Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria (298-373)

On May 2nd, 373 a.d. Bishop Athanasius fell asleep in Jesus who had given him as a gift to the Holy Christian Church. Through his faithful service, Jesus preserved the unity of His body which was under attach both from heretical teachers without and from pride and confusion within.

Three years after the adoption of the Nicene Creed, Athanasius was elevated to the rank of Bishop and spent the next 45 years as a consummate theologian and churchman clarifying and defending the biblical faith.

Perhaps his most important accomplishment was to help the Greek Christians and the Roman Christians better understand one another and come together in common cause against the Arians who denied the full Godhead of Jesus.

Translational nuances between Greek and Latin had caused confusion both before and since the issuance of the Nicene Creed. Athanasius saw that both groups held an identical view of the biblical God and were simply divided by terminology. By his careful listening and questioning of both sides, Athanasius brought us all to agree on the Trinitarian words that we still use to this day.

Even though he himself was not the author of it, the Athanasian Creed is still named after him in honor of his contributions to Christian worship.