His God was not static, but a dynamic, personal being, inherently outgoing and productive. Athanasius compares the Father to a fountain and a sun: just as a fountain must pour forth water to be a fountain, and just as a sun must have a radiance, so the Father must “pour forth,” “radiate,” or beget the Son in order to be who he is—the Father. In contrast, Arius’s talk of a Father without a Son signified a barren God who was like a dry fountain or a sun that does not shine.
