# Pneumatomachianism

Source: https://coptic-lore-forge.lovable.app/wiki/pneumatomachianism — Coptic Orthodox Wiki (updated 2026-10-02)

Pneumatomachianism was an offshoot of Arianism that denied the Holy Spirit’s divinity and consubstantiality with the Father and the Son; the church of Alexandria opposed it.[^1]

## Doctrine

Pneumatomachianism is an offshoot of Arianism that denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit and His consubstantiality with the Father and the Son.[^1] “Consubstantial” means “of one substance with” or “one in being with.”[^4]

Subordinationism concerning the Son is distinct from another form that maintains the inferiority of the Holy Spirit to both the Father and the Son.[^5] In this context, Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople until his deposition in 360, was credited with teaching that the Son was like the Father in essence but that the Holy Spirit was merely an angelic servant and a creature.[^6]

## Alexandrian Response

The church of Alexandria participated in opposing Pneumatomachianism.[^1] In his *Four Letters to Serapion*, bishop of Tmuis, written in 359–360, Saint Athanasius expounded the divinity and procession of the Holy Spirit. He argued that the Spirit must possess the divine nature in order to divinize and sanctify human beings.[^2]

Alexandria was fully represented at the second ecumenical council, Constantinople I, in 381, and adopted its official credal formula concerning the Holy Spirit.[^3]

## Coptic Orthodox Teaching

In contrast to the denial of the Spirit’s divinity, Coptic doctrine identifies the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity, consubstantial, coeternal, coequal, and coadorable with the Father and the Son.[^7]

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 621)
[^2]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 621)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 621)
[^4]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 631)
[^5]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 324)
[^6]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 324)
[^7]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 621)