Supporting his criticism of Arians using the name of their teacher instead of the name of Christ, Athanasius points to the fact that Greeks who turn to Christ and join the church cease to be called Greeks and become known as Christians ( anti Ellenon archontai christianoi kaleisthai ). In context, he cannot mean that metaphorically; as Athanasius understands things, Greeks shed their ethnic and national identity when they identify with Christ and His “nation.”
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