Remembering St Athanasius

Today’s first reading from Acts 15:7-21, is about the decision taken by the leaders of the early Christian community, notably Peter and James, not to make it unnecessarily difficult for non-Jewish people to become baptised disciples of Jesus Christ. It reminds me of the saint whose memory we honour today, St Athanasius. While the main issue of contention at the beginnnings of the Church was the question of membership, by the time of Athansius, the fourth century, the principal arguments or disputes were over issues of dogma or belief, particularly the question of the relationship between Jesus and God. When Athanasius became the patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, in 328, at the age of 30, a powerful movement called the Arians, named after their founder Arius, claimed that God the Father alone was infinite and eternal. Jesus was created by God and did not possess the divinity or eternity of God. It may seem rather abstruse for modern minds. But in the late third century onwards and for a long period of time, the struggle between the so-called orthodox school and the Arians was quite bitter. At the centre of this controversy was Athanasius. In putting together a statement of belief which became known as the Nicene Creed, Athanasius was one of those who came up with the Greek term homoousios which is translated “consubstantial”. This awkward word means that Jesus is one with the Father and the Spirit as truly, infinitely and eternally divine. Athanasius suffered for his stand on what today we consider orthodox belief. He was forced into exile 5 times but finally died back with his friends and supporters in Alexandria in 373. While we may think those were difficult times for the church, we still have fierce debates in the church today. We are grateful to Pope Francis and the present process called synodality whereby we allow for and encourage open discussion on all matters concerning the belief and life of the Church.