Welcome to the round of the Saintly Sixteen! Sixteen saints in Lent Madness 2025 have been sent packing and sixteen more remain, as the struggle for the coveted Golden Halo continues. Get ready for some high stakes, thrilling saintly action over the coming days. Today it's a clash of the ecclesiastical titans as Athansius of Alexandria tangles with Irenaeus.
The Round of 32 consisted of basic biographical information about the saints. Since there’s no need to rehash previously covered ground, the Saintly Sixteen is made up of what we call Quirks & Quotes. Prepare for some little known facts or legends, accompanied by quotes either by or about the saint in question. But don't worry! You can always click the Bracket tab and scroll down to view the previous match-ups and easily access the information from the earlier rounds.
Yesterday, Nicolaus Zinzendorf defeated Zita of Tuscany 54% to 46% to punch the last available ticket into the Saintly Sixteen.
And, as you make your selection today, don't forget to watch Christian and Michael's Daily Lent Madness Video. They're always high energy and highly informative!
Vote now!
Irenaeus
Irenaeus is widely recognized for his statement, “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive.”
This 10-word phrase attributed to Irenaeus encapsulates his life, his beliefs, and his spirituality.
It’s not a stretch to understand why Irenaeus touts this belief – as a student of Polycarp who, in turn, had been a student of John The Apostle, Irenaeus’ spiritually was deeply rooted. He said the Son and the Spirit were the "hands of God."
In the latter half of the second century, Irenaeus was the leading theologian of his time and an unwavering defender of the faith, as evidenced by his letters, writings, treatises, and books.
Irenaeus had no time for the Gnostics, who believed they possessed access to secret knowledge. His major writings center on what he considered their falsehoods.
His treatise in five books, commonly called Adversushaereses, (Against Heresies), is focused on the "Detection and Overthrow of the False Knowledge." It is considered the largest Christian writing by a theologian up to and including the second century. His second is titled “Presentation of the Apostolic Preaching," which delves into the faith, as, he believed, was proclaimed by the apostles. In both, at their core is the truth of the Gospels.
His other well-known phrases further express his beliefs:
“The business of the Christian is nothing else but to be ever preparing for death. He who was the Son of God became the Son of man, that man ... might become the son of God.”
Jesus sanctifies “every age by its likeness to himself. For he came to save all persons by his person: all, I say, who by him are reborn in God—infants, children, boys, young men, and old men. Therefore, he passed through every stage of life.”
Clearly there is a reason why this Greek bishop is one of only 37 Doctors of the Church!
He died at the end of the second century; no date has ever been determined.
“St. Irenaeus of Lyon, who came from the East, exercised his episcopal ministry in the West: he was a spiritual and theological bridge between Eastern and Western Christians,” Pope Francis wrote in his January 2022 decree naming Irenaeus a Doctor of the Church.“ His name, Irenaeus, expresses that peace which comes from the Lord and which reconciles, restoring unity.”
Pope Francis concluded, "May the doctrine of such a great Master encourage more and more the path of all the Lord's disciples towards full communion."
Athanasius of Alexandria
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a human being, being placed in front of a microphone, must be in want of a speech. For those who live in the church, it should thus come as no surprise that bishops rarely lack for words. Throw those bishops into council among other bishops, and the quantity of words tends to multiply. Throw a bishop such as Athanasius of Alexandia into the crucible of 4th century Christianity, and the words are not merely words, but volumes and treatises. His influence goes well beyond the formation of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.
Among Athanasius’ most famous assertions is from De incarnatione verbi - “He was made human that we might be made Gods. Jesus Christ manifested himself by a body that we might receive the idea of the unseen Father; and he endured the insolence of humanity that we might inherit immortality.” For Athanasius, Jesus’ divinity is more than a Christological argument for the nature of the Second Person of the Trinity – it is the very vessel by which we are changed and transformed as disciples. “Such and so many are the Savior’s achievements that follow from His Incarnation, that to try to number them is like gazing at the open sea and trying to count the waves.”
Lest you think Athanasius was all pious, all the time, he was, of course, caught up in the discourse of early Christianity. He didn’t spare any words in arguing against the Arians. At one point he calls Arius’ followers “Ario-maniacs.” Yet even as he made pointed polemic against the Arians, he also recognized the larger call of Jesus’ disciples: “Christians, instead of arming themselves with swords, extend their hands in prayer.”
The idea of mutual indwelling between God and humanity in the person of Jesus is also present in another asceticism and solitude, including writing the principal biography of Antony of Egypt. In one writing, he wrote: “The people who walk angelically according to their free will and practice discipline in the life of the angels… die daily in the life that belongs to earth, but… live in the life of the angels, just as they share in the life of the Lord.”
Perhaps in the end, the best testament to Athanasius’ life if found in returning to the anchor in which we are all called to live as Christians and disciples – how we answer Jesus’ question to Peter in the gospels: “who do you say that I am?” For Athanasius, the answer was simple, and yet profound: “Jesus, that I know as my Redeemer, cannot be less than God.”
53 comments on “Athanasius of Alexandria vs. Irenaeus”
Wow, tough match-up. And I really appreciate David Sibley’s trolling of Jane Austen. However, I went with Irenaeus. I love that expression that God’s glory is a human being fully alive. And because being fully alive entails being free, I call for the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk. “One nation under God” has to walk the talk.
I see what you did here. Both theologians denounced heresies -- Athanasius argued against Arianism, which held that Jesus was only human; Irenaeus denounced Gnosticism, which argued that Jesus was purely "spiritual" and only appeared to be human. Both of their contributions are essential. If Christ was/is not both fully divine and fully human, then he changes nothing!
I went with Athanasius, and I guess I think he should be ahead. I suspect his argument was likely the harder one to make in his time. Also, he argued positively for his beliefs, unlike Irenaeus who wrote "against" the views he decried.
In any case, forms of both heresies, Gnosticism and Arianism, are still alive and well/wacky today. Oh, well. They tried.
Much as I enjoyed the nod to Jane Austen, my vote goes to Irenaeus. Irenaeus' words are both a challenge and a source of hope. “The Glory of God is a human being fully alive.”
St Celia, I pray especially for Rukeysa, who was on her way to meet friends and break her fast when Trump's Gestapo grabbed her. I hope and those b**tards gave her water and fed her. The intentional cruelty is staggering.
I probably should have voted for Athanasius as we are studying theosis this year in EFM, but I've always loved Irenaeus early writing that brings us a line of reasoning from Polycarp back to St. John (or at least a Johanine community.) Both of these were excellent choices.
Couldn't help but notice that there are no women in Irenaeus' view of who enjoys the sanctification of Jesus Christ. Hmph.
Voting for Athanasius because going by Irenaeus' quote, apparently there is no room in heaven for women.
Against Gnosticism or the Arian heresy. This will be close.
I voted for Athanasios in this round. When I read Iraneaus’ statement about people, it seems as if women are not people. That changed my vote.
I sure wish it was as easy to vote as it is to say I’m not a robot. So tired of tapping and tapping and tapping and tapping…over and over in order to choose my saint.
I am thoroughly enjoying the new look, fresh look of our two new hosts. I think they should adopt "casual Friday" and dress in cdivvies. I enjoy their give and take. Well done.
Dang, tough choice! I'm going with Irenaeus as he set out doctrine as Athanasius, but a little more spiritual/mystical (my own orientation). Athanasius loses by the merest whisker (or something similar but more churchy - I'm sure you can come up with an appropriate pun!)
My birthday is on the feast of St. Irenæus. Never going to be voting against him. Even better, his work and quotes are better!
I believe I read somewhere that Athanasius was one of the first to list the New Testament's 27 books
David Sibley might have had me at "Ario-maniacs", except I was still smarting at his gratuitous use of a half quote from Jane Austin in his first sentence (talk about heresy!), so I voted for Irenaeus.
Monday Madness comment: I don't really think that the celebrity SEC priests should express their viewpoints... it's supposed to be the celebrity bloggers and non-celebrity commenters who present the material. It might handicap a saint who would have won otherwise.
Comment for today from a non-celebrity: Irenaeus was earlier and wanted unity but Athenasius had to deal with unreconciled, divided, much more numerous and widespread Christianity and save it from a major heresy on a much bigger stage. What more need be said than, “Jesus, that I know as my Redeemer, cannot be less than God.”
Couldn't vote today Captcha shows only 6 of the 9 windows.
Sigh.
Just to let you all know, I vote in my mind for Athanasius.
Both SOD-Saints Of the Day are theological heavyweights. It's for Athanasius statement on the Trinity, among other statements.
I think we might be out of more interesting saints. WE should call up some alumni saints. It's been a bit boring this year. We'll see what the next phase holds.
Wow! This is where it gets difficult. When I read the description of Iranaeus and his his life's works I thought no one could top him. But then I read about Athanasius and I was torn. I voted for Athanasius but both are deserving and if either wins I would be happy.
I agree that it was confusing having the order of voting reversed from the order of presentation. Now I'm questioning if I voted for the person I intended to vote for.
The email arrived at 9:10 this evening and I followed the link to vote, read the writeups and went to vote for Count von Zinzendorf…couldn’t figure out why the voting had closed at only 9:30, and then realized that I had just received YESTERDAY’s email. So it’s still not fixed, and we’re almost to Laetare Sunday.
Tried to get the writeups for the *real* today’s saints and had trouble getting away from the Monday Madness video and into the saints; bios.
Bottom line: she persisted, and finally got to vote for Irenaeus!
I know I am too late posting this (I was traveling all day and couldn’t vote until now (12:41am)) but I guess I will be a voice in the wilderness. I am surprised by everything that is not being said about Irenaeus. Voting for Iranaeus is essentially like voting for DeSantis. Iranaeus was the original banner of books, only more so. He ordered that all of the writings by the Gnostics be destroyed. The only reason we even have some of them is because some monks buried some of their books in the desert so that they wouldn’t be destroyed. These books now make up the Nag Hammadi library. Not only that, Iranaeus decided what would go into our bible and what wouldn’t. Yes, the bible we have today is the way it is because of Iranaeus. This means Iranaeus is responsible for everything you read in the bible… and everything you don’t get to read in the bible. I prefer to have access to information and make up my own mind. I do not approve of censorship.
At what time is the voting cut off? I had a full day today, and by the time I voted, I'm not sure it was counted. I realize that living on the West Coast, it already is Friday in most of the country.