Bishop's Epistle: Athanasius Against the World, A Lone Voice For God’s Order Of Headship

Estimated reading time: 10.25 minutes.

Although it is not often heard in popular speech, the appellation “Athanasius Against the World” is used for one who has taken a stand, especially in theological thought, that, though true, is unpopular and with which hardly anyone agrees. Any Christian leader who, in our modern times, takes a biblical position on family issues such as headship, marriage as defined as being between one man and one woman, heterosexuality vs homosexuality, and the sanctity of life in the womb may truly be referenced as an “Athanasius Against the World.”

Before we get to the actual subject of this essay, I will take a brief detour and give some background for the title of this writing.

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria Egypt (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), mention his name to any lover of Church history and you will most likely be met with a smile and the phrase “Athanasius contra mundum.” For truly, it was Athanasius against the world.

Warren H. Carroll wrote, “He had the greatest mind in the Roman world of his day, and all the talents for spiritual, intellectual, even political leadership…great ability in speaking and writing…kindness and humor; inflexible resolution in the face of danger…Few more gifted men have ever lived; and he needed every gift God had given him. For almost all of the astonishing forty-five years of his episcopate, it was ‘Athanasius against the world’—and for the faith.”

Athanasius’ troubles came from his unwavering defense of the Incarnation of Christ Jesus and the truth of that Incarnation enshrined within the clause “homoousion tō Patri” —“of one being with the Father” found in the 8th line of the Creed of Nicæa. In a time when the whole Christian world seemed to have gone after the heresy of Arianism that denied the deity of Christ, Athanasius stood firm for the Nicene and, indeed, Apostolic faith that affirmed the deity of Jesus as being identical with the Father. For his stand ecclesiastical history can not boast a churchman who was more attacked, calumniated, and pursued by his enemies for such a long period of time. He lived for a time under a death sentence by the state; he was exiled five times by four emperors who were agitated by his Arian antagonist; he stood trial for trumped up crimes, such as theft, adultery, sorcery and even murder. Truly, his position was not the favored one—he stood alone against overwhelming odds. However, in the end it was the theology of this lone bishop of Alexandria Egypt that won out over all others. Today Athanasius is know as the Father of Orthodoxy.

Gregory Nazianzen wrote: “In praising Athanasius, I shall be praising virtue. To speak of him and to praise virtue are identical, because he had, or, to speak more truly, has embraced virtue in its entirety.”

This bishop from so long ago may yet be a source of strength for the ministers of God that are, today, standing against an onslaught of hell that threatens to sweep all civilization before it into an open yawning abyss. The underpinning of society, both secular and ecclesiastical, is threatened in our modern day by forces that are at once spiritual and physical. These take the form of rampant homosexuality and secular radical feminism. (We should be careful to make a distinction between the honored position granted to womanhood upon biblical grounds and the aggressive secular feminism of the last 100 years that is an unblushing attack on the godly institutions of family, motherhood and the male role in society. That being said, we should acknowledge the benefits of a feminist movement that lifts women from abuse and grants full citizenship in all respects. Womanhood is to be cherished and protected even above men, because they are the cradle of all human life. For this reason, up til now at least, every Christian society has not allowed its women on the front lines of combat in war—in fact wars are fought on their behalf. Robert A. Heinlein wrote most eloquently: “All societies are based on rules to protect … women and young children. All else is surplusage, excrescence, adornment, luxury, or folly which can -- and must -- be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function. As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible. Attempts to formulate a "perfect society" on any foundation other than "Women and children first!" is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal. ...” ) Truly, any voice raised against the modern attitude that is diametrical to marriage, family, male headship, sanctity of life in the womb, is a voice crying in the wilderness. Truly it is Athanasius against the World, all over again. But this time it is civilization that is at stake.

No one dare call these present circumstances a conspiracy of diabolical forces, for fear of being ridiculed and relegated to a position of insignificance in the marketplace of ideas. We are told we are outdated. If that is true then so is the Bible outdated. Of course we would get no argument from our secular counterparts on that score. To them, a biblically structured lifestyle is obsolete. For a century now secular feminism has been reshaping the world we live in—not to the betterment of our world, but to its detriment. The segment of feminism labeled “radical Feminism” calls for a radical reordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts. Radical feminism considers the male-controlled capitalist hierarchy as the defining feature of women's oppression and the total uprooting and reconstruction of society as necessary. (Echols, Alice (1989). Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, 1967–1975. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-0-8166-1787-6.) This segment of feminism is rioting in the streets of all major cities of America for the right to kill their own babies while yet in the womb—right up to the time they are born—and even then, when they are partially born they would murder them still. Male masculinity is under attack from the moment a male child is born.

Behind all this is a spiritual diabolical motivation. A truth known from the beginning is that Satan hates humankind. There may be reasons for this visceral hatred that lie beyond our knowledge, but some things we do know. We know, for instance, that he was the ruler of the pre-adamic earth and those demons that are now his minions once had bodies and occupied the earth under Lucifers leadership. Further, we know that when Lucifer staged his revolt against heaven the inhabitants of this world followed him into that rebellion, alone with one third of the angelic beings. We know, moreover, that as a result of that revolt Lucifer became Satan, the one third of angels that followed him became fallen and the inhabitants of the earth lost their bodies, though their spirits remained. God then created man and placed him in the renovated earth to subdue and re-populate it with humankind. One of the purposes of man is to present a righteous God with as measure by which He may bring judgement upon Lucifer and the host that follow him. Lucifer and his gang have yet to be judged. The reason is that God had no measure by which to gauge the evil. Enter mankind. He is made a little lower than the angels and given a free will, then, subjected to temptation beyond what Lucifer and his bunch experienced. So then it is true, if even one human lives out his/her live in holiness, resisting the tempter to the end, that one life will be the measure by which Lucifer, the fallen angels, and the demons may be judged. So, then, the fallen spirit-world has a vested interest in the total ruin of humankind. Moreover, there is the fact that they see us as interlopers, who have encroached upon their world. Satan knows he has but a short time, so there is a full-court-press of genocidal activity being perpetrated against the human race. Homosexuals are pushing for recognition and full marriage and adoption rights; feminist push for control over their reproductive organs, which sounds harmless at first until it is clear that what they want is freedom to have sex with whomever and wherever, without the consequences of pregnancy and child birth; women everywhere clamor for the right of choice, which, again, sounds harmless until it is realized that ‘choice’ is code for the right to kill any unwanted baby that may “cramp their style.” The diabolical plan, here, is the depopulating of the planet of humans. The plan is brilliant in its simplicity: The homosexual lifestyle produces no new humans—adopt the children of heterosexuals to make them like themselves; kill humans in the womb before they have the opportunity to reproduce. The enemy (Satan) is prosecuting this war with effeminate men and promiscuous and rebellious women as his foot soldiers.

When the gospel preacher raises his voice and declares that homosexuality and feminism is all a ploy of hell to depopulate the earth of humans he is laughed to scorn. Modern persons, who are enlightened (sic) counter with: How absurd !

Is it? Is it absurd? Or is it exactly the truth?

Shakespeare once said: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

It is absolutely true that if men were more godly as a whole, the present circumstance could never have happened. The law of physics which states that whenever there is a vacuum in nature something will rush in to fill it, proves itself true in the relationship between the sexes. When and if the male of our species surrenders the role the Creator created him to fill, the female will always step in to fill it. It is the story of Adam and Eve all over again. In the garden, Adam stood by and did nothing as Eve partook of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam abdicated his position of leadership to be but an onlooker, and the woman stepped into the vacuum and became the de facto leader.

God’s intended order in creation is a kind of ‘reflecting pool.’ Peter Jones, in his book, “God of Sex,” pages 174 and 175, writes: “God will be lover and Lord of what He has made. The creature will know personal union with the covenant-keeping Creator. Christ loves His church in this way (the divine Husband has his wife, the church). Heterosexuality mirrors the character of a divinely created universe in which oneness is that of the communion of differences (male and female). Marriage reflects on the sexual level the imprint of the Creator’s own nature and character on the things He has made—it is not incidental, but an essential component of the Christian worldview”

What can godly reasonable people do to maintain a godly reasonable world?

Instead of asking “what can godly reasonable people do?“ Perhaps I should ask “What may godly reasonable people do?” What action, under God—with His approval, may we enact to preserve a reasonable biblical world-view which translates to a reasonable godly life style?

My heart is heavy over the resent ruling in New York (January 2019) to make abortion legal right up to the time of birth — the complete nine months. Being a student of history I am reminded of ancient Carthage in North Africa. Carthage was a mighty city state that controlled a great empire. But Carthage had a cult of infanticide. Across the sea their neighbor Rome was growing in power and from their ranks came a mantra: "Carthage must be destroyed!" Secular historians will tell us that the main cause of the Punic Wars was the conflicts of interest between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic. But the slaughter of the innocents within the walls of Carthage that was daily business as usual, provided Rome with the moral high ground for total war. In the end, it was the end, for Carthage. It was Roman genocide against an entire race, an entire people were wiped from the face of the earth. I pray our world wakes up. If we do not learn from the pages of history we will be condemned to relive it. Some have suggested that America is in the first stages of a civil war. With the liberal element of our society ever moving further and further away from reasonable moral ground, those who would live in a godly fashion are becoming more and more out of step and even endangered. At what point will the reasonably righteous be forced to defend a reasonable way of life? At what point will we hear the mantra: "Carthage must be destroyed!” Now, mark it well, I am not speaking of a martial destruction, but a destruction of an ungodly world order by the sword of God’s Word.

The Gatekeeper—Headcovering

Throughout the Christian world the gatekeeper of the role of the sexes in society has been the headcovering of the Christian woman; this has been true for over 2,000 years. Recently this symbol has been removed in the West, America especially, while the rest of the world continues the practice—though weakly.

Today, women are, literally, rioting in the streets of our major cities for the right to kill their own babies. We may well ask, “How did we come to this place?” Here, in America, Christian pulpits stopped teaching headcovering as recently as two generations ago. Just a few days ago I sat in a local restaurant and ask a local pastor why he did not teach Paul’s injunction of 1 Corinthians 11:1-16 (i.e. headcovering). He responded that, “Headcovering is only a symbol and unimportant.” However, Biblical symbols are given to teach biblical truths, and headcovering was enjoined by the Apostle Paul to teach headship, and God’s order in creation. Whenever the symbol is lost, the truth it was given to teach is lost along with it. As a result, “Abortion on Demand” is the political battle cry of feminist of all stripes. When the lines are removed from the highway of civilization, lines that maintain the flow of humanity in a righteous direction, the whole world goes into a hellish ditch.

Headcovering held the wall against feminism for almost 2,000 years in Christian countries. Because it taught the God ordained order in the home, church, and government. When the "teacher' (the headcovering) was removed the lesson it taught was soon forgotten. The result is women run amok. The modern woman sees childbearing as counter productive to their mission of equality with men. The sex revolution of the 60's of the last century has made the modern woman as sexually aggressive as males, however, pregnancy is seen as an unfair consequence to their sexual freedom. The removal of the headcovering was a watershed moment to this downward spiral of womanhood into the abyss.

To be continued:

Apostolically Speaking,

☩ Jerry L Hayes

Also read:
Athanasius Against the World; God's Order of Headship, Part 2
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2020/03/estimated-reading-time-7-minutes.html

Athanasius Against the World; God's Order of Headship, Part 3 of 3
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2020/03/athanasius-against-world-part-3-god.html

If you enjoyed this essay, you would enjoy the Bishops book entitled "Christian Woman's Headcovering." Order your personal copy from the link provided here:

https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Womans-Headcovering-Second-Liturgical/dp/B08F65MNZX/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QTOWXT95Q6IP&keywords=Bishop+Jerry+Hayes%2C+Headcovering%2C+Second+edition&qid=1689618939&s=books&sprefix=bishop+jerry+hayes%2C+headcovering%2C+second+edition%2Cstripbooks%2C115&sr=1-1

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