Athanasius - born to well-to-do Christian parents in Alexandria at a time when Alexandria was the center of trade in the Roman Empire and in most ways epitomized not only the diversity of it but many of its ideals. His parents gave him an excellent secular education and some of his teachers were leaders of the church who were later targeted for martyrdom in the tenth and last persecution by Roman pagans of Christians in the Roman Empire. This experience surely influenced Athanasius' own life as a leader of the church in Alexandria and beyond. Perhaps he even drew courage from his teachers' martyrdom when he faced his own perils including threats on his life and five times being exiled. Athanasius had been taught by bold men how to not back down - though it's generally thought he wasn't particularly tactful or diplomatic.
Regardless, Athanasius was apparently a credit to his formal education and self-education in Scripture because no sooner had he completed it - but he began to quickly establish himself as a theological force to reckon with in the church in Alexandria. He became especially known for his commitment to argue eloquently against ideas of that day that were in some cases and places considered orthodoxy. Athanasius believed that it was only due to less educated believers generally under-appreciating the centrality of these pseudo-orthodoxies to the power of salvation itself.
While Athanasius disliked many of the teachings of that day that relied on pagan philosophy to support their arguemnts no idea of that era epitomized all that Athanasius considered heretical than that promoted by a Presbyter of Alexandria named Arius. Arius taught and led a school of theology that believed that the Son of God did not always exist - but had at some point had been begotten by God - and therefore was subordiniate to God. This idea became known as Arianism. Arianism was widely accepted at one time - and stood opposed to the idea of Trinitarianism - which holds that idea that Jesus' could only be our means of salvation if he was fully man and fully God - and fully God meant that he'd been in existence with God from the beginning. This is actually such a gross simplification of the beliefs and arguments that if you're interested at all you'll want to dig in much deeper. This post deals with Athanasius himself more than the theology he taught.
Athanasius' adult life was almost entirely dedicated to the above conflict - and it was because of the political and theological forces that spanned all across the Roman Empire - that he was exiled not once - but 5 times - for his outspoken defense of this view that is so easily taken for granted by us today. It is nearly impossible for us to imagine today the storms of confusion that raged among the leaders of the Church in the centuries that followed the passing of the Apostles as they dissected and parsed out every imaginable nuance of the New Testament writings to divide out these larger questions. They struggled mightily with each other to identify all the very terms we still are eager to make plain - salvation, forgiveness, heaven, propitiation, and all the rest - as well as what was at really at stake behind every notion of each of these terms and the aspects of Christian faith that they underpin. Despite their having the tremendous advantage of fluency in the languages the Apostles wrote in - they had a blank slate before them when it came to "precedence" for comprehending these terms' essence. This was as complex for them as it is for us now thousands of years later - and at the time of Athanasius of Alexandria's leadership - even orthodoxy wasn't orthodoxy.
Though Athanasius is considered a founding leader or even saint of many of the ancient churches of Christianity around the Mediterranean - he was not always saintly in his pursuit of his ideals and the power that ensured he could continue to promote them to the widest audiences. This meant that there were disputes about his election as 20th Bishop of Alexandria - regarding his not even being 30 yet. Some accused him of stealing grain from the church for money which he used for his own purposes. One of his exiles was a result of his refusing a direct order from the Emperor Constantine to receive Arius into fellowship again. Some of Constantine's purpose in holding the Council of Nice was to address this conflict between Athanasius and Arius and Arius even signed the Nicean Creed. Those who couldn't find other grounds to dismantle Athanasius' arguments against Arianism resorted to belittling his race and stature and called him a "Black Dwarf" Needless to say this fight between differing schools of theological thought was an ugly one and I think if you dug in deep enough you'd have the makings of a Jason Bourne meets Hotel Rwanda sort of movie. The conflict - even if we don't know it precisely - still echoes today - even if the vast majority of modern Christians can't imagine a non-trinitarian view.
All told Athanasius of Alexandria spent approximately 14 years in exile (336-338, 341-346, 356-359, 362-363 and 363-366) His exiles varied in severity and hostility - three out of the five exiles were at the direction of the Emperor - two for holding opposing theological views (Constantine and Valens) and one, Julian, for just not liking Christianity. There were two ten year periods when Athanasius produced most of his writings - between 346 and 356 and again between 363 and 373 - as apparently during his last exile he was still able to freely communicate, study and write. He died at home in his own bed surrounded by friends and supporters on May 2nd, 373, between the age of 75-79 (dates for his birth vary).
So - without judgement - because after all - I'm not a historian - but rather more of a tourist at this point in my pursuit of understanding the history of the Church - here's the life of one who deserves remembrance - if not even a closer look - and at least as someone who does hold with Trinitarian theology - my gratitude for a heroic fight that put Athanasius' life at risk his whole life. I'm encouraged by this ancient Brother's courage to love the Word of God, to study it well, and to devote his life to its truth.
Read a Christianity Today article in their Christian history blog on Athanasius by clicking
To start reading Athanasius of Alexandria's writings for yourself - brew a pot of coffee and start here.
The Wikipedia article on Athanasius lists all the churches which recognize him - each of those has volumes of information dedicated to his life and work. His life was remarkably well documented.