Skip to content
Examined Doctrine

Athanasius of Alexandria on the final state of the lost

C.296 – 373 · GREEK FATHER
READ IN A PRIMARY SOURCEAFFIRMS°
STANCE

Eternal conscious punishment

On the Incarnation 56.3
"for them that have done evil everlasting fire and outer darkness"

THE POSITION

On the Incarnation 56 sets out the second coming plainly: Christ returns not to suffer but to judge all by what each has done in the body, and the two destinies are the kingdom of heaven and everlasting fire. Sober expectation rather than developed eschatology, with no hint of annihilation or restoration.

SCRIPTURE
MATTHEW 26:64 · BSB

64 “You have said it yourself,” Jesus answered. “But I say to all of you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

20 OTHERS HOLD THIS

AquinasJacobus ArminiusAugustineVoddie BauchamCalvinChrysostomJonathan EdwardsThe Church of Eleven22 Statement of FaithJosh HowertonTim KellerSecond London Baptist ConfessionLutherJohn MacArthurPhilip MelanchthonJohn OwenJustin PetersJohn PiperR.C. SproulWestminster ConfessionZwingli
See all 23 figures on the final state of the lost →

ABOUT THIS FIGURE

Defender of Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism through repeated exiles. On the Incarnation is his central work on why God became man.

10 OF 15 POSITIONS QUOTED
Everything Athanasius holds →
Cite this page

"Athanasius of Alexandria on the final state of the lost", Examined Doctrine, July 2026 edition, https://examineddoctrine.com/position/athanasius/final-state (archived at https://examineddoctrine.com/editions/2026-07/position/athanasius/final-state).

How citation works here