Editing Athanasius of Alexandria (section)

=== Critics ===
Throughout most of his career, Athanasius had many detractors. Classics scholar [[Timothy Barnes (classicist)|Timothy Barnes]] recounts ancient allegations against Athanasius: from defiling an altar, to selling Church grain that had been meant to feed the poor for his own personal gain, and even violence and murder to suppress dissent.<ref name = "wxdxek">Barnes, Timothy D., ''Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993), 37</ref> According to [[Sir Isaac Newton]], Athanasius lied about the death of [[Arius]], feigned other men's letters and denied his own, murdered the bishop Arsenius, broke a communion cup, overthrew an altar, was made bishop by violence and sedition against the canons of his own church, and was seditious and immoral.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Sir Isaac Newton |title=Paradoxical Questions Concerning the Morals and Actions of Athanasius and His Followers |url=https://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00010 |website=The [[Newton Project]]}}</ref> Athanasius used "Arian" to describe both followers of Arius and as a derogatory polemical term for Christians who disagreed with his formulation of the Trinity.<ref>Barnes, Timothy D., ''Athanasius and Constantius: Theology and Politics in the Constantinian Empire'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993), 14, 128</ref> Athanasius called many of his opponents "Arian", except for [[Meletius of Antioch|Meletius]].<ref>Barnes "Athanasius and Constantius", 135</ref>

Scholars now believe that the Arian party was not monolithic<ref>Haas, Christopher, "The Arians of Alexandria", Vigiliae Christianae Vol. 47, no. 3 (1993), 239</ref> but held drastically different theological views that spanned the early Christian theological spectrum.<ref>Chadwick, Henry, "Faith and Order at the Council of Nicaea", ''Harvard Theological Review'' LIII (Cambridge Mass: 1960), 173</ref><ref>Williams, 63</ref><ref>Kannengiesser "Alexander and Arius", 403</ref> They supported the tenets of [[Origenism|Origenist]] thought and [[subordinationism|subordinationist]] theology<ref>Kannengiesser, "Athanasius of Alexandria vs. Arius: The Alexandrian Crisis", in The Roots of Egyptian Christianity (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity), ed. Birger A. Pearson and James E. Goehring (1986), 208</ref> but had little else in common. Moreover, many labelled "Arian" did not consider themselves followers of Arius.<ref>Williams, 82</ref> In addition, non-homoousian bishops disagreed with being labeled as followers of Arius, since Arius was merely a presbyter, while they were fully ordained bishops.<ref>Rubinstein, Richard, ''When Jesus Became God, The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome'', 1999{{page needed|date=May 2022}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2022}}

The old allegations continue to be made against Athanasius, however, many centuries later. For example, [[Richard E. Rubenstein]] suggests that Athanasius ascended to the rank of bishop in Alexandria under questionable circumstances because some questioned whether he had reached the minimum age of 30 years, and further that Athanasius employed force when it suited his cause or personal interests. Thus, he argues that a small number of bishops who supported Athanasius held a private consecration to make him bishop.<ref>Rubenstein, Richard E., ''When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome'' (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999), 105–106</ref>