Category: St Gregory Palamas

The Father, therefore, through the Son reconciles us to Himself, not taking into account our offenses (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:19); and He calls us, not in so far as we are engaged in unseemly works, but in so far as we are idle; although idleness is also a sin, since we shall give an account even for an idle word (cf. Matthew 12:36). But, as I said, God overlooks former sins and calls us again and again. And what does He call us to do? To work in the vineyard, that is, to work on behalf of the branches, on behalf of ourselves. And afterwards–O the incomparable grandeur of His compassion!–He promises and gives us a reward for toiling on our own behalf. “Come”, He says,”receive eternal life, which I bestow abundantly; and as though in your debt I reward you in full for the labor of your journey and even for your very desire to receive eternal life from Me.”

~St Gregory Palamas (Philokalia vol.4, pp.299-300)

If, then, the time of this life is time for repentance, the very fact that a sinner still lives is a pledge that God will accept whoever desires to return to Him. Free will is always part and parcel of this present life. And it lies within the power of free will to choose or to reject the road of life or the road of death that we have described above; for it can pursue whichever it wishes.

Where, then, are the grounds for despair, since all of us can at all times lay hold of eternal life whenever we want to? Do you not perceive the grandeur of God’s compassion? When we are disobedient He does not immediately condemn us, but He is longsuffering and allows us time for conversion. Throughout this period of longsuffering He gives us power to gain divine sonship if we so wish. Yet why do I say ‘gain sonship’? He gives us power to be united with Him and to become one spirit with Him (cf. 1 Corinthians 6:17).

~St Gregory Palamas (Philokalia vol.4, p. 299)

Where did true death–the death that produces and induces in soul and body both temporal and eternal death–have its origin? Was it not in the realm of life? Thus was man, alas, at once banished from God’s paradise, for he had imbued his life with death and made it unfit for paradise.

Consequently true life–the life that confers immortality and true life on both soul and body–will have its origin here, in this place of death. If you do not strive here to gain this life in your soul, do not deceive yourself with vain hopes about receiving it hereafter, or about God then being compassionate towards you….

Woe to him who hereafter experiences the Lord’s wrath, who has not acquired in this life the fear of God and so come to know the might of His anger, who has not through his actions gained a foretaste of God’s compassion!

For the time to do all this is the present life. That is the reason why God has accorded us this present life, giving us a place for repentance. Were this not the case a person who sinned would at once be deprived of this life. For otherwise of what use would it be to him?

~St Gregory Palamas (Philokalia vol.4, pp. 298-299)

And this life is not only the life of the soul, it is the life of the body. Through resurrection the body is also rendered immortal: it is delivered not merely from mortality, but also from that never-abating death of future chastisement. On it, too, is bestowed everlasting life in Christ, free of pain, sickness and sorrow, and truly immortal.

The death of the soul through transgression and sin is, then, followed by the death of the body and by its dissolution in the earth and its conversion into dust; and this bodily death is followed in its turn by the soul’s banishment to Hades. In the same way the resurrection of the soul–its return to God through obedience to the divine commandments–is followed by the body’s resurrection and its reunion with the soul.

~St Gregory Palamas (Philokalia vol.4, p.297)

Thus the violation of God’s commandment is the cause of all types of death, both of soul and body, whether in the present life of in that endless chastisement. And death, properly speaking, is this: for the soul to be unharnessed from divine grace and to be yoked to sin. This death, for those who have their wits, is truly dreadful and something to be avoided. This, for those who think aright, is more terrible than the chastisement of Gehenna.

…as the death of the soul is authentic death, so the life of the soul is authentic life. Life of the soul is union with God, as life of the body is its union with the soul. As the soul was separated from God and died in consequence of the violation of the commandment, so by obedience to the commandment it is again united to God and is quickened. This is why the Lord says in the Gospels, “The words I speak to you are spirit and life” (John 6:63)….but they are words of eternal life for those who obey them; for those who disobey, this commandment of life results in death (cf. Romans 7:10).

So it was that the apostles, being Christ’s fragrance, were to some the death-inducing odor of death, while to others they were the life-inducing odor of life (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:16).

~St Gregory Palamas (Philokalia, vol. 4, pp. 296-297)