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'Poverty of Particularity:' Reconciling Divine Transcendence and Imminence Using Gregory Palamas' Essence-Energies Distinction
Erdahl, Luke
Erdahl, Luke
Abstract
In this essay, I defend Gregory Palamas’ distinction between the essence of God and the energies of God and describe how it can be used to reconcile commitments of divine transcendence and divine imminence without compromising commonly-held attributes of God. I argue that divine transcendence is total and this prevents us from making catophatic statements about the divine essence. On the other hand, I argue that God is imminent and must be able to interact with the world in some way, as well as be described and known by intelligent creation. I posit that this is fulfilled by the divine energies spoken of by Palamas, which are actually distinct from the essence yet no less divine. I also in this essay defend this model of God against several objections.
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2019-12-01
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Philosophy