Athanasius was one of the early Church's most significant theologians.

He was born at the end of the third century in the city of Alexandria, which was a cultural hot spot

in the Roman Empire. Not much is known about Athanasius's upbringing

or education, but he started working for the Bishop of Alexandria, who was called Alexander, confusingly, and eventually became Bishop of Alexandria himself.

When Athanasius was about 20 years old, a dangerous heresy arose and it was a heresy he would famously oppose for the rest of his life at great cost to himself, given how popular the teaching became.

It wasn't until the very end of his life that the given how popular the teaching became.

It wasn't until the very end of his life that the false teaching was finally put to death.

In fact, Athanasius is often depicted in paintings as standing over a defeated heretic. The heretic in question was an Alexandrian deacon called Arius, 40 years the senior of Athanasius, whose teaching became known as Arianism.

Arianism taught that although Christ was without doubt an exalted creature,

he was nevertheless only a creature.

According to Arias, the son of God was made by God the Father,

and therefore was less than God.

That is, the son of God did not exist as a co-eternal member of the Godhead

from all eternity. The popularity of this teaching compelled early church leaders to assemble in Nicia in modern day Turkey in 325 AD.

There they formulated the Nicene Creed which clearly set out a biblical answer to Arianism.

Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, has the same substance or essence as the Father. The key word they used was

Humusios, a Greek word meaning of one substance. The son of God is

quote, begotten, not made of one being with the Father.

In other words, the Bible teaches that all three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit are equal in being and eternality.

Now, this might seem like a fairly arcane squabble to be having, but the early church understood the deep and damaging

implications of Arianism.

If the son of God is nothing more than a creature, if he's just a man, however exalted a man he may be, then how could he ever be our savior? And how could he ever be our Savior and how could he be our Lord?

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