Rosenwein mentions in the introduction on the chapter of Athanasius’ writings about the life of St. Antony, that Athanasius, the biship of Alexandria was a strong supporter of the Nicene view of the trinity and say St. Antony as “the living embodiment of his notion of salvation through Christ” (Rosenwein, 27). Athanasius wrote this hagiography for two reasons, to tell the monks the truth about St. Antony’s life and to help spread the concept of monasticism. His audience was essentially any Christian who wanted to imitate an exemplar that would give them salvation. Athanasius’ intentions for the book could have definitely influenced the way he wrote the story. It is obvious he wants it to all be portrayed in the most positive light so there could be some embellishment throughout the story.

There were biblical passages that were referenced all throughout the biography. Many influenced Antony’s decision to become an ascetic and helped him practice discipline throughout his life. Some themes that emerge are obedience, discipline and poverty. For example,

Athanasius wrote: “He entered the church, and it happened that just the the Gospel was being read, and he heard the Lord saying to the rich man, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all your possessions, ad give the proccceeds to the poor, and come, follow me. And you will have treasure in Heaven.” (Rosenwein, 29)

Antony interpreted them all literally and did what exactly the passages did. He was obedient to the Lord and sold all of his posessions. Athanasius tells his story in this way to portray it in a way that anyone can make the decision to listen to what God is telling them through scripture and to interpret it literally.

Antony’s life wasn’t always easy. Athanasius gives credit to Antony’s askesis to his victories over the devil. The devil temps Antony by trying to “dissuade him from the discipline by suggesting the memory of possessions, the care of his sister, the intimacy of family, love of money, love of glory, the varied pleasure of food, and the other indulgences of life” (Rosenwein, 30). However, Antony stayed strong and began “thinking about Christ and the excellence one ought to possess because of Him, and by considering the soul’s rational faculty, extinguished the ember of the other’s deception” (Rosenwein, 30). Medieval monastics would have found the scene meaningful because they too most likely experiences temptation for all the goods in the world. It was a way for them to be relatable to someone that was deemed as a great exemplar.

There are parallels between Antony’s biography and Augustine’s City of God. The main parallel was that both of the writing’s aims was to describe a life that brought sacred to the secular. Also, City of God highlights that there are essentially two realms in this world, the realm of God and the realm of man. Antony’s biography complements this idea in so the inner spiritual life can also have a realm of God and a realm of man.