The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Macedonius of Constantinople
d. c. 362 · Bishop of Constantinople · Namesake of the Pneumatomachi · Constantinople
The Nicene Age
Who Macedonius of Constantinople was
A semi-Arian bishop of Constantinople, twice installed and deposed amid the doctrinal chaos under Constantius, who gave his name (fairly or not) to the Pneumatomachi or “Spirit-fighters” — those who accepted the Son’s divinity but denied it to the Holy Spirit, calling the Spirit a creature or ministering servant. The full divinity of the Spirit, defended by Athanasius, Basil, and the Cappadocians and affirmed at Constantinople in 381 (“the Lord and Giver of life… who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped”), was defined precisely against this teaching. The heresiarch whose error completed the Trinitarian agenda of the century.
Also listed in the bishops of Constantinople.
Common questions
When did Macedonius die?
Macedonius of Constantinople is dated d. c. 362 in the archive, which places Macedonius in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Macedonius?
Macedonius of Constantinople is named in 2 primary-source passages catalogued here, drawn from Socrates Scholasticus and Sozomen. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Macedonius from?
The archive associates Macedonius of Constantinople with Constantinople.
Who were Macedonius’ contemporaries?
The archive links Macedonius of Constantinople to 5 other figures, including Basil the Great, Athanasius of Alexandria, Eusebius of Nicomedia and Paul of Constantinople. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (2)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Ecclesiastical History II.45 (Socrates)
c. AD 439Macedonius… asserted that the Holy Spirit is a creature, and had no communion with the Father and the Son in honour of the Godhead; wherefore his followers were called Pneumatomachi, that is, impugners of the Spirit.Socrates Scholasticus · II.45 · source text
Church History IV.20 (his violent tenure and fall)
c. AD 445Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
- AD 361 · Julian’s pagan restoration, AD 361
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Macedonius.