The Triads (Popular Patristics)

St. Gregory Palamas wrote theTriads, the foremost of his many theological works, to refute Barlaam the Calabrian’s attacks upon the spiritual practices of the Athonite monks. TheTriadsconstitute the apex of late Byzantine theology, serving to tie together many strands of thought from earlier Church Fathers into a remarkable synthesis of what it means for man to know God and how this knowledge is obtained. Above all, Palamas is at pains to prove to the reader that salvation is not a human reality but rather one that takes man beyond himself and the limits human nature imposes upon him. At the core of theTriadslies St. Gregory’s insistence that man can truly participate in the life of God even during the course of this earthly life and that this participation is a transfiguration of the whole manbody, soul, and mind.This translation by Alexander Titus is published alongside the original Greek text of Palamas as the first volume of the newPopular Patristics Series: Longer Works. An extension of thePopular Patristics Series, this new series is meant to bring to readers major texts from the patristic tradition that are too long to fit in the originalPopular Patristicsformat. TheLonger Worksare indispensable reading for anyone interested in the history and development of Orthodox theology or the Christian patristic tradition.