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- Perhaps the most important contribution Palamas made to Orthodox Christian theology was his distinction between the essence and energies of God. While we cannot know God in His essence (God in Himself), we can know Him in his energies (the work of God’s grace in our lives, and who God is in relation to the creation and mankind).
www.saintjohnchurch.org/saint-gregory-palamas-essence-energies-distinction/
Mar 28, 2016 · He wrote this: “The energies are various, and the essence simple, but we say that we know our God from His energies, but do not undertake to approach near to His essence. His energies come down to us, but His essence remains beyond our reach” ( Letter 234).
- Church Fathers
Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, March 27, 2016 Hebrews...
- Lent and Priesthood #6
Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, March 12, 2017 Hebrews...
- Church Fathers
May 31, 2024 · In Eastern Orthodox theology, the distinction between God's essence (ousia) and His energies (energeia) is fundamental. The essence of God refers to His inner, unapproachable nature, which remains incomprehensible and inaccessible to created beings.
- William Albrecht
- Who Was Saint Gregory Palamas?
- The Hesychastic Controversy
- The Essence/Energy Distinction
- Conclusion
Saint Gregory Palamas was an Athonite monk who later became the Archbishop of Thessalonica. Born in Constantinople to a noble Anatolian family, he had always been interested in the monastic life. Around 1318 A.D., he and his two brothers went to Mount Athos and became monks. However, with the Turks encroaching upon Greece, he fled to Thessalonica, ...
In the early 14th century, a man named Barlaam of Calabria encountered the monks of Mount Athos. These monks practiced the spiritual art of hesychasm, or unceasing prayer, and testified that through this type of prayer they could see the uncreated light of God. Barlaam claimed that the monks wasted their time in fruitless prayer when they could ins...
Perhaps the most important contribution Palamas made to Orthodox Christian theology was his distinction between the essence and energies of God. While we cannot know God in His essence (God in Himself), we can know Him in his energies(the work of God’s grace in our lives, and who God is in relation to the creation and mankind). Both essence and ene...
Saint Gregory Palamas holds a special place in the heart of the Eastern Orthodox Church. His defense of hesychasm and his clear teachings on how to truly commune with God greatly shaped Orthodoxy as it developed apart from the Roman West. This is why we remember him during Great Lent, a time when returning to God is the entire purpose of spiritual ...
God is not limited to His essence, but exists eternally in essence and energy. (His existence in energy is not dependent on His act of creation or work within creation.)
The Apostle Paul tells us, God is “unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see” (1Tim. 6:16). Paul is telling us, by speaking of an “unapproachable light,” that we cannot know the essence of God. But, we can experience His energies. We do have some knowledge of God based on what He has revealed of Himself to us.
May 10, 2021 · According to the true faith of God’s Church which by His grace we hold, God possesses inherent energy that makes Him manifest and is in this respect distinct from His essence.
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Aug 4, 2020 · While the church fathers made a distinction between the essence of God and His energies (His attributes and operations), did they teach that this is a real and ontological distinction in God, or merely a philosophical distinction in the way we speak about God or perceive Him?
