The Synodal Tome of 1351
The record and doctrinal decision of the council held in the Blachernae palace in 1351 under John VI Kantakouzenos. It affirms the distinction between God’s essence and his uncreated energy and anathematises Barlaam and Akindynos.
Read the text at archive.org ↗English translation of the tomes of 1341 and 1351 (third-party copy) ↗
The tome reviews the earlier councils, reports the sessions of 1351 at which Gregory Palamas, by then metropolitan of Thessalonica, answered his critics, and then works through six questions put by the emperor, with long chains of quotations from the Fathers. The translation notes that the original bore the signatures of the emperors John Kantakouzenos and John Palaiologos in red letters, followed by those of Patriarch Kallistos and the bishops, Palamas among them.
Like the tome of 1341 it is the judgment of the winning side, and it describes the opponents in the language of heresy-hunting. Its doctrinal conclusions are what the Orthodox Church later received; see Gregory Palamas and the Hesychast Councils.
Cited in
- 1341 to 1351, firm date