Late Middle Ages · Europe · Religion

1341

Hesychast triumph: Palamas vindicated at Constantinople

1341

A church council in Constantinople ruled in favor of Gregory Palamas and the hesychast monks of Mount Athos, declaring that the divine light seen in contemplative prayer was the uncreated energy of God himself, distinct from the unknowable divine essence. The decision defined Orthodox mystical theology and widened the chasm between Eastern and Western Christianity.