Add to this the revitalization of the heresy of the Massalians, who were linked to the Bogomils and whom Saint Gregory encountered on Mount Papikio, and the magnitude of the problems of that time can be readily understood. In the main, life was dominated by a moralism that was foreign to the existential problems that people were facing, as well as by a desire for the good life, and also by Eastern mysticism. The existence of these three factors was accompanied by parallel cultural and religious undercurrents. In essence, this was a revolt within the confines of the Roman Empire. Of course, to be accurate, Dušan actually wanted to usurp the throne of Constantinople, so that he would be the successor to the Roman emperors. Indeed, at Easter, 1346, he called a Synod in Skopje, his capital, which elected a Patriarch of the Serbs and declared Stefan to be Emperor of the Serbs and Romans. The third danger was from the Slavs, and in particular from Stefan Dušan, who had conquered the whole of Macedonia apart from Thessaloniki, as well as Epirus, Thessaly and a part of Southern Greece. These dialogues are of considerable interest. He also held a dialogue with one Tasiman, who was responsible for the burial of the dead. During the time of his captivity, he held a dialogue both with Ismail, Orhan’s grandson, in Proussa, as well as with the Chiones. He himself was taken prisoner and remained so for about a year. At the time of Saint Gregory Palamas, in 1354 to be precise, the Ottomans entered Thrace for the first time, capturing Kallipolis. He became the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, to which he gave his name, and began to conquer provinces of Asia Minor. At the end of the 13 th century, a horde of Seljuk Turks Ghuzz acquired a certain Osman as their leader. The second danger came from the Ottomans. Indeed, his theology was idealistic and dualistic, since he separated the soul from the body, paid scant regard to the latter and operated within the context of Classical Metaphysics. John Romanides has proved, Barlaam was a Platonist philosopher and was at odds with the Orthodox tradition. Some people have tried to present Barlaam as a Father of the Church with Hellenistic tendencies, or even as a champion of nominalism, as expressed by William of Ockham. The first danger came from the Scholasticism of the West, which was indissolubly linked with moralism, as this was expressed by the philosopher Barlaam. In Saint Gregory’s day, three dreadful enemies made their appearance, all of whom had their eyes on the lands of the Roman (“Byzantine”) Empire as well as wanting to alter its cultural life. Naturally, his teaching isn’t his own invention, since he was expressing the doctrine of the Orthodox Church in those troubled times.
The feast on the Second Sunday of Lent, of Saint Gregory Palamas who lived at a crucial time in history (1296-1359), allows us to realize that his teaching is actually rather topical, since there are a good number of similarities with our own age.
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