Doświadczenie światła jako argument dogmatyczny w teologii Grzegorza Palamasa

Wojciech Słomski

doi:10.25167/sth.6153

Published: 2026-10-31

Vol. 46 No. 1 (2026)

The Experience of Light as a Dogmatic Argument in the Theology of Gregory Palamas

Wojciech Słomski

Studia Teologiczno-Historyczne Śląska Opolskiego

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.25167/sth.6153

Abstract

The article examines the theology of Gregory Palamas with particular focus on the experience of divine light as a dogmatic argument. Its aim is to demonstrate that, within the Palamite framework, experience does not function as a secondary or purely mystical phenomenon but constitutes a normatively significant element of theological knowledge that calls for precise dogmatic articulation. The analysis is based primarily on The Triads (I–II), Palamas’s polemical writings, and his doctrine of deification (θέωσις). The author argues that the experience of uncreated light leads Palamas to formulate the distinction between divine essence and energies as a dogmatic necessity rather than a speculative metaphysical hypothesis. In the polemical context, the Palamite model of participatory knowledge is contrasted with the discursive epistemology of Barlaam of Calabria and the conceptually unstable mediating position of Gregory Akindynos. The article further shows that the doctrine of deification as real participation in the divine energies provides the soteriological culmination of Palamas’s theology. A comparative excursus with the theology of Thomas Aquinas, based on selected contemporary
scholarship, highlights the difference between two models of participation: through created grace and through uncreated energies. The conclusion emphasizes the enduring relevance of the Palamite synthesis for contemporary dogmatic reflection on the relationship between experience, doctrine, and the knowledge of God.

Keywords:

Gregory Palamas, uncreated light, essence and energies, deification, religious experience, patristic dogmatics

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Słomski, W. (2026). The Experience of Light as a Dogmatic Argument in the Theology of Gregory Palamas. Studia Teologiczno-Historyczne Śląska Opolskiego, 46(1), 133–155. https://doi.org/10.25167/sth.6153

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