ebook img

Byzantine Hesychasm: Historical, Theological and Social Problems PDF

288 Pages·1974·14.146 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview Byzantine Hesychasm: Historical, Theological and Social Problems

John Meyendorff Byzantine Hesychasm: historical, theological and social problems Collected Studies VARIORUM REPRINTS London 1974 O K - W ISBN 0 902089 61 7 Published in Great Britain by VARIORUM REPRINTS 21a Pembridge Mews London W11 3EQ Printed in Switzerland by REDA SA 1225 Chêne-Bourg Geneva J 3 S . 2 & This volume contains a total of 292 pages VARIORUM REPRINT CS26 CONTENTS Introduction I Les débuts de la controverse hésychaste 87-120 In: Byzantion, XX!II. Bmssels 1953 II L’origine de la controverse palamite. La première 3-28 lettre de Palamasà Akindynos In: Theologia, XXV, pp.602-630. Athens 1954 III Une lettre inédite de Grégoire Palamas à 3-28 Akindynos. Texte et commentaire sur la troisième lettre de Palamas In: Theologia, XXIV. Athens 1953 IV Pis’mo k Akindinu Svyatogo Grigoriya Palamy. 113-126 A Russian translation of the third letter of Palamas to Akindynos, and commentary. ln: Pravoslavmya AlysT, X. Paris 1955 V Un mauvais théologien de Limité au XlVe 47-64 siècle: Barlaam le Calabrais In: 1054-1954: L ’Eglise et les Eglises, II. Chévetogne 1954 VI Humanisme nominaliste et mystique chrétienne 905-914 à Byzance au XlVe siècle In: Nouvelle Revue Thëologique, 79 No. 9. Louvain/ Paris 195 7 VII Le Tome synodal de 1347 209—227 In: Vizantoloshki Institut, Zbomik Radova, VIII. Belgrade 1963 Vili Society anci Culture in the Fourteenth Century: 51 65 Religious Problems In: XI Ve Congrès International des Lindes Byzantines, Rapports I. Bucharest 6 12 September 1971 drees, l ures et Juifs en Asie Mineure au XIVc 211-217 siècle. (Hn appendice: la date de la prise tie Callipoli) In: Byzantinische Vorsehungen, I. Amsterdam 1966 X Alexis and Roman: A Study in Uyzanlino- 278-288 Russian Relations ( I 3 5 2 -1354) ln: Byzantinoslavica, XXVIII, 2. Prague 1967 Projets de Concile oecuménique en I 367: un 149-177 dialogue inédit entre Jean Cantacuzène et le légat Paul In: Dumbarton Oaks Papers, h t Washington I960 Xll Le thème du “retour en soi" dans la doctrine 188-206 palamite du XlVe siècle In: Revue de l'Histoire des Religions, CXI, V, 2. Paris 1954 XIII Le dogme eucharistique dans les controverses 93-100 théologiques du XI Ve siècle In: Gregorios ho Palamas, 42. Thessalonica 1959 XIV Notes sur l’influence dionysienne en Orient 547-552 In: Studia Patristica, II. Berlin 1957 XV Messalianism or anti-Messalianism? A Fresh 585-590 Look at the “Macarian” Problem In: Kyriakon. Festschrift Johannes Quasten, II. Münster 1971 XVI L’iconographie de la sagesse divine dans la 259-277 tradition byzantine In: Cahiers archéologiques, X. Paris 1959 Index INTRODUCTION In the past fifteen years, an increasing number of historians have recognized the importance of the social, cultural, and intellectual trends originating in Byzantium and shaping Eastern Europe in the fourteenth century. These trends are directly or indirectly connected with the spiritual movement known as “ hesychasm” and with the most articulate proponent and apologist of that movement, the archbishop of Thessalonica, Gregory Palamas (1269-1359;. In 1959, 1 published my Introduction à l’étude de Grégoire Palamas (Paris, Editions du Seuil: Engl. Tr. London, Faith Press, 1964) and also the critical text, with French trans­ lation and commentary, of Gregory Palamas’ main writings against Barlaam the Calabrian (Défense des saints hésychastes, 2 vols., Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense 30-31, Louvain, 1959: second corrected edition, 1973). Since the publication of these works over two hundred books and articles dealing with hesychasm and connected issues have appeared. They were recently reviewed by Daniel Stiernon, whose very comprehensive survey (1) can be considered as exhaustive for works published in Western languages and in Greek (but not in the Slavic languages). This abundance of scholarly publications on the subject of hesychasm requires from the reader a serious effort of systematization and regrouping. The present reprinting of my articles related to hesychasm and published both before and after the appearance of my Introduction (1959) may contribute to this task. It includes articles on the Byzantine theological controversies of the fourteenth century (Nos. 1—VII), on the broader historical and cultural implications of these controversies in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe generally (Nos. VIII—XIJ, and on related theological problems (Nos. X1I-XV1). Unfortunately, 1 have no space here to describe or discuss the debates spurred by my evaluation of palamite theology and helpfully reviewed in D. Stiernon’s Bulletin quoted above. I would like to mention only some publica­ tions which, using my own articles, reprinted here, have introduced substantial new evidence and have thus developed our knowledge of the historical facts themselves. Among these, the most important is the publication of the entire Corpus of Palamas’ writings (Tppyopiou τοϋ Παλαμά Συγγράμματα) under the direction of P. Chrestou (Thessa­ loniki, 1962, 1966, 1970). To this collection, 1 have myself contributed the text of the letters to Barlaam and to Akindynos analyzed in articles 1 and II. The issue of the “Chiones” (article IX) — Christian converts to Judaism in Asia Minor with whom Gregory Palamas, already archbishop of Thessalonica, held an inter­ esting dialogue during his captivity by the Turks - has been significantly developed by G.M. Prokhorov (2). Following my identification of the “Chiones” as Jews, he convincingly defends the hypothesis of their Koraite identity, draws attention to the popularity of Palamas dialogue among the Southern Slavs and in Russia, and points to the probable connection between the “Chiones” and other “judaizing” groups, particularly in Novgorod. The political influence and activity of John Canta- cuzenos after his abdication in 1354, to which we have drawn attention in article XI, is further discussed by L. Maksimovié, who brings in important evidence confirming the role played by Cantacuzenos in Byzantine internal politics during the second half of the fourteenth century (3). The iconographie theme of the “Wisdom of God” (article XIV) attracted the interest of Russian “religious philosophers” at the beginning of this century: it is discussed and developed again in connection with literary sources and the Novgorodian heresy of the Strigol’niki by T.A. Sidorova (4). As the examples above clearly show, the issue of “hesychasin” involves not only theologians but also social historians and art specialists. The interdisciplinary character of the ensuing debate can undoubtedly result in important findings, providing, however, that one agrees on methodology and on the meaning of terms. This agreement has not yet been reached. The term “hesychasin” , for example, is used in at least four distinct senses: 1. It designates the phenomenon of Christian monastic life, based on hereinitism, contemplation and “pure prayer” , of which the writings of the great Evagrius Ponticus (IVth c.) are the first articulate expression. The term is widely used in this sense in patristic writings and also in civil legislation (for example Just. 'Vor. 5; 3). 2. It is associated by modern authors with the psycho­ somatic methods of prayer, formally attested only in the late fourteenth century. These practices were one of the issues in the controversy between Barlaam and Palamas, but “hesychasin” as such can certainly not be reduced to the practice of those whom Barlaam disdainfully called όμφαλόψυχοι (“people-with-their-souls-in-their-navel”) (see our article XII). 3. The term “hesychasm” is also frequently used inter­ changeably with “palamism”, i.e. the system of concepts developed by Gregory Palamas to explain and defend the spiritual experience of his fellow-hesychasts, which is based on the distinction in God between the transcendent “essence” and the uncreated “energies” through which God becomes knowable to man in Christ. 4. Finally, one finds today the concept of “political hesychasm” , designating a social, cultural, and political ideology, which originated in Byzantium and had a decisive impact on social and artistic development among the Southern Slavs and Russians (5). These four ways of using the word “hesychasm” are by- no means contradictory, but neither are they identical (6). John Cantacuzenos, for example - a central figure by all accounts in the history of fourteenth century Eastern Europe - can be directly associated only with the third and fourth meanings, w'hile Gregory of Sinai is a legitimate representa­ tive of the first two senses, even if his Byzantine and Bulgarian disciples were highly prominent in the movement described as “political hesychasm” . What then is the common denominator which causes many historians to use the same term in all these senses? It seems to me that the answer lies in the fact that the hermits on Mount Athos, the prelates voting in conciliar assemblies and the politicians in the entourage of Cantacuzenos were united by a common understanding of man and God — an understanding which, for example, kept them from identify­ ing themselves in terms of their Hellenic heritage and thus from using religion as a mere tool in obtaining Western help against the Turks. Of course, this unity in a common religious commitment must have been - and indeed was for some — a cover for personal or political pursuits, especially when its representatives held political or ecclesiastical power; but it is difficult to deny the fact that the major options taken by the leaders had fundamentally religious motivations, which obtained additional strength from the fact that they were traditionally understandable to the vast majority of Byzan­ tines and thus more popular among them (7). The debate between John Cantacuzenos and the legate Paul (article XI) cannot be interpreted otherwise. This fundamental, religious motivation is what spurred the widespread “hesychast” influence among the Slavs, who, in the fourteenth century, had achieved full political and cultural self-assurance and had little concern for either the Byzantine Empire as such or the fate of Hellenism. The Church of Constantinople, with its “ hesychast” patriarchs, was the main channel for Byzantine leadership in Slavic lands (8), and exercised this leadership with masterful skill until its loss of spiritual prestige after committing itself to the Union of Florence. Until the middle of the fourteenth century, the distinct­ ly religious zeal and theological motivation of the “hesychasts” seemed to have coexisted peacefully in Byzantium with the philosophically secular interests of those who are generally called the “humanists” (9). However, the fierce conflict between Barlaam and Palamas (1337-1341) revived a long-standing intellectual and spiritual incompatibil­ ity between the monks and the admirers of ancient Greek philosophy. The study of this new' debate leads contemporary historians to a w'ide use of other terms which also lack precision - “ Byzantine humanism” and “ Renaissance”. Art historians wonder whether the “Paleologan Renaissance” in Byzantine art is connected with secular, “humanist” trends or with hesychast spirituality. The first point of view seems to be widely accepted and implies that the triumph of palamite theology in the middle of the fourteenth century' led to the end of the artistic “ Renaissance” as such. Meanwhile, the relationship between “hesychasm” and artistic developments in the Slavic lands, particularly Russia, is generally recognized (10). Can then “hesychasm” be considered as “anti- humanistic”? To answer this question a rather arbitrary assumption is often made — that it was the “contemplative hesychasm” of Gregory of Sinai, and not the “scholastic”, or “dogmatic” , formulae of Palamas, which inspired the Russian icon-painters (11). The assumption is in fact nothing but a truism: doctrinal “formulae” as such hardly ever inspired artists, but the content of the formulae did. In fact, it is rather difficult to establish any significant differences in the positive teaching of the various groups of “ hesvehasts” in the fourteenth century about man, about God, and about spiritual life. They certainly possessed a common set of cultural, social and religious values. Our conclusion, therefore, is that a religious revival, a movement of Orthodox zealots, did indeed exercise a significant impact on the intellectual, artistic, and social life of Eastern Europe in the fourteenth century. However, if one uses the term “hesychasm” to designate the movement — which was united not so much by spiritual “ techniques” as by a single inspiration about the possibility of experiential knowledge of God, about the centrality of sacramental life, about “deification” (theosis) as the ultimate destiny of man - one should have in mind that this term would cover a rather wide variety of types and individual expressions, theological, artistic, or social, a variety due to circumstances, rather than to ideological differences. By 1350, the impact of this movement upon artistic creativity may well have been different in an aging and impoverished Byzantine Empire on the one hand, and the young and dynamic civilization emerging in North-Eastern Russia. The complexity of the problem, and also the import­ ance of the issues involved in the debate, still require much cooperative effort by scholars in the fields of history, theology, and art. JOHN MEYENDORIE

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.