Skip to content
Wellsprings
christian-councils-heresiesfeatured in 13 works

Pneumatomachianism (Macedonianism)

The Spirit-fighters who denied the third person his full divinity

Pneumatomachianism, also called Macedonianism, denied the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. Its adherents, the Pneumatomachi or "Spirit-fighters," were condemned at the Council of Constantinople in 381. The orthodox response affirmed the Spirit's full divinity within the Trinity, a confession shared across the traditions and expressed in the Creed's profession of the Spirit as Lord and giver of life.

How it traveled

  1. De Spiritu Sancto
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    challenges
  2. The Letters
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    applies
  3. The Second Ecumenical Council: The First Council of Constantinople
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 381
    challenges
  4. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen
    Nazianzus · 390
    explains
  5. Select Letters of Saint Gregory Nazianzen
    Nazianzus · 390
    challenges
  6. On the Holy Spirit
    Nyssa · 395
    explains
  7. Against Eunomius
    Nyssa · 395
    challenges
  8. On the Holy Spirit
    Milan · 397
    challenges
  9. Jerome and Gennadius. Lives of Illustrious Men
    Bethlehem · 420
    challenges
  10. The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 439
    explains
  11. The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 450
    explains
  12. The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret
    Cyrrhus · 458
    explains
  13. The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    challenges

Key passages(20)

Against Eunomius · Gregory of Nyssa

Very high

On the Holy Spirit · Gregory of Nyssa

Very high

On the Holy Spirit · Gregory of Nyssa

Very high

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen · Gregory of Nazianzus

Very high

The Canons of the Council in Trullo; Often Called The Quinisext Council · The Ecumenical Councils

Very high
Very high

On the Holy Spirit · Gregory of Nyssa

Very high

On the Holy Spirit · Gregory of Nyssa

Very high

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen · Gregory of Nazianzus

Very high

On the Holy Spirit · Ambrose of Milan

Very high