Hesychasm as a locus theologicus: The epistemology of experience in Gregory Palamas

Abstract

This article argues that hesychasm, as articulated by Gregory Palamas, constitutes a genuine locus theologicus when ‘experience’ is construed within a disciplined epistemological and ecclesial framework. Against both rationalist reductions of theology to discursive inference and subjectivist appeals to immediate experience, Gregory Palamas develops a participatory epistemology in which knowledge of God is grounded in communion rather than representation. The study demonstrates that the essence–energies distinction functions not merely as a metaphysical thesis but as an epistemological grammar that renders real, non-exhaustive knowledge of God possible while preserving apophatic restraint. Through a close hermeneutical analysis of Palamas’ Greek texts – situated within the broader patristic tradition and critically engaged with recent debates in theological epistemology – the article shows that Palamas’ conception of experience is neither autonomous nor optional. It is ecclesially mediated, normed by ascetical discernment, and oriented towards deification.
Contribution: By reframing hesychasm as a locus theologicus, the current study contributes to contemporary discussions on religious experience, participatory realism and theological method. Thus, it proposes a model in which lived communion and doctrinal rigour prove mutually constitutive, not opposed.