The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works

Although the exact identity of this text's author remains obscure, he was probably an English country parson of the late 14th century. The main theme of this book is that God cannot be reached by human intellect but only by a love that can pierce the "cloud of unknowing". Contains The Cloud of Unknowing, The Mystical Theology of Saint Denis, The Book of Privy Counselling, and An Epistle on Prayer. Against a tradition of devotional writings which focussed on knowing God through Christ''s Passion and his humanity, these texts describe a transcendent God who exists beyond human knowledge and human language. These four texts are at the heart of medival mystical theology in their call for contemplation, calm, and above all, love, as the way to understand the Divine.