Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. Two Sources and a Synthesis: 1. The allegory and Exodus; 2. Cataphatic and the apophatic in Denys the Areopagite; 3. The God within: Augustine's Confessions; 4. Interiority and ascent: Augustine's De Trinitate; 5. Hierarchy interiorised: Bonaventure's Itinerarium Mentis in Deum; Part II. Developments: 6. Eckhart: God and the self; 7. Eckhart: detachment and the critique of desire; 8. The Cloud of Unknowing and the critique of interiority; 9. Denys the Carthusian and the problem of experience; 10. John of the Cross: the dark nights and depression; 11. From mystical theology to mysticism; Further reading; Index.

Promotional Information

A closely argued book about what the negative tradition in Western theology involves.

Reviews

'... insightful, provocative, and polemical.' Journal of Religion '... a very fine book indeed, beautifully produced by CUP.' Church of England Newspaper '... passionate, eloquent, and daring.' The Friend '... important, challenging, well-argued and convincing.' The Heythrop Journal '... one of the finest books I have read in a long time.' The Expository Times