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Michael Boeckman

Professor Hanks

ENGL-1213

10 April 2025

Why Essence Energy Distinction is necessary.

Essence Energy Distinction is essential to Christian Theology. It is the only system that makes

sense with the scripture and how we can know God. I'm writing this paper to show the Theological

doctrine of EED (Essence Energy distinction for short), and how the Fathers taught as well as the

scripture itself. All of church history teaches it within the works of the Fathers as I'm going to show and

gives the case for it within the scriptures as well. St. Gregory Palamas is Known as the pillar of this

doctrine and I'm going to present his arguments for the doctrine that he used in his discourse against

Barlaam as read in St. Gregory Palamas’s work “The Triads”. EED is doctrine that posits that God's

Essence is unknowable and purely Apophatic as St. Dumitru Staniloae says it is Really distinct from

God’s energies or Divine acts as St. Gennadios Scholarios says. While Some say EED causes

composition, It's the only correct understanding of the Christian God because Without it you cannot know

God, All the Church Fathers teach it, and The scriptures also teach it.

St. Gregory Palamas was a monk in the 14th century who is one of the greatest Theologians in

Christian history. He lived on Mount Athos, a Monastic Republic off the Athos peninsula in northeastern

Greece. St Gregory Palamas was a quiet monk who didn't speak a lot. One day he had a vision of an

Angel of God and he saw a Glass of milk that was steadily overflowing and the milk was understood to be

his knowledge. The Angel said “you have all this knowledge going to waste because you do not share it”.

St. Gregory Palamas after this vision began sharing this great knowledge in his writings so the milk would

not overflow any more.

First, The Fathers of the church taught it. Through their works we see them talk about how The

nature of God is unknowable but we know him by the things that flow from the Essence as St. Gregory

Palamas says. All of the Fathers are very specific on this Because we see they don't speak on the Essence

of God but what relates to it. As St. John of Damascus says “God does not shew forth God’s nature,

but only the qualities of His nature. For when you speak of Him as good, and just. and wise, and

so forth, you do not tell God’s nature but only the qualities of His nature (ST JOHN OF

DAMASCUS, EXACT EXPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH, BOOK I, CHAPTER 4).” St.

John of Damascus shows in here that we cannot make a positive prediction of the Essence of

God but what relates to the Essence, and he defines what those things are Good, Just, Wisdom,

Which St. Gregory Palamas says they are energies of God. These Energies are what we see in

creation so since we cannot see the Essence of God we see Good within creation so by logical

conclusion it's a Divine Energy of God.

Second, Without EED you have no way of knowing God because God’s Essence is

Super-Essential which means being above being as The great St. Dionysius the Areopagite says.

Which is why The Essence of God is Really Distinct from the Divine Energies, Because we

know God reveals Himself in creation as we see all through the Holy Scriptures, How though

God reveals himself is through His Divine Energies. The great St. Dionysius The Areopagite

says “all Divine things, even those that are revealed to us, are only known by their

Communications. Their ultimate nature, which they possess in their own original being, is

beyond Mind and beyond all Being and Knowledge. For instance, if we call the Super-Essential

Mystery by the Name of “God,’’ or “Life,” or “Being,” or “Light,” or “Word,” we conceive of

nothing else than the powers that stream” (St. Dionysius the Areopagite, The Divine Names,
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Chapter 2 Section 11). He shows that the Communications refers to the Divine Energies which,

Because he makes a distinction between Nature (Essence) and what comes from the Nature.

Third, The Holy Scriptures are clear on the position of EED. The example im going to

give is the Transfiguration of The Lord Jesus Christ and the Divine Light that is shown on the

Mountain of Tabor (Matthew 17:1-5). St. Gregory Palamas says “Now, this union with the

illuminations—what is it, if not a vision ? The rays are consequently visible to those worthy,

although the divine essence is absolutely invisible, and these unoriginate and endless rays are a

light without beginning or end. There exists, then, an eternal light, other than the divine essence;

it is not itself an essence— far from it!—but an energy of the Superessential. This light without

beginning or end is neither sensible nor intelligible, in the proper sense. It is spiritual and divine,

distinct from all creatures in its transcendence ; and what is neither sensible nor intelligible does

not fall within the scope of the senses as such, nor of the intellectual faculty considered in itself.”

(ST. GREGORY PALAMAS, THE TRIADS, CHAPTER 6, SECTION 14). He refers to this

light as not just some created illumination, but as the Divine Uncreated Light, something that is

far from the understanding of some simple light we see everyday or the Apostles wouldn't have

been fearful of it and hidden their faces. This shows how the scriptures cant be made sense of

without EED.

Fourth, some would try to make a refutation of EED by positing that it causes

composition. As Thomas Aquinas says “Therefore, everything whose existence is distinct from

its essence has existence from another.” (Thomas Aquinas, De Ente et Essentia, ch. 4). This

would not be the case though as Aquinas posits that it would cause 2 realities it wouldn't cause

composition since they are still within the same reality all being of God. By definition A Real
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distinction does not cause Composition because the Energies are not another substance but being

materially identical. He makes an error with a presupposition of his metaphysical framework and

his definitions being true and the case for our Theology. All refutations usually are strawmans of

the position.

Last, all beliefs of the doctrine always derive from the Holy Tradition of the Holy Fathers

and Holy Scripture. The Scripture and The Tradition support the position that St. Gregory

Palamas teaches. To not to accept the doctrine is to be ignorant of what is clearly taught by the

Holy Fathers.
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Work cited

Meyendorff_Gregory Palamas Triads,

www.agape-biblia.org/orthodoxy/Gregory_Palamas_The_Triads_Classics_of_Western_Spi

rituality.pdf. Accessed 4 Apr. 2025.

“Dimitru Stăniloae - the Experience of God (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, Vol. 1).” Scribd,

Scribd,

www.scribd.com/document/676585685/Dimitru-St%C4%83niloae-The-Experience-of-Go

d-Orthodox-Dogmatic-Theology-Vol-1. Accessed 3 Apr. 2025

“An Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (Book I).” CHURCH FATHERS: An Exposition of

the Orthodox Faith, Book I (John of Damascus), www.newadvent.org/fathers/33041.htm.

Accessed 10 Apr. 2025.