Byzantine excess, Slavic hesitancy: Euthymios of Tarnovo on visions

The medieval Slavs approached Byzantine speculative thought with caution. This essay explores Slavic hesitancy towards Greek theoretical ambition within the writings on visions of the Bulgarian theologian Euthymios of Tarnovo. Whereas the Greek hesychast theologian Gregory Palamas argued that the saints behold God's glory without mediation, Euthymios took a more modest approach, asserting that angels arbitrate between heaven and earth and bestow visions on the saints. Earlier scholars have described Euthymios as a ‘hesychast’, yet his views on visions align more closely with Palamas’ opponents and the Corpus of Pseudo-Dionysios.