Gregorios Akindynos

BYZANTINE MONK
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Gregorios Akindynos
BYZANTINE MONK
BORN

c. 1300

Bulgaria

DIED

c. 1349

Gregorios Akindynos, (born c. 1300, Bulgariadied c. 1349) Byzantine monk and theologian
who was the principal opponent of Hesychasm, a Greek monastic movement of contemplative
prayer. He was eventually condemned for heresy.
A student of the monk-theologian Gregory Palamas, Akindynos absorbed from him the Hesychast
theory of ascetical contemplation, a method of Eastern mysticism that used repetitive formulas
and mental concentration through specific bodily postures to achieve inner peace and divine
union through a vision of God. The theologically conservative Akindynos at first sided with
Palamas but later attempted to convince him of certain errors in the Hesychast theory.
Abetted by the accession of Emperor John V Palaeologus in 1341 and encouraged by the
patriarch of Constantinople, John XII Calecas, Akindynos recorded in 1343 the history of the
Hesychast dispute and by 1344 had composed seven treatises against Palamas doctrine.
Aspiring to be bishop of Thessalonica, Akindynos propagated anti-Palamite views there. In 1347,
however, he was condemned by a synod after the pro-Palamas emperor John VI
Cantacuzenus came to power and in 1351 was posthumously anathematized (solemnly cursed or
banned) by being placed on the official list of heretics.
Akindynos anti-Palamite letters are contained in Patrologia Graeca,edited by J.-P. Migne (1857
66).
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gregorios-Akindynos

Palamas, Saint Gregory ( born Nov. 11/14, 1296 , Constantinople [now Istanbul, Tur.]died
1359 , Thessalonica, Byzantine Empire [now in Greece]; canonized 1368 ) Orthodox monk, theologian, and intellectual leader
of Hesychasm, an ascetical method of mystical prayer that integrates repetitive prayer formulas with bodily postures and
controlled breathing. He was appointed bishop of Thessalonica in 1347. In 1368 he was acclaimed a saint and was named
Father and Doctor of the Orthodox Church.
Born at Constantinople of a distinguished family with ties to the imperial court, Palamas mastered the classical philosophies of
antiquity at the imperial university. In 1316, however, he renounced a political career in order to become a monk at Mount Athos
in northeastern Greece, the spiritual centre of Greek Orthodoxy. For 25 years he immersed himself in study and reflection on the
sacred Scriptures and the writings of the Church Fathers; he was introduced to contemplative prayer by a spiritual master and in
turn became a master for other initiates. Raids by the Turks about 1325 forced him to interrupt his monastic life on Mount Athos
and to flee to Thessalonica and Macedonia. He was ordained a priest in 1326 and later, with 10 companions, retired to a
hermitage in Macedonia.
He returned to Mount Athos in 1331 to the community of St. Sabas and about 1335 was chosen a religious superior
(hgoumenos) of a neighbouring convent. Because of differences with the monks who considered his spiritual regimen too strict,
he resigned after a short term and returned to St. Sabas.
In 1332 Palamas entered into a theological dispute that lasted for a quarter of a century and involved polemics with a series of
Greek and Latin scholastic theologians and certain rationalistic humanists. His first adversary was Barlaam the Calabrian, a
Greek monk residing in Italy who visited Constantinople and other Orthodox monastic centres to engage in philosophical
disputation for intellectual prestige. Expounding a mode of theological agnosticism, Barlaam denied that any rational concepts

could express mystical prayer and its divine-human communication even metaphorically. Subsequently, he composed a satirical
work defaming Hesychasm by referring to its adherents as men with their souls in their navel (Greek: omphalopsychoi). The
image derived from the Hesychast meditative posture of focusing the eyes on a spot below the chest in order to heighten the
mystical experience. Palamas responded to this attack by composing his Apology for the Holy Hesychasts (1338), also called
the Triad because of its division into three parts.
The Apology established the theological basis for mystical experience that involves not only the human spirit but the entire
human person, body and soul. This doctrine attempts to articulate a prayer experience that devotees call the deification of the
entire man, a reference to the Hesychasts claim of an inner transformation effected by a mystical illumination uniting man with
God in the depths of his spirit. Hesychast spirituality strove to bridge the gulf between human and divine existence. It held the
necessity of an intermediary relationship between mans world (immanence) and Gods eternity (transcendence). Hesychast
prayer aspires to attain the most intense form of God-man communion in the form of a vision of the divine light, or uncreated
energy, analogous to the Gospel account of Christs transfiguration on Mount Tabor, as noted in the Gospel According
to Matthew 16:17 and Mark 8:9based on the model of the Synoptic accounts of Christs Transfiguration on Mount Tabor
(Mark 9:1-7). The corporeal disposition for this contemplative state involves intense concentration and a methodical invocation
of the name of Jesus (the Hesychastic Jesus prayer). Palamas emphasized the nonmaterialistic nature of Hesychast
spirituality by explaining that the experience of inner light was not available to all but only to the pure of heart empowered by
grace to perceive it.
After a succession of public confrontations with critical theologians and humanists, and a politically motivated excommunication
in 1344, Palamas had his teaching systematized in the Hagioritic Tome (The Book of Holiness), which became the
fundamental textbookmanifestofor Byzantine mysticism. The Hesychast controversy became part of a larger Byzantine
political struggle that erupted in civil war. At its conclusion in 1347, Palamas, with support from the conservative, anti-Zealot
party, was appointed bishop of Thessalonica. His administrative duties, together with continued writings against his humanist
critics, occupied him for the rest of his life.
Gregory Palamas became the acknowledged intellectual leader and apologist for the monastic school of mysticism known as
Hesychasm (from the Greek work hsychia, or state of quiet). This Byzantine contemplative movements form of prayer
integrated repetitive formulas with bodily postures for the purpose of experiencing a state of inner peace and mystical union.
Though controversial in Palamas time, Hesychast spirituality is now sanctioned by the Orthodox church as a legitimate form of
prayer.
In his fusion of Platonic and Aristotelian philosophy, used as a vehicle to express his own spiritual experience, Palamas set a
definitive standard for Orthodox theological acumen. At the provincial Council of Constantinople in 1368, nine years after his
death, he was acclaimed a saint and titled Father and Doctor of the Orthodox Church, thus placing him among the ranks of
those who determined the ideological shape of the Eastern church.
An English translation of selected Hesychast texts is in Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart (1951), translated
from Russian by E. Kadloubovsky (Eugenie Kadleigh) and G.E.H. Palmer.

Abstract
Gregory Akindynos (13001348) is one of the most important figures during the first phase of
the hesychastic controversy in Byzantium. Practicing himself the hesychastic way of life, he
attacked the main thesis of Palamas, who differentiates natural and creative energy of God in
connection with Creation. He does not deny the essential uncreated energy of God, but he
considers it identical to the divine essence itself. This energy is embraced by the creative
energies of God. Akindynos teaching is entirely christological. According to him, there can
be no other access to Divinity except for Christ and the practicing of supernatural love, called
forth by the sacramental participation. In order to prove his theses, Akindynos develops a
precise hermeneutic teaching concerning the works of the Christian Fathers.

THE UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF GREGORY AKINDYNOS

ANGELA CONSTANTINIDES HERO, Fordham University

Abstract
Gregory Akindynos, fifty-nine of whose letters are published for the first time in this study,
was a protagonist in the most important religious conflict of the late Byzantine period, the

Hesychast controversy. This crisis developed in the 1340s into a major dogmatic dispute
between Barlaam and the future metropolitan of Thessalonica, Gregory Palamas. Palamas
emphasized in his writings the distinction between the unknowable essence of God and the
divine energies through which God manifests Himself to the world.^ This edition of his
letters, uses the correspondence and polemical writings of the main adversaries in the
controversy as well as the hagiographical, diplomatic and historical sources. The introduction
begins with a brief outline of the scantily documented early period of Akindynos' life and
goes on to analyze his relationship with Palamas and Barlaam and his chance involvement in
their dispute. Since the development of the controversy is closely connected with the political
complexities of the period, Akindynos' first condemnation in August of 1341, the Patriarch's
role at that council and the subsequent activity of Akindynos are examined in the light of the
rivalry between the Patriarch and John Kantakuzenos.^ From his letters the following
conclusions can be drawn: Akindynos did not deliberately falsify Palamas' doctrines, as his
opponents claimed, but sincerely believed them to be heretical; his convictions were exploited
by a politically ambitious patriarch. He was typically Byzantine in his attitude towards both
Greek philosophy and the West.^ This edition, which is accompanied by a translation and
historical commentary, is based on the following MSS: Marcianus gr. 155; Monacensis gr.
223; Ambrosianus gr. 290 and Scorialensis gr. $\Phi$ -III-11. A description of the MSS,
comments on editions of Akindynos' other letters and a discussion of his style are included in
the introduction. The Letters, which are addressed to various scholars, ecclesiastics and
statesmen, are arranged in their chronological order and the reasons for the dates assigned are
discussed in the commentary where all historical and prosopographical information is
commented upon. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.) ^
Subject Area

Religious history|Ancient history

Recommended Citation

ANGELA CONSTANTINIDES HERO, "THE UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF GREGORY AKINDYNOS" (January 1, 1975). ETD Collection for
Fordham University. Paper

Abstract/Details
THE UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF GREGORY AKINDYNOS
HERO, ANGELA CONSTANTINIDES. Fordham University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 1975. 8727849.
Other formats: Order a copy

Abstract (summary)
Gregory Akindynos, fifty-nine of whose letters are published for the first time in this study, was a protagonist in the most
important religious conflict of the late Byzantine period, the Hesychast controversy. This crisis developed in the 1340s into a

major dogmatic dispute between Barlaam and the future metropolitan of Thessalonica, Gregory Palamas. Palamas emphasized
in his writings the distinction between the unknowable essence of God and the divine energies through which God manifests
Himself to the world.
This edition of his letters, uses the correspondence and polemical writings of the main adversaries in the controversy as well as
the hagiographical, diplomatic and historical sources. The introduction begins with a brief outline of the scantily documented
early period of Akindynos' life and goes on to analyze his relationship with Palamas and Barlaam and his chance involvement in
their dispute. Since the development of the controversy is closely connected with the political complexities of the period,
Akindynos' first condemnation in August of 1341, the Patriarch's role at that council and the subsequent activity of Akindynos are
examined in the light of the rivalry between the Patriarch and John Kantakuzenos.
From his letters the following conclusions can be drawn: Akindynos did not deliberately falsify Palamas' doctrines, as his
opponents claimed, but sincerely believed them to be heretical; his convictions were exploited by a politically ambitious
patriarch. He was typically Byzantine in his attitude towards both Greek philosophy and the West.
This edition, which is accompanied by a translation and historical commentary, is based on the following MSS: Marcianus gr.
155; Monacensis gr. 223; Ambrosianus gr. 290 and Scorialensis gr. $\Phi$ -III-11. A description of the MSS, comments on
editions of Akindynos' other letters and a discussion of his style are included in the introduction. The Letters, which are
addressed to various scholars, ecclesiastics and statesmen, are arranged in their chronological order and the reasons for the
dates assigned are discussed in the commentary where all historical and prosopographical information is commented upon.
(Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

Indexing (details)

Subject
Ancient civilizations;
Religious history
Classification
0579: Ancient civilizations
0320: Religious history
Identifier / keyword
Philosophy, religion and theology; Social sciences
Title
THE UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF GREGORY AKINDYNOS
Author
HERO, ANGELA CONSTANTINIDES
Number of pages

666
Publication year
1975
Degree date
1975
School code
0072
Source
DAI-A 48/11, Dissertation Abstracts International
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
Country of publication
United States
University/institution
Fordham University
University location
United States -- New York
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertations & Theses
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis