Apology Against the Arians
For For historians of the Arian years: a dossier of letters and council records in his own defence; not devotional reading.
Length About 38,000 words, about 3 hours.
Athanasius of Alexandria's Apologia contra Arianos emerged from the bitter ecclesiastical conflicts of the fourth century, when the teachings of Arius threatened to reshape Christian understanding of Christ's divinity. Written around 357 during one of Athanasius's periods of exile, this treatise serves as both personal vindication and theological manifesto. Athanasius had spent decades defending the Nicene position against Arian subordinationism, enduring multiple exiles and constant political pressure from emperors who favored compromise positions.
The work operates on two levels: as an apologia in the classical sense, defending Athanasius's own conduct and orthodoxy against charges leveled by his Arian opponents, and as a systematic refutation of Arian theology. Athanasius demonstrates how Arian teaching undermines the very possibility of salvation by reducing Christ to a creature, arguing that only one who is truly God can effect the deification that constitutes human redemption. He exposes the logical contradictions in Arian positions while showing how their political maneuvering and ecclesiastical tactics reveal the weakness of their theological foundations. The treatise weaves together scriptural exegesis, philosophical reasoning, and historical narrative to present Nicene orthodoxy as the only coherent account of Christian faith.
The Apologia contra Arianos stands as one of the most vigorous defenses of Trinitarian orthodoxy from the patristic period, demonstrating how doctrinal precision serves pastoral and soteriological concerns rather than mere intellectual curiosity. Its influence extended well beyond the Arian controversy, shaping subsequent Christian reflection on the relationship between theology and politics, the nature of heresy, and the church's authority to define doctrine.
Who should read this: Students of early Christian doctrine and church history will find essential insights into the development of Trinitarian theology. This work demands familiarity with the Arian controversy and comfort with patristic theological vocabulary, making it unsuitable for casual readers seeking devotional material.
Editions
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- OTHER Apologia contra Arianos (New Advent) PDTrans. Archibald RobertsonArchibald Robertson's NPNF translation (1892), revised from Newman's Oxford version, on New Advent, divided into its parts with the NPNF headings and the documents quoted in full. For historians.
- OTHER Apologia contra Arianos (CCEL) PDTrans. Archibald RobertsonThe NPNF translation (1892), ed. Archibald Robertson, on the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, with the volume's notes. For historians.
- OTHER Apologia contra Arianos (Wikisource) PDTrans. Archibald Robertson · 1892Archibald Robertson's 1892 translation in Wikisource's transcription of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, volume 4: one page per section, footnotes kept, plain text that reads well on a phone. For historians: a dossier, not a book to read through.
- PDF Apologia contra Arianos (Internet Archive (NPNF2-04 scan)) PDTrans. Archibald Robertson · 1892A scan of the 1892 volume of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers devoted to Athanasius (University of Toronto copy), with Robertson's translations, his long prolegomena and the notes as printed. Page images of the whole book; this work is in it, for readers who want the text as published.
- PDF Apologia contra Arianos (Internet Archive (Library of the Fathers, 1843)) PDTrans. Miles Atkinson · Ed. John Henry Newman · 1843A scan of the Oxford Library of the Fathers volume of 1843, Historical Tracts of S. Athanasius, translated by Miles Atkinson and edited by John Henry Newman with his notes; this work is one of the eight tracts in it. Page images of the first English version; for historians: a dossier, not a book to read through.
- PDF Apologia contra Arianos (Internet Archive (Migne PG 25)) PD Greek and Latin1857The Greek text with Migne's Latin translation in parallel columns, in volume 25 of the Patrologia Graeca, volume 25 (1857), scanned whole on the Internet Archive; this work is in it. For readers of Greek or Latin.Much harder than the work: Greek and Latin only, no English translation