Athanasius and His Legacy

Book excerpt: Thomas G. Weinandy, OFM, Cap., and Daniel A. Keating introduce readers to one the key thinkers of the fourth century and the chief architect of Christian doctrine: Athanasius. The authors carefully illuminate Athanasius‘s crucial text Against the Arians, unfolding the Trinitarian and incarnation framework of Athanasius‘s paramount concern (soteriology), and providing, in the second part, a robust map of the reception and influence of Athanasius‘s thought-from its immediate impact on the late fourth and fifth centuries (in the Cappadocians and Cyril) to its significance in the Eastern and Western traditions and its reception in contemporary thought.