ABSTRACT
From his election as bishop of Alexandria in 328, until his death in 373, and tothe present day, Athanasius has aroused passionate and polarized reactions. While admirers have praised his courageous defence of Nicene orthodoxy, even imputing to him ‘a total lack of self-interest’ (Robertson 1892: lxvii), others have condemned his violent personality, even comparing him to ‘a modern American gangster’ (Barnes 1987: 397). If today’s ordinary Christians have any impression of him, it may be an unpleasant one, based on something Athanasius did not write (but would surely endorse): the so-called Athanasian Creed, which consigns to eternal torment anyone who does not share its uncompromising Trinitarian theology (Kelly 1964). Athanasius’ dual identity as saint and gangster stems from his more basic identity as a Christian bishop in the post-Constantinian imperially favoured church: the fourth-century bishop’s roles as preacher, theologian, patron, and administrator render hopeless any modern attempt to separate ‘religion’ from ‘politics’ or ‘thought’ from ‘action’.
