John Romanides

John Savvas Romanides (Greek: Ιωάννης Σάββας Ρωμανίδης; 2 March 1927 – 1 November 2001) was an
Eastern Orthodox priest, author and professor who had a distinctive influence on post-war Greek Orthodox
theology.

Contents
Biography
Theology
Augustine of Hippo
Original sin versus ancestral sin
Rejection of St. Augustine
Criticism
Heaven and Hell
Theosis
Influence
Works
Articles
Books
See also
Notes
Citations
References
Sources
Further reading
External links
Works
Ideas
Criticism

Biography
Born in Piraeus, Greece, on 2 March 1928, his parents emigrated to the United States when he was only two
months old. He grew up in Manhattan, graduating from the Hellenic College, Brookline, Massachusetts. After
attending Yale Divinity School, he received his Ph.D. from the University of Athens.

From 1956 to 1965 he was Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the Holy Cross Theological School in
Brookline, Massachusetts. In 1968 he was appointed as tenured Professor of Dogmatic Theology at the
University of Thessaloniki, Greece, a position he held until his retirement in 1982. His latest position was
Professor of Theology at Balamand Theological School, in Lebanon. Romanides died in Athens, Greece on 1
November 2001.

He was a "candidate for the Far Right in the 1977 parliamentary elections in Greece".[1]

Theology
Romanides belonged to the "theological generation of the 1960s", which pleaded for a "return to the Fathers",
and led to "the acute polarization of the East-West divide and the cultivation of an anti-Western, anti-
ecumenical sentiment."[2] According to Kalaitzidis, his early theological interests are "wide and broad-
minded", but narrowed with the publication of Romiosini in 1975, which postulates an absolute divide
between the Eastern Churches and the Western Church:[3] "[h]ereafter, the West is wholly demonized and
proclaimed responsible for all the misfortunes of the Orthodox, both theological and historical/national."[3]

Romanides contributed many speculations, some controversial, into the cultural and religious differences
between Eastern and Western Christianity. According to Romanides, these divergences have impacted the
ways in which Christianity has developed and been lived out in the Christian cultures of East and West.
According to Romanides, these divergences were due to the influences of the Franks, who were culturally
very different from the Romans.[4][note 1]

His theological works emphasize the empirical (experiential)[note 2] basis of theology called theoria or vision
of God, (as opposed to a rational or reasoned understanding of theory) as the essence of Orthodox theology,
setting it "apart from all other religions and traditions", especially the Frankish-dominated western Church
which distorted this true spiritual path.[7] Studying extensively the works of 14th-century Byzantine theologian
St. Gregory Palamas, he stated religion to be identical with sickness, and the so-called Jesus prayer[note 3] of
hesychasm to be both the cure of this sickness and the core of Christian tradition:[note 4]

The leadership of the Roman Empire had come to realize that religion is a sickness whose cure
was the heart and core of the Christian tradition they had been persecuting. […] This very cure of
fantasies is the core of the Orthodox tradition. These fantasies arise from a short circuit between
the nervous system centered in the brain and the blood system centered in the heart. The cure of
this short circuit is noetic prayer (noera proseuche) which functions in tandem with rational or
intellectual prayer of the brain which frees one from fantasies which the devil uses to enslave his
victims. Note: We are still searching the Fathers for the term 'Jesus prayer'. We would very much
appreciate it if someone could come up with a patristic quote in Greek.[10]

His research on Dogmatic Theology led him to the conclusion of a close link between doctrinal differences
and historical developments. Thus, in his later years, he concentrated on historical research, mostly of the
Middle Ages but also of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Augustine of Hippo

Romanides sees St Augustine as the great antagonist of Orthodox thought. Romanides claims that, although he
was a saint, Augustine did not have theoria. Many of his theological conclusions, Romanides says, appear not
to come from experiencing God and writing about his experiences of God; rather, they appear to be the result
of philosophical or logical speculation and conjecture.[note 5] Hence, Augustine is still revered as a saint, but,
according to Romanides, does not qualify as a theologian in the Eastern Orthodox church.[11]

Original sin versus ancestral sin

Romanides rejects the Roman Catholic teachings on Original Sin.[12][13] Orthodox theologians trace this
position to having its roots in the works of Saint Augustine. Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the
Assyrian Church of the East, and Eastern Catholicism, which together make up Eastern Christianity,
contemplate that the introduction of ancestral sin into the human race affected the subsequent environment for
humanity, but never accepted Augustine of Hippo's notions of original sin and hereditary guilt.[12] It holds that
original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam's descendants.[14]

Rejection of St. Augustine

Eastern Orthodox theologians John Romanides and George Papademetriou say that some of Augustine's
teachings were actually condemned as those of Barlaam the Calabrian at the Hesychast or Fifth Council of
Constantinople 1351.[15][16][17] It is the vision or revelation of God (theoria) that gives one knowledge of
God.[note 6] Theoria, contemplatio in Latin, as indicated by John Cassian,[19] meaning vision of God, is
closely connected with theosis (divinization).[note 7]

John Romanides reports that Augustinian theology is generally ignored in the Eastern Orthodox church.[note 8]
Romanides states that the Roman Catholic Church, starting with Augustine, has removed the mystical
experience (revelation) of God (theoria) from Christianity and replaced it with the conceptualization of
revelation through the philosophical speculation of metaphysics.[20][21][note 9] Romanides does not consider
the metaphysics of Augustine to be Orthodox but Pagan mysticism.[note 10] Romanides states that Augustine's
Platonic mysticism was condemned by the Eastern Orthodox within the church condemnation of Barlaam of
Calabria at the Hesychast councils in Constantinople.[note 11]

Criticism

The Greek Old Calendarist,[22] Archimandrite [later Archbishop] Chrysostomos González of Etna, CA,
criticized Romanides' criticism of Augustine:[note 12]

In certain ultra-conservative Orthodox circles in the United States, there has developed an
unfortunate bitter and harsh attitude toward one of the great Fathers of the Church, the blessed
(Saint) Augustine of Hippo (354–430 A.D.). These circles, while clearly outside the mainstream
of Orthodox thought and careful scholarship, have often been so vociferous and forceful in their
statements that their views have touched and even affected more moderate and stable Orthodox
believers and thinkers. Not a few writers and spiritual aspirants have been disturbed by this trend.

Heaven and Hell

According to Romanides, the theological concept of hell, or eternal damnation is expressed differently within
Eastern and Western Christianity.[9] According to John S. Romanides, "the Frankish [i.e. Western]
understanding of heaven and hell" is "foreign to the Orthodox tradition".[note 13]

According to Romanides, the Orthodox Church teaches that both Heaven and Hell are being in God's
presence,[9][25] which is being with God and seeing God, and that there is no such place as where God is not,
nor is Hell taught in the East as separation from God.[25] One expression of the Eastern teaching is that hell
and heaven are being in God's presence, as this presence is punishment and paradise depending on the
person's spiritual state in that presence.[9][note 14] For one who hates God, to be in the presence of God
eternally would be the gravest suffering.[9][note 14] Aristotle Papanikolaou [27] and Elizabeth H. Prodromou
[28] wrote in their book Thinking Through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars that for
 the Orthodox the theological symbols
of heaven and hell are not crudely
understood as spatial destinations but
rather refer to the experience of God's
presence according to two different
modes.[29]

The saved and the damned will both

Icon of monks falling into
the mouth of a dragon
representing hell
experience God's light, the Tabor
light. However, the saved will
Icon of hell
experience this light as Heaven,
while the damned will experience it
as
Hell.[note 14][note 15][note 16][30][note 17] Theories explicitly identifying Hell
with an experience of the divine light may go back as far as Theophanes of
Nicea. According to Iōannēs Polemēs, Theophanes believed that, for sinners,
"the divine light will be perceived as the punishing fire of hell".[31]

Other Eastern Orthodox theologians describe hell as separation from God.[32][33][34][35][36] Archimandrite
Sophrony (Sakharov) speaks of "the hell of separation from God".[37] "The circumstances that rise before us,
the problems we encounter, the relationships we form, the choices we make, all ultimately concern our eternal
union with or separation from God."[38] "Hell is nothing else but separation of man from God, his autonomy
excluding him from the place where God is present."[39] "Hell is a spiritual state of separation from God and
inability to experience the love of God, while being conscious of the ultimate deprivation of it as
punishment."[40] "Hell is none other than the state of separation from God, a condition into which humanity
was plunged for having preferred the creature to the Creator. It is the human creature, therefore, and not God,
who engenders hell. Created free for the sake of love, man possesses the incredible power to reject this love, to
say 'no' to God. By refusing communion with God, he becomes a predator, condemning himself to a spiritual
death (hell) more dreadful than the physical death that derives from it."[41]

According to Iōannēs Polemēs, the important Orthodox theologian Gregory Palamas did not believe that
sinners would experience the divine light: "Unlike Theophanes, Palamas did not believe that sinners could
have an experience of the divine light [...] Nowhere in his works does Palamas seem to adopt Theophanes'
view that the light of Tabor is identical with the fire of hell."[42]

Theosis

The practice of ascetic prayer called Hesychasm in the Eastern Orthodox Church is centered on the
enlightenment, deification (theosis) of man.[note 18] Theosis has also been referred to as "glorification",[note 19]
"union with God", "becoming god by Grace", "self-realization", "the acquisition of the Holy Spirit",
"experience of the uncreated light" (Tabor light).[44][note 20]

Theosis (Greek for "making divine",[45] "deification",[46][47] "to become gods by Grace",[48] and for
"divinization", "reconciliation, union with God"[49] and "glorification")[50][note 21] is expressed as "Being,
union with God" and having a relationship or synergy between God and man.[note 20] God is Heaven, God is
the Kingdom of Heaven, the uncreated is that which is infinite and unending, glory to glory. Since this synergy
or union is without fusion it is based on free will and not the irresistibly of the divine (i.e. the monophysite).
Since God is transcendent (incomprehensible in ousia, essence or being), the West has over-emphasized its
point through logical arguments that God cannot be experienced in this life.[51]
According to John Romanides, following Vladimir Lossky[52] in his interpretation of St. Gregory Palamas, the
teaching that God is transcendent (incomprehensible in ousia, essence or being), has led in the West to the
(mis)understanding that God cannot be experienced in this life.[note 22] Romanides states that Western
theology is more dependent upon logic and reason, culminating in scholasticism used to validate truth and the
existence of God, than upon establishing a relationship with God (theosis and theoria).[note 23][note 24]

Influence
According to Kalaitzidis, Romanides had a strong influence on contemporary Greek Orthodoxy, to such an
extent that some speak about "pre- and post-Romanidian theology".[3] Kalaitzidis further notes that
Romanides' post-1975 theology has "furnished a convenient and comforting conspiratorial explanation for the
historical woes of Orthodoxy and Romiosyne", but is "devoid of the slightest traces of self-criticism, since
blame is always placed upon others".[57] James L. Kelley's recent article has argued that Kalaitzidis's concern
that Orthodox theologians engage in "self-criticism" is a ploy to engineer a "development of Orthodox
doctrine" so that, once the Orthodox place some of the blame on themselves for "divisions of Christian
groups", they will adjust the teachings of Orthodoxy to suit the ecumenist agenda (see James L. Kelley,
"Romeosyne" According to John Romanides and Christos Yannaras: A Response to Pantelis Kalaitzidis
[Norman, OK: Romanity Pres, 2016]).

Works

Articles

Several of his articles can be found at the website (http://www.romanity.org) dedicated to him. Among his
books are:

Books
Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology of the Orthodox Catholic Church (in Greek; Thessaloniki:
Pournaras, 1973).
Romiosini, Romania, Roumeli (in Greek; Thessaloniki: Pournaras, 1975).
Romanides, John S. (1981). Franks, Romans, Feudalism, and Doctrine: An Interplay Between
Theology and Society (https://books.google.com/books?id=AK-_MAAACAAJ). Brookline, MA:
Holy Cross Orthodox Press. ISBN 9780916586546.
1. An Interplay Between Theology and Society (http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.franks_
romans_feudalism_and_doctrine.01.htm).
2. Empirical Theology versus Speculative Theology (http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.fr
anks_romans_feudalism_and_doctrine.02.htm).
3. The Filioque (http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.franks_romans_feudalism_and_doctri
ne.03.htm).
Romanides, John S. (2002). The Ancestral Sin (https://books.google.com/books?id=TttVAAAA
YAAJ). Ridgewood, New Jersey: Zephyr Publishing. ISBN 9780970730312.
Romanides, John S. (2004). An Outline of Orthodox Patristic Dogmatics (https://books.google.c
om/books?id=U50KAAAACAAJ). Rollinsford, New Hampshire: Orthodox Research Institute.
ISBN 9780974561844.
Romanides, John S. (2008). Patristic Theology (https://books.google.com/books?id=zXgcQAA
CAAJ). Thessaloniki: Uncut Mountain Press.
 Romanides, John S. (2009). The Life in Christ (https://www.academia.edu/9993570). Dewdney:
Synaxis Press.

See also
Vladimir Lossky
Michael Pomazansky
Dimitri Kitsikis
George Metallinos
George Dragas
Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos

Notes
1. "To be travelling uphill to glorification on the vehicle of noetic prayer is the process of cure, and
to reach glorification is the taste of the beginning of health and perfection. At the same time this
glorification is the revelation of all truth by the Holy Spirit."[8]
2. We have a culture that creates saints, holy people. Our people's ideal is not to create wisemen.
Nor was this the ideal of ancient Hellenic culture and civilization. Hellenic anthropocentric
(human-centered) Humanism is transformed into Theanthropism (God-humanism) and its ideal
is now the creation of Saints, Holy people who have reached the state of theosis
(deification).[55]

Citations
1. "The Filioque controversy was not a conflict between the Patriarchates of Old Rome and New
Rome, but between the Franks and all Romans in the East and in the West."[5]
2. Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos: "The vision of the uncreated light, which offers knowledge of
God to man, is sensory and supra-sensory. The bodily eyes are reshaped, so they see the
uncreated light, 'this mysterious light, inaccessible, immaterial, uncreated, deifying, eternal', this
'radiance of the Divine Nature, this glory of the divinity, this beauty of the heavenly kingdom'
(3,1,22;CWS p.80). Palamas asks: 'Do you see that light is inaccessible to senses which are
not transformed by the Spirit?' (2,3,22). St. Maximus, whose teaching is cited by St. Gregory,
says that the Apostles saw the uncreated Light 'by a transformation of the activity of their
senses, produced in them by the Spirit' (2.3.22)."[6]
3. "Romanidian theology"[3] prefers Greek: νοερά προσευχή, romanized: noera prosefchi, lit. 'noetic
prayer': "χρησιμοποιούμεν τους όρους 'νοερά ενέργεια' και 'νοερά προσευχή' ", 'we use the
terms "noetic faculty" and "noetic prayer"'.[8][subnote 1]
4. "While the brain is the center of human adaptation to the environment, the noetic faculty in the
heart is the primary organ for communion with God. The fall of man or the state of inherited sin
is: a.) the failure of the noetic faculty to function properly, or to function at all; b.) its confusion
with the functions of the brain and the body in general; and c.) its resulting enslavement to the
environment. Each individual experiences the fall of his own noetic faculty. One can see why
the Augustinian understanding of the fall of man as an inherited guilt for the sin of Adam and
Eve is not, and cannot, be accepted by the Orthodox tradition. There are two known memory
systems built into living beings, 1.) cell memory which determines the function and
development of the individual in relation to itself, and 2.) brain cell memory which determines
the function of the individual in relation to its environment. In addition to this, the patristic
tradition is aware of the existence in human beings of a now normally non-functioning or sub-
functioning memory in the heart, which when put into action via noetic prayer, includes
unceasing memory of God, and therefore, the normalization of all other relations. When the
noetic faculty is not functioning properly, man is enslaved to fear an anxiety and his relations to
others are essentially utilitarian. Thus, the root cause of all abnormal relations between God
and man and among me is that fallen man, i.e., man with a malfunctioning noetic faculty, uses
God, his fellow man, and nature for his own understanding of security and happiness. Man
outside of glorification imagines the existence of god or gods which are psychological
projections of his need for security and happiness. That all men have this noetic faculty in the
heart also means that all are in direct relation to God at various levels, depending on how much
the individual personality resists enslavement to his physical and social surroundings and
allows himself to be directed by God. Every individual is sustained by the uncreated glory of
God and is the dwelling place of this uncreated glory of God and is the dwelling place of this
uncreated creative and sustaining light, which is called the rule, power, grace, etc. of God.
Human reaction to this direct relation or communion with God can range from the hardening of
the heart (i.e., the snuffing out of the spark of grace) to the experience of glorification attained to
by the prophets, apostles, and saints. This means that all men are equal in possession of the
noetic faculty, but not in quality or degree of function. It is important to not the clear distinction
between spirituality, which is rooted primarily in the heart's noetic faculty, and intellectuality,
which is rooted in the brain. Thus: 1.) A person with little intellectual attainments can raise to
the highest level of noetic perfection. 2..) On the other hand, a man of the highest intellectual
attainments can fall to the lowest level of noetic imperfection. 3.) One may also reach both the
highest intellectual attainments and noetic perfection. Or 4.) One may be of meager intellectual
accomplishment with the hardening of the heart. The role of Christianity was originally more
like that of the medical profession, especially that of today's psychologists and psychiatrists.
Man has a malfunctioning or non-functioning noetic faculty in the heart, and it is the task
especially of the clergy to apply the cure of unceasing memory of God, otherwise called
unceasing prayer or illumination. Proper preparation for vision of God takes place in two
stages: purification, and illumination of the noetic faculty."[9]
5. "A basic characteristic of the Frankish scholastic method, mislead by Augustinian Platonism
and Thomistic Aristotelianism, had been its naive confidence in the objective existence of
things rationally speculated about. By following Augustine, the Franks substituted the patristic
concern for spiritual observation, (which they had found firmly established in Gaul when they
first conquered the area) with a fascination for metaphysics. They did not suspect that such
speculations had foundations neither in created nor in spiritual reality. No one would today
accept as true what is not empirically observable, or at least verifiable by inference, from an
attested effect. So it is with patristic theology. Dialectical speculation about God and the
Incarnation as such are rejected. Only those things which can be tested by the experience of
the grace of God in the heart are to be accepted. 'Be not carried about by divers and strange
teachings. For it is good that the heart be confirmed by grace', a passage from Hebrews 13.9,
quoted by the Fathers to this effect."[9] [Emphasis added.]
6. "The Latins' weakness to comprehend and failure to express the dogma of the Trinity shows the
non-existence of empirical theology. The three disciples of Christ (Peter, James and John)
beheld the glory of Christ on Mount Tabor; they heard at once the voice of the Father: 'this is my
beloved Son' and saw the coming of the Holy Spirit in a cloud — for, the cloud is the presence
of the Holy Spirit, as St. Gregory Palamas says —. Thus the disciples of Christ acquired the
knowledge of the Triune God in theoria (vision) and by revelation. It was revealed to them that
God is one essence in three hypostases. This is what St. Symeon the New Theologian
teaches. In his poems he proclaims over and over that while beholding the uncreated Light, the
deified man acquires the Revelation of God the Trinity. Being in 'theoria' (vision of God), the
Saints do not confuse the hypostatic attributes. The fact that the Latin tradition came to the point
of confusing these hypostatic attributes and teach that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Son
also, shows the non-existence of empirical theology for them. Latin tradition speaks also of
created grace, a fact which suggests that there is no experience of the grace of God. For, when
man obtains the experience of God, then he comes to understand well that this grace is
uncreated. Without this experience there can be no genuine 'therapeutic tradition'."[18]
7. "Theoria: Theoria is the vision of the glory of God. Theoria is identified with the vision of the
uncreated Light, the uncreated energy of God, with the union of man with God, with man's
theosis (see note below). Thus, theoria, vision and theosis are closely connected. Theoria has
various degrees. There is illumination, vision of God, and constant vision (for hours, days,
weeks, even months). Noetic prayer is the first stage of theoria. Theoretical man is one who is
at this stage. In Patristic theology, the theoretical man is characterised as the shepherd of the
sheep."[18]
8. "The province of Gaul was the battleground between the followers of Augustine and of Saint
John Cassian, when the Franks were taking over the province and transforming it into their
Francia. Through his monastic movement and his writings in this field and on Christology, Saint
John Cassian had a strong influence on the Church in Old Rome also. In his person, as in other
persons such as Ambrose, Jerome, Rufinus, Leo the Great, and Gregory the Great, we have an
identity in doctrine, theology, and spirituality between the East and West Roman Christians.
Within this framework, Augustine in the West Roman area was subjected to general Roman
theology. In the East Roman area, Augustine was simply ignored."[5]
9. "18. Indeed, some centuries earlier, just after the Norman conquest, the second Lombard
Archbishop of Canterbury Anselm (1093-1109) was not happy with Augustine's use of
procession in his De Trinitate XV, 47, i.e. that the Holy Spirit proceeds principaliter from the
Father or from the Father per Filium. (See Anselm's own De fide Trinitate chapters 15, 16 and
24). This West Roman Orthodox Filioque, which upset Anselm so much, could not be added to
the creed of 381 where "procession" there means hypostatic individuality and not the
communion of divine essence as in Augustine's Filioque just quoted. Augustine is indeed
Orthodox by intention by his willingness to be corrected. The real problem is that he does not
theologize from the vantage point of personal theosis or glorification, but as one who
speculates philosophically on the Bible with no real basis in the Patristic tradition. Furthermore,
his whole theological method is based on happiness as the destiny of man instead of biblical
glorification. His resulting method of analogia entis and analogia fidei is not accepted by any
Orthodox Father of the Church. In any case no Orthodox can accept positions of Augustine on
which the Father's of Ecumenical Councils are in agreement 'against' him. This website is not
concerned with whether Augustine is a saint or a Father of the Church. There is no doubt that
he was Orthodox by intention and asked for correction. However, he can not be used in such a
way that his opinions may be put on an equal footing with the Fathers of Ecumenical
Councils."[10]
10. "11. In sharp contrast to this Augustinian tradition is that of the Old and the New Testament as
understood by the Fathers of the Roman Ecumenical Councils. The 'spirit' of man in the Old
and New Testaments is that which is sick and which in the patristic tradition became also
known as 'the noetic energy' or 'faculty'. By this adjustment in terminology this tradition of cure
became more intelligible to the Hellenic mind. Now a further adjustment may be made by
calling this sick human 'spirit' or 'noetic faculty' a 'neurobiological faculty or energy' grounded in
the heart, but which has been short circuited by its attachment to the nervous system centered
in the brain thus creating fantasies about things which either do not exist or else do exist but not
as one imagines. This very cure of fantasies is the core of the Orthodox tradition. These
fantasies arise from a short circuit between the nervous system centered in the brain and the
blood system centered in the heart. The cure of this short circuit is noetic prayer (noera
proseuche) which functions in tandem with rational or intellectual prayer of the brain which
frees one from fantasies which the devil uses to enslave his victims. Note: We are still
searching the Fathers for the term 'Jesus prayer'. We would very much appreciate it if someone
could come up with a patristic quote in Greek. 12. In sharp contrast to this tradition is that of
Augustinian Platonism which searches for mystical experiences within supposed
transcendental realities by liberating the mind from the confines of the body and material reality
for imaginary flights into a so-called metaphysical dimension of so-called divine ideas which do
not exist. 14. Orthodox Fathers of the Church are those who practice the specific Old and New
Testament cure of this sickness of religion. Those who do not practice this cure, but on the
contrary have introduced such practices as pagan mysticism, are not Fathers within this
tradition. Orthodox Theology is not 'mystical', but 'secret' (mystike). The reason for this name
'Secret' is that the glory of God in the experience of glorification (theosis) has no similarity
whatsoever with anything created. On the contrary the Augustinians imagine that they are
being united with uncreated original ideas of God of which creatures are supposedly copies
and which simply do not exist."[10] [Emphasis added.]
11. "9. The Ninth Ecumenical Council of 1341 condemned the Platonic mysticism of Barlaam the
Calabrian who had come from the West as a convert to Orthodoxy. Of course the rejection of
Platonic type of mysticism was traditional practice for the Fathers. But what the Fathers of this
Council were completely shocked at was Barlaam's claim that God reveals His will by bringing
into existence creatures to be seen and heard and which He passes back into non existence
after His revelation has been received. One of these supposed creatures was the Angel of The
Lord Himself Who appeared to Moses in the burning bush. For the Fathers of the Ecumenical
Councils this Angel is the uncreated Logos Himself. This unbelievable nonsense of Barlaam
turned out to be that of Augustine himself. (see e.g. his De Tinitate, Books A and B) and of the
whole Franco-Latin tradition till today."[10]
12. Book review[23] of Rose, 1997.[24]
13. Romanides: "Having reached this point, we will turn our attention to those aspects of
differences between Roman and Frankish theologies which have had a strong impact on the
development of difference is the doctrine of the Church. The basic difference may be listed
under diagnosis of spiritual ills and their therapy. Glorification is the vision of God in which the
equality of all men and the absolute value of each man is experienced. God loves all men
equally and indiscriminately, regardless of even their moral statues. God loves with the same
love, both the saint and the devil. To teach otherwise, as Augustine and the Franks did, would
be adequate proof that they did not have the slightest idea of what glorification was. God
multiplies and divides himself in His uncreated energies undividedly among divided things, so
that He is both present by act and absent by nature to each individual creature and everywhere
present and absent at the same time. This is the fundamental mystery of the presence of God to
His creatures and shows that universals do not exist in God and are, therefore, not part of the
state of illumination as in the Augustinian tradition. God himself is both heaven and hell, reward
and punishment. All men have been created to see God unceasingly in His uncreated glory.
Whether God will be for each man heaven or hell, reward or punishment, depends on man's
response to God's love and on man's transformation from the state of selfish and self-centered
love, to Godlike love which does not seek its own ends. One can see how the Frankish
understanding of heaven and hell, poetically described by Dante, John Milton, and James
Joyce, are so foreign to the Orthodox tradition. This is another of the reasons why the so-called
humanism of some East Romans (those who united with the Frankish papacy) was a serious
regression and not an advance in culture. Since all men will see God, no religion can claim for
itself the power to send people either to heaven or to hell. This means that true spiritual fathers
prepare their spiritual charges so that vision of God's glory will be heaven, and not hell, reward
and not punishment. The primary purpose of Orthodox Christianity then, is to prepare its
members for an experience which every human being will sooner or later have."[9] [Emphasis
added.]
14. "Man has a malfunctioning or non-functioning noetic faculty in the heart, and it is the task
especially of the clergy to apply the cure of unceasing memory of God, otherwise called
unceasing prayer or illumination."[9] "Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see
God 'in light - divine darkness', while the selfish and impure see God the judge as 'fire -
darkness'."[26]
15. "Paradise and Hell exist not in the form of a threat and a punishment on the part of God but in
the form of an illness and a cure. Those who are cured and those who are purified experience
the illuminating energy of divine grace, while the uncured and ill experience the caustic energy
of God. […] Those who have selfless love and are friends of God see God in light - divine light,
while the selfish and impure see God the judge as fire - darkness."[26]
16. "God himself is both heaven and hell, reward and punishment. All men have been created to
see God unceasingly in His uncreated glory. Whether God will be for each man heaven or hell,
reward or punishment, depends on man's response to God's love and on man's transformation
from the state of selfish and self-centered love, to Godlike love which does not seek its own
ends. […] Proper preparation for vision of God takes place in two stages: purification, and
illumination of the noetic faculty. Without this, it is impossible for man's selfish love to be
transformed into selfless love. This transformation takes place during the higher level of the
stage of illumination called theoria, literally meaning vision-in this case vision by means of
unceasing and uninterrupted memory of God. Those who remain selfish and self-centered with
a hardened heart, closed to God's love, will not see the glory of God in this life. However, they
will see God's glory eventually, but as an eternal and consuming fire and outer darkness."[9]
17. "God himself is both heaven and hell, reward and punishment. All men have been created to
see God unceasingly in His uncreated glory. Whether God will be for each man heaven or hell,
reward or punishment, depends on man's response to God's love and on man's transformation
from the state of selfish and self-centered love, to Godlike love which does not seek its own
ends."[9]
18. "Hesychasm, then, which is centered on the enlightenment or deification (θέωσις, or theosis, in
Greek) of man, perfectly encapsulates the soteriological principles and full scope of the spiritual
life of the Eastern Church. As Bishop Auxentios of Photiki writes: '[W]e must understand the
Hesychastic notions of 'theosis' and the vision of Uncreated Light, the vision of God, in the
context of human salvation. Thus, according to St. Nicodemos the Hagiorite (†1809): 'Know
that if your mind is not deified by the Holy Spirit, it is impossible for you to be saved.'' Before
looking in detail at what it was that St. Gregory Palamas' opponents found objectionable in his
Hesychastic theology and practices, let us briefly examine the history of the Hesychastic
Controversy proper."[43]
19. "14. Orthodox Fathers of the Church are those who practice the specific Old and New
Testament cure of this sickness of religion. Those who do not practice this cure, but on the
contrary have introduced such practices as pagan mysticism, are not Fathers within this
tradition. Orthodox Theology is not 'mystical', but 'secret' (mystike). The reason for this name
'Secret' is that the glory of God in the experience of glorification (theosis) has no similarity
whatsoever with anything created. On the contrary the Augustinians imagine that they are
being united with uncreated original ideas of God of which creatures are supposedly copies
and which simply do not exist."[10]
20. "The three disciples of Christ (Peter, James and John) beheld the glory of Christ on Mount
Tabor […]. Theosis-Divinisation: It is the participation in the uncreated grace of God. Theosis is
identified and connected with the theoria (vision) of the uncreated Light (see note above). It is
called theosis in grace because it is attained through the energy of the divine grace. It is a co-
operation of God with man, since God is He Who operates and man is he who co-operates."[18]
21. "2. The leadership of the Roman Empire had come to realize that religion is a sickness whose
cure was the heart and core of the Christian tradition they had been persecuting. These astute
Roman leaders changed their policy having realized that this cure should be accepted by as
many Roman citizens as possible. Led by Constantine the Great, Roman leaders adopted this
cure in exactly the same way that today's governments adopt modern medicine in order to
protect their citizens from quack doctors. But in this case what was probably as important as the
cure was the possibility of enriching society with citizens who were replacing the morbid quest
for happiness with the selfless love of glorification (theosis) dedicated to the common good."[10]
22. www.monachos.net: "At the heart of Barlaam's teaching is the idea that God cannot truly be
perceived by man; that God the Transcendent can never be wholly known by man, who is
created and finite."[53]
23. "And, indeed, the Franks believed that the prophets and apostles did not see God himself, with
possibly the exception of Moses and Paul. What the prophets and apostles allegedly did see
and hear were phantasmic symbols of God, whose purpose was to pass on concepts about
God to human reason. Whereas these symbols passed into and out of existence, the human
nature of Christ is a permanent reality and the best conveyor of concepts about God."[9]
24. Romanides ideas have been very influential in the contemporary Greek Orthodox Churches,
and are supported by men like Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos,[18][26] Thomas
Hopko,[54] Professor George D. Metallinos[subnote 2] Nikolaos Loudovikos, Dumitru Stăniloae,
Stanley S. Harakas and Archimandrite George, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of St. Gregorios of
Mount Athos.[56]

References
1. Kalaitzidis 2013, p. 149.
2. Kalaitzidis 2013, p. 144.
3. Kalaitzidis 2013, p. 145.
4. Louth 2015, p. 229.
 5. Rōmanidēs, Iōannēs S. (1981). "Empirical Theology versus Speculative Theology, Part 3" (htt
p://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.franks_romans_feudalism_and_doctrine.03.htm). Franks,
Romans, Feudalism, and Doctrine: The Filioque. Holy Cross Orthodox Press. ISBN 978-0-
916586-54-6.
6. Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos 2005.
7. Kalaitzidis 2013, p. 147-148.
8. Ρωμανίδης, Ιωάννης Σ. (5–9 February 1982). Ο Ιησούς Χριστός-η ζωή του κόσμου (http://www.r
omanity.org/htm/rom.e.21.insous_xristos_i_zoi_tou_kosmou.01.htm) [Jesus Christ-The Life of
the World] (in Greek). Translated by Κοντοστεργίου, Δεσποίνης Δ. The Romans: Ancient,
Medieval and Modern. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20180813060113/http://www.rom
anity.org/htm/rom.e.21.insous_xristos_i_zoi_tou_kosmou.01.htm) from the original on 13
August 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2019. Original: Romanides, John S. (5–9 February 1982).
"Jesus Christ-The Life of the World" (http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.19.en.jesus_christ_the_lif
e_of_the_world.01.htm). The Romans: Ancient, Medieval and Modern. Archived (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20190208205029/http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.19.en.jesus_christ_the_life_o
f_the_world.01.htm) from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
9. Rōmanidēs, Iōannēs S. (1981). "Empirical Theology versus Speculative Theology, Part 2" (htt
p://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.03.en.franks_romans_feudalism_and_doctrine.02.htm). Franks,
Romans, Feudalism, and Doctrine: Empirical Theology versus Speculative Theology. Holy
Cross Orthodox Press. ISBN 978-0-916586-54-6.
10. Romanides, John S. "Some underlying positions of this website reflecting the studies herein
included" (http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.00.en.some_underlying_positions_of_this_website.
htm). The Romans: Ancient, Medieval and Modern. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2018
1119154828/http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.00.en.some_underlying_positions_of_this_websi
te.htm) from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
11. "While pointing this out, this writer has never raised the question about the sainthood of
Augustine. He himself believed himself to be fully Orthodox and repeatedly asked to be
corrected" [1] (http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.18.en.augustine_unknowingly_rejects_the_doct
rine.00.htm)
12. Antony Hughes. "Ancestral Versus Original Sin: An Overview with Implications for
Psychotherapy" (http://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/orthodoxy/articles/ancestral_versus_ori
ginal_sin). Cambridge, MA: St. Mary Orthodox Church. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
13. The Ancestral sin by John S. Romanides (Author), George S. Gabriel (Translator) Publisher:
Zephyr Pub (2002) ISBN 978-0-9707303-1-2
14. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 405 (https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P1C.HTM)
Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20120904224955/https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG00
15/__P1C.HTM) September 4, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
15. This claim is made by Romanides in the title of his Augustine's Teachings Which Were
Condemned as Those of Barlaam the Calabrian by the Ninth Ecumenical Council of 1351 (htt
p://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.18.en.augustine_unknowingly_rejects_the_doctrine.01.htm),
16. Augustine himself had not been personally attacked by the Hesychasts of the fourteenth
century but Augustinian theology was condemned in the person of Barlaam, who caused the
controversy. This resulted in the ultimate condemnation of western Augustinianism as
presented to the East by the Calabrian monk, Barlaam, in the Councils of the fourteenth
century. Saint Augustine in the Greek Orthodox Tradition by Rev. Dr. George C. Papademetriou
"Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20101105045903/http://goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfait
h8153). Archived from the original (http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith8153) on 2010-11-05.
Retrieved 2010-09-24.
17. "Saint Augustine in the Greek Orthodox Tradition" (https://www.goarch.org/-/saint-augustine-gre
ek-orthodox-tradition). www.goarch.org. Retrieved 2019-01-19.
18. Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos. "Orthodox spirituality" (https://web.archive.org/
web/20101007032450/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b15.en.orthodox_spirituality.01.htm).
Akraifnio: Εκδόσεις Ιεράς Μονής Γενεθλίου της Θεοτόκου (Πελαγίας) (Greek for 'Publications of
the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Pelagia))' [ el ]. Archived from the original
(http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b15.en.orthodox_spirituality.01.htm) on 7 October 2010. Retrieved
12 March 2019.
19. "Videtis ergo principalem bonum in theoria sola, id est, in contemplatione divina Dominum
posuisse" (Ioannis Cassiani Collationes I, VIII, 2)
20. Revelation for Palamas is directly experienced in the divine energies and is opposed to the
conceptualization of revelation. The Augustinian view of revelation by created symbols and
illumined vision is rejected. For Augustine, the vision of God is an intellectual experience. This
is not acceptable to Palamas. The Palamite emphasis was that creatures, including humans
and angles, cannot know or comprehend God's essence Romanides, Franks, Romans,
Feudalism, p.67
21. Revelation for Palamas is directly experienced in the divine energies and is opposed to the
conceptualization of revelation. The Augustinian view of revelation by created symbols and
illumined vision is rejected. For Augustine, the vision of God is an intellectual experience. This
is not acceptable to Palamas. The Palamite emphasis was that creatures, including humans
and angles, cannot know or comprehend God's essence Romanides, Franks, Romans,
Feudalism, p.67 "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20101105045903/http://goarch.o
rg/ourfaith/ourfaith8153). Archived from the original (http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith815
3) on 2010-11-05. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
22. Romanides, John S. (23 May 1980). "Orthodox-heterodox dialogues and the World Council of
Churches" (http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.12.en.orthodox_heterodox_dialogues.01.htm)
(Lecture at St. Vladimir's Seminary). The Romans: Ancient, Medieval and Modern. Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20180327003445/http://www.romanity.org/htm/rom.12.en.orthodox_h
eterodox_dialogues.01.htm) from the original on 27 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
"Fifth Column Augustinians posing as Traditional Old Calendar Orthodox: […] Posing as very
super-conservative traditional Orthodox, Cyprian of Fili and Chrysostomos of Aetna have been
quite busy trying to promote and defend Augustine's heresies among the Orthodox as one can
readily see in their publications. What is of interest is the fact that both Latins and Protestants
consider Augustine as the founding father of both the Latin and Protestant theologies.
Therefore, what is said in this introduction about the cure of the sickness of religion applies
equally to both Cyprian of Fili and Chrysostomos of Aetna and their attempt at penetrating
traditional Orthodox countries with the sickness of religion."
23. Chrysostomos of Etna (28 June 2007). "The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox
Church" (https://web.archive.org/web/20100820175605/http://josephpatterson.wordpress.com/2
007/06/28/the-place-of-blessed-augustine-in-the-orthodox-church/) (Book review). WordPress.
Archived from the original (http://josephpatterson.wordpress.com/2007/06/28/the-place-of-bless
ed-augustine-in-the-orthodox-church/) on 20 August 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2019. [Cf.
"Blessed Augustine of Hippo: His Place in the Orthodox Church: A Corrective Compilation" (htt
p://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/bless_aug.aspx). Orthodox Christian Information Center. 28
June 2007. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20181119161407/http://www.orthodoxinfo.co
m/inquirers/bless_aug.aspx) from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2019
– via Orthodox Tradition.]
24. Rose, Seraphim (1997). The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church (https://books.
google.com/books?id=5kIQAQAAIAAJ). Saint Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. ISBN 978-0-
938635-12-3.
25. (St. Isaac of Syria, Mystic Treatises) The Orthodox Church of America website [2] (http://www.oc
a.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=208) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070704063634/
http://www.oca.org/OCchapter.asp?SID=2&ID=208) 2007-07-04 at the Wayback Machine
26. Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos. "Life after death" (https://web.archive.org/web/
20090201132350/http://www.pelagia.org/htm/b24.en.life_after_death.07.htm). Akraifnio:
Εκδόσεις Ιεράς Μονής Γενεθλίου της Θεοτόκου (Πελαγίας) (Greek for 'Publications of the Holy
Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Pelagia))' [ el ]. Archived from the original (http://w
ww.pelagia.org/htm/b24.en.life_after_death.07.htm) on 1 February 2009. Retrieved 12 March
2019.
27. "Fordham online information | Academics | Academic Departments | Theology" (http://www.ford
ham.edu/academics/programs_at_fordham_/theology/faculty/aristotle_papanikola_26156.asp).
28. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110202043637/http://www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/alp
habetical/prodromou/). Archived from the original (http://www.bu.edu/ir/faculty/alphabetical/prod
romou/) on 2011-02-02. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
29. Thinking Through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars page 195 By
Aristotle Papanikolaou, Elizabeth H. Prodromou [3] (https://books.google.com/books?id=oqIjyC
KOAAUC&pg=PA193&dq=Prodromou+separation+rupture+alienation&hl=en&ei=EBiaTMrFH
4GB8gao2ICYAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCsQ6AEwAA#v=onep
age&q=hell&f=false)
30. Regarding specific conditions of after-life existence and eschatology, Orthodox thinkers are
generally reticent; yet two basic shared teachings can be singled out. First, they widely hold
that immediately following a human being's physical death, his or her surviving spiritual
dimension experiences a foretaste of either heaven or hell. (Those theological symbols,
heaven and hell, are not crudely understood as spatial destinations but rather refer to the
experience of God's presence according to two different modes.) Thinking Through Faith: New
Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars page 195 By Aristotle Papanikolaou, Elizabeth
H. Prodromou [4] (https://books.google.com/books?id=oqIjyCKOAAUC&pg=PA193&dq=Prodro
mou+separation+rupture+alienation&hl=en&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage
&q=hell&f=false)
31. Iōannēs Polemēs, Theophanes of Nicaea: His Life and Works, vol. 20 (Verlag der
Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996), p. 99
32. Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) speaks of "the hell of separation from God" (Archimandrite
Sophrony, The Monk of Mount Athos: Staretz Silouan, 1866-1938 (St Vladimir's Seminary
Press 2001 (https://books.google.com/books?id=JERJcdSKDbsC&pg=PA32&dq=%22The+de
ad+suffering+in+the+hell+of+separation+from+God%22&hl=en&oi=book_result&ct=result&res
num=1) ISBN 0-913836-15-X), p. 32).
33. "The circumstances that rise before us, the problems we encounter, the relationships we form,
the choices we make, all ultimately concern our eternal union with or separation from God" (Life
Transfigured: A Journal of Orthodox Nuns, Vol. 24, No. 2, Summer 1991, pp.8-9, produced by
The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, Ellwood City, Pa.). (http://www.theologic.com/of
lweb/secular/thank3.htm)
34. "Hell is nothing else but separation of man from God, his autonomy excluding him from the
place where God is present" (In the World, of the Church: A Paul Evdokimov Reader (St
Vladimir's Seminary Press 2001 (https://books.google.com/books?id=-6yosWlACnYC&pg=PA3
2&dq=Evdokimov+hell+separation&hl=en&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1) ISBN 0-
88141-215-5), p. 32).
35. "Hell is a spiritual state of separation from God and inability to experience the love of God,
while being conscious of the ultimate deprivation of it as punishment" (Father Theodore
Stylianopoulos). (http://stgeorgekeene.org/father-teds-august-2010-message/)
36. "Hell is none other than the state of separation from God, a condition into which humanity was
plunged for having preferred the creature to the Creator. It is the human creature, therefore, and
not God, who engenders hell. Created free for the sake of love, man possesses the incredible
power to reject this love, to say 'no' to God. By refusing communion with God, he becomes a
predator, condemning himself to a spiritual death (hell) more dreadful than the physical death
that derives from it" (Michel Quenot, The Resurrection and the Icon (St. Vladimir’s Seminary
Press 1997 (https://books.google.com/books?id=YppZakl7uygC&pg=PA85&dq=Michel+Queno
t+hell+separation&hl=en&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1) ISBN 0-88141-149-3), p. 85).
37. Archimandrite Sophrony, The Monk of Mount Athos: Staretz Silouan, 1866-1938 (https://books.
google.com/books?id=JERJcdSKDbsC&pg=PA32) (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2001
ISBN 0-913836-15-X), p. 32.
38. Life Transfigured: A Journal of Orthodox Nuns, Vol. 24, No. 2, Summer 1991, pp.8-9, produced
by The Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, Ellwood City, Pa. (http://www.theologic.com/
oflweb/secular/thank3.htm)
39. In the World, of the Church: A Paul Evdokimov Reader (https://books.google.com/books?id=-6y
osWlACnYC&pg=PA32) (St Vladimir's Seminary Press 2001 ISBN 0-88141-215-5), p. 32
40. Father Theodore Stylianopoulos (http://stgeorgekeene.org/father-teds-august-2010-message/)
41. Michel Quenot, The Resurrection and the Icon (https://books.google.com/books?id=YppZakl7u
ygC&pg=PA85) (St. Vladimir's Seminary Press 1997 ISBN 0-88141-149-3), p. 85).
42. Iōannēs Polemēs,Theophanes of Nicaea: His Life and Works, vol. 20 (Verlag der
Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996), p. 100
43. Archbishop Chrysostomos, Orthodox and Roman Catholic Relations from the Fourth Crusade
to the Hesychastic Controversy (http://faculty.washington.edu/ewebb/R327/Hesychastic_Contr
oversy.pdf) (Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 2001), pp. 199‒232.
44. "On Union With God and Life of Theoria by Kallistos Katafygiotis (Kallistos Angelikoudis)
greekorthodoxchrch.org" (http://www.greekorthodoxchurch.org/union_with_god_kallistos_kataf
ytiotis_angelikoudis.html). Greekorthodoxchurch.org. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
45. Henry George Liddell; Robert Scott [1940], A Greek-English Lexicon (http://artfl.uchicago.edu/c
gi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?c.27:3:174.lsj)
46. Archimandrite George, Mount Athos, Theosis – Deification as the Purpose of Man's Life
(extract) (http://www.greekorthodoxchurch.org/theosis_purpose.html)
47. Translator of Kallistos Katafygiotis, On Union with God and Life of Theoria (http://www.greekort
hodoxchurch.org/union_with_god_kallistos_katafytiotis_angelikoudis.html)
48. Archimandrite George, Mount Athos, Theosis: The True Purpose of Human Life, Glossary (htt
p://www.greekorthodoxchurch.org/union_with_god_kallistos_katafytiotis_angelikoudis.html)
49. Fellow Workers With God: Orthodox Thinking on Theosis (Foundations) by Normal Russell pg
50. Theosis as the Purpose of Mankind's existence by Archimandrite George (http://www.orthodoxi
nfo.com/general/theosis-english.pdf)
51. At the heart of Barlaam's teaching is the idea that God cannot truly be perceived by man; that
God the Transcendent can never be wholly known by man, who is created and finite. "Archived
copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20091119191939/http://www.monachos.net/content/patristic
s/studies-fathers/62-gregory-palamas-knowledge-prayer-and-vision). Archived from the original
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57. Kalaitzidis 2013, p. 148.

Sources
Kalaitzidis, Pantelis (2013), "The Image of the West in Contemporary Greek Theology", in
Demacopoulos, George E.; Papanikolaou, Aristotle (eds.), Orthodox Constructions of the West,
Oxford University Press
Louth, Andrew (2015), Modern Orthodox Thinkers: From the Philokalia to the Present,
InterVarsity Press
Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos (2005), "The Knowledge of God according to St. Gregory
Palamas", Orthodox Psychotherapy, Birth of Theotokos Monastery, Greece, ISBN 978-960-
7070-27-2

Further reading
Kelley, James L. A Realism of Glory: Lectures On Christology in the Works of Protopresbyter
John Romanides (Rollinsford, NH: Orthodox Research Institute, 2009).
Kelley, James L. "Protopresbyter John Romanides's Teaching on Creation." International
Journal of Orthodox Theology 7.1 (2016): 42–61.
Sopko, Andrew J. *Prophet of Roman Orthodoxy: The Theology of John Romanides (Dewdney,
B.C.: Synaxis Press, 2003).
Kelley, James L. "Romeosyne" According to Protopresbyter John Romanides and Christos
Yannaras: A Response to Pantelis Kalaitzidis (Norman, OK: Romanity Press, 2016).
Kelley, James L. "Yoga and Eastern Orthodoxy: Fr. John Romanides and the New Age." 160-
170 in Orthodoxy, History, and Esotericism: New Studies (Dewdney, B.C.: Synaxis Press,
2016).
Payne, D. P. (2006), The Revival of Political Hesychasm in Greek Orthodox Thought (https://ba
ylor-ir.tdl.org/baylor-ir/bitstream/handle/2104/4847/daniel_payne_phd.pdf), PhD dissertation.
Sopko, Andrew J. (2003), Prophet of Roman Orthodoxy: The Theology of John Romanides,
Synaxis Press.

External links

Works
Works of Father Romanides online (http://www.romanity.org/cont.htm#roman)
Ideas
Nicolas Prevelakis, Theologies as Alternative Histories: John Romanides and Chrestos
Yannaras (http://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/4889#noteref_n.12)

Criticism
romanity.org, Fabrications about professor John S. Romanides by Capuchino priest Yannis
Spiteris. Response by Prof. George Metallinos of The University of Athens (http://www.romanit
y.org/mir/me02en.htm)
Romanides: A Sympathetic but Critical Reading (http://ishmaelite.blogspot.nl/2010/06/romanid
es-sympathetic-but-critical.html)
Vladimir Moss, Against Romanides (http://www.orthodoxchristianbooks.com/articles/619/again
st-romanides/)

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