Καθάπερ ἐπὶ τῆς τετρακτύος τῶν αἰσθητῶν τοῦ περὶ ἡμᾶς τοῦδε κόσμου στοιχείων ἀὴρ μεσιτεύει πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος, τὸ δὲ πάλιν ἀέρος καὶ γῆς, καὶ οὕτω συνδεῖται τὰ ἐναντία καὶ τὰ μαχόμενα σπένδεται, τὰς κατ’ ἀλλήλων ἀμυντηρίους δυνάμεις μηδαμῶς ἀποθέμενα.
Isaak Argyros was born in Thrace around 1300-1310 and lived in Constantinople. As a monk, he took part in the religious controversies of Hesychasm and wrote treatises against Gregory Palamas. His scientific work is related to the fields of astronomy, arithmetic, trigonometry and geometry.
Saint Gregory Palamas, archbishop of Thessaloniki, is perhaps the most important figure in 14th-century Orthodox theology. He dedicated himself to the defence of the values of Hesychasm, the domination of which in monastic life after the 14th century is mostly owed to the appeal Palamas and his writings had among the wider monastic community. In 1316 Palamas became a monk at Mount Athos where he was initiated into hesychastic monasticism. In 1326 he was ordained priest and in 1336 he began to exchange letters with Barlaam of Calabria, objecting to his syllogism in theological approaches.
1.354-8: ἐπεὶ δὲ ὅπερ ἐστὶ τοῖς γεωμέτραις ἀρχὴ καὶ κοινὴ ἔννοια καὶ ἀξίωμα, τοῦθ᾽ ἡμῖν ὑπάρχει ἑκάστη τῶν ἀποφάνσεων ὅσαι ἡμῖν περὶ τῶν θείων ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν ἀπεφάνθησαν. οὐδεμίαν ἄρ᾽ αὐτῶν πειρᾶσθαι χρὴ ἐκ συλλογισμοῦ λαβεῖν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἑκάστην ἔχειν βέλτιον ἢ κατ᾽ ἀπόδειξιν.