The Essence/Energies Distinction in Eastern Orthodoxy

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Pergamum

Ordinary Guy (TM)
Can anyone explain to me the essence/energies distinction in Eastern Orthodoxy? I just cannot grasp what they are trying to say.

A real distinction between the essence (ousia) and the energies (energeia) of God is a central principle of Eastern Orthodox theology. Eastern Orthodox theology regards this distinction as more than a mere conceptual distinction

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Can anyone explain to me the essence/energies distinction in Eastern Orthodoxy? I just cannot grasp what they are trying to say.

A real distinction between the essence (ousia) and the energies (energeia) of God is a central principle of Eastern Orthodox theology. Eastern Orthodox theology regards this distinction as more than a mere conceptual distinction

?
I'm sure Jacob, the resident expert on EO, will chime in. They are saying something along the lines that God is unknowable in his essence, but we know him who he is towards us, that is, in his energies.
 
Per Palamas, there was thus a sharing of attributes whereby the humanity of Christ was penetrated by the divine energies and thereby deified. Man can partake of these energies. That a direct, personal experience of God himself (theosis) was accessible through God’s energies underlies EO's notions of theosis: that we may become as Our Lord is.
 
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