“Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.”

Athanasius had become Archdeacon of Alexandria and as such, was allowed to accompany his patron, the Bishop Alexander, to the first Council of Nicea in A.D. 325, called to iron out these disagreements concerning the Trinity. The newly converted emperor, Constantine the Great, was anxious to see these disagreements come to an end, for, “Division in the church,” he said, “is worse than war.”  Athanasius was allowed to speak and defend the truths he held dear at this meeting: “Those who maintain, ‘There was a time when the Son was not,’ rob God of His Word, like plunderers,” he asserted. Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria, tells us that Athanasius “contended earnestly for the apostolic doctrines, and was applauded by their champions, while he earned the hostility of their opponents.” A man approached the short, dark-skinned bishop, who was scornfully called “the black dwarf” by his enemies, and asked angrily: “Athanasius, why do you not admit it [that Arius is right]? You are fighting a losing battle. Do you not know that at this moment the whole world is against you?” Here is one man’s description of what happened next:

Athanasius threw back his shoulders and drew a long breath. He looked straight into the face of his heckler. His probing eyes flashed like the Northern Lights as he uttered the memorable words, “Is the world against Athanasius? So be it. Then Athanasius is against the world!”¹²