Dmitry Biriukov: Neilos Kabasilas’ 'Rule of Theology' and the Distinction between the Light and Warmth of Fire in Kabasilas and Gregory Palamas

My report will concern the branch of Platonic philosophical tradition manifested in Late Byzantine philosophy and theology: this is Palamite movement in the Byzantine thought. The Palamites insisted on thedistinction in divinitybetween the divine essence and uncreated energies.It appeared at the 14th c. AC. The lieder of this movement was Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), but I will consider mostly his friend and pupil, Neilos Kabasilas (d. 1363).   Neilos states that the activity of warming is a function of time, while light illumines those who are able to perceive it immediately and timelessly. If we bring this into correlation with the fact that Gregory Palamas uses sensible light as an analogue for the divine light of Tabor, we can see in Neilos an allusion to the concept of light in Palamas. Indeed, for Palamas, when the sensible light appears, it simultaneously activates the vision of those who have the faculty of sight. As well as the archetype of sensible light, the Light of Tabor is understood to be timeless, and is perceived by intellective sensation, or the eye of the soul. Like Palamas, Neilos Kabasilas also describes a case in which something that is unable to perceive the light emitted by fire perceives only the fire’s warmth. In this way he illustrates the distinction (without division) between the two most important forces of fire: its ability to shine and its ability to warm, which do not exist separately from one another.