Archbishop Athanasius of Alexandria went down in history as an outstanding church figure, and his name is associated with a tense and long struggle with Arianism on the most important trinitarian issue for Christianity at that time. The definition of faith formulated at the Council of Nicaea - "dogma 318 of the Holy Fathers", which stated that God the father and God the Son are consubstantial, and which Athanasius actively participated in defending already at this council, accompanying Archbishop Alexander (as a deacon), was repeatedly discussed and modified at subsequent church councils and each time in one way or another arose the question of Athanasius, his removal or reinstatement as Bishop of Alexandria. In the extant writings of Athanasius, the most important place is also occupied by the refutation of the "Arian heresy" and the argumentation of the main provisions of the Nicene dogmas. Naturally, this aspect of Archbishop Athanasius ' activity, as well as his role in the religious and political life of the Roman Empire in the middle of the fourth century, primarily attracts the attention of researchers .1 But I would like to draw your attention to the activities of Athanasius within his diocese, to the situation within the diocese and above all in Egypt (I want to warn readers that I have not previously studied the history of the church and, of course, may not know any special studies). It is from this point of view that I will try to examine the biographical information about Athanasius preserved in the sources and the rich material of his writings, which reveals not only his ideological ideas, but also his relationship with the surrounding world, primarily with his diocese, as well as information about Christianity from documentary papyri of the fourth century. Athanasius tells almost nothing about himself and his life outside the framework of church activities. His "Life", compiled by Simeon Metaphrastus 2, oche- 1 See, for example: Spassky A. History of d ... Read more