In the vision of the Eastern Orthodox Church this abiding grows even deeper, into the radiant mystery of participation in God Himself. Athanasius of Alexandria (c.296–373 AD) who was a 4th-century theologian, bishop, and “Church Father”, declared that the Word became man so that humanity might share the life of God. Athanasius was a champion of the divinity of Christ, vigorously opposing those who argued that Jesus was merely a man. Centuries later Gregory Palamas (1296–1359 AD) who was a renowned Byzantine theologian, Archbishop of Thessalonika, and a monk of Mount Athos, taught that through divine grace we partake of God’s living energies. Gregory was a great defender of ‘hesychia’ the spiritual discipline of inner stillness through which we may best hear the voice of God speaking to our soul.