A Critique of the Mystical School of Gregory Palamas, the Reviver of Oriental Christianity

Gregory Palmas, a Byzantine mystic and theologian is the founder of a new kind of quietism that has had a great influence on the monastic life in the Oriental tradition. His works display the dynamism and systematization of Oriental Orthodox Christianity. Palamas's reputation is mainly ascribed to his monastic style, which is heavily influenced by Hesychast. Among the features of his monasticism are: silence and prayer, incompatibility of monasticism with science, combating Satan's temptations, heart as the managing organ of man and as the substitute for the desert, the non-evil nature of the body and Godlikeness. His thoughts have been viewed from two sides; some consider him as an innovator, and others believe that his theology is completely rooted in the past. Several criticisms are leveled at the Palamas school, such as his absolute adherence to Hesychast’s school, anonymity of God except for monks, monks’ lack of knowledge, man’s being controlled by heart, not by mind, and so on. This paper attempts to analyze and criticize Palamas’s school by referring to the Bible and Christian monastic theology.