Introduction

Speaker 1 0:00

So we come to the Palamite controversy. We could say that the first half of the Hesychast controversy takes place between 1337 and 1347, when we have as the two protagonists the St Gregory Palamas and Balaam the Calabrian. This is the part that most people know. If they know about the Hesychast controversy, this is the part they know something about. The dispute between Balaam and Palamas could be described as a debate over the correct interpretation of Dionysius the Areopagite. This gives us a clue as to the centrality of the Areopagite in Orthodox tradition. We'll come back to this point in our conclusions, but for now we can say that Palamas' view of Dionysius is one of philosophical theologian, while Palamas sees Dionysius as a mystical theologian, in other words, that his writings are based on direct mystical experience of the divine. Furthermore, in answering the question, is direct experience of God possible in this life? Balaam would answer only through acts and symbols. Is experience of God possible? While St Gregory would say yes, direct experience of God is certainly possible in this life. St Gregory's life may be divided into three main stages. From 1317 to 1338, we have the years of monastic seclusion on Mount Athos, where he spent most of his time in Asquit. From around 1325, we have the Turkish encroachments, when he is obliged to leave Athos, and from 1331, he is back again on Athos until 1338, and then he follows the five-day system, where only on Saturdays and Sundays did he join the other members of the Skeet and joined in common prayers and conversation with other monks. From around 1334, in Palamas's third year, at the Hermitage of St Sabas, which belongs to the great Lavra of Athanasius of Athos, he begins to write his Entry of the Virgin into the temple, where the Theodokos is put forward as the archetype of mystical ascent and you might like to compare this to the employment of Moses as the prime example of mystical ascent and perfection, as the prime example of mystical ascent and perfection, as seen, for example, in Clement of Alexandria, gregory of Nyssa, as well as Dionysius the Areopagite. The second stage of St Gregory's life, the second period, is from 1334 to 1341, and this then is the period which ends with the defeat of Balaam in the first of the three famous councils Council of 1341, which had two phases, june and August, during which time Andronicus III P Palaeologos died.

Speaker 1 4:06

Balaam, of course, was Palamas' chief theological opponent. He seems to have been influenced somewhat by post-Augustinian theology. Sufficient attention to this question the influence of the post-Augustinian theological tradition was not given. In his introductory study, a Tupalamus, by Meyendorff and Romanides critiques Meyendorff about this quite severely. Critiques Meyendorff about this quite severely.

Speaker 1 4:46

The Council of 1347, the second of the three councils, had Gregory Akindinos as Palamas's opponent, and Gregory had been a disciple of Palamas and a friend. But he agreed with Balaam on the question of the essence-energy distinction and he agreed with Palamas on the question of hesychastic prayer. So Akindinos accepted the prayer of the Athonite monks but rejected Gregory's claim that the essence energies distinction is a traditional distinction found in the Fathers and in the scriptures. Akindinos first tried to broker a compromise between Balaam and Palamas and then he sided with Palamas against Balaam and finally he broke with his former teacher when he saw that Palamas placed tremendous emphasis on the dogmatic significance of the essence energies distinction. The Kindinos avoided being condemned as a heretic after agreeing to accept the prior decisions of the 1341 Council. Then we have the Council of 1351, with Nikephoros Gregoras as the main theological opponent, and this took place on the 28th of May in 1351 and had two phases. Now, after this it's actually during this time and after we have what we call the Episcopate, when Palamas had become Metropolitan of Thessalonica up to his death on November the 14th, 1359.

Objections to St. Gregory's theology

Speaker 1 7:12

The interesting thing is that, despite the differences in background, the three theological opponents, the arguments against Palamas had certain common presuppositions. And this is because, ultimately, what they were arguing on the basis of was philosophy about God, which is not the same thing as theology. So three main issues may be identified. One is the knowledge of God, the question of how do we know God, what do we know of God, and so forth. Secondly, the question of the vision of God, the role of the vision of God. What is the vision of God and what role does it play in the life of the Christian? And the third question has to do with the role of the body the role of the body in the spiritual life, the role of the body in the Christian life, the sanctification of the body, the place of the body in the life to come.

Speaker 1 8:43

So, on the knowledge of god, saint gregory was attacked by his opponents who underlined the divine incomprehensibility that our experience of god is and can only be, and can only be indirect. Secondly, on the question of the vision of God, palamas' opponents argued that the light referred to in patristic descriptions of man's encounter with God must be a physical and created one. He did not believe that the light was uncreated and that it was God himself revealing himself to his creature. And thirdly, with regard to the role of the body, they argued his opponents, that is, argued that the physical technique of the Hesychasts betrayed a materialistic understanding of the divine and therefore that they were guilty of a Massalian gnosiology. We'll talk a little bit later about the Massalians, who they were, and so on.

Experience of God

Essence - Energies Distinction

Speaker 1 10:33

Now, the fundamental question underlying all of this is, of course, in what way is the hidden God revealed? Note that Balaam is a Platonist in his approach, or at least he's very influenced by Platonic ideas. No pun intended, he is decidedly against any form of materialism. Now on the first point about the knowledge of God, gregory agreed that god is indeed unknowable, but he goes a step further and draws a distinction between the essence or inner being of god and his energies, and so he says that the essence denotes the unknowability, the otherness of God, the never-to-be-known aspect of God, the Creator, while the energies denote that we can participate in God, in God. The energies of God, moreover, permeate the universe. We can participate in them, and in that participation we are not participating in an intermediary. They are God Himself, god in action, god in operation, involved in the life of His creature directly and personally.

Speaker 1 12:25

Now, this point was attacked on two main grounds. Firstly, balaam said that this introduces diatheism, destroying the divine simplicity, and Akindinos argued that Palamas believed in a superior divinity and, at the same time, in an inferior divinity, the superior being the divine essence, or what Palamas referred to as the divine essence, and the inferior being the energy or energies of God. And he added that this was an innovation. Palamas had made this up himself.

Speaker 1 13:21

And Western critics of Palamas continue to use both of these arguments against the simplicity of God and that there is a kind of diatheism at the best when insisting upon this essence energies distinction, though there are certain theologians in recent times, roman Catholic and others, who do not see anything heretical in Palamas, and this is a major, major change in at least some of the theologians of the Roman Catholics, which is significant. So Palamas' answers the doctrine of the Holy Trinity does not impair the Godhead. We do not say that the simplicity of God is impaired or diminished in any way by the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, and neither does the essence energies distinction, of course. To be absolutely clear about this. We should note that to this day the West does not feel comfortable with the notion of Trinity and the tri-personal being of God is a problem to the Western theological mindset, precisely because it's difficult to reconcile the three with the one and so on. And they're dealing with the mystery of the Holy Trinity conceptually. How can that be reconciled? Very difficult, and saint augustine himself goes to great pains in order to emphasize that everything is substance, everything in god.

Speaker 1 15:21

God, the holy trinity is substance, divine substance is, is one and three at the same time. The three are one substance, the one is three substances. There's a tremendous effort to emphasize the oneness of God, but I remember when I was growing up in London and with my fellow pupils at school, it struck me later I realized the significance of this later, but it did strike me that when speaking of God, god was somehow a little bit higher than the Holy Trinity in the minds of the children, because that's where you see these things manifesting themselves very clearly. So you have the notion of Trinity, but then you have the notion of God and that is somehow placed above the threeness of God, and that's very telling, I think. Now, having said that, of course, we've already noted that neither Augustine nor the post-Augustinian Western theological tradition wanted to make a distinction between God and the Holy Trinity. But the threeness and the oneness is a problem. And furthermore, the introduction of the human nature of Christ into the life of God, the Holy Trinity, is a further complication and a further problem in terms of this. And a further problem in terms of this, I'll call it obsession on the philosophical, a philosophical understanding of the simplicity of God.

Speaker 1 17:24

Now, just a brief glimpse at his writings will show you that Palamas was deeply convinced of the fact that the essence energies distinction is not only present in the history of the church, in the lives of the saint, the writings of the theologians, the holy scriptures, but that it is abundantly attested to by the fathers. And if you look at his triads, for example, and if you look at his triads, for example, you'll see that, almost relentlessly, st Gregory places before us one example after another in order to make this point clear. He doesn't want to be an innovator, he wants to be and sees himself as being coming from within the tradition of the Church. So what's Palamas' basic reason for making this distinction, this essence energies distinction that some wish had never been introduced.

God as Light

Speaker 1 18:33

St Gregory's main concern is simply to hold in balance both the transcendence divine transcendence and the direct communion with God, the fact of direct contact with God, unmediated contact with God, on the vision of God as regards the vision of light and the role of the body. The uncreated energies are the grace of God. They are described as divine grace, thea Charis, and that's why St Gregory is described in the hymn of his feast as the preacher of grace, because that is what divine energy or divine energies means. And the grace of God takes the form of light in particular. And the vision of God, the vision of the light, of the, of the grace of God, is the vision of God himself, but it is the vision of God in his energies and not in his essence. Remember St Irenaeus of Lyon, who said Just as those who see the light are in the light, so it is that they who see God are in God, but partaking of his brightness.

Speaker 1 20:25

So what about Saint Gregory's response to the charge that this light must be created, that it is a material light? Gregory argues that it is a non-material light. It's perceived by the nous, but bear in mind, even the nous by itself, in other words, unaided by the grace of God, cannot perceive this light, because the light is uncreated. It's radically and fundamentally other. So what is presupposed, what is required in us to behold the light of God? This is very different to saying that the noose is capable. The noose is capable of seeing God, but only when it is made capable by God, because by itself it is created and does not have that ability by nature.

Transfiguration

Speaker 1 22:04

So the transfiguration of the human person, some say on Mount Tabor and this is correct it's really more a case of the three disciples being transfigured than Christ himself, because Christ always possessed the glory that was revealed to the three disciples. He always possessed that glory and those who could see him were unable to see him would see him in that glory, because that is his pre-eternal glory. What changed was the ability of the three disciples, who were made worthy, we say, to behold Christ's transfig as much as they could endure. That's an important subject and it's one that has a lot more to it, but for now, yes, the light is not an light of christ, the vision of light, and this is a very delicate distinction, the light being the energy of god's nature or essence, the natural energy or essential energy. God is the light of the essence of God, and still it has a hypostatic character.

Speaker 1 23:57

It's difficult to say that it is a hypostatic light, but the mystery is that, in and through Christ, the saints behold what they recognize as the light of Christ, the divine glory of Christ, and they can identify it with Christ himself, the hypostasis of Christ, and they distinguish between the one light and the three lights the light of the Father, the light of the Son and the light of the Holy Spirit. If you look at the Ex Apostilarium for the Feast of the Transfiguration, it tells you that the Father is light, the Son is light, the Holy Spirit is light. Each of them is light, but altogether they are one light. This is the mystery. This is what St Gregory the theologian in his oration on theology. When I speak of one flash of lightning and of three, when I speak of God, you must think of one flash of lightning and three at the same time. So this is a great mystery indeed and it is difficult to understand.

Speaker 1 25:29

If your approach is philosophical, it's not something that can be explained. This is the divine energy of the trihypostatic Godhead. It is the light of Christ through which we see the light of the Father. In thy light we shall see light, and this can only be accomplished, of course, in the light, in the light of the Holy Spirit. It can be perceived through the transformed senses.

Speaker 1 26:10

What we said about the human nous is also applicable to the human senses. We say that the body, the physical eyes and so on, our senses, participate in God. They've been called to share in that sanctification that makes us Christ-like. But that is possible only when our senses have been transformed. So it is not a light of the senses, it's not a sensible light, it is uncreated. It is the glory of God, of the Holy Trinity, and this light is not just something that is beheld. This light has a glorifying effect on the beholder. This light glorifies, it divinizes or deifies the whole human person. It is infinite, it has no end. Never shall we see the whole of it, it will never be exhaustively revealed. Remember the notion of extension in St Gregory of Nyssa, epectasis reaching forth, constantly reaching forth from glory, moving from glory to glory, because there's no end to the perfection of Christ.

Stigmata

Speaker 1 27:57

Where do we find in the West a participation of the body? Perhaps the closest phenomenon to this kind of transformation in the West is that of the stigmata, whereas, interestingly, in the East this phenomenon is unknown and the saints enter rather into the mystery of the Transfiguration. But according to the Magisterium it's a spiritual vision and I think that we're not really sure what to do with the body otherwise. But with the stigmata you have manifested participation in the mystery of God, of Christ's passion. But, as I said, this phenomenon is not known in the East. What is referred to in the East is rather the mystery of the Transfiguration.

Speaking in Tongues

Speaker 1 28:58

I think we have to be very careful when we talk about these things not to judge harshly, but the phenomenon is not known in the spiritual life of the church. You know, one of the things that we do see in the spiritual life of the church is that spiritual achievements in the life of the Orthodox Church, the greatest spiritual achievements are the ones that are least noticeable. They are least noticeable and they do not intrude upon others. Noticeable and they do not intrude upon others, they do not impose themselves on others. That's why, early in the life of the church, speaking in tongues, for example, gave way to other charisms, less imposing, more focused on following the humble way of Christ and so on.

Transfiguration of human body

Direct contact with God

Speaker 1 30:08

So why do we point instead to the Transfiguration. Well, precisely because at the transfiguration of Christ the three chosen disciples beheld his glory shining in and through his assumed human body, his flesh are to be transfigured, transformed and glorified in becoming like him, and that that transformation includes the body. That's why we mention the transfiguration. The transfiguration is the most graphic representation of this teaching of the Church in the saving work of Christ. It could point to other events the Ascension is also, but the Transfiguration is very clearly the revelation of Christ's glory in and through his assumed human flesh. So we see the flesh participating. We see a glorification which will be revealed in its plenitude at the last day, but which may be experienced today, be experienced today. This is also what St Gregory is saying.

Speaker 1 31:47

The direct, unmediated contact with God can be experienced by each and every one of us from this life. That's very important to understand, don't forget. Perhaps we do, because I don't know how familiar you are In the Western, let's say Western ecclesiology, which is basically Franco-Latin ecclesiology. Everything is, you know, you don't have access to God, direct access to God. You have access to God through a wall of clerics. You have access to God through a wall of created symbols and sacraments. It's very difficult to explain to someone who's been Orthodox from the cradle how different the perspective is. You know, that's why we speak of vicars, I mean people who represent God, because you don't have that direct access, you have to go to or through God's representatives.

Speaker 1 33:06

This talk of direct, unmediated, you know what we had from it's in all the fathers, but you see it very clearly in Maximus, in Simeon Direct, unmediated experience of God and a glorification of the entire human person which can be experienced even in this life. Because, again, latin ecclesiology will say not yet, you are still in via right way, in patria, but in patria, in in the kingdom, in the life to come, everything is not yet well, it's not very inspiring, is it? Is it really so? You see the importance of that? Yes, the fullness comes in the life to come, but deification, divinization, glorification begins and can begin for each and every one of us from this life.

Physical technique in Prayer

Speaker 1 34:16

Now, as far as the anti-hesychast attack on the physical technique in prayer is concerned, it's most important for us to note that the physical, this fixation on the spirit, exclusion of the body, the human person, is a psychosomatic unity. We said before, anything that we do spiritually affects us physically. Anything we do physically affects us spiritually, and so the body is used in prayer. I think I've already mentioned how telling, although the Orthodox have more pews in their churches now than the West. But strictly speaking, you know what does a pew do? It restricts your movement, right, it forces you to stand in a certain place and it doesn't give you the space to make prostrations, and all the processions that we have in church are not so easy.

Union of "nous" with heart

Speaker 1 35:41

The body shares together with the soul in man's communion with God. They cooperate together. But, as we've said, and there is a technique. There is a technique that is used or recommended by some elders for their novices, to help them in the early stages of acquiring the prayer of the heart. But, as we've said repeatedly, the technique as such is an aid to prayer for those who are advised to use it and who find it useful. But it's by no means compulsory and it can only take you to a certain point and then you have to let go because there's no technique as such that will unite the nous with the heart again. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. So remember, christianity is not a theory, it's about direct experience of God. Click on the Support, the Show button in the description box and become a supporter of the Mount Tabor Academy podcasts, which aim to introduce the theology and spiritual life of the