Palamas: Triumph of Ascetic Theology Over Philosophy (Better Sound), Ep 6bis, Prof. C. Veniamin |
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Unit 14: St. Gregory Palamas: An Introduction, Prof. Christopher Veniamin
Episode 6bis: Triumph of Ascetic Theology Over Philosophical Speculation (Better Sound Quality) Episode 6bis of “Gregory Palamas: An Introduction” is mainly an *enhanced sound quality* version of the original episode (with new title credits at the beginning, and an end card, plus an appeal for support tagged on at the end), which introduces the "Hesychast Controversy" of the 14th century in the declining decades of the Christian Roman Empire. What was Hesychasm really all about? And why is it still relevant to us today in the 21st century? The sixth episode in our series presents the differing perspectives of Palamas’ three theological opponents, who curiously shared a common intellectualistic approach to matters theological, which gradually, since Augustine of Hippo, became the fundamental approach of the West: philosophical speculation. A word is also offered regarding St. Gregory’s capture by the Ottoman Turks in 1354 and his being held hostage for about a year. Themes covered in this episode include similarities and differences between Barlaam, Akindynus and Gregoras; why the essence-energies distinction is not ditheism; Palamas’ disarming distinction between “Antilogia” and “Homologia”; St. Gregory held hostage by the Ottoman Turks; and the outcome of Palamas’ discussion with the Turkish Mullah. Q&As related to Episode 6 available in The Professor’s Blog: https://mountthabor.com/blogs/the-professors-blog Recommended background reading: Christopher Veniamin, ed., Saint Gregory Palamas: The Homilies (Dalton PA: 2022): https://mountthabor.com/products/saint-gregory-palamas-the-homilies; The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature (2022): https://mountthabor.com/products/the-transfiguration-in-greek-patristic-literature-from-irenaeus-of-lyons-to-gregory-palamas; and The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation: "Theosis" in Scripture and Tradition: https://mountthabor.com/products/the-orthodox-understanding-of-salvation-by-dr-christopher-veniamin (2016). – LINKS – Join The Mount Thabor Academy! YouTube MEMBERSHIP - FRIENDS AND READERS Click on the Join button below our videos, and become a Friend or Reader of The Mount Thabor Academy! https://www.youtube.com/@TheMTPAcademy Patreon MEMBERSHIP TIERS Join our Bookclub, Bible Study, John Damascene’s Christology or Greek Philosophy classes! https://www.patreon.com/themountthaboracademy/membership MOUNT THABOR ACADEMY PODCASTS https://www.buzzsprout.com/2232462/share THE MOUNT THABOR ACADEMY https://www.youtube.com/@TheMTPAcademy Print Books by MOUNT THABOR PUBLISHING https://mountthabor.com eBooks by MOUNT THABOR PUBLISHING: Amazon Kindle https://www.amazon.com/s?k=ebooks+mount+thabor+publishing&crid=1FXWIHSIUNAS8&qid=1691921604&sprefix=ebooks+mount+thabor+publishin%2Caps%2C515&ref=sr_pg_1 Google Play https://play.google.com/store/search?q=saint%20gregory%20palamas%20the%20homilies&c=books&hl=en_US&gl=US Apple Books https://apps.apple.com/us/app/apple-books/id364709193 Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/search?query=saint+gregory+palamas+the+homilies Barnes and Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1111670465?ean=2940186164555 Books by DR. CHRISTOPHER VENIAMIN: https://mountthabor.com/collections/dr-christopher-veniamin The Professor's Blog https://mountthabor.com/blogs/the-professors-blog Academy Membership Options Patreon: https://patreon.com/TheMountThaborAcademy Join us on Social Media YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@TheMTPAcademy facebook.com/thaborian instagram.com/mountthaborllc twitter.com/Mount_ThaborLLC linkedin.com/company/mount-thabor-llc/?viewAsMember=true TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Why three opponents? 00:32 Barlaam the Calabrian 05:30 Gregory Akindynus 15:10 Nicephorus Gregoras 17:06 Essence-Energies distinction 18:50 “Antilogia” and “Homologia” 23:07 Palamas Taken Hostage 24:25 Discussions with Turkish Mullah ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: I wish to express my indebtedness to the spoken and written traditions of Sts Silouan and Sophrony the Athonites, Fr. Zacharias Zacharou, Fr. Kyrill Akon, Fr. Raphael Noica, Fr. Symeon Brüschweiler; Fr. Pavlos Englezakis, Fr. Georges Florovsky, Prof. Constantine Scouteris, Prof. George Mantzarides, Prof. John Fountoulis, and particularly to Mtp Kallistos Ware, Prof. Panayiotes Chrestou, Fr. John Romanides, and Mtp Hierotheos Vlachos: certain sentences and phrases utilized in these presentations are taken directly from my notes of some of their lectures. My presentations have been enriched by all of the above sources, owing to the adoption of certain structures, lists, schemata, and the paraphrasing of themes taken from them. Responsibility for the content of my presentations is of course mine alone. ©Christopher Veniamin 2024 |