ATHANASIIIS, primate of Egypt, was b. in Alexandria about the year 296 A. D. There are no particulars on record of his lineage or his parents. Alexander, then officiating as primate or patriarch of Alexandria, brought him up in his own family, and superin tended his education, with the view of his entering on the Christian ministry. In his youth, he often visited the celebrated hermit St. Antony, and embraced fora time the ascetic life with the venerable recluse. He was but a youth and only a deacon when appointed a member of the first general council at Nice, in which he distinguished him self by his erudition and his eloquence.
His patron. Alexander, having died in the following year, he was duly elected to the primacy by the clergy and people; and was but newly installed in his office, when Arius, who had been banished at the time of the condemnation of his doctrine at Nice, was recalled, and made a recantation of his erroneous principles. A., MS said, refused U. K. I.-53 on this occasion to comply with the will of the emperor that the heretic should be restored to communion. On this account, and in consequence of several other charges brought against him by the Arian party, he was summoned by the emperor Constantine to appear before the synod of Tyre, in 335 A.D., which deposed him from his office. His sentence was confirmed by the synod of Jerusalem in the following year, when he was banished to Treves. In 338, Constantius, now emperor of the east, though unfriendly to the principles of the Trinitarians, recalled A. from his banishment, and restored him to the primacy at Alexandria. His entrance into the city was like a triumphal procession; but the Arians soon rose against him, and (in 341) he was again condemned by a coun cil of 90 Arian bishops assembled at Antioch. Against this decision a protest was made by 100 orthodox bishops at Alexandria; and in a council held at Sardis, 300 bishops, with Julius, bishop of Rome, at their head,,confirmed the decision in favor of A., who was again replaced in his office (349 A.D.). The Arians once more acquired the ascend ency after Constantius (in 353) had been made emperor of both the east and the west; for in that year A. was condemned by a council held at Arles, and the sentence was confirmed by another held at Milan in 355, the influence of the sovereign being strongly exerted to secure his condemnation. As the resolute patriarch had declared that he would not leave his place without an express order from the emperor, violent means were resorted to for his expulsion. While engaged in conducting divine service, he was interrupted by a company of soldiers, from whom he made his escape into the Egyptian desert. A price was set on his head; and to avoid his persecutors, he retired from the usual haunts of the auchorets to a remote desert in upper Egypt, where he was attended by one faithful follower. Here he wrote several works to confirm orthodox
Christians in their faith. On the accession of Julian to the imperial throne, toleration was proclaimed to all religions, anU A. returned to his former position as patriarch of Alexandria (361 A.D.), His next controversy was with the heathen subjects of Julian, to whom the patriarch, by his zeal in opposing their religion, had made himself very offensive. To save his life he was compelled again to flee from Alexandria, and remained concealed in the Theban desert until 363, when Jovian ascended the throne. After holding office again as patriarch for only a short space of time, he was expelled anew by the Arians, under the emperor Valens. A. now found refuge in the tomb of his father, where he remained hidden four months, until Valens, moved by petitions from the orthodox Alexandrians, restored the patriarch to his see, in which he continued till his death in 373 A.D.
A. was the leading ecclesiastic in the most trying period of the history of the early Christian church. His ability, his conscientiousness, his judiciousness and wisdom, his fearlessness in the storms of opposition, his activity and patience, all mark him out as an ornament of the age, as well as the most influential public character in matters of reli gion. Though twenty years of his life were spent either in exile or what was equiva lent to it, yet his prudence.and steadfastness, combined with the support of a large party, crowned his exertions with complete success. He was a clear thinker, and as a speaker was distinguished for extemporaneous precision, force, and persuasiveness.
His writings are polemical, historical, and moral; all marked by a style simple,cogent, and clear. The polemical works treat chiefly of the doctrines of the Trinity, the incar nation of our Savior, and the divinity of the Holy Spirit.
The earliest edition of the collected works of A. in the original Greek appeared in two volumes, folio, at Heidelberg, in 1600. It was accompanied with a Latin transla tion. The most complete edition is that published at Padua in 1777. A.'s four orations against the Arians, and his oration against the Gentiles, were translated by S. Parker (Oxford, 1713); also his treatise on the incarnation of the word was translated by IV. Whiston, forming part of that gentleman's Collection of Ancient Monuments Relating to the Trinity and Incarnation, London, in 1713. The epistles of A. in defense of the Nicene creed, and on the councils of Ariminum and Seleucia, together with his first oration against the Arians, were translated, with notes, by the Rev. John Henry Newman, Oxford, (1842).