Category Archives: Byzantine theology

Humanity’s Natural Access to Grace

Posted on 14 January 2023 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Dr Nathan Jacobs recently posted on his substack an article on “The Eastern Patristic View of the Soul through the Eighth Century.” At one point he briefly discusses why the nature-grace  divide, so characteristic of Latin theology, is absent in … Continue reading →

Posted in Byzantine theology, Grace, Justification & Theosis | 18 Comments

Do the Orthodox Believe in Purgatory?

Posted on 22 October 2022 by Fr Aidan Kimel

Fr Patrick Ramsey of the Orthodox Institute for Christian Studies shares his opinion.

Posted in Byzantine theology | 1 Comment

What is Deification?

Posted on 7 October 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel
Posted in Byzantine theology | 2 Comments

The Theology of the Icon

Posted on 24 September 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel
Posted in Byzantine theology | Comments Off on The Theology of the Icon

The Byzantine Liturgy and the Grammar of Salvation

Posted on 19 July 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Fr Khaled Anatolios The association in this commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas between the overcoming of the passions and the indwelling of the divine Trinity brings to light the dogmatic matrix that governs and permeates the Byzantine liturgy’s conception … Continue reading →

Posted in Byzantine theology, Liturgy & Sermons | Comments Off on The Byzantine Liturgy and the Grammar of Salvation

Marcus Plested on St Gregory Palamas and the Hesychast Controversy

Posted on 27 March 2021 by Fr Aidan Kimel

“To conclude, there is no sense in [St Gregory’s] theology which may justifiably be characterized as a defeat of reason (against Podskalsky) or as the triumph of an anti-scholastic mystical theology (against Lossky or others), or indeed in any way … Continue reading →

Posted in Byzantine theology | 4 Comments

Did the Fifth Ecumenical Council Condemn Universal Salvation?

Posted on 31 May 2020 by Fr Aidan Kimel

When first presented with the universalist hope, many Orthodox and Roman Catholics imme­diately invoke the authority of the Fifth Ecumenical Council (A.D. 553), citing the famous fifteen anti-Origenist anathemas: “Apokatastasis has been dogmatically defined by the Church as heresy—see canon … Continue reading →

Posted in Byzantine theology, Eschatology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 32 Comments

Theosis and the Palamite Distinction: Questions & Concerns

Posted on 2 October 2017 by Fr Aidan Kimel

by Fr Aidan Kimel That there exists in God a real distinction between his essence and his energies, theologians assure us, is an irreformable dogma of the Orthodox Church. If so, it is a curious dogma, originating in a question … Continue reading →

Posted in Byzantine theology | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments