Dimensions
134 x 201 x 13mm
The latter half of the 14th century was a turbulent period: the great plague had just swept through England decimating its population; the hundred years war with France was drawing to its bitter end; social unrest was endemic; the Church was further and further divorced from the people. Against this background 'The Cloud Of Unknowing' was written. Its powerful message of God's unconditional love in the face of despair is as relevant today as it was 500 years ago.
The unknown author acknowledges that often at the height of the Christian's effort to love and know God is an impenetrable wall of silence, the dark cloud of unknowing. He assures the reader that perseverance and abandonment to God's boundless love will result in the experience of a fuller, deeper spiritual life, based on true love and devotion.
'The Cloud Of Unknowing' evokes an abstract, transcendent God, beyond human understanding. It calls for intense contemplation, motivated by love and stripped of all thought, as the way to the Divine. Yet the author's powerfully concrete language is deliberately at odds with this spiritual doctrine, making this book a rich work full of intriguing contradictions that speaks to us with liveliness and wit today.