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Barlaam of Calabria
The 14th-century monk whose attack on hesychasm provoked Gregory Palamas's formal defense of the uncreated light.
Barlaam of Calabria (c. 1290-1348) was a Greek-Italian monk who attacked the hesychast monks' claim to see the uncreated light of Tabor, arguing that any light perceptible to the bodily senses must be created. His position implied that the energies of God are created effects, making theosis impossible in the strict Orthodox sense. St. Gregory Palamas's formal theological response — the Triads and the Palamite councils — vindicated the hesychasts against Barlaam.