Macedonians (religious group)

This article is about the Byzantine Greek Christian sect of the 4th century AD. For other meanings of the word "Macedonians," see Macedonians (disambiguation).
"Macedonianism" redirects here. See Macedonism for Slavic Macedonian nationalism.

The Macedonians were a Christian sect of the 4th century, named after Bishop Macedonius I of Constantinople. They professed a belief similar[1] to that of Arianism, but apparently denying the divinity of the Holy Spirit,[2] and regarding the substance of Jesus Christ as being the same in kind as that of God the Father. They are regarded to have taught that the Holy Spirit was a creation of the Son, and a servant of the Father and the Son. This is what prompted the addition of “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is equally worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets,” into the Nicene Creed at the second ecumenical council.[3] They were regarded as a heretical sect by the Church. The sect's members were also known as pneumatomachians, the “spirit fighters.”

Macedonius, and the Macedonians, held that God the Son was of "similar substance" (homoiousios) to God the Father,[4][5] but not of the "same essence" (homoousios). As a result of the Second Ecumenical Council, homoousios has become the accepted definition of Christian orthodoxy.

The Macedonians continued to support the Homoiousian creeds of Antioch and Seleucia and condemn the Homoian creeds of Ariminum and Constantinople,[6] calling new synods to support their views and condemn their opponents.[7]

The nature of the connection between the Macedonians and Bishop Macedonius I is unclear; most scholars today believe that Macedonius had died (around 360) before the sect emerged. The writings of the Macedonians have all been lost, and their doctrine is known mainly from refutations by church leaders. Two prominent 4th century saints, Athanasius of Alexandria and Basil of Caesarea, wrote polemics against Macedonianism (Letters to Serapion and On the Holy Spirit respectively).

Their teachings were formally condemned in 381 by the First Council of Constantinople. The Council responded to the theological challenge of the Macedonians by revising the Nicene Creed into present form used in the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches and prohibited any further alteration of the Creed without the assent of an Ecumenical Council. The Macedonian heresy was subsequently suppressed by the emperor Theodosius I.

Contents

Notable Macedonians

See also

References

  1. ^ Elwell, Walter A. ed. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2001. pp.291.
  2. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapter 45.
  3. ^ However, the chief of the heretics who distorted the apostolic teaching concerning the Holy Spirit was Macedonius, who occupied the cathedra of Constantinople as archbishop in the 4th century and found followers for himself among former Arians and Semi-Arians. He called the Holy Spirit a creation of the Son, and a servant of the Father and the Son. Accusers of his heresy were Fathers of the Church like Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, Athanasius the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Ambrose, Amphilocius, Diodores of Tarsus, and others, who wrote works against the heretics. The false teaching of Macedonius was refuted first in a series of local councils and finally at the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381. In preserving Orthodoxy, the Second Ecumenical Council completed the Nicaean Symbol of Faith with these words: “And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father, Who with the Father and the Son is equally worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets,” as well as those articles of the Creed which follow this in the Nicaean-Constantinopolitan Symbol of Faith. Orthodox dogmatic theology by Michael Pomazansky Part I. God in Himself-2. The dogma of the Holy Trinity-The equality of honor and the Divinity of the Holy Spirit.[1]
  4. ^ Philostorgius, recorded in Photius, Epitome of the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, book 4, chapter 9 and book 8, chapter 17.
  5. ^ a b Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapter 45.
  6. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapter 45 and book 3, chapter 10.
  7. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 3, chapter 10.
  8. ^ Philostorgius, in Photius, Epitome of the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, book 4, chapter 9 & book 8, chapter 17.
  9. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapters 16, 27, 38 & 42.
  10. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapters 38 & 42.
  11. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapters 38 & 45.
  12. ^ Philostorgius, in Photius, Epitome of the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, book 8, chapter 17.
  13. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapters 38, 42 & 45.
  14. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 2, chapters 39, 40, 42 & 45.
  15. ^ Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, book 1, chapter 8 and book 2, chapter 15.

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