let us welcome them with open arms and rejoice at their
return. Let us be true followers, indeed, of our Lord".^51
- With these touching and revealing terms, the
illustrious teacher of Alexandria convinced all his hearers,
and thus succeeded in winning vast numbers of heretics.
This marvellous achievement would have sufficed many a
man, but not Athanasius. As he scanned the state of the
faithful, he found that for several years, an insidious
quarrel troubled the two sister churches: the Greek and
the Latin. This quarrel had arisen, not over principle, but
over words. In fact, three words were at the bottom of it
all: person, substance and hypostasis. The Greeks used
the word "hypostasis" to express the idea for which the
Latins use the word "person". And to make matters
worse, the Greek word "hypostasis" resembled in its
linguistic composition, the Latin word "substance". This
linguistic divergence threatened to rupture the believers of
one Creed: each accusing the other of accepting a
contrary belief: Athanasius decided that it was time to
end this quibbling; lie invited both groups to convene
together, asking each in turn, to define clearly and
concisely the exact meaning of the words over which they
dissented. Out of the definitions sprang the light; the
seeming adversaries were astounded to discover that they
shared the same belief. Each was then free to use his own
linguistic expression without causing offence to the other.
The only recommendation Athanasius made was that they
keep intact the Creed of Nicea: a recommendation
dictated by a deep insight which seems to have penetrated
far into the unknown future.^52
This Athanasian policy scored a success out of all
proportions: the depth of Athanasius' soul called unto the
depth of other souls, and they speedily responded. The