the soteriology of saint athanasius of alexandria the conformation of ...

THE SOTERIOLOGY OF SAINT
ATHANASIUS OF
ALEXANDRIA. THE
CONFORMATION OF THE
CHRISTIAN TO CHRIST
IN THE HOLY SPIRIT
I. INTRODUCTION
St. Athanasius of Alexandria has been studied from manypoints
of view. He set the foundations for a systematic approach
to Christology, advanced the Pauline ecclesiology of Christ's
«mystical body», and probed the significance of the Word as the
Lord of creation. An essential element of his theology was a correct
Christian anthropology concerning the original and the fallen
Adam. Adam was the type for the human race, the representative
man, who forfeited his friendship with God and that of all
humanity. Athanasian pneumatology is dependent upon all of
these core disciplines. Although Athanasius was not a systematic
theologian, he was an intuitive and incisive defender of orthodoxy.
His writings present many intriguing and suggestive
ideas that are still valuable today. This study was designed to investigate
his pneumatology, and in particular, the role of the Holy
Spirit in man's sanctification. Our task required imposing an
order or systematization not explicitly formulated by Athanasius.
We hope this has been done without introducing ideas that are
foreign to his own original thought.
Athanasius acquired an almost mythical reputation following
the Nicene Council of 325. The non-biblical expression homoousios
(consubstantial) provided a technical formulation to express the
Son's equality, co-eternity and immortality with the Father.
Although he was accused by some of introducing an unacceptable
word to Trinitarian theology, the term homoousios is not found in
Sacred Scripture, this doctrine is clearly present in the Prologue of
St. John's Gospel. As we proceed we will see that Athanasius
relied heavily upon Johannine and Pauline scriptural references to