Section 69

On another occasion the Arians falsely claimed that Antony held the same beliefs they did. He was indignant and angry at their claim.

At the invitation of the bishops and all the brothers, he came down from the mountain and entered Alexandria. There he publicly condemned the Arians, declaring that their heresy was the last of the heresies and a forerunner of Antichrist.

He taught the people that the Son of God is not a created being and did not come into existence from nothing. Rather, he is the eternal Word and Wisdom of the Father’s essence. Therefore, he said, it is impious to claim, “There was a time when he was not,” because the Word has always existed together with the Father.

“So have no fellowship with the utterly impious Arians, for ‘there is no fellowship between light and darkness.’ You are faithful Christians. But when they say that the Son of the Father, the Word of God, is a created being, they differ in nothing from the pagans, because they worship what has been created rather than God the Creator.

“Believe instead that creation itself is outraged against them, because they number the Creator—the Lord of all, through whom all things came into being—among the things that were themselves brought into being.”