Who was Athanasius the Great? Peter J. Leithart Book Review

St. Athanasius of Alexandria

This blog post is a slight adaptation of a book review assignment I did in a Church History class at Erskine Theological Seminary. I hope it inspires you to read Athanasius the Great. I hope it also encourages you to read works by Scholar and Theologian Peter J. Leithart.

So, Who was Athanasius the Great? Well, Leithart’s book surveys his life and theology in an excellent fashion. Click the link to the left and you can purchase a copy for yourself.

Letihart wrote this book as part of a series. The purpose I found in the book was that Leithart was attempting to show Athanasius’s theological impact in laying the foundation for Christians to understand Christian Nicene Creed theology, Christian metaphysics, trinitarian theology, Christology, the doctrine of creation, and the doctrine of the incarnation.

Leithart argues that Athanasius’s theology accurately proves that the nature of things and the all-encompassing metaphysic is the second person of the God-head, Jesus Christ.

Leithart begins with a bit of historical background on Athanasius. Athanasius’s works were largely polemical. Athanasius fought ferociously against the Arians who followed the heretical teaching of Arius. While recounting the events leading up to the Council at Nicaea and the events after, Leithart was surprisingly fair on both sides. The debate was over the person of Jesus. Arianism believed since Jesus is begotten, he is then a creation of God. Since Jesus was created by God the Father before time began, the Arians still confess that Jesus is eternal. In his polemic against the Arians, Athanasius not only proves Jesus is proper to the God-head, he provides a excellent understanding of an ultimate metaphysic found in the person of Christ.

      Leithart explains the various paradigms, terms, and types Athanasius frequently employed in his works. Athanasius regularly used Jesus as the word of God, the wisdom of God, the radiance of God, the image of God, and the Son of God to prove Jesus as the arche by which all things exist, subsist, and have their meaning.

Leithart also enforces the point that Athanasius was saturated in and guided by the scriptures. The scriptures bore foundational significance for Athanasius. Leithart’s strength is his ability to dissect and compile from Athanasius’s works as he presents his arguments. Leithart delivers a sustained argument based on Athanasius, not personal interpretation or speculation. Leithart explains that Jesus as the Word of God could not be created by God the Father since God’s creative agent is His Word.

Even more, God the Father is the fountain of Wisdom. According to Proverbs 8 the wisdom of God is the second person of the trinity. The fountain was dry at some point if Jesus is a creation of the Father, which is illogical. Creating something without wisdom is a negation of character which doesn’t comport with the nature of God. Furthermore, if the son is the radiance of God the Father’s glory, then it could never be that Father had no radiance since He is eternally glorious. Leithart shows that Athanasius’s doctrine of the incarnation, creation, and new creation provides the ultimate metaphysic. Leithart’s discourses are clear and helpful. The seeming weakness of Leithart in this book is the number of contemporary scholars he engages with. The only modern Reformed scholar he engaged was Dr. Michael Horton. It would’ve been helpful if he engaged a wider range of scholars from the Reformed, Orthodox, or even Catholic communities. Nevertheless, you walk away convinced Athanasius is a first-rate biblical exegete, philosopher, and apologist. Maybe you will, as I do, become a huge fan of this giant of church history. There are times when this book is tough, but it’s worth it.

Part of my assignment in seminary to review this book was to include a quote a scholarly journal. Here is the one that I included. It is by Ryan West. It was publish in Themelios, Volume 37 Issue 1. His review is found on Pages 92-94 of that publication. West says, “Also, Leithart provides a helpful contribution to the field of hermeneutics in his discussion of Athanasius as a representative of the Nicene tradition of theological interpretation of Scripture. This aspect of his work helps readers understand Athanasius’s exegetical approach, thus fulfilling a central mandate of the Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality series.”

I find the study of Athanasius always beneficial and fascinating. He was a masterful theologian. On top of that, he wasn’t a theologian stuck in his own head. During his pastoral ministry, He stood up to the Emperor of Rome when he refused to accept heretics into church membership. Athanasius was exiled 5 times during his ministry. During one of these exiles, he met the great monk Antony. Antony’s life impacted Athanasius so much that he wrote a biography about Antony. Athanasius was a theologian who lived it. That is a great example for all Christians.

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