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Let's discuss this question here on OC. net. Can Thomism be reconciled with Palamism? I will argue yes from a Roman Catholic perspective. I welcome others to chime in.
Now, from the RC perspective, there are two a priori considerations. First, the Catholic Church venerates both St. Thomas and St. Palamas as Saints. Hence, it is almost dogmatically certain that they could not have radically contradicted each other. Second, the Council of Florence, which dealt in detail with every doctrinal difference, deliberately passed over the issue of Essence-Energies, suggesting that, according to the mind of the Council, this was not a substantial difference between East and West.
[I take the view of those Catholic scholars who believe that the final date of the schism is not so much 1054 as 1484. St. Palamas lived before this time and was Saintly].
Now, there are two aspects.
1) Is Divine Simplicity of the Divine Essence the Truth? Yes! In fact, both St. Thomas and St. Palamas say so! St. Thomas is too well known to need citing. Let's look at what St. Palamas said on Divine Simplicity: " In the final analysis, God is simple because He is all-powerful, impassible and without needs. The more powerful things are, observes Saint Gregory Palamas, the simpler they are; and the All-powerful is the simplest[7]. He has no need of increase or decrease or acquisition of anything He lacks. God, he says, ‘being alone, is most wonderfully simple, in no way requiring addition, diminution or acquisition. Being all-powerful, He is thus the most simple of all things’[8].
And: "The prime feature of God is His simplicity. If God is not simple, but composed of different parts, then these parts must have existed before Him. Such a God would not be the Cause and Creator of all things, would not be a real God, the fons et origo of all things. Given that He is the origin of all things, He cannot be complex but must be simple. Moreover He is not merely simple but the ‘simplicity of the simplified and the unity of the unified’[1]. Thus, without ever departing from His unconfused simplicity, He is completely present ‘unconfused and undivided in all things and in each of the creatures’[2]. Saint Gregory Palamas says that God is not some huge body Who cannot fit into a small space, but is incorporeal. For this reason, He can be ‘everywhere present and beyond everything and in One’. No matter how small a thing we call to mind, He can fit into it[3]." https://pemptousia.com/2016/11/the-simplicity-of-god-according-to-saint-gregory-palamas-part-i/
2) Are there Divine Energies or Divine Operations? Also, Yes! Sometimes, Orthodox question why the west doesn't have a corresponding doctrine of divine energies. One reason is probably translation, the Greek word for energeia is usually rendered "operations" in the West. Thus, traditional Catholic theology speaks of Divine Operations but almost never of Divine Energies, even though the meaning is the same. Here is a Catholic Dictionary explain the term: "
Catholic Dictionary
Term
DIVINE OPERATION
Definition
God's activity outside of himself. Also called divine activity ad extra in contrast with divine activity within the Trinity. The Fourth Lateran Council and the Council of Florence teach that all of God's activity outside the trinity is done simultaneously and equally by all three persons. Thus everything that God does in the world of creatures, whether naturally or supernaturally, is the operation [i.e. energy - Xavier] of all three divine persons."
That's just a brief introduction to this interesting subject. Thoughts and comments from posters here? God Bless.
Now, from the RC perspective, there are two a priori considerations. First, the Catholic Church venerates both St. Thomas and St. Palamas as Saints. Hence, it is almost dogmatically certain that they could not have radically contradicted each other. Second, the Council of Florence, which dealt in detail with every doctrinal difference, deliberately passed over the issue of Essence-Energies, suggesting that, according to the mind of the Council, this was not a substantial difference between East and West.
[I take the view of those Catholic scholars who believe that the final date of the schism is not so much 1054 as 1484. St. Palamas lived before this time and was Saintly].
Now, there are two aspects.
1) Is Divine Simplicity of the Divine Essence the Truth? Yes! In fact, both St. Thomas and St. Palamas say so! St. Thomas is too well known to need citing. Let's look at what St. Palamas said on Divine Simplicity: " In the final analysis, God is simple because He is all-powerful, impassible and without needs. The more powerful things are, observes Saint Gregory Palamas, the simpler they are; and the All-powerful is the simplest[7]. He has no need of increase or decrease or acquisition of anything He lacks. God, he says, ‘being alone, is most wonderfully simple, in no way requiring addition, diminution or acquisition. Being all-powerful, He is thus the most simple of all things’[8].
And: "The prime feature of God is His simplicity. If God is not simple, but composed of different parts, then these parts must have existed before Him. Such a God would not be the Cause and Creator of all things, would not be a real God, the fons et origo of all things. Given that He is the origin of all things, He cannot be complex but must be simple. Moreover He is not merely simple but the ‘simplicity of the simplified and the unity of the unified’[1]. Thus, without ever departing from His unconfused simplicity, He is completely present ‘unconfused and undivided in all things and in each of the creatures’[2]. Saint Gregory Palamas says that God is not some huge body Who cannot fit into a small space, but is incorporeal. For this reason, He can be ‘everywhere present and beyond everything and in One’. No matter how small a thing we call to mind, He can fit into it[3]." https://pemptousia.com/2016/11/the-simplicity-of-god-according-to-saint-gregory-palamas-part-i/
2) Are there Divine Energies or Divine Operations? Also, Yes! Sometimes, Orthodox question why the west doesn't have a corresponding doctrine of divine energies. One reason is probably translation, the Greek word for energeia is usually rendered "operations" in the West. Thus, traditional Catholic theology speaks of Divine Operations but almost never of Divine Energies, even though the meaning is the same. Here is a Catholic Dictionary explain the term: "
Catholic Dictionary
Term
DIVINE OPERATION
Definition
God's activity outside of himself. Also called divine activity ad extra in contrast with divine activity within the Trinity. The Fourth Lateran Council and the Council of Florence teach that all of God's activity outside the trinity is done simultaneously and equally by all three persons. Thus everything that God does in the world of creatures, whether naturally or supernaturally, is the operation [i.e. energy - Xavier] of all three divine persons."
That's just a brief introduction to this interesting subject. Thoughts and comments from posters here? God Bless.
