Athanasius (298-373 A.D.) was a bishop of Alexandria (Egypt), in the fourth century. He is revered as a Saint by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and recognized as a great leader and doctor of the early church by Protestants. Athanasius is also the first person to identify the same 27 books of the New Testament that are in use today; up until his Easter letter, various similar lists were in use. However, his list was the one that was eventually ratified by a series of synods and came to be universally recognized as the New Testament canon.