The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780521645614)

For the medieval mystical tradition, the Christian soul meets God in a "cloud of unknowing," a divine darkness of ignorance. This meeting with God is beyond all knowing and beyond all experiencing. Mysticisms of the modern period, on the contrary, place "mystical experience" at the center, and contemporary readers are inclined to misunderstand the medieval tradition in "experientialist" terms. Denys Turner argues that the distinctiveness and contemporary relevance of medieval mysticism lies precisely in its rejection of "mystical experience," and locates the mystical firmly within the grasp of the ordinary and the everyday. The argument covers some central authorities in the period from Augustine to John of the Cross.

Author: Denys Turner
ISBN-10: 0521645611
ISBN-13: 9780521645614
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Language: English
Published: 11/05/1998
Pages: 292
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.94lbs
Size: 9.05h x 6.03w x 0.73d