360–381 (council – 381)

The Controversy with the Pneumatomachi (Macedonians), Basil's On the Holy Spirit and the Council of Constantinople (381)

The Pneumatomachi, later associated with the name of Macedonius, accepted the Nicene Creed and the deity of the Son but held the Spirit to be a creature subordinate to the Son. Basil of Caesarea in his treatise On the Holy Spirit argued for the consubstantiality of the Spirit with the Father and the Son – from the baptismal formula of Matt. 28:19, from the liturgical doxology "with the Holy Spirit" and from deification, which only God can bestow – although he did not openly call the Spirit God; Gregory of Nazianzus was more outspoken. The Ecumenical Council of 381 in Constantinople, under Gregory's leadership, adopted the formula on the Spirit: "the Lord, the Life-giver, proceeding from the Father, glorified with the Father and the Son, speaking through the prophets." According to González, Basil helped turn the Arian question into a fully trinitarian one.