International Journal of Systematic Theology
Volume 8
Number 2
April 2006
Reviews
Khaled Anatolios, Athanasius. London: Routledge, 2004, viii + 293pp. £19.99 One can divide the current field of study concerning the life and thought of Athanasius into two general categories. Scholars who practice modern forms of historiography tend to view Athanasius in light of his leadership as the Bishop of Alexandria and the relationship he shared with the leadership of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, scholars whose theological perceptions are shaped by the church’s early creeds tend to view Athanasius in light of his contributions to trinitarian theology and Christology. Khaled Anatolios’s Athanasius is part of a larger intention to re-shape at least this second category. As a continuation of the project he initiated in Athanasius: The Coherence of His Thought (London: Routledge, 1998), Anatolios confirms that Athanasius was first and foremost motivated by theological convictions. However, Anatolios also maintains that these convictions prove to be part of a theological system of thought that even goes beyond Athanasius’s contributions to concepts as foundational and as significant within the Christian tradition as trinitarian theology and Christology. In the end, Anatolios brings to light the ‘remarkable consistency in his [Athanasius’s] theological vision and even vocabulary, albeit with some notable developments and variance of emphasis’ (p. 39). As part of Routledge’s larger series of works concerning the early church fathers (edited by Carol Harrison), Anatolios’s Athanasius demonstrates this consistency through a mixture of Anatolios’s own remarks with selections from Athanasius. Similar efforts concerning the life and work of Athanasius include John Henry Newman’s Select Treatises of St Athanasius in Controversy with the Arians and Robert C. Gregg’s Athanasius: The Life of Antony and Letter to Marcellinus. Newman’s two-volume work, centred as it is on the Arian controversy, natually presents an Athansius focused almost entirely on matters of Christology. Gregg’s work, for different reasons, offers the same emphasis: by focusing on Athanasius’s sense of spirituality through the two works he selects, Gregg’s portrait of Athanasius is of one seeking to be an imitation of Christ. Anatolios’ approach does not diminishes the points made by Newman and Gregg, but places them within a larger context. Despite the sense of coherence Anatolios sees in Athanasius’s thought, he also acknowledges that Athanasius’s thought does undergo ‘some notable developments and variance of emphasis’ (p. 39). The most obvious point of division in Athanasius’s work appears to occur between the early Against the Greeks – On the Incarnation © The author 2006. Journal compilation © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2006, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street Malden, MA 02148, USA.