Those who maintain 'There was a time when the Son was not' rob God of his Word, like plunderers. -Athanasius
The third and fourth centuries in church history are occasionally referred to as "The Jesus Wars." It was then that great theological battles were fought over the nature of the second person of the Trinity - we refer to them as debates over Christology. These war of words and ideas were fought within the church. Those outside the church rarely care about matters of theology, and why should they?
Into this milieu was born a small-statured, dark-skinned Egyptian boy by the given name of Athanasius, and it may very well be that, outside the Scriptures themselves, it is primarily to him we owe the preservation of the orthodox faith. Born circa 296, Athanasius came to know Christ and eventually served as a bishop of Alexandria, Egypt for forty-five years, spending seventeen of those years in forced exile, having been exiled five times by four separate Roman emperors. In the year 313 the Emperor Constantine issued one of the most significant edicts in human history - the Edict of Milan. This edict elevated Christianity from a persecuted and suppressed faith to the official religion of the Roman Empire. Now men were free to study and debate Christian ideas freely. Within one decade the first major heresy evolved, having been promulgated by a Libyan presbyter (priest or pastor) by the name of Arius. Arius began to teach that Jesus, having been "begat" by God, logically had a beginning. He was great to be sure, but he was, after all, just another creature created by Almighty God. "There was a time," he quipped, "when the Son was not."
When Arius began to teach his ideas publicly, they caught on, and before long a few leading bishops throughout Christendom were advocating for his ideas to be declared the orthodox teaching of the church. At this time Athanasius was a lowly assistant to the then leader of Alexandria - the Bishop Alexander (I know, it gets confusing). Alexander preached against Arius and his teaching, now known as "Arianism," arguing that it denied the Trinity. But Alexander was not a gifted preacher, and he tried to split too many theological hairs, as it were, gaining little attention. Therefore he wrote (probably the work of Athanasius) an encyclical letter to his diocese, signed by Athanasius, attacking the clear consequences of the heresy: If the Son is a creature and a work; neither is he like in essence to the Father; neither is he the true and natural Word of the Father; neither is he the true Wisdom; but he is one of the things made and created and is called the Word and Wisdom by an abuse of terms...Wherefore he is by nature subject to change and variation, as are all rational creatures. In other words, if Jesus is a creation of God rather than the only begotten Son of God, he is not divine, and whenever we call him anything other than a creation of God, we lie and abuse the truth. A savior like this Jesus cannot save men and women from their sins (Ps. 49:7).
In response to this controversy Constantine called for a council to be held in the city of Nicea, across the strait from Istanbul, to settle the growing controversy. Athanasius, now known as "the black dwarf," accompanied his bishop to Nicea, and there became the chief spokesman for orthodox Christianity. Long story short, the teaching that Athanasius espoused, and that the New Testament teaches, won the day. It was agreed upon that the New Testament teaches that Jesus is of the same substance or "essence" of the Father, not merely of "like substance," which could describe you and me and every other human. Now all that remained was to write a creedal statement that outlined what was indeed orthodox teaching (The Creed of Nicea). Most of the Arians signed on to the creed, having secretly agreed to their own interpretation of the document (those of you who have conversed with Jehovah's Witnesses, who consider themselves the spiritual heirs of Arius, will readily see how this is done). Nevertheless, biblical teaching was preserved, with most of the thanks owed to Athanasius.
Athanasius succeeded Alexander as bishop in A.D. 328 and spent the rest of his life refuting Arianism, which still held sway in large parts of Christendom. Depending how the spiritual winds happened to be blowing during different seasons of his life, he was either held in honor or despised and exiled. Regardless, he held fast to the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3) and helped to preserve for us a true and abiding orthodoxy . Without question, a hero of the faith.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym