the term homoousios as the proper description of
the Trinity. According to Everett Ferguson, a respected Christian historian,
“The new word homoousios had a
suspect history: (1) it was not used in Scripture; (2) it had been used by the
Gnostics; (3) it had been used by Paul of Samosata in some way not now clear;
and (4) it sounded Sabellian (and some Nicenes were close to this position).”[19]
Consequently, most of the Eastern bishops chose the word homoiousios (similar substance) instead of the Nicene term homoousios.[20]
They believed homoiousios more
accurately represented Christ’s relationship to the Father. Moreover, it did
not ring of Sabellianism as did Homoousios.[21]
This post-Nicene homoiousion view
– different from Arianism in that it did not espouse Christ as heteroousios (unlike in substance) with
the Father – became the intermediary view know as Semi-Arianism.[22]
While the Semi-Arians spurned the term homoousios, Athanasius vehemently defended
it, seeing it to be the very heart of Christianity. In fact, according to Athanasius,
the Son must be homoousios with the
Father for redemption to be possible. He asserted, “Therefore let those who
deny that the Son is from the Father by nature and proper to His Essence [homoousios with the Father], deny also
that He took true human flesh of Mary Ever-Virgin; for in neither case had it
been of profit to us men, whether the Word were not true and naturally Son of
God, or the flesh not true which He assumed.”[23] Hence,
according to Athanasius, if one denies the Son is homoousios with the Father, then he must also deny the Son’s
incarnation, thus making any hope of salvation impossible. Furthermore, the Son
must be fully God (homoousios with the
Father) in order to accomplish salvation for mankind.[24]
Athanasius
on the Defense of the Holy Spirit as Homoousios
In addition to upholding the divine Sonship, Athanasius also defended
the deity of the Holy Spirit, most notably when a certain group in Egypt began
claiming the Holy Spirit was a created being.[25]
In his Letters to Serapion,
Athanasius argued that the Holy Spirit, like the Son, was fully God, uncreated,
and consubstantial (homoousios) with
the Father.[26]
He states:
If the Son is named, the Father is in the Son, and the
Spirit is not outside the Word. For there is from the Father one grace which is
fulfilled through the Son in the Holy Spirit; and there is one divine nature,
and one God who is over all and through all and in all. Thus Paul also, when he
said, 'I charge thee before God and Jesus Christ', realized that the Spirit had
not been divided from the Son, but was himself in Christ, as the Son is in the
Father.[27]
Thus,
Athanasius saw the Holy Spirit as God just as the Father and Son were God. Moreover,
according to him, the Holy Spirit’s close connection with the Father and Son
through the creation, incarnation, inspiration of the prophets, and
invigoration of the church inferred He was homoousios with the Father and Son,
thus fully God. Furthermore, only a Spirit who is fully divine can impart life
to man.[28]
Athanasius’s
Exiles
During these early post-Nicene years,
Athanasius, the stalwart champion of the Nicene Creed, became the bishop of
Alexandria.[29]
Using this respected position – the second most important episcopal see after
Rome – Athanasius was able to eliminate Arianism/Semi-Arianism from Egypt
altogether.[30]
He, however, was not as successful at convincing the rest of the East, at least
at first (the Western Church predominately agreed with Athanasius’s homoousion position, at least in the
early stages).[31]
The Semi-Arians and other Arian sympathizers, viewing Athanasius as their prime
adversary, contrived to have him removed as bishop of Alexandria and ultimately
anathematized. They even went so far as to accuse him of imposing illegal
taxes, practicing magic, being too young to hold an episcopal office, and
supporting and collaborating with seditious persons.[32]
Finally, in 335 AD Athanasius’s opponents got their wish; he was summoned by
Constantine to a church council at Tyre to respond to the accusations against
him. Since most of the clergy at the council consisted of Semi-Arians and Arian
sympathizers, they were able to persuade Constantine to have Athanasius
banished to Treves in Gaul.[33]
One year after being exiled in Gaul, Constantine died. His son
Constantine II, now co-emperor with his with brothers (Constantius and Constans)
reinstated Athanasius in his bishopric at Alexandria. Two years later, however,
Eusebius of Nicomedia – the voice of the Arians since Arius had died just a few
years earlier – convinced Constantius to banish Athanasius from Alexandria once
again. This time Athanasius went to Rome where he remained for seven years
before the emperors allowed him to return to his see at Alexandria.[34]
Nevertheless,
about ten years later, Athanasius had to leave Alexandria once more. Emperor
Constans, his chief defender, had been murdered; thus, Constantius, an ardent
Arian, now had free reign to pursue Athanasius. Therefore, Athanasius, afraid
for his life, absconded into the Egyptian wilderness to hideout with the desert
monks for six long years.[35]
This exile, though long and arduous
(lasting five years), proved pivotal for turning the tide of Arianism towards Athanasius’s
homoousion view. Philip Schaff, an
eminent theologian of the nineteenth century, calls this exile “The Golden
Decade” for Athanasius. He notes:
The third exile of Athanasius marks
the summit of his achievement. Its commencement is the triumph, its conclusion
the collapse of Arianism. … But by
362 the utter lack of inner coherence in the Arian ranks was manifest to all;
the issue of the fight might be postponed by circumstances but could not be in
doubt. The break-up of the Arian power was due to its own lack of reality: as
soon as it had a free hand, it began to go to pieces. But the watchful eye of
Athanasius followed each step in the process from his hiding-place, and the
event was greatly due to his powerful personality and ready pen, knowing whom
to overwhelm and whom to conciliate, where to strike and where to spare.[36]
Hence,
even while being secluded in the wilderness, Athanasius found a way to fight
for the homoousion cause and bring
down the tower of Arianism.
Like the previous exiles, this exile ended with a change in political
power. Soon after the death of Constantius, Julian, the new emperor, rescinded
Constantius’s order to apprehend Athanasius; thus, Athanasius returned from the
Egyptian desert to his see at Alexandria.[37] Nonetheless,
Athanasius’s return from exile was very short-lived (only eight months). Julian
quickly did an about face; now considering Athanasius troublesome for his
empire, he demanded that Athanasius leave Egypt. Thus, Athanasius once more
left Alexandria, though not Egypt as Julian had commanded.[38]
This
exile, as the previous one, was brief; it lasted until Julian’s untimely death fifteen
months later. The new emperor, Jovian, reinstated Athanasius in his post at
Alexandria.[39]
But, as before, Athanasius was unable to stay for very long in Alexandria because
Jovian died shortly after taking the throne – reigning for less than a year.
Valens, the next emperor (co-emperor with his brother Valentinian) was not as
friendly towards the Nicene party. He issued a decree banishing all the bishops
who had been dismissed by Constantius and reinstalled by Julian.[40]
Thus, Athanasius departed one last time for the Egyptian desert to dwell with
monks. Five months later, however, Athanasius was again reinstated at his
bishopric in Alexandria.[41]
Conclusion
Athanasius was man of unwavering disposition and deep insight, who was
wholly devoted to God. These qualities, along with his prolific writings against
Arianism, contributed to the eventual downfall of Arianism and establishment of
the homoousion view of the Trinity
within orthodox Christianity.[42] Though others also
contributed to the homoousion cause,
Athanasius’s assiduous effort to defend it certainly weighed the heaviest in
establishing it as orthodox.[43]
Indeed, his efforts, namely his abundant writings, provided the foundation for the
Cappadocian Fathers (younger fourth century contemporaries) to formulate a more
complete doctrine of the Trinity.[44]
For Athanasius, the homoousion doctrine was of utmost importance; it involved the very
heart of Christianity, i.e. the redemption of
mankind. According to Douglas Honeyford, a respected theologian and biblical
commentator, Athanasius “recognized that Christianity itself was the issue
involved. Athanasius stood for that without which there would have been no
church to divide. The deity of Jesus Christ, His
equality and oneness with the Father, is the keystone in the arch of Christian truth.”[45] Therefore,
no ecclesiastical debate ranked higher than the Arian controversy. Moreover, no
schismatic was more influential than Arius, who carried such a great following
over a vast period of time (almost century) and nearly convinced the Eastern Church
of his heretical views.[46]
Ultimately, Athanasius triumphed over Arius. Though to do this, he had
to labor relentlessly for half a century – enduring five exiles, constantly
writing and polemicizing against the Arians, and carrying on despite the incessant
harassment/persecution from emperors and clergy. Notwithstanding this
overwhelming pressure, even when it seemed the whole world was against him, he
stood firm in his condemnation of Arianism. He certainly did live up to the
appellation, “Athanasius contra mundum”
(against the world)!
Thus, this was the battle Athanasius waged
for most of his life for the sake of the orthodoxy. Soon after he died, the
bulwark of Arianism began to fall under the weight of his irrefutable arguments
from Scripture. He had persuaded Christendom that his homoousion view of the Trinity was the right one according to
Scripture. Hence, his stalwart resolve and tenacious fight against Arianism was
the driving force that established and cemented the homoousion doctrine of the Trinity within orthodox Christianity.
According to John Piper, the well-known pastor and respected theologian, “No
one comes close to his influence in the cause of biblical truth during his
lifetime.[47]
1
Everett Ferguson, Church History, vol. 1:
From Christ to Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its
Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context, Kindle Edition (Grand
Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), Kindle
locations 640, 3488, 3605.
3 Kenneth
S. Latourette, A History of Christianity,
vol. 1: Beginnings to 1500s (NY: HaperCollins, 1975), 140.
4
Donald Tinder, “The Doctrine of the
Trinity: Its Historical Development and Departures,” Emmaus Journal 13, no. 1 (2004): 132, www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/emj13-1-05 (accessed April 10, 2013).
5 John
Piper, “Contending for Christ ‘Contra Mundum’: Exile and Incarnation in the
Life of Athanasius,” Southern Baptist
Journal of Theology 12, no. 2 (2008): 20, http://www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/sbjt12-2-03 (accessed April 6, 2013).
[6] Charles
Kannengiesser, "Arianism," in Encyclopedia of Religion, ed.
Lindsay Jones, 2nd ed., vol. 1. (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005),
478-479, Gale Virtual Reference Library.
go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3424500194&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
(accessed April 27, 2013).
[7]
Herbert Bess, “The Term “Son of God” in the Light of Old Testament Idiom,” Grace Journal 6, no. 2 (Spring 1965):
17, www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/gj06-2-03
(accessed April 20, 2013).
[8] “Fourth Century Christianity: Letter of Arius to Eusebius of Nicomedia,” Wisconsin Lutheran
College, http://www.fourthcentury.com/urkunde-1/ (accessed April 29, 2013).
[9] Ron Biglke, “The Doctrine Of Double Procession In Eastern And Western Theologies,”
Journal of Dispensational Theology
14, no. 41 (2010): 24-25,
www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/jodt14-41-03 (accessed April 28, 2013).
www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/jodt14-41-03 (accessed April 28, 2013).
[10] Johannes Van Oort, “The Holy
Spirit and the Early Church: Doctrine & Confession,” Hervormde
Teologiese Studies 67, no. 3 (2011): 3, http:// dx.doi.org/10.4102/hts.
v67i3.1120 (accessed April 28, 2013).
[11]
Paul Enns, The Moody
Handbook of Theology. Rev. exp. ed. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2008), 257.
[12] Thomas C.
Oden, “A Libyan History Awaiting Discovery,” Bibliotheca Sacra 167, no. 665 (2010): 15, www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/bsac167-665-01 (accessed
April 29, 2013).
[13] Ferguson, Church History, Kindle locations
3686-3689.
[14]
Latourette, A
History of Christianity, 153.
[15] Ibid., 154.
[16]
Sozome and Philostorgius, The ecclestical history of Sozomen:
Comprising a History of the Church from A. D. 324 to A. D. 440,
trans. by Edward Walford (London: Bohn, 1855), 40, www.archive.org/details/theecclesiastica00sozouoft
(accessed April 29, 2013).
[17]
Douglas C.
Honeyford, “The Question of Christ: An Historical
Study,” Bibliotheca Sacra 95, no. 377
(1938): 87, www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/bsac095-377-08 (accessed April
29, 2013).
[18]
Mark Carpenter, “A Synopsis of the Development of
Trinitarian Thought From The First Century Church Fathers to the Second Century
Apologists,” Trinity Journal 26, no.
2 (Fall 2005): 315, www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/trinj26-2-07 (accessed April 29, 2013).
[19] Ferguson, Church History, Kindle locations 3772-3774.
[20] Biglke, “The
Doctrine Of Double Procession, 31.
[21] Edward Robie, “Doctrine Of The Trinity,” Bibliotheca Sacra 27 no. 106 (1870):
285, www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/bsac027-106-03 (accessed May 1, 2013).
[23]
Athanasius, Against the Arians: Discourse 2:70, trans. John Henry Newman, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/28162.htm
(accessed May 1, 2013).
[25]
David F. Wright, “The Formation of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Early
Church,” Reformation and Revival 10,
no. 3 (Summer 2001): 84, www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/rar10-3-04
(accessed May 3, 2013).
[26]
Van Oort, “The Holy Spirit
and the Early Church,” 3.
[27] Athanasius, Letter to
Serapion, Trans. by C.R.B Shapland (New York: Eppworth Press, 1951), 94, http://ia701207.us.archive.org/20/items/TheLettersOfSaintAthanasiusConcerningTheHolySpirit/Athanasius_Letters_to_Serapion_Shapland.pdf (accessed May 3, 2013).
[28]
Wright, “The Formation of
the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Early Church,” 84.
[29] Norvelle W.
Sharpe, “Athanasius The Copt, And His Times,” Bibliotheca Sacra 70 no. 288, (Oct 1915): 629, http://www.galaxie.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/article/bsac072-288-06 (accessed
April 1, 2013).
[30]
Piper, “Contending for Christ ‘Contra Mundum’” 22.
[31]
Ferguson, Church History, Kindle locations 3777-3786.
[32] Ibib., 23.
[33]
Norvelle W. Sharpe,
“Athanasius The Copt, And His Times,” 631.
[34] Ibid., 632.
[35]
Piper, “Contending for Christ ‘Contra Mundum’” 25.
[36] Philip Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series
II/Volume IV/Prolegomena/Life/Section 7, Wikisource, http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=Nicene_and_Post-Nicene_Fathers:_Series_II/Volume_IV/Prolegomena/Life&oldid=2232731 (accessed May
4, 2013).
[37]
Norvelle W. Sharpe,
“Athanasius The Copt, And His Times,” 634.
[38] Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Section,
9.
[39]
Piper, “Contending for Christ ‘Contra Mundum,’” 26.
[40] Schaff, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Section,
9.
[41] Ferguson, Church History, Kindle locations 3853.
[42] Latourette, A History of Christianity, 158.
[43]
Ferguson, Church History, Kindle locations 3881-3886.
[44]
Van Oort, “The Holy Spirit
and the Early Church,” 8-9.
[45]
Honeyford, “The Question of Christ,” 87.
[46]
Norvelle W. Sharpe,
“Athanasius The Copt, And His Times,” 623.
[47]
Piper, “Contending for Christ ‘Contra Mundum,’” 20.
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Philip. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers.
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