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reupon declared by those who sought the circle to be squared that through implies eternally appeared a view which some accepted some thought weird these things occurred a long long time ago but nothing much has changed since then and so we ought to read the evidence anew illumined by the spirit who is true posted by bekkos filed in byzantium church history gregory of cyprus john bekkos poems theology 1 comment the destructive dilemma as a tool and sign of heresy may 29 2026 although the destructive dilemma is a formally valid argument it is often materially a fallacy it can give a specious appearance of truth owing to some ambiguity in the terms or some error of inference in the premises or some lack of exclusivity in the alternatives presented the destructive dilemma sometimes is expressed as follows if a then b if c then d but not b or d therefore not a or c or else it can have the form if a then either b or c but not b and not c therefore not a the destructive dilemma has a somewhat inglorious history in christian theology employed as a material fallacy it is a favorite argumentative tool of heresies three such heretical arguments immediately come to mind eunomius the son is generated either willingly or not willingly if willingly he is a product not of the father s nature but of will if unwillingly then the father has begotten the son out of compulsion conclusion therefore the son is not naturally begotten of the father but is instead the father s creature macedonians pneumatomachians if the holy spirit is god then if he is from the father he is another son the son s brother if he is from the son he is the father s grandson conclusion therefore the holy spirit is not truly god but is a creature iconoclasts if you depict christ then either you depict his humanity in separation from his divinity and thereby like nestorius sever the two natures from each other or else you depict his divinity together with his humanity which implies a kind of monophysitism and which contravenes biblical law against making an image of god conclusion therefore christ cannot be depicted and icons are to be prohibited compare these arguments to the destructive dilemma that stands at the heart of photius s critique of western augustinian triadology photius if you assert that the holy spirit proceeds from the father and the son then either like marcion and mani you posit two ultimate principles or else you confuse the personal distinctness of the father and the son in a kind of semi sabellian unity falsely endowing the son with the father s unique hypostatic property of being cause conclusion therefore the holy spirit does not proceed from the father and the son but proceeds from the father alone those are some ancient destructive dilemmas that come to mind in the sphere of theology there are more recent ones like what might be called the anglican dilemma if you claim that only men are fit to serve christ as priests at the altar representing him before the congregation in his priestly ministry then either you imply that gender has ontological significance for salvation and that christ because he took on the male gender came only to save men on the principle that the unassumed is not healed christ did not assume the female gender so by implication women are not saved or else if you acknowledge that christ s gender has no ontological significance for salvation then you must simply be asserting that accidental features of christ s person are necessary to represent him sacramentally and then why not extend that demand for accidental resemblance to other features of his person like being jewish being from galilee speaking aramaic etc conclusion therefore there are no compelling theological grounds against women s ordination it occurs to me now that the essential dogmatic claim of palamism might also be expressed in terms of a destructive dilemma if you deny that divine energy is really distinct from divine essence then either you claim that divine energy is identical with the divine essence in which case nothing that god does is not an essential divine activity and god cannot not create which is spinozism god and nature are two names for the same thing or else all of god s activity has a created character all grace is created grace and in himself god is inactive 1 conclusion therefore there must be a real ontological distinction between divine essence and divine energy and energy must be acknowledged as a third ontological reality in god alongside essence and hypostasis person aristotle somewhere says that the best way to refute a dilemma is to exhibit a known fact that contradicts the conclusion so st john of damascus in response to the iconoclasts pointed out that christ was seen and if seen he can be depicted so st gregory the theologian in response to the pneumatomachians pointed out that eve is from adam but is neither adam s son nor his grandson if so then neither must the holy spirit as god be either the son s brother or a grandson and john bekkos in response to photius pointed out a wealth of patristic testimony to the reality of the holy spirit s existential procession through the son as well as testimony that through and from are equivalent he thinks indeed that photius s argumentation is built on premises that are not in fact derived from the fathers but are photius s own invention if what i have stated above is correct then it would seem that when theological positions take the shape of a destructive dilemma it is if not a sure and infallible sign of heresy then at least a strong indication that the position so articulated is of dubious orthodoxy and that the position the dilemma seeks to disprove may well be true this is how palamas routinely characterizes the doctrine of akindynus completely disregarding what akindynus actually says which is essentially that uncreated grace is the indwelling presence of the holy spirit in the believer the presence that is of an uncreated person who actively works the believer s salvation ︎ posted by bekkos filed in theology leave a comment a prayer for peace february 20 2026 almighty god who governest the nations have mercy on us avert we pray the scourge of war grant sanity and sobriety of heart to those in seats of authority that they may recognize the gravity of their choices and the tremendous responsibility they shall bear for their actions turn their hearts into the way of peace let our hearts be established in thee so that though the foundations of the earth may be shaken we may not lose hope amidst the darkness of the times let the light of thy countenance shine upon us let justice and truth prevail upon the earth and make us thy servants to be sons of light and of the day for the sake of thy blessed son our lord jesus christ who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the holy spirit one god world without end amen posted by bekkos filed in prayers leave a comment constantine meliteniotes on the procession of the holy spirit part one 1 8 february 11 2026 below i present a translation of the opening paragraphs of constantine meliteniotes work on the procession of the holy spirit from 1275 to 1282 constantine meliteniotes served under patriarch john bekkos as chartophylax that is to say patriarchal chancellor and librarian a position bekkos himself had previously held under a succession of patriarchs of constantinople meliteniotes along with george metochites was one of two archdeacons who remained faithful to bekkos after his deposition who appeared with him at the second synod of blachernae in 1285 although gregory of cyprus had sent emissaries to them promising to promote them if they went over to his side and who accompanied him thereafter into exile the opening paragraphs of meliteniotes on the procession of the holy spirit bear an interesting relation to john bekkos s on the union and peace of the churches of old and new rome when one reads meliteniotes introduction one can hardly fail to see that meliteniotes has read bekkos s work there is in the first paragraph a citation of the same scriptural injunction with which bekkos begins his own book search the scriptures john 5 39 this is followed by a similar lamentation regarding the devastation caused by the muslim conquest of much former byzantine territory which as in the case of bekkos is seen as a consequence of the schism there is even a similar allusion to jeremiah but there are also significant differences the opening paragraphs of meliteniotes work show much more of an encomiastic character than what we find in bekkos there is first of all an encomium of emperor michael viii palaiologos who is praised for having applied himself to the task of bringing the union of the churches into effect in obedience to god and in the face of much popular opposition and there is also an encomium of john bekkos moreover much of meliteniotes introduction is directly addressed to god in thanksgiving for having brought the union about and meliteniotes seems especially to focus upon the hidden ways of god s providence by which he raises up defenders of the truth even from among those who are initially opposed to it since meliteniotes has clearly read bekkos s de unione ecclesiarum the passage translated below has a direct bearing on the question of when bekkos s de unione was first published this is a more complex and debated question than one might suppose in part because the historian george pachymeres reports a promise made by bekkos to a friend of his theodore xiphilinos not to write in response to anti unionist literature that was circulating in constantinople a promise which pachymeres represents bekkos as having broken on his return to office in august 1279 after which according to pachymeres bekkos undertook a whirlwind of activity publishing many books and holding many synods in defense of the union all of which pachymeres thinks did more harm than good this historical notice has led some people to think that it was not until late 1279 that is over four years into his patriarchate that bekkos actually published anything on the other hand other scholars hold that bekkos must have published certain works of his including the de unione and the de pace ecclesiastica within the first couple of years of his patriarchate that is during the years 1275 and 1276 i think that the witness of meliteniotes book supports the latter view in 1989 jacek benedykt huculak ofm defended at rome a dissertation on constantine meliteniotes titled graeca indoles doctrinae constantini meliteniotae de processione spiritus sancti ex patre filioque a copy of which he kindly sent to me huculak dates the de processione spiritus sancti of constantine meliteniotes to the year 1278 this would seem to fit with the description meliteniotes gives below where he describes the reconciliation with rome as having happened a little while ago but yesterday and the day before certainly a date later than 1278 would be out of keeping with this as would meliteniotes descriptions of emperor michael s long suffering and magnanimity in the face of opposition given that during the last years of his reign palaiologos became notoriously ruthless and violent against religious dissidents moreover from early 1277 to the beginning of 1278 meliteniotes had been in italy on an official embassy if he had only encountered bekkos s writings on his return from this it would have given him very little time to digest bekkos s arguments and incorporate them in his own lengthy work the passage translated below in my view at least makes it clear that from early on in bekkos s patriarchate bekkos had set meliteniotes and others to the task of researching the fathers and had made his own views on the correct interpretation of the fathers publicly known for instance in 7 meliteniotes says of bekkos that now having become the pastor of christ s rational sheep he is exhibited to us as a teacher of the truth through him god who does all things and transforms all things has spurred all those who had previously ignored them to examine the sacred texts and he has at this time brought all of the divinely inspired scripture that is to say the whole body of patristic literature into public view he could hardly have said this if bekkos had waited four years to publish anything in defense of the union constantine meliteniotes on the ecclesiastical union of the latins and the greeks and concerning the procession of the holy spirit through the son first discourse pg 141 1032 c 1137 d 1 give ear o heavens and i will speak and let the earth hear the words of my mouth deut 32 1 for it is time for me to pronounce the same words as did the most blessed moses even if not from an identical point of view nor concerning a similar situation 1033a for he in consternation at a disobedient people who opposed the lord s ordinances calls heaven and earth to witness whereas i do so rejoicing in those great and wonderful things which the one who is superior and above us all has done on our behalf and he did so with the intent of blaming the complaining israel whereas i do so intending to confess the one who has power over all things but what are the words of my confession directed joyfully towards the most high those which that same god directed man made the beginning of his rebuke against those who embittered him god true are his works and all his ways are judgments a faithful god and there is no unrighteousness in him righteous and holy is the lord deut 32 4 lxx who being moved by his bowels of mercy toward mankind so that i may append my own comments to the words of the prophet and lawgiver 1033b did not allow us to continue following our own desires like those of preceding generations many of them on the subject of the supersubstantial trinity particularly concerning the all holy and lifegiving spirit spoke out of their belly whatever seemed right to them with wide open mouth propounding their own theories concerning his ineffable existence and groundlessly stirring up a controversy alas to the overthrow of the churches thereby producing what is most destructive and most to be feared of all things but god after visiting us by the visitation of a greater reason and intellect as the lord himself in the gospels enjoined us all when he urged us to search the scriptures john 5 39 has roused us to set this present task as most urgent that gathering together the writings of the holy fathers we should go through them painstakingly by this means he guides 1033c those who studiously examine these texts to treat of the question of the spirit in the best way because of these things our minds have been opened to understand the truth that was previously hidden and we have at present become united with those of the elder rome truly and in accordance with christ with them a little while ago we became joined by a mode of economy we who for no good reason had become estranged from them god on account of the multitude of our sins having allowe...
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