Friday, May 2, 2025

It is the 2nd of May 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

This show has never backed away from the Big A’s. Why is it that some of the biggest names in Christian history start with A? St. Anthony and Augustine and Aquinas, Athanasius and Anselm, Ambrose, Abelard, Albertus Magnus…

And the 2nd of May is the day were we have, in the past, told the story of the first of the A’s in theology- Athanasius of Alexandria (a’s abound…) was born during the tail end of the persecution of Christians in the empire, around 296. And so he was coming of age as Constantine legalized Christianity.

Athanasius was trained in theology and was one of the leaders called to the Council of Nicaea in 325. He would go on to be the Bishop of Alexandria and a key defender of the divinity and humanity of Christ at the Council of Nicaea.

It should be noted that his story is complicated- in some ways, he is the preeminent figure in the Constantinian church, as he would be a major figure in setting the date of easter (say it with me: the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring equinox). But as the council of Nicaea gave authority to the Emperors, as emperors changed, Athanasius would find himself exiled 5 times - part of this would be the result of his sometimes surly behavior (one article I read referred to him as “pugnacious”). It was during one of his periods as an exile- this time in the Egyptian desert that he wrote his “The Life of St. Antony”- a classic of Christianity and a book instrumental in the conversion of St. Augustine.

But, depending on the churches you have been to, been members of, visited etc… you might know Athanasius best as the man behind the “Athanasian Creed”- Many Lutherans and Catholics will recite this creed on Trinity Sunday and many Protestants have recognized this as one of the original 3 “symbols” or confessions of faith. So- let’s talk about this “Athanasian Creed” on the feast day of the man it is named after.

Apologies to those who have heard this before, but we know two things for certain about the Athanasian Creed- it wasn’t written by Athanasius, and it’s not a Creed.

Have a good day, goodbye!

It is an old bit of teaching that, in many ways, has helped illuminate and defend the doctrine of the Trinity for centuries. It is good and useful, and if your church is one of those that reads it aloud on Trinity Sunday, I would just note you might warn your friends that it’s long and the end scares Protestants. So…

It was likely written in the mid to late 400s or early 500s- after Athanasius had died on this day in 373. There are enough reasons to see this as dated later than Athanasius that even those who held on for a time claiming it was from Athanasius have abandoned that claim.

It was called in some places, “the faith of Athanasius,” but in other places just "the Catholic Faith.” It seems it wasn’t initially recited like a creed but was rather a template for aligning one's views of the Trinity with the received Orthodoxy of Nicea. For this reason, it is densely theological and makes claims like “Whoever desires to be saved must above all things hold the catholic faith”.

The statement of faith was not part of a liturgy until the 800s and it wasn’t until the later middle ages that it began to be seen as one of the “3 Symbols” (with the Apostles and Nicene Creeds).

And any good Protestant knows that the pastor often has to pre-warn or quickly clean up what it means in the last line of the creed:

“At whose coming all men will rise again with their bodies, and will render an account of their deeds; and those who have behaved well will go to eternal life, those who have behaved badly to eternal fire.”

It is noted that scripture can read like this but we understand our salvation ultimately as not based on our own deeds but the deeds of another in our place and our faith in that. Like all creeds and confessions, they are understood, historically, as subservient to Scripture, and different traditions will put an emphasis on Creeds to varying degrees- check your own tradition if you are curious.

Nonetheless, 2nd day of the new season and coming in with a big A and the non-creed he didn’t write that is called the Athanasian Creed- still a landmark for early Christian trinitarian theology in the West.  

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and with all the readings in Revelation it’s good to get this antecedent from the book of the prophet Isaiah.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 2nd of April 2025 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man, who, like Athanasius, it is said of him “his eyes were very small and he walked with a slight stoop, though gracefully as befitted a prince of the Church,” he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who is noting the disparity between biblical angels and those in the 1994 Disney Classic- Angels in the Outfield (check that cast out!) I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.