Athanasius Quotes
Athanasius of Alexandria was a fourth-century Egyptian Christian theologian and bishop and the central defender of Nicene orthodoxy against the Arian doctrine in the decades following the Council of Nicaea. He spent more than seventeen years in five separate exiles for his uncompromising defense of the consubstantiality of the Son with the Father. The quotes below are attributed to Athanasius, organized by topic.
Browse Athanasius by topic
Athanasius on God
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Attributed to Athanasius:
“God became man so that man might become God.”
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Attributed to Athanasius:
“The Word became flesh that we might be made spirit.”
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Attributed to Athanasius:
“He who knows himself knows his Creator.”
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Attributed to Athanasius:
“What is everywhere written, in heaven and on earth, is one and the same Word.”
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“Jesus that I know as my Redeemer cannot be less than God.”
As quoted in Mona Siddiqui, Christians, Muslims, and Jesus , Yale University Press, 2013, p. 674 -
“For never at any time did Christian people take their title from the Bishops among them, but from the Lord, on whom we rest our faith. Thus, though the blessed Apostles have become our teachers, and have ministered the Saviour's Gospel, yet not from them have we our title, but from Christ we are and are named Christians. But for those who derive the faith which they profess from others, good reason is it they should bear their name, whose property they have become.”
Discourse 1 Against the Arians , Chapter 1. Introduction. Reason for writing; certain persons indifferent about Arianism ; Arians not Christians, because sectaries always take the name of their founder.
Athanasius on Knowledge
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“For in other matters also which go to make up life, we shall find differences according to circumstances. For example, it is not right to kill , yet in war it is lawful and praiseworthy to destroy the enemy; accordingly not only are they who have distinguished themselves in the field held worthy of great honours, but monuments are put up proclaiming their achievements. So that the same act is at o”
Letter to Amun . Written before 354 A.D. -
“He was made man in order that we might be made gods.[Christ] manifested himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men that we might inherit immortality .”
De Incarnatione , 54.3. As quoted in Deification and Sonship According to St Athanasius of Alexandria: Part I (February 9, 2016) -
“Perhaps you marvel, because having determined to speak of the Incarnation of the Logos, we now treat of the beginning of mankind; but this is not foreign to our treatment. For it is necessary that we, speaking of the manifestation of the Savior among us, should also speak of the beginning of mankind so that you may know that our guilt was to Him the reason for His coming and that our transgression caused the philanthropy of the Logos .”
Forse ti meravigli, perché avendo noi stabilito di parlare dell'Incarnazione del Logos, ora trattiamo dell'inizio degli uomini; ma ciò non è estraneo alla nostra trattazione. Infatti è necessario che noi parlando della manifestazione del Salvatore tra noi, parliamo anche dell'inizio del'umanità affinché tu conosca che la nostra colpa fu a Lui motivo della Sua venuta e che la nostra trasgressione p
Athanasius on Life
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“The people who walk angelically according to their free will and practice discipline in the life of the angels remove themselves completely from the desires of the flesh, beloved brothers; they die daily in the life that belongs to earth , but they live in the life of the angels, just as they share in the life of the Lord.”
The advanced life of virtue,” Athanasius and the Politics of Asceticism (1995), p. 314
Athanasius on Mind
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“Discourse 1 Against the Arians , Chapter 1. Introduction. Reason for writing; certain persons indifferent about Arianism ; Arians not Christians, because sectaries always take the name of their founder.”
Four Discourses Against the Arians
Athanasius on Truth
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Attributed to Athanasius:
“The truth is not preached by the sword.”
Athanasius on Virtue
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“For the . . . right understanding of the Scriptures there is need of a good life and a pure soul, and for Christian virtue to guide the mind to grasp, so far as human nature can, the truth concerning God the Word. One cannot possibly understand the teaching of the saints unless one has a pure mind and is trying to imitate their life . . . . Anyone who wishes to understand the mind of the sacred wr”
At the end of the work titled On the Incarnation of the Word . As quoted in Christopher Check, Athanasius Contra Mundum: The Courage to Act Alone , Catholic.com (May 5, 2014)