Roman Views On Hesychasm

[aalpha1989]

Does anyone know of documents or councils definitively condemning Hesychasm?

[Resurrexi]

[quote name='aalpha1989' date='22 June 2010 - 05:30 AM' timestamp='1277202655' post='2132700']
Does anyone know of documents or councils definitively condemning Hesychasm?
[/quote]

The Church teaches that God is absolutely simple, while the Hesychasts say that there is a difference between God's essence and attributes. Vatican I and some kind of obscure Medieval ecumenical council talk about it, but I don't have the resources on hand.

Edited June 22, 2010 by Resurrexi

[Marie-Therese]

I don't know a lot about the specifics of the Western Church's opinion in terms of conciliar declarations...I am sure Rex will be able to provide more info. I do know that Aquinas and the scholastics were in opposition to the premise of Hesychasm.

I know that there are certain aspects of Hesychastic observance which seem to sound like Western ideas (i.e. the prayer of quiet) but there are some really distinct differences, as Hesychasm as a whole is very mystic in character. Since it is primarily Byzantine in character (especially concerning the view that God's essence and attributes are separate, as Rex noted), I bet Apo would have loads to offer on the topic.

[aalpha1989]

[quote name='Marie-Therese' date='22 June 2010 - 09:18 AM' timestamp='1277212713' post='2132720']
I don't know a lot about the specifics of the Western Church's opinion in terms of conciliar declarations...I am sure Rex will be able to provide more info. I do know that Aquinas and the scholastics were in opposition to the premise of Hesychasm.

I know that there are certain aspects of Hesychastic observance which seem to sound like Western ideas (i.e. the prayer of quiet) but there are some really distinct differences, as Hesychasm as a whole is very mystic in character. Since it is primarily Byzantine in character (especially concerning the view that God's essence and attributes are separate, as Rex noted), I bet Apo would have loads to offer on the topic.
[/quote]

Yes, I've been speaking to Apo about it over the last week or so, and I am looking for a Roman perspective. He has given me many Eastern resources and I'm spending time reading them.

Quite honestly if I did not have the refuge of the Western mystics Eastern rites would be looking very tempting to me right now...

Edit: I have seen a couple of western sources warning about some dangers associated with Hesychasm, but as Apo pointed out these are dangers seen and warned against by Eastern Fathers... they are just traps on the side of the road, but are not part of true Hesychasm.

Edited June 22, 2010 by aalpha1989

[aalpha1989]

bump.

[eustace scrubb]

somewhat curious about this.

[Selah]

Wow. I can honestly say that I never knew about this.

I take it Hesychasm was a heretic?

[aalpha1989]

From Wikipedia:
[b]
Hesychasm[/b] ([url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language"]Greek[/url]: ἡσυχασμός, [i]hesychasmos[/i], from ἡσυχία, [i]hesychia[/i], "stillness, rest, quiet, silence")[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hesychasm#cite_note-0"][1][/url][/sup] is an [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eremitic"]eremitic[/url] tradition of [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prayer"]prayer[/url] in the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_Church"]Eastern Orthodox Church[/url], and some other [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Catholic_Churches"]Eastern Catholic Churches[/url], such as the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Rite"]Byzantine Rite[/url], practised (Gk: ἡσυχάζω, [i]hesychazo[/i]: "to keep stillness") by the [b]Hesychast[/b] (Gr. Ἡσυχαστής, [i]hesychastes[/i]).


Because no one has responded, and I haven't been able to find anything, and my spiritual director did not know very much about it I have decided that it has not been condemned by the Roman Church. If anyone knows otherwise please say so.

[Innocent]

The author of the [url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07301a.htm"]1910 Catholic Encyclopedia article on this subject[/url] doesn't seem to think too highly of Hesychasm. But, after comparing it to various other articles on Hesychasm written by Orthodox Christians on the net, I think it's likely that the author of the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia doesn't have a proper idea about Hesychasm.

Perhaps this is the reason for Apotheoun's dislike of the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia.

I remember that there was a lengthy com-box discussion about this article on a Catholic blog:
[center][url="http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2009/04/adrian-fortescue-on-gregory-palamas-and.html"]Canterbury Tales: Adrian Fortescue on Gregory Palamas and Hesychasm[/url]
[/center]

I also recall seeing some threads on the CAF about Hesychasm. ([url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=462945"]1[/url], [url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=27108"]2[/url], [url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=202674"]3[/url])

Edited June 25, 2010 by Innocent

[aalpha1989]

[quote name='Innocent' date='24 June 2010 - 11:20 PM' timestamp='1277436052' post='2133915']
The author of the [url="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07301a.htm"]1910 Catholic Encyclopedia article on this subject[/url] doesn't seem to think too highly of Hesychasm. But, after comparing it to various other articles on Hesychasm written by Orthodox Christians on the net, I think it's likely that the author of the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia doesn't have a proper idea about Hesychasm.

Perhaps this is the reason for Apotheoun's dislike of the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia.

I remember that there was a lengthy com-box discussion about this article on a Catholic blog:
[center][url="http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2009/04/adrian-fortescue-on-gregory-palamas-and.html"]Canterbury Tales: Adrian Fortescue on Gregory Palamas and Hesychasm[/url]
[/center]

I also recall seeing some threads on the CAF about Hesychasm. ([url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=462945"]1[/url], [url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=27108"]2[/url], [url="http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=202674"]3[/url])
[/quote]

Yes, we Catholic Encyclopedia was mentioned by someone but the article is grossly inaccurate. I will look at those threads on CAF, thanks.

[Formosus]

I beleive that the Roman Church(historically) rejected Hesychastic prayer because of its affirmation that the body can participate in prayer as well as the theological views (essence/energy distinction) that are intertwined with the practice. Further it promotes the idea of a vision of God within this life which goes against Aquinas' theology.