The Pneumatomachi (/ˌn(j)uːməˈtɒməkaɪ/; Ancient Greek: Πνευματομάχοι Pneumatomákhoi), also known as Macedonians or Semi-Arians in Constantinople and the Tropici in Alexandria, were an anti-Nicene Creed sect which flourished in the regions adjacent to the Hellespont during the latter half of the fourth, and the beginning of the fifth centuries.
[1] Macedonius I, the founder of the Pneumatomachi, was installed into the See of Constantinople by the Arians (342 AD), and enthroned by Emperor Constantius II, who had for the second time expelled Paul, the orthodox bishop.
His disinterment of the body of Emperor Constantine I was looked upon as an indignity to the Protector of the Council of Nicaea, and led to a conflict between Arians and anti-Arians, which filled the church and neighbourhood with carnage.
As the disinterment had taken place without imperial sanction, Macedonius fell into disgrace, and Roman Emperor Flavius Julius Constantius caused him to be deposed by the Acacian party and succeeded by Eudoxius in 360.
While hiding in the desert during his third exile, Athanasius learned from his friend Serapion of Thumis of Alexandrian believers acknowledging Nicaea, and yet declaring the Holy Ghost a mere creature and a ministering angel (on the strength of Hebrews 1:14).
[2] Athanasius wrote at once to Serapion in defence of the Nicene faith, and on his return from exile (362 AD) held a council at Alexandria, which resulted in the first formal condemnation of the Pneumatomachi.
A synodal letter was sent to the people of Antioch advising them to require of all converts from Arianism a condemnation against "those who say that the Holy Spirit is a creature and separate from the essence of Christ.
It is that he influenced his brother Gregory of Nyssa to write his treatise against the Macedonians, of which only a part has come down to us and which appears to be based on the words: "Lord and life-giver who proceeds from the Father."
[1] The West likewise upheld the Catholic teaching in a synod held in Illyria and mentioned by Theodoret (H. E., IV, 8) and by Pope Damasus in his letter to Paulinus of Antioch.
[citation needed] Pneumatomachian doctrine was embraced by Eleusius and Marathonius, the latter a major protagonist,[7] and it gained traction in Constantinople, Thrace, Bithynia, and the Hellespont.
[7] Under the Emperor Julian, 361 to 363 AD, who personally rejected Christianity in favor of Neoplatonic paganism, and who sought to return the Roman Empire to its original religious eclecticism, the Pneumatomachi had enough power to declare their independence from both Arians and orthodox.