St. Athanasius: Defender of the Incarnate Word and Model for Our Time

Fr. Scott A. Haynes

On May 2, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Athanasius, a confessor of the faith whose fearless perseverance preserved the doctrine of the Incarnation when much of the hierarchy faltered. He was exiled five times over the course of his life—often by bishops and emperors alike—but never betrayed the divinity of Christ. In an age when fidelity to Christ demanded heroic witness not only against the pagan world but also against heretics within the Church, St. Athanasius stood firm. The modern Catholic faces similar temptations to compromise, soften doctrine, and seek human approval. St. Athanasius remains a blazing beacon for Catholics who must navigate the storm-tossed seas of a Church facing deep internal crisis.

The Man Who Stood Against the World

Athanasius was born around the year 296 in Alexandria, a city that was an intellectual center of early Christianity. He received an excellent education and was ordained a deacon by Bishop Alexander of Alexandria. At a young age, he accompanied Alexander to the First Council of Nicaea in 325, where the bishops of the Church met to condemn the Arian heresy.

Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria, denied the full divinity of Jesus Christ. He taught that the Son of God was a created being, superior to all creatures but not co-eternal with the Father. This theological error struck at the very heart of Christian doctrine—the mystery of the Incarnation and the redemption of mankind. If Christ were not truly God, then He could not save us. St. Gregory of Nazianzus put it succinctly: “That which He has not assumed He has not healed.”¹

The Council of Nicaea condemned Arius and affirmed that the Son is “consubstantial” (homoousios) with the Father. Though victorious in that moment, Athanasius soon found himself fighting almost alone. The tide of power turned. Emperors and bishops succumbed to political pressure, preferring a compromise with Arian sympathizers. The heresy took root in the highest levels of ecclesiastical authority. It is in this crucible that Athanasius shone forth as a model of unwavering fidelity.

The historian St. Jerome would later write of him: “The whole world groaned, and was astonished to find itself Arian.”² Yet amid the confusion, Athanasius remained a bulwark. He was consecrated bishop of Alexandria in 328, and almost immediately became the object of relentless persecution. Over the course of his episcopacy, he was exiled five times, spending nearly 17 of his 45 years as bishop in exile. He lived in deserts, monasteries, and tombs—often under threat of death. In one of his most famous moments, he eluded imperial forces by sailing down the Nile in the opposite direction of his pursuers.

What gave him such strength? It was his unshakeable love for the Word made flesh. In his masterpiece On the Incarnation, written around 318, Athanasius meditated on the mystery of the Logos taking on human flesh:

“He became what we are, that He might make us what He is.”³

This short phrase encapsulates the whole economy of salvation. Only if Christ is fully God and fully man can He bring fallen humanity into union with divine life. Athanasius understood this mystery deeply—and so he fought for it with every breath.

Perseverance Amid Persecution

St. Athanasius endured not only persecution from secular authorities but betrayal by bishops. He knew that fidelity to Christ could isolate him from even the institutional Church. And yet he never walked away. He suffered in communion, not in schism. He was not a rebel but a confessor.

Pope Benedict XVI praised this witness in a general audience in 2007, noting that Athanasius' legacy was “inseparably linked to the defense of the true divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in a time when the heresy of Arianism seemed to prevail.”⁴ The fact that the Church eventually reaffirmed Nicene orthodoxy is due in large part to Athanasius’ courage. He became known as Athanasius contra mundum—“Athanasius against the world.”

In our own day, many faithful Catholics feel like they too are standing “against the world,” even within the Church. Scandals, doctrinal confusion, and public dissent from Church teaching by clergy can cause distress, fear, and even despair. In such a time, Athanasius teaches us two things: to remain firm in truth and to suffer within the Church rather than flee from her.

St. John Henry Newman, reflecting on Athanasius, wrote:

“It is not wonderful then, that, amid the many trials which beset him, Athanasius was supported by the vision of the Lord. He had an intense conviction of the truth of his creed, a devotedness to it which nothing could alter.”⁵

It is precisely this supernatural conviction—rooted in love for Christ, not in ecclesiastical power or human respect—that the Church needs today.

A Theologian of the Incarnation

The heart of Athanasius’ theology was the Incarnation. For him, the Word becoming flesh was not an abstraction but the centerpiece of God’s love for humanity. His writings consistently link the Incarnation with the salvation of mankind. He insisted that only one who is truly God could redeem mankind:

“He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequence able to recreate all, and worthy to suffer on behalf of all and to intercede for all before the Father.”⁶

This focus on the Incarnation is especially urgent in our time, when many errors downplay the uniqueness of Christ, reduce Him to a mere moral teacher, or view religion as an instrument of social progress. Athanasius reminds us that Christianity is not about moral improvement but divine transformation. It is about God entering our humanity to bring us into His divinity.

This theology bore fruit not only in doctrine but in Athanasius’ profound relationship with the monastic movement. He was a friend and biographer of St. Anthony of the Desert, whose life he chronicled in The Life of Antony. That work would ignite the monastic movement in the West. Athanasius saw in the monks a radical commitment to the Gospel, a kind of living icon of the Incarnation—men and women who lived in the flesh the divine life they had received through baptism. In his view, the purity and sacrifice of the monks were proof of the power of the Word made flesh.

A Model for the Church in Crisis

Does the present situation of the Church bear unsettling resemblance to Athanasius’ time? Confusion about basic doctrines abounds today. Some clergy promote teachings that seem to conflict with Scripture and tradition. Faithful laity often find themselves bewildered, isolated, and discouraged.

In such a time, St. Athanasius provides not just a historical example, but a prophetic template. He shows us how to suffer well, how to fight with charity, how to be strong without becoming bitter. As Pope Pius XI wrote in his encyclical Divini Illius Magistri:

“When the shepherds themselves are carried away by the flood of error, it is to such champions as Athanasius that the faithful turn for light and consolation.”⁷

Crucially, Athanasius never presumed to separate from the Church. He opposed heretics, not the Church. His fidelity was not to structures, titles, or majorities, but to the truth of the Gospel as handed down. His sufferings were borne in patience and in prayer. This fidelity ultimately bore fruit: the Nicene Creed, defended by Athanasius, was reaffirmed at the Council of Constantinople in 381 and became the bedrock of Christian orthodoxy ever since.

Today, we too must hold fast to the unchanging truths of the faith, even when they are obscured by those in authority. This may mean suffering exile from positions of influence, marginalization in one’s parish or community, or even ridicule. But like Athanasius, we can find solace in the Incarnate Word, who “came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11).

Encouragement from the Fathers and Saints

St. Basil the Great, a contemporary of Athanasius, spoke of the dark times in which they lived:

“The dogmas of the Fathers are despised; apostolic traditions are set at nought; the inventions of innovators are in vogue in the churches... The pastors are driven away, and grievous wolves bring grievous confusion among the flocks of Christ.”⁸

These words could have been written today. But they were not written in despair. They were written in the hope that fidelity would bear fruit. The Church has always suffered—but truth has always prevailed in the end.

Pope St. Gregory the Great reminds us that the witness of such saints is not merely for admiration but for imitation:

“The holy Church, universal in her reach, has as her pillars the lives of the saints, who through their suffering and steadfastness stand as examples to the faithful.”⁹

If we want to remain faithful in this present hour of trial, we must learn from Athanasius. We must study the faith deeply, so we are not swept away by the new vocabularies of false mercy or diluted doctrine. We must remain in prayer, offering reparation and intercession for the Church. And we must support one another in charity, forming networks of fidelity in a time of apostasy.

Conclusion: Athanasius for Our Time

In every age, God raises up witnesses who remind us what it means to belong to Christ. St. Athanasius is one of the greatest of these witnesses. He shows us that fidelity to Christ is not always accompanied by applause, titles, or institutional support. Sometimes it means exile. Sometimes it means solitude. But ultimately, it means sanctity.

Let us turn to him in our present trials. Let us ask his intercession, especially for our bishops and priests. May he obtain for us the courage to suffer for the truth, the wisdom to discern error, and the humility to remain within the wounded but holy Body of Christ, the Church.

As the ancient liturgy of the Church prayed, so may we:

Athanasius, champion of Christ's divinity, pray for us that we may confess the Son of God with boldness and live in the light of the Incarnate Word, who lives and reigns forever. Amen.

Footnotes

1. Gregory of Nazianzus, Epistle 101, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 7, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1894), 440.

2. Jerome, Dialogue Against the Luciferians, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 6, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1893), 321.

3. Athanasius, On the Incarnation, trans. John Behr (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2011), 54.

4. Benedict XVI, General Audience, June 20, 2007, Vatican.va, https://www.vatican.va.

5. John Henry Newman, The Arians of the Fourth Century (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1876), 252.

6. Athanasius, On the Incarnation, 35.

7. Pius XI, Divini Illius Magistri, December 31, 1929, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 22 (1930): 49.

8. Basil the Great, Epistle 90, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 8, ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace (New York: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895), 182.

9. Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, trans. David Hurst (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1990), Homily 38.