1296–1368

The Hesychast Controversy: Gregory Palamas against Barlaam of Calabria

In 1318 Gregory Palamas withdrew to Mount Athos, where he systematized hesychasm – a prayer tradition of union with God through stillness and the Jesus Prayer. From 1330 he disputed with the monk Barlaam of Calabria over the nature of the light of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor and over deification.

Councils in Constantinople in 1341 rejected Barlaam's charges. But after a palace coup Palamas was excommunicated in 1344. From 1347, when he became bishop of Thessalonica, the new emperor favored him. The 1351 council cleared him of all charges. The decisions of the Palamite councils (1341, 1351, and 1368) made his teaching the norm of Orthodoxy, and Palamas became a saint of the Eastern Church. He died in 1359. The West did not accept this teaching, adding another point of division between the churches.