The Cloud of Unknowing
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The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is written as guide from a teacher to a student, with the
The first page of Cloud of Unknowing in the 15th century manuscript Harley MS 2373, beginning with the Decorated initial "I"
Unknown painter Transfiguration of Christ WGA23487
Apophatic theology
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Apophatic theology, also known as negative theology and the Via Negativa, is a form of theological thinking and religious practice which attempts to approach God, the Divine, by negation, to speak onl
The Cloud of Unknowing
…understanding). The Cloud of Unknowing draws on the mystical tradition of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Christian Neoplatonism, which focuses on the via negativa road to discovering God as a pure entity, beyond any capacity of mental conception and so without any definitive image or form. This tradition has…
Plato Silanion Musei Capitolini MC1377
Plotinus, 204/5–270 AD
Engraving of Otto van Veen (1660), who negatively describes God as Quod oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit (Vulgate), "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard" (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Filippo Lippi, Vision of St. Augustine, c. 1465, tempera, Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg