The Cloud of Unknowing (anonymous author)
E440525
The Cloud of Unknowing is a 14th-century English mystical treatise that teaches contemplative, apophatic prayer through loving surrender to God beyond all intellectual understanding.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
anonymous author
ⓘ
medieval Christian mystic ⓘ |
| activeInCentury | 14th century ⓘ |
| activeInCountry | England NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| audience |
religious seeking guidance in advanced prayer
ⓘ
young or inexperienced contemplatives ⓘ |
| historicalContext |
late medieval English spirituality
ⓘ
pre-Reformation Western Church ⓘ |
| influenced |
20th-century English translations of medieval mystics
ⓘ
Carthusian spirituality ⓘ English Christian mysticism ⓘ Evelyn Underhill NERFINISHED ⓘ Thomas Merton NERFINISHED ⓘ centering prayer tradition ⓘ modern contemplative prayer movements ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
Augustine of Hippo
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Bernard of Clairvaux NERFINISHED ⓘ Cistercian mystical tradition ⓘ Gregory the Great NERFINISHED ⓘ Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite NERFINISHED ⓘ Richard of St Victor NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| knownFor |
emphasis on contemplative prayer of loving attention to God
ⓘ
insistence that God is known by love rather than by thought ⓘ teaching apophatic or negative theology in a practical, pastoral way ⓘ writing the mystical treatise "The Cloud of Unknowing" ⓘ |
| languageOfWriting | Middle English ⓘ |
| primaryTheme |
loving surrender to God beyond intellectual understanding
ⓘ
use of a "cloud of forgetting" for all created things ⓘ use of a "cloud of unknowing" between the soul and God ⓘ |
| religiousOrderOrMilieu | English contemplative tradition ⓘ |
| religiousTradition | Christianity ⓘ |
| spiritualPracticeTaught |
contemplative stillness and interior recollection
ⓘ
short word prayer or dart of longing love ⓘ |
| statusOfIdentity | real name and precise identity unknown ⓘ |
| theologicalOrientation |
Augustinian and Dionysian negative theology
ⓘ
apophatic mysticism ⓘ |
| viewOnContemplation | contemplation is a gift of grace rather than a human achievement ⓘ |
| viewOnHumility | humility is essential for contemplative union with God ⓘ |
| viewOnKnowledgeOfGod | God cannot be grasped by intellect but can be reached by love ⓘ |
| viewOnReason | reason is valuable but limited in approaching God ⓘ |
| viewOnSin | awareness of one’s sin fosters humility and dependence on God ⓘ |
| wrote |
A Treatise of Discerning Spirits
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
A Treatise on the Lord’s Prayer NERFINISHED ⓘ The Book of Privy Counselling NERFINISHED ⓘ The Cloud of Unknowing NERFINISHED ⓘ The Epistle of Discretion of Stirrings NERFINISHED ⓘ The Epistle of Prayer NERFINISHED ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.