Editing First Council of Constantinople (section)

===Theological context===
The [[First Council of Nicaea|Council of Nicaea]] in 325 had not ended the [[Arianism|Arian]] controversy which it had been called to clarify. [[Arius]] and his sympathizers, e.g. [[Eusebius of Nicomedia]], were admitted back into the church after ostensibly accepting the Nicene creed. [[Athanasius]], bishop of [[Alexandria]], the most vocal opponent of Arianism, was ultimately exiled through the machinations of Eusebius of Nicomedia. After the death of [[Constantine I]] in 337 and the accession of his Arian-leaning son [[Constantius II]], open discussion of replacing the Nicene creed itself began. Up until about 360, theological debates mainly dealt with the divinity of the Son, the second person of the [[Trinity]]. However, because the Council of Nicaea had not clarified the divinity of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]], the third person of the Trinity, it became a topic of debate. The [[Macedonians (religious group)|Macedonians]] denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This was also known as [[Pneumatomachi]]anism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Pneumatomachi |url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12174a.htm |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>

[[Nicene Christianity]] also had its defenders: apart from Athanasius, the [[Cappadocian Fathers]]' Trinitarian discourse was influential in the council at [[Constantinople]]. [[Apollinaris of Laodicea]], another pro-Nicene theologian, proved controversial. Possibly in an over-reaction to Arianism and its teaching that [[Jesus|Christ]] was not God, he taught that Christ consisted of a human body and a divine mind, rejecting the belief that Christ had a complete human nature, including a human mind.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Alister McGrath |last=McGrath |first=Alister |year=1998 |title=Historical Theology, An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought |location=Oxford |publisher=Blackwell Publishers |chapter=The Patristic Period |isbn=0-631-20843-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaltheolo0000mcgr }}</ref> He was charged with confounding the persons of the [[Godhead (Christianity)|Godhead]], and with giving in to the heretical ways of [[Sabellius]]. [[Basil of Caesarea]] accused him of abandoning the literal sense of the scripture, and taking up wholly with the allegorical sense. His views were condemned in a [[Synod]] at [[Alexandria]], under [[Athanasius of Alexandria]], in 362, and later subdivided into several different heresies, the main ones of which were the [[Polemian]]s and the [[Antidicomarianite]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Antidicomarianites |url=https://catholicism.en-academic.com/849/Antidicomarianites |access-date=2025-05-10 |website=Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias |language=en}}</ref>