SOURCE: Hodges, George. “Athanasius 296-373.” In Saints and Heroes: To the End of the Middle Ages, pp. 15–26. New York: H. Holt and Company, 1911.

In the following excerpt, Hodges relates how Athanasius came into conflict with the Arian-dominated church over the issue of the nature of Christ.

One day, in Alexandria, a bishop was standing by a window in his house, which looked out over the sea. He had invited some people to dinner, and they were late in coming, and he was waiting. When they came they found the bishop so interested in what he saw out of the window that they looked also. On the shore of the sea a little group of boys were “playing church.” One was the minister, the others were the congregation. The boy who was the minister called up the others one by one and baptized them in the sea; and this...