Who is Bart Ehrman?Bart Ehrman (born 1955) is an American New Testament scholar focusing on textual criticism of New Testament, historical Jesus, and development of early Christianity. Ehrman has written and edited 30 books, including three college textbooks. He has also authored six New York Times bestsellers. He is currently the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Who was Athanasius?Athanasius of Alexandria (298-373 AD), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor or Athanasius the Apostolic was the 20th bishop of Alexandria (as Athanasius I). His on-again-off-again episcopate spanned 45 years of which over 17 encompassed five exiles, when his episcopate was replaced on the order of four different Roman emperors. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century. Conflict with Arius and Arianism as well as successive Roman emperors shaped Athanasius' career. In 325 AD, at the age of 27, Athanasius began his leading role against the Arians as a deacon and assistant to Bishop Alexander of Alexandria during the First Council of Nicaea. Roman emperor Constantine the Great had convened the council in August 325 to address the Arian position that the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, is of a distinct substance from the Father.