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Anthanasius

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13.jpgThe fourth statue is that of Anthanasius, Deacon and then Bishop of Alexandria in Egypt. He lived from about 296 to 373.

.Educated at the Catechetical School of Alexandria, he became deacon and secretary to Bishop Alexander, and attended him at the Council of Nicaea in 325.

He succeeded Alexander as Bishop in 328. By his refusal to compromise with the Arians, he was exiled five separate times, but continued to help define the orthodox faith, until Arianism was finally eliminated in 381.

Athanasius' arguments were in favor of the Greek term homoousion, "of one substance," to define the relations of the Father and the Son within the Godhead (still used in the Nicene Creed, which is recited on Sundays and Major Feasts).

This term was introduced at the Council of Nicaea, to exclude Arians, who taught that the Son was not eternal, but created by the Father from nothing.

Anthanasius saw that this term, though not to be found in Scripture,and not used as an orthodox term before the Council of Nicaea, was the best way to describe the Father/Son relation. He stuck by this new term, even though it meant great hardship for him, and eventually it became the orthodox belief.

His Feast Day is May 2.