ENGLISH

The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism

By Denys Turner

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
1998
ISBN
0521645611, 9780521645614, 0511001959, 9780511001956
Open Library ID
OL7749966M
Language
english
Format
CHM
Filesize
322 kB (330194 bytes)
Pages
292\0
Topic
Religion
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

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 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.

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