At the birth of the monastic movement, many were suspicious of monks. St. Athanasius was well aware of the importance of monasticism and the need to keep it under the control of the Church, not to allow it to degenerate into an independent spontaneous movement. Therefore, he tries to depict Anthony in the most attractive form: in his description, the holy ascetic did not communicate with heretics, went to church, treated the clergy with respect (which was by no means characteristic of monks of that time) and in general was distinguished by a pleasant appearance and disposition.

An interesting episode of St. Anthony's clash with pagan philosophers testifies to the complete lack of mutual understanding between monks and representatives of secular learning:

He was very intelligent and, surprisingly, without learning to read and write, he was distinguished by subtlety and penetration of mind. One day two pagan philosophers came to him, thinking that they could tempt Anthony. He was on the outer mountain, and guessing from the faces of those who were walking what kind of people they were, he went out to them and said through an interpreter: "Why are you, philosophers, so anxious for a foolish man?" And if you consider me wise, then be like me, because good things must be imitated,... and I am a Christian." The philosophers departed in surprise.

(Ibid., ch. 72)

In the epilogue, St. Athanasius calls on his readers to read the Life aloud, and not only to his fellow monks, but also to pagans. In the early Church, very few people could read, books were expensive, and learning came from hearing. Seeing in the life of St. Anthony a great testimony of faith, Athanasius believed that it should serve for the edification of Christians and inspire the pagans.

The Theological Teaching of St. Athanasius

The Doctrine of the Creation of the World

As in the case of Origen, the key to the theology of St. Athanasius is his teaching on the creation of the world. In Origen's system, the act of creation takes place in eternity, and creation is a manifestation of the very essence of God. God by nature cannot but create, and therefore He creates always, eternally. The rational creatures created by Him are in eternal communion with the Creator: it is precisely in this negation of time that the main weakness of Origen's teaching lies. Inasmuch as God does not create the world freely, but by virtue of His "essence," the created world has no real independent existence; rational creatures are deprived of true freedom, they are, as it were, attached to their Creator, now falling away, then again inevitably returning to the contemplation of His divine essence. In such a system, our life, our human history, has no real meaning: the return of the fallen creature to the Creator is predestined from eternity, and in this cycle there is no place for true freedom, neither divine nor created.

St. Athanasius fundamentally rejects this approach. At the heart of his teaching is the distinction between the divine nature (f'isis) and the divine will (t'elima). By nature, God is the Father. He begat the Son; by nature He sends the Holy Spirit. Spirit. But the creation of the world does not take place by nature, but by the will of God:

It would be pious to say that created beings came into being by grace and will, and the Son is not a creature of the will that has come into being, like a creature, but is his own natural generation of essence, for being his own Father's Word, He does not allow us to think of any will that preceded Him, because He Himself is the Father's counsel, the power of the Father, and the Creator of that which is pleasing to the Father... So, if the creatures came about by will and favor... yet everything has come into being by the Word, then the Word consists outside of those who have received existence by will.

(On the Arians, Homily 3:63, 66)

Thus, it was not at all necessary for God to create the world. He could "do without" (if I may say so) without it. This is the difference between nature and will: God could not but begat the Son, for He is a parent by nature; He was not supposed to create the world, but He created it – such is His divine and all-good will. It is possible to imagine, at least theoretically, in a potential sense, that there was a time when God did not create and the world did not exist.