The Triads
The section treating St. Gregory Palamas’ masterwork, In Defense of the Holy Hesychasts (the Triads), written c. 1338–1341 against Barlaam of Calabria. Three sets of three treatises (“triads”) defend the hesychast monks’ practice of prayer and their claim to behold the uncreated light, and in the course of that defense Palamas first works out the essence-energies distinction.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Church Father)
Overview
The Triads are the literary heart of the hesychast controversy and the source-text of mature Orthodox mystical theology. Their full title, In Defense of the Holy Hesychasts (Hyper tōn hierōs hēsychazontōn), names their purpose: to defend the monks of Mount Athos who practiced inner stillness (hēsychia) and the Jesus Prayer against the philosophical attack of Barlaam of Calabria. Each of the three triads answers a successive phase of Barlaam’s polemic — first his exaltation of secular learning, then his ridicule of the monks’ bodily method of prayer, finally his denial that the light they saw could be uncreated.
This section unfolds the work in two files: the first treats its occasion, structure, method, and publication history; the second follows the argument itself through its main themes. Together they prepare the doctrinal treatment in the Essence and Energies section and the prayer-and-light material that follows.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| Structure and Argument | The three triads’ occasions, structure, and method; the Christou and Meyendorff editions and Gendle’s translation |
| The Defense of the Hesychasts | The argument unfolded: revelation versus philosophy, the body in prayer, the spiritual senses, the uncreated light |
See Also
- The Essence-Energies Distinction — the doctrine the Triads first defend
- Patristic Pedigree — the florilegic method of the Triads
- Orthodoxy: Theosis — the goal of the hesychast life
References
- Palamas, Gregory. The Triads. Edited by John Meyendorff, translated by Nicholas Gendle. Classics of Western Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1983.
- Meyendorff, John, ed. Grégoire Palamas, Défense des saints hésychastes. 2nd ed. Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense 30–31. Louvain, 1973.
- Christou, P. K., ed. Grēgoriou tou Palama Syngrammata, vol. 1. Thessaloniki, 1962.