In the Acts of the Apostles today, we hear how news reaches the Church in Jerusalem of how the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles in Antioch. This was quite startling news, since to this point, the Gospel message was just being presented to the Jews. Barnabas was sent to Antioch to investigate what was going on. When he recognized God’s grace at work, he encouraged the evangelizers in their efforts to spread Christ’s Gospel message.
Even though the Gospel message was spread throughout the world by missionaries in the early Church to great success, Jesus’ human and divine identity was the subject of great discussion and controversy, even several centuries after Christ’s death and resurrection. The Arian heresy arose as a part of this controversy, named after Arius, a teacher and presbyter who lived in Alexandria, Egypt in the 4th century. Arius argued that Jesus was a created being with divine attributes rather than a being who was eternally divine. Arius and his beliefs were labeled as heresy at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. Jesus’ eternal divine nature was professed in the Nicene Creed. I bring up the Arian heresy because the saint we celebrate today, Athanasius, was instrumental in defeating the Arian heresy. Athanasius was a strong voice in this debate in his role as Bishop of Alexandria, an important leadership position in the Early Church. This debate was so heated in the Early Church that Athanasius was exiled five different times for his defense of the doctrine of Christ’s divinity. His writings on the Arian heresy are considered important theological works in the history of the Church, earning Athanasius the title of Doctor of the Church. Among his celebrated writings is the Life of St Anthony, a biography of the famous Desert Father. This biography of Anthony and his teachings are said to have had a great influence on the development of monasticism in the Western Church. We celebrate St Athanasius today and unite our prayers to his prayers and intercession.
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