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212 JOHN R. MEYER<br />

important truth <strong>of</strong> faith for him was that Jesus Christ is divine,<br />

and because <strong>of</strong> his divinized human nature, he can divinize us.<br />

This nuclear idea is <strong>of</strong> paramount importance if we hope to<br />

understand his pneumatology.<br />

Athanasius suffered many trials and exiles at <strong>the</strong> hands <strong>of</strong><br />

politically motivated emperors. Constantine demanded that he readmit<br />

Arius to <strong>the</strong> Alexandrian Church, and later deposed him<br />

from <strong>the</strong> same Episcopal See at <strong>the</strong> Synod <strong>of</strong> Tyre in 335. The<br />

emperor exiled him once again to Treves, and <strong>the</strong>n a third time<br />

following a synod at Antioch (ca. 339). He was unable to return<br />

to Alexandria until <strong>the</strong> month <strong>of</strong> October, 346, and shortly<br />

<strong>the</strong>reafter he was removed once more. On this occasion he fled<br />

to <strong>the</strong> Egyptian desert to live with <strong>the</strong> monks, and over <strong>the</strong> ensuing<br />

six years he wrote several treatises including <strong>the</strong> Apology to<br />

Constantius, <strong>the</strong> Apology for his flight, <strong>the</strong> Letter to <strong>the</strong> monks, and<br />

<strong>the</strong> History <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Arians. Re-instated as bishop in 362, he organized<br />

a synod to reconcile <strong>the</strong> Semi-Arians and <strong>the</strong> Orthodox parties,<br />

but Julian expelled him in order to keep <strong>the</strong> Catholics at odds.<br />

When <strong>the</strong> emperor died <strong>the</strong> following year, Athanasius returned<br />

to Alexandria just long enough for Valius to exile him in 365.<br />

Fortunately, <strong>the</strong> faithful <strong>of</strong> Alexandria demanded his return, and<br />

<strong>the</strong> new emperor granted <strong>the</strong>ir request (ca. 366). He spent <strong>the</strong> remainder<br />

<strong>of</strong> his life in that Egyptian city until his death on May<br />

2, 373.<br />

2. His Writings<br />

The agitated curriculum vitae just presented would not have<br />

provided a great deal <strong>of</strong> leisure time for scholarly endeavours.<br />

Despite those difficulties, however, Athanasius was a prolific<br />

writer. In fact, his scriptural xvo?Xe8y£ and debating skills served<br />

him well in <strong>the</strong> battles with <strong>the</strong> Arians. He has been universally<br />

admired in <strong>the</strong> Christian world for that work. The most noteworthy<br />

<strong>of</strong> his apologetical and dogmatic writings is <strong>the</strong> two-part<br />

Oratio contra gentes-Oratio de incarnatione Verhi and <strong>the</strong> three<br />

Orationes contra Arianos*. The former was written around <strong>the</strong><br />

year 318 and <strong>the</strong> anti-Arian tracts over <strong>the</strong> course <strong>of</strong> several years,<br />

running from 356-363. A short treatise entitled De incarnatione et<br />

contra Arianos is <strong>of</strong> questionable au<strong>the</strong>nticity because it refers to

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