17 April 326 A.D. Death: Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, Opponent of Arius, and Predecessor of the “Iron-Willed” Bishop Athanasius
17
April 326 A.D. Death: Alexander,
Bishop of Alexandria, Opponent of Arius, and Predecessor of the “Iron-Willed”
Bishop Athanasius
Graves, Dan. “Alexandria Lost Notable
Alexander.” Christianity.com. Apr
2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/alexandria-lost-notable-alexander-11629653.html.
Accessed 17 Apr 2014.
The whole Christian world honors Athanasius as its
champion because of his battles against Arianism. But behind Athanasius was a
great bishop--the man who set Athanasius' feet on the path to fame. Alexander
not only selected Athanasius to be his successor, but took open action against
the heresy of Arius, the priest who insisted Jesus was a created being rather
than an eternal member of the Godhead.
Alexander was born around 250. An upright man, he
survived as a priest through the persecutions that raged under Galerius and
Maximinus. He became Patriarch of Alexandria in 313. It was well that the post
was given him, for Arius was conniving to get the job and would undoubtedly
have used the position to disseminate his heresy even more widely than he did.
Arius began to teach his views around 300. Peter,
the Patriarch of Alexandria at that time excommunicated him. While Peter was on
death row for his faith, Alexander joined with Achillas (who took Peter's place
as patriarch) to plead for the restoration of Arius. Peter refused in strong
terms, declaring that Arius was eternally damned. Nonetheless, when Achillas
took power, he made Arius a priest.
Alexander was slow to recognize the danger of
Arius' false teaching. In fact, he moved so slowly against the renegade priest
that his clergy grew restive.
Finally Alexander excommunicated Arius. A council
held in Alexandria upheld this decision and declared Arius' views heretical.
The Egyptian bishop wrote to Patriarch Alexander of Constantinople that Arius
and his buddies had "constructed a workshop for contending against Christ,
denying the Godhead of our Savior, and preaching that He is only the equal of
all others. And having collected all the passages which speak of His plan of salvation and His humiliation for our sakes, they endeavor
from these to collect the preaching of their impiety, ignoring altogether the
passages in which His eternal Godhead and unutterable glory with the Father is
set forth."
But Arius would not disappear. In fact, his ideas
led to riots. Arians clashed with Trinitarians until Constantine feared for the
empire. In 325 the emperor called the first general council, which met at
Nicea. Alexander drew up its acts. At that council, his young protege, Athanasius,
offered a stalwart defense of the doctrine of Christ's full divinity.
On his deathbed, Alexander summoned Athanasius to
his side and named him his successor. Alexander died on this day, April 17,
326. Athanasius carried on the fight for orthodoxy until his own death,
suffering serious harassment and five episodes of exile.
Bibliography:
"Alexander, St." The Oxford Dictionary of
the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford,
1997.
Butler, Alban. "St. Alexander, Confessor, Patriarch
of Alexandria." Lives of the Saints. Various editions.
Campbell, T.J. "St. Alexander." The
Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
Hough, Lynn Harold. Athanasius the Hero.
Cincinnati: Jennings and Graham, 1906, especially at p. 49.
Various encyclopedia and internet articles on
Alexander and on Arianism.
Last updated May, 2007.
Comments
Post a Comment