THEOLOGY, THEOPTIA, AND THEORY: SAINT GREGORY PALAMAS ON THE VISION OF GOD AND THE DISCOURSE ABOUT GOD
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Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between the human being and God in the thought of Saint Gregory Palamas, with a particular focus on the distinction between the vision of God (theoptia) and the discourse about God (theology). The study demonstrates that Palamas establishes the primacy of experiential divine vision over conceptual theological discourse, thereby reinterpreting the very notion of theoria as a contemplative vision of God devoid of human logos. According to Palamas, theoptia constitutes a unique and infallible form of knowledge that transcends all rational or linguistic approaches and, as such, represents the highest form of knowledge (about God). The paper argues that theology must be understood as a mediated, limited and fallible mode of knowing in contrast to the immediacy and authenticity of theoptia. Through the distinction of theoptia and theology, Palamas also off ers a critique of philosophy as a discourse confi ned to the boundaries of the created world.
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