Athanasius of Alexandria in Flight
Jennifer Barry
Chapter from the book: Barry, J. 2019. Bishops in Flight: Exile and Displacement in Late Antiquity.
Part of
Chapter from the book: Barry, J. 2019. Bishops in Flight: Exile and Displacement in Late Antiquity.
In this chapter, I focus on how the displaced bishop of Alexandria represented his own exile in two key polemical texts: Defense before Constantius and Defense of His Flight. In the first text, Athanasius began to think through the role particular spaces play in the identification and preservation of the Christian faith. As his position as an exile came into sharper focus, he shifted his argument away from the protection of imperial walls and toward the desert. By the end of his defense before Emperor Constantius, Athanasius concluded that the desert, although a fearful place, is much safer than the walls of a Church corrupted by a misguided emperor and, worse, heretical foes.
Barry, J. 2019. Athanasius of Alexandria in Flight. In: Barry, J, Bishops in Flight. California: University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.69.b
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Published on April 23, 2019