Thread by @MedleyTrey

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, champion of the Nicene Creed, original defender of Orthodoxy against Arianism, was Black.

Yet, with the exception of a handful of the oldest icons of him, he is normally depicted in white, European skin tones

He was described by friends as being "short of stature" and with dark skin tone. His enemies' favorite written perjorative was "the black dwarf." He was an Egyptian (oh yeah, ethnic Egyptians (not the later Greek/Roman occupiers) were also Black)

Why does this matter? Because Jonathan Edwards thought that Black people were necessarily inferior to white people. Because too often there is a view in churches that most of Church history is about white people

Because the historic oppression of Black people in the Americas and Europe is perpetuated today by whitewashing historical figures. I focus on Athanasius because he is the clearest example. There is strong likelihood that other prominent figures in Church History were also Black:

Perpetua and Felicity (among the first martyrs, and certainly some of the most popular), the earliest Israelites/Hebrews (semetic languages, like Hebrew, have stronger ties to Ubuntu languages than Hamitic or Dravidian languages), Augustine of Hippo

St Nicholas (yes *that* St Nicholas). Also in what we might label still possibly Black, but more in what we would call "middle-Eastern" (anachronistically) include the Cappadocians, Desert Fathers, Jesus and the earliest disciples, and so many others

This is just a sampling. All of this is important because representation matters and Black church leaders have been white washed from history for too long while others act as apologists for race-based, chattel slavers even to this day

This is not to denigrate "white" people, but it does demonstrate that these types of games continue to be a problem today. Racism was not "solved" and if there is a racist theologian in the past, we don't need to excuse that away or elevate them as a hero, but acknowledge it