ABSTRACT
Athanasius’s Letter to Adelphius was written ca. 370. Adelphius was the bishop of Onuphis, a town located on the Nile Delta, and he is listed as one of the signees of the Tome to the Antiochenes, which was the product of an Alexandrian synod convened by Athanasius in 362 to deal with the division among proNicene camps in Antioch over Trinitarian terminology.1 Adelphius is also mentioned among the names of pro-Nicene bishops who had been exiled during the tenure of George of Cappadocia,2 and presumably it is for this reason that he has been granted the title of “Confessor.” It is difficult to ascertain the precise contents of the doctrine being refuted in this letter, not least because of Athanasius’s style of dramatizing his opponent’s views by contriving selfdamning monologues for them.3 Moreover, given Athanasius’s penchant for depicting anti-Nicene theology as being in organic continuity with all previous doctrinal error, his characterization of the teaching reported by Adelphius as “Arian” cannot spontaneously be taken at face value. Athanasius asserts that these “Arians” have now devised a new variation on their heresy, advancing from disbelief in the genuine divinity of the Word to a denial of the Word’s becoming human. He accuses them furthermore of separating the Word from the flesh and of refusing to worship the Incarnate Word.
