The energy of deification and the person of Jesus Christ in St Gregory Palamas

Abstract

Abstract Gregory Palamas’s defence of human perfection and deification through the dogmatic distinction between divine essence and divine energy sparked a theological controversy that continues into the present day. One of the charges laid against Palamas is that he introduces divine energies as another mediator between humanity and God, effectively replacing the mediation of Christ in the process. This chapter argues that such a charge is fundamentally flawed and reflects a deep misunderstanding of Palamas’s theology. Through a close reading of his seminal Triads and other texts, it is shown that Palamas’s approach to human knowledge and experience of God (which culminates in deification), far from sidelining the person of Christ, places him at its heart; without the Incarnate Christ, no access to human perfection is conceivable for Palamas.