Renewal in Christ: Athanasius on the Christian Life

Appendix 1 The Life of Antony 1

The Life of Antony is a biography by Athanasius about a well known Christian who vastly shaped the monastic movement* in the early church. However, more than a mere biography, this retelling of Antony’s story is a way for Athanasius to portray the model Christian life. It is Athanasius’s theology in the form of an embodied narrative. And while Athanasius sees God renewing all of creation through his Son, he also sees the Christian life as one of renewal in Christ—a renewal that comes through struggle and surrender. The Christian life for Athanasius, as exemplified through Antony, is one of self-denial, simplicity, discipline, and spiritual warfare. While solitude is a key part of Antony’s

1 The full title is The Life and Affairs of Our Holy Father Antony (Written and Dispatched to the Monks Abroad) . What follows is a portion of The Life of Antony . To read the work in its entirety, see Athanasius, The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus , trans. Robert C. Gregg, Classics of Western Spirituality (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1980) or go to newadvent.org/fathers/2811.htm.

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