Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers · AD 325–500
Athanasius of Alexandria
c. 296–373 · Early Church · Alexandria
Bishop of Alexandria and a leading defender of Nicene teaching during fourth-century disputes over the relationship of the Son to the Father.
Major contributions
Trinity, divinity of Christ
- Defended the full divinity of the Son in anti-Arian writings.
- His Festal Letter 39 lists the 27 books of the New Testament in 367.
Theological positions
Modern labels do not always describe historical writers precisely.
- Christology
On the Incarnation and the Orations Against the Arians defend the divine Word’s incarnation.
Major writings
- On the Incarnation
- Against the Arians
- Life of Antony
- Festal Letter 39