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  1. Home
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  3. The Darkness of God
  • Cited by 179
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
November 2009
Print publication year:
1995
Online ISBN:
9780511583131
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583131
Subjects:
Philosophy: General Interest, Religion, Philosophy, Theology
Information

Book description

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 centre, 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.

Reviews

‘… insightful, provocative, and polemical.’

Source: Journal of Religion

‘… a very fine book indeed, beautifully produced by CUP.’

Source: Church of England Newspaper

‘… passionate, eloquent, and daring.’

Source: The Friend

‘… important, challenging, well-argued and convincing.’

Source: The Heythrop Journal

‘… one of the finest books I have read in a long time.’

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