If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Athanasius was a man who wouldn’t back down. He was falsely accused. He was exiled five times. His church was attacked. He was called to stand alone before emperors. On one such occasion the emperor said to him, “The world is against you Athanasius!” as if to say, "Why don’t you just give up? Everyone is against you."
Athanasius boldly replied, “Well then, Athanasius is against the world.”
Athanasius contra mundum.
He did not set out to oppose the entire world. He set himself to follow Christ. His goal was not to be on an island, but to be in God's presence. If that commitment to Christ required him to be left alone, then so be it. If his desire for oneness with Christ led him to be separated from everyone else, so be it. He did not begin with being alone as his goal. His goal was God. He did not begin with being at war with the world and the church as his aim. The fight in him was for the faith and whoever would come against it. You cannot love something without wanting to fight for it. You cannot commit to something without wanting to declare it. He bound himself to Christ which meant he was free to be at odds with the world if they insisted upon it.
Athanasius was for being opposed to the world because he longed for the world to be more for Christ. He was in favor of being more against the world in order to bring more of the world into Christ's presence.
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