Pseudo-Athanasius is the conventional designation for the author of any work falsely attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria, either through misattribution or forgery. Athanasius himself wrote in Greek, but his pseudepigrapha are found also in Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Latin, Slavonic and Syriac.Ibrahim Saweros, "Pseudo-Athanasius, Arabic", Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia (2023).Ibrahim Saweros, "Pseudo-Athanasius, Coptic", Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia (2023). Many of these works are conventionally known by Latin titles. Collectively, they are known as Pseudo-Athanasiana.Johan Leemans, "The Critical Edition of 'Anthanasius' Werke' Continued", Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses 75.1 (1999): 133–141. According to Ibrahim Seweros, however:
List
Athanasian Creed Adversus quinque haereses, actually by Quodvultdeus Apocalypse of Paul, attributed to Athanasius in Arabic Apocalypse of Pseudo-Athanasius Canons of Pseudo-AthanasiusRené-Georges Coquin, "Canons of Pseudo-Athanasius", Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia (1991): 458b–459a. Contra Apollinarium in two books, possibly originally independent works:Christopher A. Beeley, "The Future of Apollinarian Research: An Essay Review", Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum 21.3 (2017): 573–584. De incarnatione contra Apollinarium De salutari epiphania contra Apollinarium Contra Arianos IVMarkus Vinzent (ed.), Pseudo-Athanasius, Contra Arianos IV: eine Schrift gegen Asterius von Kappadokien, Eusebius von Cäsarea, Markell von Ankyra und Photin von Sirmium (E. J. Brill, 1996). Contra Sabellianos De Trinitate libri duodecim, in twelve booksFrançois Ploton-Nicollet, "Un manuscrit carolingien porteur d'une collection d'écrits anti-ariens (Saint-Mihiel, bibliothèque municipale, z 28)", in Anne-Orange Poilpré (ed.), L'écrit et le livre peint en Lorraine, de Saint-Mihiel à Verdun (IXe–XVe siècles): Actes du colloque de Saint-Mihiel (25–26 octobre 2010) (Brepols, 2014), pp. 79–102. Dialogues:Alasdair Heron, "The Two Pseudo-Athanasian Dialogues Against the Anomoeans", The Journal of Theological Studies, n.s. 24.1 (1973): 101. . Dialogus I de sancta Trinitate, against the Anomoeans Dialogus II de sancta Trinitate, against the Anomoeans Dialogus III de sancta Trinitate, against the Pneumatomachi Dialogus IV de sancta Trinitate, against the Apollinarians Dialogus V de sancta Trinitate, against the Apollinarians Dialogus I contra Macedonianos, against the Pneumatomachi Dialogus II contra Macedonianos, against the Pneumatomachi Disputatio contra AriumLytvynenko, Viacheslav V. "Exegesis of Scripture in the Pseudo-Athanasian Disputatio contra Arium (CPG 2250): Allegory, Paradeigma, and Context", in David Vopřada, Markéta Dudziková and Viacheslav V. Lytvynenko (eds.), The Pattern and the Image: Insights from the Alexandrian Exegetical Tradition (De Gruyter, 2025), pp. 243–255. Expositio fidei Expositiones in PsalmosUta Heil and Sebastiano Panteghini, "Determining the Text, Content and Provenance of the Expositiones in Psalmos Attributed to Athanasius: Challenges and Opportunities", in Cordula Bandt and Reinhart Ceulemans (eds.), Research on Psalter Catenae: Current Trends and Recent Developments (DeGruyter, 2024), pp. 221–245. Homilies: On Being Discerning About Salvation (Slavonic) On Lazarus Whom Christ Raised from the Dead (Coptic) On Luke 11:5–9 (Coptic) On Matthew 20:1–16 (Coptic) On Murder and Greed and on Michael, the Archangel (Coptic) On Not Passing Judgment, three Slavonic homilies On Pentecost I (Arabic) On Pentecost II (Arabic) On Pentecost (Coptic) On Soul and Body, attributed to Athanasius in Coptic, but to Alexander I of Alexandria in Syriac On the Suffering of Christ Jesus and on Fear of the Judgment-place (Coptic) On Transgressing the Law (Slavonic) a corpus of frequently narrative homilies in praise of Michael the Archangel in Coptic, Arabic and Ethiopic In Michaelem et Gabrielem archangelos, an encomiumIbrahim Saweros, "Four Pseudo-Athanasius Texts: Edition, Translation, and Commentary", in Tarek M. Muhammad, Cornelia Römer (eds.), Thought, Culture, and Historiography in Christian Egypt, 284–641 AD (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2020): 227–236.Ibrahim Saweros, Another Athanasius: Four Sahidic Homilies Attributed to St. Athanasius of Alexandria — Introduction, Editions, Translations, PhD diss., Leiden University (2016). Letters: Epistula ad AmunIrina M. Gritsevskaya and Viacheslav V. Lytvynenko, "Дидактическая тематика в текстах славянского Псевдо-Афанасия" [Didactic Themes in the Texts of Slavonic Pseudo-Athanasius], Palaeobulgarica (2022), No. 3, pp. 91–124. Epistle on the Celebration of EasterViacheslav V. Lytvynenko, "Epistle on the Celebration of Easter (CPG 4612): Transmission and Context of the Slavonic Version in the Late 15th–16th Centuries", Studia Ceranea 13 (2023): 125–135. Epistula 50, a Luciferian forgeryColin M. Whiting (ed.), Documents from the Luciferians: In Defense of the Nicene Creed (SBL Press, 2019), pp. 316–329. Epistula 51, a Luciferian forgery Letter to the AntiochenesRobert Pierce Casey (ed.), The Armenian Version of the Pseudo-Athanasian Letter to the Antiochenes and of the Expositio fidei (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1947). The Life and Regimen of the Blessed and Holy SyncleticaElizabeth Bryson Bongie (ed.), The Life and of Blessed and Syncletica (Peregrina, 1995). Reprinted as The Life and Regimen of the Blessed and Holy Syncletica, Part One: The Translation alongside Mary Schaffer, The Life and Regimen of the Blessed and Holy Syncletica, Part Two: A Study of the Life (Wipf and Stock, 2005). On Leviticus 21:9, a Coptic apocalypse On VirginityDavid Brakke (ed.), Pseudo-Athanasius: On Virgnity (Peeters, 2002). Praise of the Angels on the Day of the Carnal Birth of Our Lord, an addition to the liturgical Gloria in excelsis Deo Quaestiones ad Antiochum ducemIlse De Vos, "The Manuscript Tradition of the Quaestiones ad Antiochum Ducem", in Reinhart Ceulemans and Pieter De Leemans (eds.), On Good Authority:Tradition, Compilation and the Construction of Authority in Literature from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Brepols, 2015), pp. 43–66. Sermo contra omnes haereses Story of Melchizedek Synopsis of Holy Scripture Testaments of the Three Patriarchs, attributed to Athanasius only in the Bohairic version
Some works not attributed to Athanasius per se are made to depend on his authority:
Contra Arianos dialogus, a dialogue involving Athanasius originally attributed to Vigilius of Thapsus and later to Athanasius himself The Prophecy of Daniel to Athanasius, an Arabic apocalypse The Great Letter that Fell Down from Heaven to Pope Athanasius, a letter from Heaven
References
Further reading Brakke, David. 1994. "The Authenticity of Ascetic Athanasiana." Orientalia 63: 17–56.