Introduction: a sign of contradiction

Palamas is still regarded in the West with suspicion, partly because of Jugie’s persuasive construction of Palamism as a ‘near-heresy’, and partly because of the role of Palamas in Orthodox identity politics. The history of the reception of Palamas in the Orthodox world is traced in outline up to the imiaslavie controversy just before the First World War. The response to Jugie came from members of the Russian emigration, especially Meyendorff, who wished not only to defend Palamas but also to delineate an Orthodox identity in its new Western environment. The reception of Meyendorff’s work is discussed together with the new areas of research that he opened up. In a recent article on Palamas, Robert Sinkewicz declared that it was now time to raise the larger questions. These questions, concerning the coherence and significance of Palamas’ work on the philosophical and theological levels, are addressed in Part II of the book.