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A real distinction between the essence (''ousia'') and the energies (''energeia'') of God is a central principle of Eastern Orthodox theology. Eastern Orthodox theology regards this distinction as more than a mere conceptual distinction. This doctrine is most closely identified with Gregory Palamas, who formulated it as part of his defense of the practice of Hesychasm against the charge of heresy brought by Barlaam of Calabria.〔"accusing Gregory Palamas of Messalianism" Antonio Carile, (''Η Θεσσαλονίκη ως κέντρο Ορθοδόξου θεολογίας -προοπτικές στη σημερινή Ευρώπη'' ) Thessaloniki 2000, pp. 131–140, (English translation provided by the Apostoliki Diakonia of the Church of Greece).〕〔(''Notes on the Palamite Controversy and Related Topics'' ) by John S. Romanides, ''The Greek Orthodox Theological Review'', Volume VI, Number 2, Winter, 1960–61. Published by the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School Press, Brookline, Massachusetts.〕 These teachings of Palamas were made into dogma in the Eastern Orthodox church by the Hesychast councils.〔"No doubt the leaders of the party held aloof from these vulgar practices of the more ignorant monks, but on the other hand they scattered broadcast perilous theological theories. Palamas taught that by asceticism one could attain a corporal, i.e. a sense view, or perception, of the Divinity. He also held that in God there was a real distinction between the Divine Essence and Its attributes, and he identified grace as one of the Divine propria making it something uncreated and infinite. These monstrous errors were denounced by the Calabrian Barlaam, by Nicephorus Gregoras, and by Acthyndinus. The conflict began in 1338 and ended only in 1368, with the solemn canonization of Palamas and the official recognition of his heresies. He was declared the 'holy doctor' and 'one of the greatest among the Fathers of the Church', and his writings were proclaimed 'the infallible guide of the Christian Faith'. Thirty years of incessant controversy and discordant councils ended with a resurrection of polytheism" ((Simon Vailhé, "Greek Church" in ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909) )〕 Historically, Western Christianity has tended to reject the essence-energies distinction as real in the case of God, characterizing the view as a heretical introduction of an unacceptable division in the Trinity and suggestive of polytheism.〔〔John Meyendorff (editor), (''Gregory Palamas – The Triads'' ), p. xi. Paulist Press, 1983, ISBN 978-0809124473. Retrieved on 12 September 2014.〕 Further, the associated practice of hesychasm used to achieve theosis was characterized as "magic".〔 More recently, some Roman Catholic thinkers have taken a positive view of Palamas's teachings, including how he understood the essence-energies distinction, arguing that it does not represent an insurmountable theological division between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.〔Michael J. Christensen, Jeffery A. Wittung (editors), (''Partakers of the Divine Nature'' ) (Associated University Presses 2007 ISBN 0-8386-4111-3), p. 243-244〕 ==Nature of the essence-energies distinction in God== According to John Romanides, Palamas considers the distinction between God's essence and his energies to be a "real distinction".〔 Romanides distinguishes this "real distinction" from the Thomistic "virtual distinction" and the Scotist "formal distinction".〔John S. Romanides, (''Notes on the Palamite Controversy and Related Topics'' ). Orthodoxinfo.com. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕 Romanides suspects that Barlaam accepted a "formal distinction" between God's essence and his energies.〔) Many writers agree that Palamas views the distinction between the divine essence and the divine energies as a "real" distinction.〔Joseph Pohle, ''Dogmatic Theology'', "The Essence of God in Relation to His Attributes", vol. 1, p. 146〕〔Erwin Fabhlbusch, (''The Encyclopedia of Christianity'' ), vol. 4, p. 13, ISBN 978-0802824165. Eerdmans. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕〔John Meyendorff (1979) (''Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes'' ), p. 59. Fordham University Press, ISBN 978-0823209675. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕〔John Farrelly (2005) (''The Trinity: Rediscovering the Central Christian Mystery'' ), Rowman & Littlefield. p. 108. ISBN 978-0742532267. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕〔(Cistercian Studies ), vol. 7 (1990), Cistercian Publications, p. 258. Books.google.com. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕〔Vladimir Lossky, (''The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church'' ), p. 73, 77. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1976 ISBN 978-0913836316. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕〔Gabriel Bunge, (''The Rublev Trinity'' ), p. 75. St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1 January 2007, ISBN 978-0881413106, Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕〔Karl Rahner, (''Encyclopedia of Theology: A Concise Sacramentum Mundi'' ), p. 391. A&C Black, 1975, ISBN 978-0860120063. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕 A few scholars argue against describing Palamas's essence-energies distinction in God as a "real" distinction. For example, David Bentley Hart expresses doubt "that Palamas ever intended to suggest a ''real'' distinction between God's essence and energies".〔David Bentley Hart, (''The Beauty of the Infinite'' ), p. 204, Eerdmans, 2004, ISBN 978-0802829214. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕 According to Aidan Nichols, Palamas's essence-energies distinction is not a mere "formal" distinction. By a "formal" distinction, Nichols means a distinction merely "demanded by the limited operating capacities of human minds".〔 G. Philips argues that Palamas's essence-energies distinction is not an "ontological" distinction but, rather, analogous to a "formal distinction" in the Scotist sense of the term.〔Michael J. Christensen, Jeffery A. Wittung (editors), (''Partakers of the Divine Nature: The History and Development of Deificiation in the Christian Traditions'' ) (Associated University Presses 2007 ISBN 0-8386-4111-3), p. 243–244, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press, 2007 ISBN 978-0838641118. Retrieved on 13 September 2014.〕 According to Anna N. Williams's study of Palamas, which is more recent than Bentley's and Philips's, in two passages (only) Palamas explicitly says God's energies are "as constitutively and ontologically distinct from the essence as are the three Hypostases", and in one place he makes explicit his view, repeatedly implied elsewhere, that the essence and the energies are not the same; but Williams contends that not even in these passages did Palamas intend to argue for an "ontological or fully real distinction", and that the interpretation of his teaching by certain polemical modern disciples of his is false.〔 Western theologians admit no real distinction in God other than that between the three divine Hypostases or Persons. Neither between God's essence and the three Persons of the Trinity, nor between God's essence and his energies, do they admit a real distinction, but only a distinction that has a basis in reality or a formal distinction. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Essence–Energies distinction (Eastern Orthodox theology)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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