Norman Russell: Gregory Palamas, the energies, and the Trinity

Many scholars (including, for example, David Bradshaw and John Zizioulas) have difficulty with the relationship between the divine energies and the Persons of the Holy Trinity in the theology of Gregory Palamas. Because the energies in Palamas' teaching belong to the divine nature it is claimed that they do not express God's personalpresence. Some (such as David Bentley Hart) go so far as to speak of Palamas' theological incoherence. This paper argues that there is ample evidence in Palamas' voluminous writings that he was aware of this problem. On a number of occasions he addresses it specifically, arguing that although the energies belong to the divine essence they are always communicated by the Persons. The essence/ energies distinction does not create an additionaldivine hypostasis. The key to understanding the nature of the difference between the essence and the energies is to appreciate why Palamas avoids saying that the difference is merely notional (kat'epinoian).