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The Eternal Manifestation of the Spirit Through the Son: a Hypostatic Or

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The Eternal Manifestation of the Spirit Through the Son: a Hypostatic Or DOI 10.1515/bz-2020-0044 BZ 2020; 113(3): 1041–1068 Anne-Sophie Vivier-Mureșan The eternal manifestation of the Spirit through the Son: ahypostatic or energetic reality? Inquiryinthe worksofGregory of Cyprus and Gregory Palamas Abstract: The theological formulation of the “eternal manifestation of the Spirit through the Son”,developed by the patriarch of Constantinople Gregory of Cy- prus in the 13th century,has been the subject of numerous studies in the 20th century and playedanimportant role in the renewal of Trinitarian Orthodox the- ology. The interpretations are however diverging.Most theologians see in this for- mulation the manifestation of the uncreated energy,which would have been for- malizedlater by Gregory Palamas. Others understand it as ahypostatic reality concerning the third Person of the Trinity. This paper contributes to the discus- sion by re-analyzingthe main texts of Gregory of Cyprus and of Gregory Palamas on this matter.Inafirst step, we defend the thesis thatinthe thoughtofthe By- zantine patriarch, this expression trulyconcerns the hypostasis of the Spirit.Ina second step, we question the existenceofthe themeofan“eternal manifesta- tion” of the uncreated energy in the work of Gregory Palamas. Adresse: Anne-Sophie Vivier-Mureşan, ISEO, Institut CatholiquedeParis, 21 rue d’Assas, 75006 Paris, France;[email protected] The 20th century witnessed renewed interest in late Byzantine writers.The works of Gregory of Cyprus (1241–1290) and Gregory Palamas (1296–1359), among others, have been extensively re-examined, edited and translated. This rediscov- We would liketothank Michel Stavrou, whose remarksand advice have been very helpfulinthe elaboration of thisstudy. – This researchisextractedfrommyPhD Thesis (Le dialoguedel’amour trinitaire. Perspectivesouvertespar Dumitru Stăniloae), written under the direction of the Pr.Jean- LouisSouletie and defended at the Institut Catholique de Paris in February . 1042 Byzantinische Zeitschrift Bd. 113/3, 2020: I. Abteilung ery of late Byzantine thoughtstimulated the Trinitarian reflection of manyOrtho- doxtheologians. In this context,the theme of the eternal “shiningforth” (ἔκλαμ- ψις)ofthe Spirit through (διά)the Son, developed by Gregory of Cyprus, was highlighted as anecessary complement to the Photian formulation of the Spirit’s procession from the Father alone. It is alsoregarded by manyasthe right under- standing of the Spirit’sprocession by/through (διά)the Son as stated by the Greek Fathers,and appears as the most advanced Orthodoxposition in the Fil- ioque discussions. This issue,however,ismarked by adivergence of interpreta- tion. Most Orthodox theologians and Byzantinists¹ consider thatthe eternal man- ifestationofthe Spirit through the Son does not concern the very hypostasis of the divine third Person, but the uncreated energy stemmingfrom the essence, which in divineeconomyreacheshumans from the Father,through the Son, in the Spirit.This interpretation, which is based on the distinction, actuallypresent in the works of Gregory of Cyprus and of Gregory Palamas after him, between the hypostasis of the Spirit and his gifts assimilated to uncreated energies, seems to have been formulated for the first time by V. Lossky: The distinction between the unknowable essenceofthe Trinity and its energetic proces- sions,clearlydefined by the great councils of the 14th century,allows the Orthodoxthe- ology to firmlyaffirm the different character of the tri-hypostatic existenceinitself and in the commonmanifestationoutside the essence. In his hypostatic existence, the Holy Spirit V. Lossky,Laprocession du Saint-Esprit dans la doctrine trinitaire orthodoxe,inidem, Al’i- mage et àlaressemblancedeDieu. Paris , –.This text was first deliveredataconfer- enceinOxfordin;J.Meyendorff,Introduction àl’étude de GrégoirePalamas. Paris ; O. Clément,Grégoire de Chypre, “De l’ekporèse du Saint-Esprit”. Istina /– (), – ;V.Palachkovsky,Lacontroverse pneumatologique. Messager de l’Exarchat du Patriarche russe en Europe occidentale – (), –;A.Radović,Le‘Filioque’ et l’énergie incréée de la Sainte Trinitéselon la doctrine de Saint GrégoirePalamas. Messager de l’Exarchat du Pat- riarche russe en Europe occidentale – (), –;G.Patacsi,Palamism before Pala- mas. Eastern Church Review (), –;M.Orphanos,Laprocession du Saint-Esprit selon certains pères grecs postérieurs au VIIIe siècle, in L. Vischer (ed.), La théologie du Saint-Esprit dans le dialogueentrel’Orient et l’Occident.Paris , –;B.Bobrinskoy,Lemystère de la SainteTrinité. Paris , –;A.Papadakis,Crisis in Byzantium. Crestwood, NY ;J-.C. Larchet in his introduction to:Lavie et l’œuvre de Georges/GrégoiredeChypre. Paris , ;A.Theodoros,The eternal manifestation of the Spirit ‘through the Son’ (‘διὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ’)according to Nikephoros Blemmydes and Gregory of Cyprus,inM.Habets (ed.), Ecumenical perspectivesonthe filioque for the twenty-first century.London/New York , –;M.Stavrou,Une réévaluation du Tomos du IIe Concile des Blachernes (): commentaire, tradition textuelle, édition critique et traduction, in C. Gastgeber et al. (eds.), The PatriarchateofConstantinople in context and comparison. Vienne , –.This read- ing is adopted by the DominicanJ.Lison in L’Esprit répandu, la pneumatologie de Grégoire Pal- amas.Paris , –. A.-S.Vivier-Mureșan, The eternalmanifestation of the Spirit 1043 proceedsfromthe Father alone and this ineffable processionallows us to confess the absolute diversity of the three Persons,that is our faith in the Tri-Unity.Inthe framework of the natural manifestation, the HolySpirit proceedsfromthe Father through the Son διὰ υἱοῦ,after the Verb, and this procession reveals us the commonglory of the Three, the eternal splendor of the divine nature. It is interesting to note that the distinction between the hypostatic existenceofthe Holy Spirit,proceeding from the Father alone, and his eternal shiningforth – εἰςαἷδιον ἔκφανσιν – through the Son, has been formulated during the discussions which took place in Consantinople at the end of the 13th century,after the Council of Lyon.We can grasp here the doctrinal continuity:the defenceofthe procession of the HolySpirit fromthe Father alone requires clarification on the διὰ υἱοῦ,and that latter opens the waytothe distinction between essenceand energies.Itisnot a “dogmatic development” but one and same tradition defended on different points by the Orthodoxtheologians,fromsaint Photius to Gregory of Cyprus and saint Gregory Palamas.² Some theologians,onthe other hand,read in the eternal shiningforth of the Spi- rit through the Son amanifestation of the very hypostasis of the Spirit. The young J. Meyendorff and S.Verkhovsky,instudies published in 1951³,understand in this waythe texts of Gregory of Cyprus and recognize adevelopment of this theme in apassageofTheOne Hundred and Fifty Chapters of Gregory Palamas: the Spirit is described as “love” (ἔρωϛ)ofthe Father for the Son, which the Son uses in turn towards the Father.According to them,this “use” of the Spirit by the Son towardsthe Father must be considered as the eternal shining forth of Spirit’s hypostasis. The samereadingislargely developedbyD.Stăniloae in several studies.⁴ Recentlyand more briefly, J. VanRossum also defends the thesis Lossky,Procession (as footnote above), –.Personal translation. Notethat Lossky is very elliptic and does not detail his reference to Gregory of Cyprus and Gregory Palamas. Other Byzantinists will develop later his reading, notably A. Papadakis for the works of Gregory of Cyprus,and J. Meyendorff for the works of Gregory Palamas.Wewill discuss them later. J. Meyendorff,Laprocession du Saint-Esprit chez les Pères orientaux. Russie et Chrétienté – (), –;S.Verkhovsky,Laprocession du Saint-Esprit (as footnote above), –.Asnotedinfootnote above, the positionofJ.Meyendorff seems to have changed after this study. In his book on Gregory Palamas, he adopts the idea that Gregory of Cyprus and Palamas distinguish between the eternal procession (from the Father alone) of the Spirit’s hypostasis and the eternal procession (fromthe Father through the Son) of the Spirit as divine energy:J.Meyendorff,Introduction (as footnote above), –. D. Stăniloae,Trinitarian relations and the life of the Church, in idem, Theology and the church. New York , –; idem, La procession du Saint-Esprit et sa relation avec le Fils comme base de notredéification et adoption, in L.Vischer (ed.), La théologie du Saint-Esprit dans le dialogueentre l’Orient et l’Occident.Paris , –; idem, Le Saint Esprit dans la théologie byzantine et dans la réflexion orthodoxe contemporaine, in: Credo in Spiritum Sanc- tum. Atti del Congresso teologico internazionale di Pneumatologia I. Vatican , –. 1044 Byzantinische Zeitschrift Bd. 113/3, 2020: I. Abteilung that,inthe writings of Gregory of Cyprus, the eternal shiningforth of the Spirit concerns his hypostasis.⁵ In this paper we propose to comparethese two divergent interpretations and their arguments by re-exploring in turn the works of Gregory of Cyprus and Greg- ory Palamas. This way, we will defend the theory that the second readingseems nearer to the literalsense of these Byzantine texts.Our studywill first analyze the theological writingsofGregory of Cyprus; for Gregory Palamas’ work, we will essentiallyfocus on the texts mentioned in the debate, which also seem, after research, the ones more directlyconcerned by our investigation: TheOne Hundred and Fifty Chapters and the Apodictic Treatises on the Holy Spirit. The eternal manifestation of the Spirit through the Son in the work of Gregory
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