CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>The Cloud of Unknowing - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"916ed5b3-2efe-4cc6-8085-55feb65d08e6","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"The_Cloud_of_Unknowing","wgTitle":"The Cloud of Unknowing","wgCurRevisionId":1253316159,"wgRevisionId":1253316159,"wgArticleId":634135,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Webarchive template wayback links","Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","Use dmy dates from September 2020","Articles needing additional references from May 2018","All articles needing additional references","Articles with LibriVox links","14th-century Christian texts","Visionary literature","Middle English literature","Neoplatonic texts","Works published anonymously","Roman Catholic mystics","English Catholic mystics", "English Roman Catholics","Catholic spirituality","English religious writers","Middle English","English non-fiction books","Works of unknown authorship","Mary of Bethany","Clouds in culture"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en","wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"The_Cloud_of_Unknowing","wgRelevantArticleId":634135,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":30000,"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false, "wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false,"wgWikibaseItemId":"Q1217629","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init" :"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","ext.scribunto.logs","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc","skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="1200"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1753"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg/800px-The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="800"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1169"> <meta property="og:image" content="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg/640px-The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg"> <meta property="og:image:width" content="640"> <meta property="og:image:height" content="935"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="The Cloud of Unknowing - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-The_Cloud_of_Unknowing rootpage-The_Cloud_of_Unknowing skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-History" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#History"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>History</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-History-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Contents" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Contents"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Contents</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Contents-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Other_works_by_the_same_author" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Other_works_by_the_same_author"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Other works by the same author</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Other_works_by_the_same_author-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Manuscripts" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Manuscripts"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Manuscripts</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Manuscripts-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Later_influence" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Later_influence"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Later influence</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Later_influence-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References_in_popular_culture" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References_in_popular_culture"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>References in popular culture</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References_in_popular_culture-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Editions" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Editions"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Editions</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Editions-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 10 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-10" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">10 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%8A%D1%82_%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE" title="Облакът на незнанието – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Облакът на незнанието" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Wolke_des_Nichtwissens" title="Die Wolke des Nichtwissens – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Die Wolke des Nichtwissens" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nube_del_desconocimiento#top" title="Nube del desconocimiento – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Nube del desconocimiento" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Nubo_de_Nescio" title="La Nubo de Nescio – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="La Nubo de Nescio" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Nuage_de_l%27inconnaissance" title="Le Nuage de l'inconnaissance – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Le Nuage de l'inconnaissance" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_nube_della_non-conoscenza" title="La nube della non-conoscenza – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="La nube della non-conoscenza" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chmura_niewiedzy" title="Chmura niewiedzy – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Chmura niewiedzy" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Nuvem_do_N%C3%A3o_Saber" title="A Nuvem do Não Saber – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="A Nuvem do Não Saber" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F" title="Облако неведения – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Облако неведения" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molnet" title="Molnet – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Molnet" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1217629#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&oldid=1253316159" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&id=1253316159&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Cloud_of_Unknowing"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FThe_Cloud_of_Unknowing"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-commons mw-list-item"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" hreflang="en"><span>Wikimedia Commons</span></a></li><li class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikiquote mw-list-item"><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" hreflang="en"><span>Wikiquote</span></a></li><li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q1217629" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Medieval work of Christian mysticism</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about the medieval book. For other uses, see <a href="/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_(disambiguation)" class="mw-disambig" title="The Cloud of Unknowing (disambiguation)">The Cloud of Unknowing (disambiguation)</a>.</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><caption class="infobox-title" style="font-size:125%; font-style:italic; padding-bottom:0.2em;">The Cloud of Unknowing <span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing&rft.author=Anonymous&rft.date=Late+14th+century&rft.place=England"></span></caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="/wiki/File:The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_(Harley_2373_).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg/220px-The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="321" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg/330px-The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg/440px-The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="907" data-file-height="1325" /></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">The first page of <i>Cloud of Unknowing</i> in the 15th century manuscript <i>Harley MS 2373</i>, beginning with the <a href="/wiki/Decorated_initial" class="mw-redirect" title="Decorated initial">Decorated initial</a> "I"<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>note 1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-bl_1-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Author</th><td class="infobox-data">Anonymous</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Original title</th><td class="infobox-data"><i>The Cloude of Unknowyng</i></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Language</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Subject</th><td class="infobox-data">Spiritual guide to contemplative prayer</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Christian_mysticism" title="Christian mysticism">Christian mysticism</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Publication date</div></th><td class="infobox-data">Late 14th century</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Publication place</th><td class="infobox-data">England</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Followed by</th><td class="infobox-data"><i>The Book of Privy Counseling </i></td></tr></tbody></table> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1246091330">.mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:22em;float:right;clear:right;margin:0.5em 0 1em 1em;background:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa);border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);padding:0.2em;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%;border-collapse:collapse;display:table}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:table!important;float:right!important;margin:0.5em 0 1em 1em!important}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-subgroup{width:100%;margin:0;border-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-left{float:left;clear:left;margin:0.5em 1em 1em 0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-none{float:none;clear:both;margin:0.5em 1em 1em 0}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-outer-title{padding:0 0.4em 0.2em;font-size:125%;line-height:1.2em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-image{padding:0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-top-caption,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle-with-top-image,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-caption{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-pretitle{padding:0.4em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.2em 0.8em;font-size:145%;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-image{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-heading{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content{padding:0 0.5em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content-with-subgroup{padding:0.1em 0.4em 0.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-below{padding:0.3em 0.8em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-below{border-top:1px solid #aaa;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-navbar{text-align:right;font-size:115%;padding:0 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6em;font-size:105%}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title-c{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:center;margin:0 3.3em}@media(max-width:640px){body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886047488">.mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1246091330"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488"><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks hlist"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">Part of <a href="/wiki/Category:Christian_mysticism" title="Category:Christian mysticism">a series</a> on</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a href="/wiki/Christian_mysticism" title="Christian mysticism">Christian mysticism</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span class="notpageimage" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Unknown_painter_-_Transfiguration_of_Christ_-_WGA23487.jpg" class="mw-file-description" title="Transfiguration of Jesus"><img alt="Transfiguration of Jesus" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Unknown_painter_-_Transfiguration_of_Christ_-_WGA23487.jpg/180px-Unknown_painter_-_Transfiguration_of_Christ_-_WGA23487.jpg" decoding="async" width="180" height="263" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Unknown_painter_-_Transfiguration_of_Christ_-_WGA23487.jpg/270px-Unknown_painter_-_Transfiguration_of_Christ_-_WGA23487.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Unknown_painter_-_Transfiguration_of_Christ_-_WGA23487.jpg/360px-Unknown_painter_-_Transfiguration_of_Christ_-_WGA23487.jpg 2x" data-file-width="659" data-file-height="964" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:#ddf;text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Theology and philosophy</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Apophatic_theology" title="Apophatic theology">Apophatic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ascetical_theology" title="Ascetical theology">Ascetical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cataphatic_theology" title="Cataphatic theology">Cataphatic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catholic_spirituality" title="Catholic spirituality">Catholic spirituality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christianity_and_Ancient_Greek_philosophy" title="Christianity and Ancient Greek philosophy">Hellenistic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mystical_theology" title="Mystical theology">Mystical theology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neoplatonism_and_Christianity" title="Neoplatonism and Christianity">Neoplatonic</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Henosis" title="Henosis">Henosis</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:#ddf;text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Practices</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;"> <dl><dt>Monasticism<br /></dt></dl> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Christian_monasticism" title="Christian monasticism">Monasticism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/New_Monasticism" title="New Monasticism">New</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monastic_silence" title="Monastic silence">Silence</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Asceticism" title="Asceticism">Asceticism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mendicant" title="Mendicant">Mendicant</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_direction" title="Spiritual direction">Spiritual direction</a></li></ul> <dl><dt>Meditation<br /></dt></dl> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Christian_meditation" title="Christian meditation">Meditation</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Lectio_Divina" title="Lectio Divina">Lectio Divina</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intercession_of_saints" title="Intercession of saints">Invoking of Mystic Saints</a></li></ul> <dl><dt>Active asceticism<br /></dt></dl> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Christian_contemplation" class="mw-redirect" title="Christian contemplation">Contemplation</a> <ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Hesychasm" title="Hesychasm">Hesychasm</a></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Jesus_Prayer" title="Jesus Prayer">Jesus Prayer</a></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Quietism_(Christian_contemplation)" title="Quietism (Christian contemplation)">Quietism</a></span></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/State_(theology)" class="mw-redirect" title="State (theology)">Stages of Christian perfection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hesychia" title="Hesychia">Hesychia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divinization_(Christian)" title="Divinization (Christian)">Divinization</a> <ul><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="/wiki/Catharsis" title="Catharsis">Catharsis</a></span></li> <li><span style="font-size:85%;"><i><a href="/wiki/Theosis_(Eastern_Christian_theology)" title="Theosis (Eastern Christian theology)">Theosis</a></i></span></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kenosis" title="Kenosis">Kenosis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_dryness" title="Spiritual dryness">Spiritual dryness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religious_ecstasy" title="Religious ecstasy">Religious ecstasy</a></li></ul> <dl><dt>Passive asceticism<br /></dt></dl> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abstinence" title="Abstinence">Abstinence</a></li></ul> <dl><dt>Esoteric<br /></dt></dl> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Charismatic_Christianity" title="Charismatic Christianity">Charismatic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Esoteric_Christianity" title="Esoteric Christianity">Esoteric</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:#ddf;text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">People <span style="font-size:85%;"><span class="nobold">(by era or century)</span></span></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;"><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none;margin-top:0.3em;"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">Antiquity</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Christian_mysticism_in_ancient_Africa" title="Christian mysticism in ancient Africa">Ancient African</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Origen" title="Origen">Origen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomasines" title="Thomasines">Thomasines</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gregory_of_Nyssa" title="Gregory of Nyssa">Gregory of Nyssa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pseudo-Dionysius_the_Areopagite" title="Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite"><span class="nowrap">Pseudo-Dionysius</span></a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Desert_Fathers" title="Desert Fathers">Desert Fathers</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Paul_of_Thebes" title="Paul of Thebes">Paul of Thebes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anthony_the_Great" title="Anthony the Great">Anthony the Great</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arsenius_the_Great" title="Arsenius the Great">Arsenius the Great</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Poemen" title="Poemen">Poemen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Macarius_of_Egypt" title="Macarius of Egypt">Macarius of Egypt</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moses_the_Black" title="Moses the Black">Moses the Black</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Syncletica_of_Alexandria" title="Syncletica of Alexandria">Syncletica</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria" title="Athanasius of Alexandria">Athanasius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Chrysostom" title="John Chrysostom">John Chrysostom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hilarion" title="Hilarion">Hilarion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Cassian" title="John Cassian">John Cassian</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">11th <b>·</b> 12th</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux" title="Bernard of Clairvaux">Bernard of Clairvaux</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guigo_II" title="Guigo II">Guigo II</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen" title="Hildegard of Bingen">Hildegard of Bingen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Symeon_the_New_Theologian" title="Symeon the New Theologian">Symeon the New Theologian</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">13th <b>·</b> 14th</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Dominican_mystics" title="Category:Dominican mystics">Dominican</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-left:0.35em;padding-right:0.35em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Saint_Dominic" title="Saint Dominic">Dominic de Guzmán</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Franciscan_mystics" title="Category:Franciscan mystics">Franciscan</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-left:0.35em;padding-right:0.35em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi" title="Francis of Assisi">Francis of Assisi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anthony_of_Padua" title="Anthony of Padua">Anthony of Padua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bonaventure" title="Bonaventure">Bonaventure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jacopone_da_Todi" title="Jacopone da Todi">Jacopone da Todi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Angela_of_Foligno" title="Angela of Foligno">Angela of Foligno</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> English</th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-left:0.35em;padding-right:0.35em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Rolle" title="Richard Rolle">Richard Rolle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Walter_Hilton" title="Walter Hilton">Walter Hilton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich" title="Julian of Norwich">Julian of Norwich</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Margery_Kempe" title="Margery Kempe">Margery Kempe</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <a href="/wiki/Category:Flemish_Christian_mystics" title="Category:Flemish Christian mystics">Flemish</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-left:0.35em;padding-right:0.35em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Beatrice_of_Nazareth" title="Beatrice of Nazareth">Beatrice of Nazareth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lutgardis" title="Lutgardis">Lutgardis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hadewijch" title="Hadewijch">Hadewijch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_van_Ruysbroeck" class="mw-redirect" title="John van Ruysbroeck">John van Ruysbroeck</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <a href="/wiki/German_mysticism" class="mw-redirect" title="German mysticism">German</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-left:0.35em;padding-right:0.35em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Meister_Eckhart" title="Meister Eckhart">Meister Eckhart</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johannes_Tauler" title="Johannes Tauler">Johannes Tauler</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Suso" title="Henry Suso">Henry Suso</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <a href="/wiki/List_of_female_mystics#Christianity" title="List of female mystics">Female</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="padding-left:0.35em;padding-right:0.35em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Beatrice_of_Nazareth" title="Beatrice of Nazareth">Beatrice of Nazareth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bridget_of_Sweden" title="Bridget of Sweden"><span class="wrap">Bridget of Sweden</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catherine_of_Siena" title="Catherine of Siena">Catherine of Siena</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mechthild_of_Magdeburg" title="Mechthild of Magdeburg">Mechthild of Magdeburg</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marguerite_Porete" title="Marguerite Porete">Marguerite Porete</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">15th <b>·</b> 16th</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <a href="/wiki/Spanish_mystics" title="Spanish mystics">Spanish</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola" title="Ignatius of Loyola">Ignatius of Loyola</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francisco_de_Osuna" title="Francisco de Osuna"><span class="wrap">Francisco de Osuna</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_of_%C3%81vila" title="John of Ávila">John of Ávila</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila" title="Teresa of Ávila">Teresa of Ávila</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_of_the_Cross" title="John of the Cross">John of the Cross</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <span class="nobold">Others</span></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Catherine_of_Genoa" title="Catherine of Genoa">Catherine of Genoa</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">17th <b>·</b> 18th</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="background-color: transparent; color: var( --color-base ); border-collapse:collapse; border-spacing:0px; border:none; width:100%; margin:0px; font-size:100%; clear:none; float:none"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <a href="/wiki/French_school_of_spirituality" title="French school of spirituality">French</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Margaret_Mary_Alacoque" title="Margaret Mary Alacoque">Margaret Mary Alacoque</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pierre_de_B%C3%A9rulle" title="Pierre de Bérulle">Pierre de Bérulle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Olier" title="Jean-Jacques Olier">Jean-Jacques Olier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Louis_de_Montfort" title="Louis de Montfort">Louis de Montfort</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_de_Condren" title="Charles de Condren">Charles de Condren</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Eudes" title="John Eudes">John Eudes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_of_St._Samson" title="John of St. Samson">John of St. Samson</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><th class="sidebar-heading" style="font-style:italic;"> <span class="nobold">Others</span></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Mary_of_Jesus_of_%C3%81greda" title="Mary of Jesus of Ágreda">Mary of Jesus of Ágreda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anne_Catherine_Emmerich" title="Anne Catherine Emmerich"><span class="wrap">Anne Catherine Emmerich</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Veronica_Giuliani" title="Veronica Giuliani">Veronica Giuliani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francis_de_Sales" title="Francis de Sales">Francis de Sales</a></li></ul></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">19th</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dina_B%C3%A9langer" title="Dina Bélanger">Dina Bélanger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catherine_Labour%C3%A9" title="Catherine Labouré">Catherine Labouré</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/M%C3%A9lanie_Calvat" title="Mélanie Calvat">Mélanie Calvat</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maximin_Giraud" title="Maximin Giraud">Maximin Giraud</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bernadette_Soubirous" title="Bernadette Soubirous">Bernadette Soubirous</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Concepci%C3%B3n_Cabrera_de_Armida" title="Concepción Cabrera de Armida">Conchita de Armida</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luisa_Piccarreta" title="Luisa Piccarreta">Luisa Piccarreta</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mary_of_the_Divine_Heart" title="Mary of the Divine Heart">Mary of the Divine Heart</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_of_Lisieux" title="Thérèse of Lisieux"><span class="wrap">Thérèse of Lisieux</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gemma_Galgani" title="Gemma Galgani">Gemma Galgani</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">20th</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Padre_Pio" title="Padre Pio">Padre Pio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Therese_Neumann" title="Therese Neumann">Therese Neumann</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marthe_Robin" title="Marthe Robin">Marthe Robin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alexandrina_of_Balazar" title="Alexandrina of Balazar"><span class="wrap">Alexandrina of Balazar</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Faustina_Kowalska" title="Faustina Kowalska">Faustina Kowalska</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sister_L%C3%BAcia" title="Sister Lúcia"><span class="wrap">Sister Lúcia of Fátima</span></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edgar_Cayce" title="Edgar Cayce">Edgar Cayce</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simone_Weil" title="Simone Weil">Simone Weil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alfred_Delp" title="Alfred Delp">Alfred Delp</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Merton" title="Thomas Merton">Thomas Merton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charles_de_Foucauld" title="Charles de Foucauld">Charles de Foucauld</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edvige_Carboni" title="Edvige Carboni">Edvige Carboni</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elena_Aiello" title="Elena Aiello">Elena Aiello</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="text-align:center;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">Contemporary papal views</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.85em;padding-right:0.85em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0; padding-bottom:0.2em"><a href="/wiki/Aspects_of_Christian_meditation" title="Aspects of Christian meditation">Aspects of meditation<br />(<i>Orationis Formas</i>, 1989)</a></div> <a href="/wiki/A_Christian_Reflection_on_the_New_Age" title="A Christian Reflection on the New Age"><i>Reflection on the New Age</i> (2003)</a></div></div></td> </tr></tbody></table></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:#ddf;text-align:center;;color: var(--color-base)">Literature and media</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content" style="padding-left:0.5em;padding-right:0.5em;;font-style:italic;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lingua_ignota" title="Lingua ignota">Lingua ignota</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ordo_Virtutum" title="Ordo Virtutum">Ordo Virtutum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scivias" title="Scivias">Scivias</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ascent_of_Mount_Carmel" title="Ascent of Mount Carmel">Ascent of Mount Carmel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dark_Night_of_the_Soul" title="Dark Night of the Soul">Dark Night of the Soul</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_Canticle" title="Spiritual Canticle">Spiritual Canticle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Way_of_Perfection" class="mw-redirect" title="Way of Perfection">Way of Perfection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Book_of_the_First_Monks" title="Book of the First Monks">Book of the First Monks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Interior_Castle" class="mw-redirect" title="The Interior Castle">The Interior Castle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Abbey_of_the_Holy_Ghost" title="Abbey of the Holy Ghost">Abbey of the Holy Ghost</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/A_Dialogue_of_Comfort_against_Tribulation" title="A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation">A Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/From_Willow_Creek_to_Sacred_Heart" class="mw-redirect" title="From Willow Creek to Sacred Heart">From Willow Creek to Sacred Heart</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Glories_of_Mary" title="The Glories of Mary">The Glories of Mary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Imitation_of_Christ" title="The Imitation of Christ">The Imitation of Christ</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Ladder_of_Divine_Ascent" title="The Ladder of Divine Ascent">The Ladder of Divine Ascent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philokalia" title="Philokalia">Philokalia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Revelations_of_Divine_Love" title="Revelations of Divine Love">Revelations of Divine Love</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Story_of_a_Soul" class="mw-redirect" title="The Story of a Soul">The Story of a Soul</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theologia_Germanica" title="Theologia Germanica">Theologia Germanica</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Devotio_Moderna" title="Devotio Moderna">Devotio Moderna</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fatima_in_Lucia%27s_Own_Words" title="Fatima in Lucia's Own Words">Fatima in Lucia's Own Words</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Calls_from_the_Message_of_Fatima" title="Calls from the Message of Fatima">Calls from the Message of Fatima</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Miracle_of_Our_Lady_of_Fatima" title="The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima">The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sol_de_F%C3%A1tima" title="Sol de Fátima">Sol de Fátima</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">The Cloud of Unknowing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/On_the_Consolation_of_Philosophy" title="On the Consolation of Philosophy">On the Consolation of Philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Mirror_of_Simple_Souls" title="The Mirror of Simple Souls">The Mirror of Simple Souls</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sister_Catherine_Treatise" title="Sister Catherine Treatise">Sister Catherine Treatise</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tractatus_de_Purgatorio_Sancti_Patricii" title="Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii">Tractatus de Purgatorio Sancti Patricii</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Vision_of_Adamn%C3%A1n" title="The Vision of Adamnán">The Vision of Adamnán</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divine_Comedy" title="Divine Comedy">Divine Comedy</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Inferno_(Dante)" title="Inferno (Dante)">Inferno</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Purgatorio" title="Purgatorio">Purgatorio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paradiso_(Dante)" title="Paradiso (Dante)">Paradiso</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fatima_(2020_film)" title="Fatima (2020 film)">Fatima</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Christian_mysticism" title="Template:Christian mysticism"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Christian_mysticism" title="Template talk:Christian mysticism"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Christian_mysticism" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Christian mysticism"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><i><b>The Cloud of Unknowing</b></i> (<a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a>: <i>The Cloude of Unknowyng</i>) is an anonymous work of <a href="/wiki/Christian_mysticism" title="Christian mysticism">Christian mysticism</a> written in <a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a> in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on <a href="/wiki/Contemplative_prayer" class="mw-redirect" title="Contemplative prayer">contemplative prayer</a>. The underlying message of this work suggests that the way to know <a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a> is to abandon consideration of God's particular activities and attributes, and be courageous enough to surrender one's mind and ego to the realm of "unknowing", at which point one may begin to glimpse the nature of God. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> draws on the mystical tradition of <a href="/wiki/Pseudo-Dionysius_the_Areopagite" title="Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite">Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite</a> and Christian <a href="/wiki/Neoplatonism" title="Neoplatonism">Neoplatonism</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-eve_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-eve-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which focuses on the <a href="/wiki/Via_negativa" class="mw-redirect" title="Via negativa">via negativa</a> 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 reputedly inspired generations of mystics, from <a href="/wiki/John_Scotus_Eriugena" title="John Scotus Eriugena">John Scotus Eriugena</a>, <a href="/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa" title="Nicholas of Cusa">Nicholas of Cusa</a>, and <a href="/wiki/John_of_the_Cross" title="John of the Cross">John of the Cross</a>. Prior to this, the theme of a passing cloud of ignorance (as opposed to the heavenly and eternal truth of God beyond the cloud) had appeared briefly in the <i><a href="/wiki/Confessions_(Augustine)" title="Confessions (Augustine)">Confessions</a></i> of Saint Augustine (XIII, XV, 17–18) written around 398 AD.<sup id="cite_ref-intro_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-intro-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Concerning the placement of <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> in the trends of the <a href="/wiki/Catholic_Church" title="Catholic Church">Catholic Church</a> at the approximate time of its writing, the work joins a broader medieval movement within Christianity toward a religious experience of a more individual and passionate view of relationship with God.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The author is unknown. The English <a href="/wiki/Augustinians" title="Augustinians">Augustinian</a> mystic <a href="/wiki/Walter_Hilton" title="Walter Hilton">Walter Hilton</a> has at times been suggested, but this is generally doubted.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalsh19812_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWalsh19812-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It is possible the author was a <a href="/wiki/Carthusian" class="mw-redirect" title="Carthusian">Carthusian</a> priest, though this is not certain.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalsh19813–9_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWalsh19813–9-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>A second major work by the same author, <i>The Book of Privy Counseling</i> (originally titled <i>Prive Counselling</i>), continues the themes discussed in the <i>Cloud</i>. It is less than half the length of the <i>Cloud</i>, appears to be the author's final work, and clarifies and deepens some of its teachings.<sup id="cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In this work, the author characterizes the practice of contemplative unknowing as worshiping God with one's "substance," coming to rest in a "naked blind feeling of being," and ultimately finding thereby that God is one's being. Experience, in keeping with the mystical tradition, is considered the ultimate means by which a Christian can and should relate to God, and the practice of contemplation in <i>The Cloud</i> is thus focused on the experience of God by the contemplative. This relationship between God and the contemplative takes place within continual conflict between the spirit and the physical. God is spirit in the purest sense; therefore, no matter how intense one's desire or how fervent one's love, the movement toward God by body-bound contemplatives will ever be halted by the cloud of unknowing that hides God from our understanding and prevents the fullest and truest experience of God's being. The object of the contemplative experience is to know God, as much as possible, from within this cloud of unknowing. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Contents">Contents</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Contents"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> is written specifically to a student, and the author strongly commands the student in the Prologue, "do not willingly and deliberately read it, copy it, speak of it, or allow it to be read, copied, or spoken of, by anyone or to anyone, except by or to a person who, in your opinion, has undertaken truly and without reservation to be a perfect follower of Christ."<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The book counsels the young student to seek God, not through knowledge and <a href="/wiki/Intellect" title="Intellect">intellect</a> (faculty of the human mind), but through intense contemplation, motivated by love, and stripped of all thought.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>note 2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Experience of a "cloud of unknowing" is introduced Chapter 3: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>"For the first time you [lift your heart to God with stirrings of love], you will find only a darkness, and as it were a cloud of unknowing [...] Whatever you do, this darkness and the cloud are between you and your God, and hold you back from seeing him clearly by the light of understanding in your reason and from experiencing him in the sweetness of love in your feelings. [...] And so prepare to remain in this darkness as long as you can, always begging for him you love; for if you are ever to feel or see him...it must always be in this cloud and this darkness."</p><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i>. Translated by <a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">A. C. Spearing</a>. London: Penguin. 2001. pp. 22. <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8">0-14-044762-8</a>.</cite></div></blockquote> <p>This is brought about by putting all thoughts and desires under a "cloud of forgetting," and thereby piercing God's cloud of unknowing with a "dart of longing love" from the heart. This form of contemplation is not directed by the intellect, but involves spiritual union with God through the heart: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>For He can well be loved, but he cannot be thought. By love he can be grasped and held, but by thought, neither grasped nor held. And therefore, though it may be good at times to think specifically of the kindness and excellence of God, and though this may be a light and a part of contemplation, all the same, in the work of contemplation itself, it must be cast down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. And you must step above it stoutly but deftly, with a devout and delightful stirring of love, and struggle to pierce that darkness above you; and beat on that thick cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love, and do not give up, whatever happens."<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>As one pursues the beating of the cloud of unknowing as compelled by spiritual stirrings of love in the heart, the intellect and sinful stirrings will often pull the contemplative's focus away from God and back to the things of physical world and of the self. The author thus enjoins the contemplative to "vigorously trample on [any new thoughts or sinful stirrings] with a fervent stirring of love, and tread them down beneath your feet. And try to cover them with a thick cloud of forgetting, as if they had never been done by you or anyone else on earth. [...] Push them down as often as they rise."<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The author draws a strong distinction in Chapters 16-22 between the active and contemplative Christian life. He illustrates the distinction by drawing heavily from the <a href="/wiki/Jesus_at_the_home_of_Martha_and_Mary" title="Jesus at the home of Martha and Mary">account of Mary and Martha in the Gospel of Luke</a>, writing that "[By] Mary all contemplatives are understood, so that they should model their way of life on hers; and similarly by Martha, all actives, with the same consequent resemblance."<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> While the author holds Mary as the superior example in the passage as a "model for all of us [who seek to be contemplatives]," he clarifies that Martha's activity in service to God was nonetheless "good and beneficial for her salvation" but not the best thing.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p> Chapter 23 of <i>The Book of Privy Counseling</i> glorifies experience over knowledge:<link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"></p><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>"And so I urge you, go after experience rather than knowledge. On account of pride, knowledge may often deceive you, but this gentle, loving affection will not deceive you. Knowledge tends to breed conceit, but love builds. Knowledge is full of labor, but love, full of rest."<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>Chapters 39 and 40 recommend the focus on a single word as the means to invoke the fullness of God: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>When we intend to pray for goodness, let all our thought and desire be contained in the one small word "God." Nothing else and no other words are needed, for God is the epitome of all goodness. Immerse yourself in the spiritual reality it speaks of yet without precise ideas of God's works whether small or great, spiritual or material. Do not consider any particular virtue which God may teach you through grace, whether it is humility, charity, patience, abstinence, hope, faith, moderation, chastity, or evangelical poverty. For to a contemplative they are, in a sense, all the same. Let this little word represent to you God in all his fullness and nothing less than the fullness of God.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>note 3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>While the author presents many methods of his own for effective contemplation of God, he often leaves the teaching of method to God himself. In Chapter 40, for example, he advises a contemplative who is struggling with sin to "[...] feel sin as a lump, you do not know what, but nothing other than yourself. And then shout continuously in spirit, 'Sin, sin, sin! out, out, out!' This spiritual shout is better learned from God by experience than from any human being by word."<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>While the practice of contemplation in <i>The Cloud</i> is focused upon the experience of spiritual reality by the soul, the author also makes some provision for the needs of the body, going so far as to say that care for the body is an important element of spiritual contemplation if only to prevent hindrance of its practice. He writes in Chapter 41: </p> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1244412712"><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>And so, for the love of God, guard against sickness as much as you reasonably can, so that, as far as you may, you are not the cause of your own weakness. For I tell you that this work demands the greatest tranquility, and a state of health and purity in body as much as in soul. And so, for the love of God, regulate your conduct with moderation in body and in soul, and keep yourself as healthy as possible.</p><div class="templatequotecite">— <cite><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i>. Translated by <a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">A. C. Spearing</a>. London: Penguin Publishers. 2001. pp. 64–65. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8">0-14-044762-8</a>.</cite></div></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Other_works_by_the_same_author">Other works by the same author</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Other works by the same author"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In addition to <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> and <i>The Book of Privy Counseling</i>, the <i>Cloud</i> author is believed to be responsible for a few other spiritual treatises and translations, including: </p> <ul><li><i>Deonise Hid Divinity</i>, a free translation of the <i>Mystical Theology</i> by <a href="/wiki/Pseudo-Dionysius_the_Areopagite" title="Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite">Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite</a>. A vernacular translation of the <i>Mystical Theology</i> was unprecedented; however, it was clearly not widely read, since only two manuscripts survive.<sup id="cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><i>A Letter of Prayer</i> (<i>A Pistle of Prayer</i>), which survives in seven manuscripts. (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ccel.org/g/gardner/cell/cell18.htm">Online</a>);</li> <li><i>A Letter of Discretion of Stirrings</i> (<i>A Pistle of Discrecioun of Stirings</i>). (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ccel.org/g/gardner/cell/cell19.htm">Online, part VI of "The Cell of Self Knowledge"</a>)</li> <li>It is possible, but doubtful,<sup id="cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398_20-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that he wrote <i>A Treatise of Discernment of Spirits</i> (originally titled <i>A Tretis of Discrecyon of Spirites</i>), a free translation of <i>Sermones di Diversis</i> nos 23–24, by <a href="/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux" title="Bernard of Clairvaux">Bernard of Clairvaux</a>, (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ccel.org/g/gardner/cell/cell20.htm">Online</a>).</li> <li>It is possible, but doubtful,<sup id="cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398_20-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> that he wrote <i>A Treatise of the Study of Wisdom that Men Call Benjamin</i> (also called <i>Pursuit of Wisdom</i>, and, in its original, <i>A Tretyse of the Stodye of Wysdome that Men Clepen Beniamyn</i>), an abbreviated and free translation of the <i>Benjamin Minor</i> by <a href="/wiki/Richard_of_Saint_Victor" title="Richard of Saint Victor">Richard of Saint Victor</a> (<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ccel.org/g/gardner/cell/cell03.htm">Online</a>).</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Manuscripts">Manuscripts</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Manuscripts"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> has 17 known manuscripts.<sup id="cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The two best known are <a href="/wiki/British_Library" title="British Library">British Library</a> Harley MS 2373 and <a href="/wiki/Cambridge_University_Library" title="Cambridge University Library">Cambridge University Library</a> Kk.vi.26. These contain all seven of the works attributed to the <i>Cloud</i> author, the former extensively glossed in Latin.<sup id="cite_ref-intro_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-intro-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Another important manuscript is British Library Harleian 2373, which contains all but <i>Deonise Hid Divinity</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Later_influence">Later influence</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Later influence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Given its survival in only seventeen manuscripts, <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> was not as popular in late medieval England as the works of <a href="/wiki/Richard_Rolle" title="Richard Rolle">Richard Rolle</a> or <a href="/wiki/Walter_Hilton" title="Walter Hilton">Walter Hilton</a>, perhaps because the <i>Cloud</i> is addressed to solitaries and concentrates on the advanced levels of the mystical path. Two Latin translations of the <i>Cloud</i> were made in the late fifteenth century. One was made by <a href="/wiki/Richard_Methley" title="Richard Methley">Richard Methley</a>, a Carthusian of the Charterhouse of <a href="/wiki/Mount_Grace_Priory" title="Mount Grace Priory">Mount Grace</a> in <a href="/wiki/Yorkshire" title="Yorkshire">Yorkshire</a>, and finished in 1491.<sup id="cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalsh198116_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWalsh198116-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The other is anonymous. Neither, however, enjoyed wide dissemination.<sup id="cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>This work became known to English Catholics in the mid-17th century, when the Benedictine monk <a href="/wiki/Augustine_Baker" title="Augustine Baker">Augustine Baker</a> (1575–1641) wrote an exposition on its doctrine based on a manuscript copy in the library of the monastery of <a href="/wiki/Stanbrook_Abbey" title="Stanbrook Abbey">Cambrai</a> in <a href="/wiki/Flanders" title="Flanders">Flanders</a>. The original work itself, however, was not published until 1877. English mystic <a href="/wiki/Evelyn_Underhill" title="Evelyn Underhill">Evelyn Underhill</a> edited an important version of the work in 1922.<sup id="cite_ref-eve_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-eve-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The work has become increasingly popular over the course of the twentieth century, with nine English translations or modernisations produced in this period. In particular, <i>The Cloud</i> has influenced recent contemplative prayer practices. The practical prayer advice contained in <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> forms a primary basis for the contemporary practice of <a href="/wiki/Centering_Prayer" class="mw-redirect" title="Centering Prayer">Centering Prayer</a>, a form of <a href="/wiki/Christian_meditation" title="Christian meditation">Christian meditation</a> developed by <a href="/wiki/Trappist" class="mw-redirect" title="Trappist">Trappist</a> monks <a href="/wiki/William_Meninger" title="William Meninger">William Meninger</a>, <a href="/wiki/Basil_Pennington" title="Basil Pennington">Basil Pennington</a> and <a href="/wiki/Thomas_Keating" title="Thomas Keating">Thomas Keating</a> in the 1970s.<sup id="cite_ref-keating86_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-keating86-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> It also informed the meditation techniques of the English Benedictine <a href="/wiki/John_Main" title="John Main">John Main</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p> The contemplation method urged in <i>The Cloud</i> is similar to <a href="/wiki/Buddhist_meditation" title="Buddhist meditation">Buddhist meditation</a> and modern <a href="/wiki/Transcendental_meditation" class="mw-redirect" title="Transcendental meditation">transcendental meditation</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, the last paragraph of chapter 7 says: </p><blockquote><p>If you want to gather all your desire into one simple word that the mind can easily retain, choose a short word rather than a long one. A one-syllable word such as "God" or "love" is best. But choose one that is meaningful to you. Then fix it in your mind so that it will remain there come what may. This word will be your defence in conflict and in peace. Use it to beat upon the cloud of darkness above you and to subdue all distractions, consigning them to the <i>cloud of forgetting</i> beneath you.</p></blockquote> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References_in_popular_culture">References in popular culture</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: References in popular culture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-More_citations_needed_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" title="Special:EditPage/The Cloud of Unknowing">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a> in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">May 2018</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Leonard_Cohen" title="Leonard Cohen">Leonard Cohen</a> refers to <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> in the 1979 song "The Window" from <i><a href="/wiki/Recent_Songs" title="Recent Songs">Recent Songs</a></i><sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/James_Blackshaw" title="James Blackshaw">James Blackshaw</a> released an album in 2007 <a href="/wiki/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_(album)" title="The Cloud of Unknowing (album)">by the same name</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Luther_Adams" title="John Luther Adams">John Luther Adams</a>' orchestral work <i>Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing</i>, completed in 1995, was inspired by <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Steve_Roach_(musician)" title="Steve Roach (musician)">Steve Roach</a>'s album <i>The Magnificent Void</i> (1996) includes a track named "Cloud of Unknowing"</li> <li><a href="/wiki/J._D._Salinger" title="J. D. Salinger">J. D. Salinger</a>'s novel <i><a href="/wiki/Franny_and_Zooey" title="Franny and Zooey">Franny and Zooey</a></i> (1961) refers to <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> in a passage where the characters are discussing contemplative prayer.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham" title="W. Somerset Maugham">W. Somerset Maugham</a> referenced <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> in <i><a href="/wiki/The_Razor%27s_Edge" title="The Razor's Edge">The Razor's Edge</a></i>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Todd_Rundgren" title="Todd Rundgren">Todd Rundgren</a> refers to <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> in the 1989 song "The Waiting Game" from <i><a href="/wiki/Nearly_Human" title="Nearly Human">Nearly Human</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Current_93" title="Current 93">Current 93</a>'s 1994 album, <i><a href="/wiki/Of_Ruine_or_Some_Blazing_Starre" title="Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre">Of Ruine or Some Blazing Starre</a></i>, includes a song titled "The Cloud of Unknowing"</li> <li>In the album <i><a href="/wiki/Ghostyhead" title="Ghostyhead">GHoSTYhead</a></i>, <a href="/wiki/Rickie_Lee_Jones" title="Rickie Lee Jones">Rickie Lee Jones</a>' track 9 is titled "Cloud of Unknowing"</li> <li>In <a href="/wiki/Don_DeLillo" title="Don DeLillo">Don DeLillo</a>'s 1997 book, <i><a href="/wiki/Underworld_(DeLillo_novel)" class="mw-redirect" title="Underworld (DeLillo novel)">Underworld</a></i>, Part 3 (of 6) is entitled "The Cloud of Unknowing: Spring 1978," and a character speaks about the book.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vasari_Singers" title="Vasari Singers">Vasari Singers</a> released an album in 2007 entitled "The Cloud of Unknowing" using texts from Biblical and poetic sources. This is an 89-minute eponymous oratorio [2005] by the British composer Francis Pott [b. 1957]. <sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>The character Rev. Ames in <i><a href="/wiki/Gilead_(novel)" title="Gilead (novel)">Gilead</a> </i>(2004) by <a href="/wiki/Marilynne_Robinson" title="Marilynne Robinson">Marilynne Robinson</a> refers to the book several times in an introspective journal/letter to his son.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gorillaz" title="Gorillaz">Gorillaz</a>' 2010 album, <i><a href="/wiki/Plastic_Beach" title="Plastic Beach">Plastic Beach</a></i>, includes a song titled "Cloud of Unknowing"</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Swans_(band)" title="Swans (band)">Swans</a>' 2016 album, <i><a href="/wiki/The_Glowing_Man" title="The Glowing Man">The Glowing Man</a></i>, includes two songs titled "Cloud of Forgetting" and "Cloud of Unknowing".</li> <li>Appears atop a stack of religious volumes on the desk of Rev. Ernst Toller in <a href="/wiki/Paul_Schrader" title="Paul Schrader">Paul Schrader's</a> 2017 film <i><a href="/wiki/First_Reformed" title="First Reformed">First Reformed</a>.</i><sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Editions">Editions</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Editions"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Billy, Dennis J., CSsR (2014). <i>The Cloud of the Unknowing</i>, Liguori Publications, Liguori, Missouri. ISBN 9780764-822889.</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFButcher2018" class="citation book cs1">Butcher, Carmen Acevedo (2018). <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i>. Boston: Shambhala Pocket Edition. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-61180-622-9" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-61180-622-9"><bdi>978-1-61180-622-9</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing&rft.place=Boston&rft.pub=Shambhala+Pocket+Edition&rft.date=2018&rft.isbn=978-1-61180-622-9&rft.aulast=Butcher&rft.aufirst=Carmen+Acevedo&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFButcher2009" class="citation book cs1">Butcher, Carmen Acevedo (2009). <i>The Cloud of Unknowing with the Book of Privy Counsel</i>. Boston: Shambhala. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59030-622-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-59030-622-2"><bdi>978-1-59030-622-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+with+the+Book+of+Privy+Counsel&rft.place=Boston&rft.pub=Shambhala&rft.date=2009&rft.isbn=978-1-59030-622-2&rft.aulast=Butcher&rft.aufirst=Carmen+Acevedo&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><i>The Cloud of Unknowing: And The Book of Privy Counseling</i> (1944). ed. <a href="/wiki/Phyllis_Hodgson" title="Phyllis Hodgson">Phyllis Hodgson</a>. Early English Text Society. Oxford University Press, hardback: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-19-722218-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-19-722218-8">0-19-722218-8</a>.</li> <li><i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i> (1957). translator, <a href="/wiki/Ira_Progoff" title="Ira Progoff">Ira Progoff</a>. Dell/Doubleday. 1983 paperback: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-440-31994-3" title="Special:BookSources/0-440-31994-3">0-440-31994-3</a>, 1989 paperback: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-385-28144-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-385-28144-7">0-385-28144-7</a></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJohnstonpreface:Huston_Smith1996" class="citation book cs1">Johnston, William; preface:<a href="/wiki/Huston_Smith" title="Huston Smith">Huston Smith</a> (1996) [1973]. <i>The Cloud of Unknowing and the Book of Privy Counseling</i>. New York: Image Books. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-385-03097-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-385-03097-5"><bdi>0-385-03097-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+the+Book+of+Privy+Counseling&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Image+Books&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=0-385-03097-5&rft.aulast=Johnston&rft.aufirst=William&rft.au=preface%3AHuston+Smith&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span> (first edition, 1973)</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJohn_J._Kirvan1996" class="citation book cs1">John J. Kirvan (1996). <i>Where Only Love Can Go: A Journey of the Soul into the Cloud of Unknowing</i>. Ave Maria Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0877935912" title="Special:BookSources/0877935912"><bdi>0877935912</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Where+Only+Love+Can+Go%3A+A+Journey+of+the+Soul+into+the+Cloud+of+Unknowing&rft.pub=Ave+Maria+Press&rft.date=1996&rft.isbn=0877935912&rft.au=John+J.+Kirvan&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and other works</i></a>. Penguin Classics. 2001. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-044762-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-14-044762-0"><bdi>978-0-14-044762-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+other+works&rft.pub=Penguin+Classics&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-0-14-044762-0&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wolt_0&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span> Translated by <a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">A. C. Spearing</a></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing0000unse"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i></a></span>. New York: Penguin Books. 1961. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-044-385-1" title="Special:BookSources/0-14-044-385-1"><bdi>0-14-044-385-1</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+Other+Works&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Penguin+Books&rft.date=1961&rft.isbn=0-14-044-385-1&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing0000unse&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span> Translated by <a href="/wiki/Clifton_Wolters" title="Clifton Wolters">Clifton Wolters</a>. Includes <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i>, <i>The Epistle of Privy Counsel</i>, <i>Dionysius' Mystical Teaching</i>, and <i>The Epistle of Prayer</i>.</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWalsh1981" class="citation book cs1">Walsh, James, ed. (1981). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wals"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i></a></span>. Preface by <a href="/w/index.php?title=Simon_Tugwell&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Simon Tugwell (page does not exist)">Simon Tugwell</a><span class="noprint" style="font-size:85%; font-style: normal;"> [<a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q93230954#sitelinks-wikipedia" class="extiw" title="d:Special:EntityPage/Q93230954"><span title=""Simon Tugwell" in other languages">Wikidata</span></a>]</span>, Introduction by James Walsh. New York: Paulist Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-08091-2332-2" title="Special:BookSources/978-08091-2332-2"><bdi>978-08091-2332-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing&rft.place=New+York&rft.pub=Paulist+Press&rft.date=1981&rft.isbn=978-08091-2332-2&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wals&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <p>Editions of related texts include </p> <ul><li><i>Deonise Hid Divinite: And Other Treatises on Contemplative Prayer Related to The Cloud of Unknowing</i> (1955). ed., <a href="/wiki/Phyllis_Hodgson" title="Phyllis Hodgson">Phyllis Hodgson</a>. Early English Text Society. Oxford University Press, 2002 paperback: 0859916987</li> <li><i>The Pursuit of Wisdom: And Other Works by the Author of The Cloud of Unknowing</i> (1988). translator, James Walsh. Paulist Press Classics of Western Spirituality. paperback: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8091-2972-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-8091-2972-8">0-8091-2972-8</a>.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239009302">.mw-parser-output .portalbox{padding:0;margin:0.5em 0;display:table;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:175px;list-style:none}.mw-parser-output .portalborder{border:1px solid var(--border-color-base,#a2a9b1);padding:0.1em;background:var(--background-color-neutral-subtle,#f8f9fa)}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-entry{display:table-row;font-size:85%;line-height:110%;height:1.9em;font-style:italic;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-image{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .portalbox-link{display:table-cell;padding:0.2em 0.2em 0.2em 0.3em;vertical-align:middle}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .portalleft{clear:left;float:left;margin:0.5em 1em 0.5em 0}.mw-parser-output .portalright{clear:right;float:right;margin:0.5em 0 0.5em 1em}}</style><ul role="navigation" aria-label="Portals" class="noprint portalbox portalborder portalright"> <li class="portalbox-entry"><span class="portalbox-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:P_christianity.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/P_christianity.svg/31px-P_christianity.svg.png" decoding="async" width="31" height="28" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/P_christianity.svg/47px-P_christianity.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/P_christianity.svg/62px-P_christianity.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="360" /></a></span></span><span class="portalbox-link"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Christianity" title="Portal:Christianity">Christianity portal</a></span></li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Apophatic_theology" title="Apophatic theology">Apophatic theology</a> (known also as the <i>via negativa</i>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lectio_Divina" title="Lectio Divina">Lectio Divina</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width reflist-columns-2"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"A later owner has glossed the Middle English word 'cleped' with its modern equivalent 'called', in the left margin."<sup id="cite_ref-bl_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bl-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">An important introductory section of Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica states a recurring premise of the work: that "we cannot know what God is, but rather what He is not, we have no means for considering how God is, but rather how He is not." As for how to proceed: "Now it can be shown how God is not, by denying of Him whatever is opposed to the idea of Him" (Intro to Treatise on Divine Simplicity, Prima Pars, Q. 3). It's possible either that the author of the Cloud was influenced by Aquinas, or correspondingly, both the author and Aquinas were influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius. <a href="/wiki/Orthodoxy#Christianity" title="Orthodoxy">Orthodox Christian</a> philosophy is also influenced by Pseudo-Dionysius.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ch. 39-40, other translations:<br />* <a href="/wiki/Evelyn_Underhill" title="Evelyn Underhill">Evelyn Underhill</a> (1922/2003): "And if we will intentively pray for getting of good, let us cry, either with word or with thought or with desire, nought else nor no more words, but this word "God". For why, in God be all good.. Fill thy spirit with the ghostly bemeaning of it without any special beholding to any of His works—whether they be good, better, or best of all—bodily or ghostly, or to any virtue that may be wrought in man’s soul by any grace; not looking after whether it be meekness or charity, patience or abstinence, hope, faith, or soberness, chastity or wilful poverty. What recks this in contemplatives?.. they covet nothing with special beholding, but only good God. Do thou.. mean God all, and all God, so that nought work in thy wit and in thy will, but only God.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><br />* <a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a> original: "And yif we wil ententifly preie for getyng of goodes, lat us crie, outher with worde or with thought or with desire, nought elles, ne no mo wordes, bot this worde God. For whi in God ben alle goodes.. Fille thi spirit with the goostly bemenyng of it withoutyn any specyal beholdyng to any of His werkes whether thei be good, betir, or alther best, bodily or goostly—or to any vertewe that may be wrought in mans soule by any grace, not lokyng after whether it be meeknes or charité, pacyence or abstynence, hope, feith, or sobirnes, chastité or wilful poverté. What thar reche in contemplatyves?.. thei coveyte nothing with specyal beholdyng, bot only good God. Do thou.. mene God al, and al God, so that nought worche in thi witte and in thi wile, bot only God.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-bl-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-bl_1-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-bl_1-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWight" class="citation web cs1">Wight, C. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=15588">"Image of an item from the British Library Catalogue of Illuminated Manuscripts"</a>. <i>www.bl.uk</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">19 February</span> 2023</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.bl.uk&rft.atitle=Image+of+an+item+from+the+British+Library+Catalogue+of+Illuminated+Manuscripts&rft.aulast=Wight&rft.aufirst=C.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bl.uk%2Fcatalogues%2Filluminatedmanuscripts%2FILLUMIN.ASP%3FSize%3Dmid%26IllID%3D15588&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-eve-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-eve_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-eve_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/cou/cou01.htm">"Introduction", <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i>, (Evelyn Underhill, ed.) 1922</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-intro-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-intro_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-intro_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/clunintr.htm">"Introduction", <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i>, (Patrick Gallacher, ed.) (TEAMS Middle English Texts Series, 1997)</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSpearing2001" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">Spearing, A. C.</a> (2001). "Introduction". <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i></a>. London: Penguin Books. pp. xii. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-044762-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-14-044762-0"><bdi>978-0-14-044762-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=bookitem&rft.atitle=Introduction&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+Other+Works&rft.place=London&rft.pages=xii&rft.pub=Penguin+Books&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-0-14-044762-0&rft.aulast=Spearing&rft.aufirst=A.+C.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wolt_0&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEWalsh19812-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalsh19812_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFWalsh1981">Walsh 1981</a>, p. 2.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEWalsh19813–9-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalsh19813–9_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFWalsh1981">Walsh 1981</a>, pp. 3–9.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p396_8-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">McGinn, Bernard. <i>The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism</i>, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), pg. 396.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/44"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i></a>. Translated by A. C. Spearing. London: Penguin. 2001. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/44">44-45</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8"><bdi>0-14-044762-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+Other+Works&rft.place=London&rft.pages=44-45&rft.pub=Penguin&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=0-14-044762-8&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wolt_0%2Fpage%2F44&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and other works</i></a>. Penguin Classics. 2001. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-14-044762-0" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-14-044762-0"><bdi>978-0-14-044762-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+other+works&rft.pub=Penguin+Classics&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-0-14-044762-0&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wolt_0&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span> Translated by <a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">A. C. Spearing</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/54"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i></a>. Translated by <a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">A. C. Spearing</a>. London: Penguin Books. 2001. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/54">54</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8"><bdi>0-14-044762-8</bdi></a>. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/59513557">59513557</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+Other+Works&rft.place=London&rft.pages=54&rft.pub=Penguin+Books&rft.date=2001&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F59513557&rft.isbn=0-14-044762-8&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wolt_0%2Fpage%2F54&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/44"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i></a>. Translated by A. C. Spearing. London: Penguin Books. 2001. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/44">44-45</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8"><bdi>0-14-044762-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+Other+Works&rft.place=London&rft.pages=44-45&rft.pub=Penguin+Books&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=0-14-044762-8&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wolt_0%2Fpage%2F44&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Johnston (1996), p. 188 (paperback).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Johnston (1996), pp. 98-101.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Cloud</i> (version), Underhill (2003), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous2/cloud.xlv.html">pp. 69-72</a>, Accessed 23 May 2010.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Cloud</i> (original), Gallacher (1997), <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/cloud.htm">lines 1426 - 1471</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090219120306/http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/cloud.htm">Archived</a> 19 February 2009 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>, Accessed 23 May 2010.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation book cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/63"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i></a>. Translated by A. C. Spearing. London: Penguin Books. 2001. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/cloudofunknowing00wolt_0/page/63">63</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-14-044762-8"><bdi>0-14-044762-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing+and+Other+Works&rft.place=London&rft.pages=63&rft.pub=Penguin+Books&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=0-14-044762-8&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fcloudofunknowing00wolt_0%2Fpage%2F63&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398_20-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398_20-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Bernard_McGinn_2012_p398_20-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Bernard McGinn, <i>The Varieties of Vernacular Mysticism</i>, (New York: Herder & Herder, 2012), p398.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i>, trans. by <a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">A. C. Spearing</a> (London: Penguin, 2001), p. xl.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTEWalsh198116-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWalsh198116_22-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="#CITEREFWalsh1981">Walsh 1981</a>, p. 16.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-keating86-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-keating86_23-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel</i> (2006/1986). by Thomas Keating. Continuum International Publishing Group. paperback: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8264-0696-3" title="Special:BookSources/0-8264-0696-3">0-8264-0696-3</a>, hardback: <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8264-1420-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-8264-1420-6">0-8264-1420-6</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing and Other Works</i>, trans. by <a href="/wiki/A._C._Spearing" title="A. C. Spearing">A. C. Spearing</a> (London: Penguin, 2001), p. xviii; Ninian Smart, 'What Would Buddhaghosa Have Made of <i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i>?', in <i>Mysticism and Language</i>, ed. by Steven A, Katz (New York, 1992), pp. 103-22.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See verse four of the song.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Don DeLillo, <i>Underworld</i> (New York: Scribner, 1997), p. 273.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.francispott.com/the-cloud2/-of-unknowing-">francispott.com website</a></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6053438/videoplayer/vi923580441?ref_=nv_sr_2_v_1">"Official trailer for First Reformed"</a>. <i>IMDB.com</i>. Appears at :10<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 June</span> 2018</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=IMDB.com&rft.atitle=Official+trailer+for+First+Reformed&rft.pages=Appears+at+%3A10&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.imdb.com%2Ftitle%2Ftt6053438%2Fvideoplayer%2Fvi923580441%3Fref_%3Dnv_sr_2_v_1&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AThe+Cloud+of+Unknowing" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237033735">@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}</style><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/38px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="38" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/57px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/76px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="410" data-file-height="430" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist"><a href="/wiki/Wikisource" title="Wikisource">Wikisource</a> has original text related to this article: <div style="margin-left: 10px;"><b><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Special:Search/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" class="extiw" title="wikisource:Special:Search/The Cloud of Unknowing">The Cloud of Unknowing</a></b></div></div></div> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1235681985"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1237033735"><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="34" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/51px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/68px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="300" data-file-height="355" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikiquote has quotations related to <i><b><a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing" class="extiw" title="q:Special:Search/The Cloud of Unknowing">The Cloud of Unknowing</a></b></i>.</div></div> </div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.shambhala.com/videos/carmen-acevedo-butcher-introduces-us-to-the-cloud-of-unknowing/">The Cloud of Unknowing</a> read by <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://writing.berkeley.edu/staff/carmen-acevedo-butcher">Carmen Acevedo Butcher</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/clunintr.htm">Introduction to Online text</a> with analysis and bibliography <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131010134218/http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/cloud.htm">Online text</a> in <a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a>, 2528 lines in 75 chapters on one <a href="/wiki/HTML" title="HTML">HTML</a> page</li></ul></li> <li>1922 London edition, edited by <a href="/wiki/Evelyn_Underhill" title="Evelyn Underhill">Evelyn Underhill</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://ccel.org/ccel/anonymous2/cloud/cloud.i.html">HTML</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous2/cloud.html">other formats</a></li> <li><span class="skin-invert-image" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/15px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="15" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/23px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg/30px-Speaker_Icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="500" data-file-height="500" /></span></span> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://librivox.org/search?title=The+Cloud+of+Unknowing&author=&reader=&keywords=&genre_id=0&status=all&project_type=either&recorded_language=&sort_order=catalog_date&search_page=1&search_form=advanced"><i>The Cloud of Unknowing</i></a> public domain audiobook at <a href="/wiki/LibriVox" title="LibriVox">LibriVox</a></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="History_of_Catholic_theology" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible mw-collapsed navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="background:gold"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:History_of_Catholic_theology" title="Template:History of Catholic theology"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:History_of_Catholic_theology" title="Template talk:History of Catholic theology"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:History_of_Catholic_theology" title="Special:EditPage/Template:History of Catholic theology"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="History_of_Catholic_theology" class="wraplinks" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Catholic_dogmatic_theology" title="Catholic dogmatic theology">History of Catholic theology</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2" style="background:gold"><div><a href="/wiki/List_of_Catholic_philosophers_and_theologians" title="List of Catholic philosophers and theologians">Key figures</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%">General</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_Catholic_Church" title="History of the Catholic Church">History of the Catholic Church</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Catholic_Church" title="Timeline of the Catholic Church">Timeline</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_the_papacy" title="History of the papacy">History of the papacy</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_papal_primacy" title="History of papal primacy">Papal primacy</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catholic_ecumenical_councils" title="Catholic ecumenical councils">Ecumenical councils</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catholic_Bible" title="Catholic Bible">Catholic Bible</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Vulgate" title="Vulgate">Vulgate</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Development_of_the_Christian_biblical_canon" class="mw-redirect" title="Development of the Christian biblical canon">Biblical canon</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Christian_theology" title="History of Christian theology">History of Christian theology</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Early_Christianity" title="Early Christianity">Early Church</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle" title="Paul the Apostle">Paul</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clement_of_Rome" title="Clement of Rome">Clement of Rome</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/First_Epistle_of_Clement" title="First Epistle of Clement">First Epistle of Clement</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Didache" title="Didache">Didache</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ignatius_of_Antioch" title="Ignatius of Antioch">Ignatius of Antioch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polycarp" title="Polycarp">Polycarp</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Epistle_of_Barnabas" title="Epistle of Barnabas">Epistle of Barnabas</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Shepherd_of_Hermas" title="The Shepherd of Hermas">The Shepherd of Hermas</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aristides_of_Athens" title="Aristides of Athens">Aristides of Athens</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Justin_Martyr" title="Justin Martyr">Justin Martyr</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Epistle_to_Diognetus" title="Epistle to Diognetus">Epistle to Diognetus</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Irenaeus" title="Irenaeus">Irenaeus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Montanism" title="Montanism">Montanism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tertullian" title="Tertullian">Tertullian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Origen" title="Origen">Origen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Novatian" title="Novatian">Antipope Novatian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyprian" title="Cyprian">Cyprian</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/wiki/Constantine_the_Great" title="Constantine the Great">Constantine</a> to<br /><a href="/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I" title="Pope Gregory I">Pope Gregory I</a></div></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Eusebius" title="Eusebius">Eusebius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria" title="Athanasius of Alexandria">Athanasius of Alexandria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arianism" title="Arianism">Arianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pelagianism" title="Pelagianism">Pelagianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nestorianism" title="Nestorianism">Nestorianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monophysitism" title="Monophysitism">Monophysitism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ephrem_the_Syrian" title="Ephrem the Syrian">Ephrem the Syrian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hilary_of_Poitiers" title="Hilary of Poitiers">Hilary of Poitiers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyril_of_Jerusalem" title="Cyril of Jerusalem">Cyril of Jerusalem</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Basil_of_Caesarea" title="Basil of Caesarea">Basil of Caesarea</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gregory_of_Nazianzus" title="Gregory of Nazianzus">Gregory of Nazianzus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gregory_of_Nyssa" title="Gregory of Nyssa">Gregory of Nyssa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ambrose" title="Ambrose">Ambrose</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Chrysostom" title="John Chrysostom">John Chrysostom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jerome" title="Jerome">Jerome</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Augustine_of_Hippo" title="Augustine of Hippo">Augustine of Hippo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Cassian" title="John Cassian">John Cassian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Orosius" title="Orosius">Orosius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyril_of_Alexandria" title="Cyril of Alexandria">Cyril of Alexandria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Chrysologus" title="Peter Chrysologus">Peter Chrysologus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pope_Leo_I" title="Pope Leo I">Pope Leo I</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Boethius" title="Boethius">Boethius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pseudo-Dionysius_the_Areopagite" title="Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite">Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I" title="Pope Gregory I">Pope Gregory I</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Early_Middle_Ages" title="Early Middle Ages">Early Middle Ages</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Isidore_of_Seville" title="Isidore of Seville">Isidore of Seville</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Climacus" title="John Climacus">John Climacus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maximus_the_Confessor" title="Maximus the Confessor">Maximus the Confessor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monothelitism" title="Monothelitism">Monothelitism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ecthesis" title="Ecthesis">Ecthesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bede" title="Bede">Bede</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_of_Damascus" title="John of Damascus">John of Damascus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Byzantine_Iconoclasm" title="Byzantine Iconoclasm">Iconoclasm</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transubstantiation" title="Transubstantiation">Transubstantiation dispute</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Predestination" title="Predestination">Predestination disputes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paulinus_II_of_Aquileia" title="Paulinus II of Aquileia">Paulinus II of Aquileia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alcuin" title="Alcuin">Alcuin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Benedict_of_Aniane" title="Benedict of Aniane">Benedict of Aniane</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rabanus_Maurus" title="Rabanus Maurus">Rabanus Maurus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paschasius_Radbertus" title="Paschasius Radbertus">Paschasius Radbertus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Scotus_Eriugena" title="John Scotus Eriugena">John Scotus Eriugena</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/High_Middle_Ages" title="High Middle Ages">High Middle Ages</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Roscellinus" title="Roscellinus">Roscellinus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gregory_of_Narek" title="Gregory of Narek">Gregory of Narek</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Berengar_of_Tours" title="Berengar of Tours">Berengar of Tours</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Damian" title="Peter Damian">Peter Damian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anselm_of_Canterbury" title="Anselm of Canterbury">Anselm of Canterbury</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joachim_of_Fiore" title="Joachim of Fiore">Joachim of Fiore</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Abelard" title="Peter Abelard">Peter Abelard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Decretum_Gratiani" title="Decretum Gratiani">Decretum Gratiani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bernard_of_Clairvaux" title="Bernard of Clairvaux">Bernard of Clairvaux</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Lombard" title="Peter Lombard">Peter Lombard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anselm_of_Laon" title="Anselm of Laon">Anselm of Laon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen" title="Hildegard of Bingen">Hildegard of Bingen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hugh_of_Saint_Victor" title="Hugh of Saint Victor">Hugh of Saint Victor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saint_Dominic" title="Saint Dominic">Dominic de Guzmán</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Grosseteste" title="Robert Grosseteste">Robert Grosseteste</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi" title="Francis of Assisi">Francis of Assisi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anthony_of_Padua" title="Anthony of Padua">Anthony of Padua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Beatrice_of_Nazareth" title="Beatrice of Nazareth">Beatrice of Nazareth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bonaventure" title="Bonaventure">Bonaventure</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Albertus_Magnus" title="Albertus Magnus">Albertus Magnus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Boetius_of_Dacia" title="Boetius of Dacia">Boetius of Dacia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henry_of_Ghent" title="Henry of Ghent">Henry of Ghent</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas" title="Thomas Aquinas">Thomas Aquinas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Siger_of_Brabant" title="Siger of Brabant">Siger of Brabant</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomism" title="Thomism">Thomism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Roger_Bacon" title="Roger Bacon">Roger Bacon</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Mysticism" title="Mysticism">Mysticism</a> and reforms</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ramon_Llull" title="Ramon Llull">Ramon Llull</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Duns_Scotus" title="Duns Scotus">Duns Scotus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dante_Alighieri" title="Dante Alighieri">Dante Alighieri</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/William_of_Ockham" title="William of Ockham">William of Ockham</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Richard_Rolle" title="Richard Rolle">Richard Rolle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_van_Ruysbroeck" class="mw-redirect" title="John van Ruysbroeck">John of Ruusbroec</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Catherine_of_Siena" title="Catherine of Siena">Catherine of Siena</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bridget_of_Sweden" title="Bridget of Sweden">Bridget of Sweden</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Meister_Eckhart" title="Meister Eckhart">Meister Eckhart</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johannes_Tauler" title="Johannes Tauler">Johannes Tauler</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Walter_Hilton" title="Walter Hilton">Walter Hilton</a></li> <li><i><a class="mw-selflink selflink">The Cloud of Unknowing</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henry_Suso" title="Henry Suso">Heinrich Seuse</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geert_Groote" title="Geert Groote">Geert Groote</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Devotio_Moderna" title="Devotio Moderna">Devotio Moderna</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich" title="Julian of Norwich">Julian of Norwich</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_%C3%A0_Kempis" title="Thomas à Kempis">Thomas à Kempis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nicholas_of_Cusa" title="Nicholas of Cusa">Nicholas of Cusa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marsilio_Ficino" title="Marsilio Ficino">Marsilio Ficino</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Girolamo_Savonarola" title="Girolamo Savonarola">Girolamo Savonarola</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Pico_della_Mirandola" title="Giovanni Pico della Mirandola">Giovanni Pico della Mirandola</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/wiki/Reformation" title="Reformation">Reformation</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Counter-Reformation" title="Counter-Reformation">Counter-Reformation</a></div></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Erasmus" title="Erasmus">Erasmus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Cajetan" title="Thomas Cajetan">Thomas Cajetan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_More" title="Thomas More">Thomas More</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Fisher" title="John Fisher">John Fisher</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Eck" title="Johann Eck">Johann Eck</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francisco_de_Vitoria" title="Francisco de Vitoria">Francisco de Vitoria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_of_Villanova" title="Thomas of Villanova">Thomas of Villanova</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ignatius_of_Loyola" title="Ignatius of Loyola">Ignatius of Loyola</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francisco_de_Osuna" title="Francisco de Osuna">Francisco de Osuna</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_of_%C3%81vila" title="John of Ávila">John of Ávila</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francis_Xavier" title="Francis Xavier">Francis Xavier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Teresa_of_%C3%81vila" title="Teresa of Ávila">Teresa of Ávila</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luis_de_Le%C3%B3n" title="Luis de León">Luis de León</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_of_the_Cross" title="John of the Cross">John of the Cross</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Canisius" title="Peter Canisius">Peter Canisius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luis_de_Molina" title="Luis de Molina">Luis de Molina</a> (<a href="/wiki/Molinism" title="Molinism">Molinism</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Bellarmine" title="Robert Bellarmine">Robert Bellarmine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francisco_Su%C3%A1rez" title="Francisco Suárez">Francisco Suárez</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lawrence_of_Brindisi" title="Lawrence of Brindisi">Lawrence of Brindisi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Francis_de_Sales" title="Francis de Sales">Francis de Sales</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><a href="/wiki/Baroque" title="Baroque">Baroque period</a> to<br /><a href="/wiki/French_Revolution" title="French Revolution">French Revolution</a></div></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tommaso_Campanella" title="Tommaso Campanella">Tommaso Campanella</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pierre_de_B%C3%A9rulle" title="Pierre de Bérulle">Pierre de Bérulle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pierre_Gassendi" title="Pierre Gassendi">Pierre Gassendi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes" title="René Descartes">René Descartes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mary_of_Jesus_of_%C3%81greda" title="Mary of Jesus of Ágreda">Mary of Jesus of Ágreda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ant%C3%B3nio_Vieira" title="António Vieira">António Vieira</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Olier" title="Jean-Jacques Olier">Jean-Jacques Olier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Louis_Thomassin" title="Louis Thomassin">Louis Thomassin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jacques-B%C3%A9nigne_Bossuet" title="Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet">Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_F%C3%A9nelon" title="François Fénelon">François Fénelon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cornelius_Jansen" title="Cornelius Jansen">Cornelius Jansen</a> (<a href="/wiki/Jansenism" title="Jansenism">Jansenism</a>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blaise_Pascal" title="Blaise Pascal">Blaise Pascal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nicolas_Malebranche" title="Nicolas Malebranche">Nicolas Malebranche</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Giambattista_Vico" title="Giambattista Vico">Giambattista Vico</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alphonsus_Liguori" title="Alphonsus Liguori">Alphonsus Liguori</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Louis_de_Montfort" title="Louis de Montfort">Louis de Montfort</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maria_Gaetana_Agnesi" title="Maria Gaetana Agnesi">Maria Gaetana Agnesi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alfonso_Muzzarelli" title="Alfonso Muzzarelli">Alfonso Muzzarelli</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Michael_Sailer" title="Johann Michael Sailer">Johann Michael Sailer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clement_Mary_Hofbauer" title="Clement Mary Hofbauer">Clement Mary Hofbauer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bruno_Lanteri" title="Bruno Lanteri">Bruno Lanteri</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%">19th century</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_G%C3%B6rres" title="Joseph Görres">Joseph Görres</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/F%C3%A9licit%C3%A9_de_La_Mennais" title="Félicité de La Mennais">Félicité de La Mennais</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Luigi_Taparelli" title="Luigi Taparelli">Luigi Taparelli</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Antonio_Rosmini" title="Antonio Rosmini">Antonio Rosmini</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ignaz_von_D%C3%B6llinger" title="Ignaz von Döllinger">Ignaz von Döllinger</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Henry_Newman" title="John Henry Newman">John Henry Newman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Henri_Lacordaire" title="Jean-Baptiste Henri Lacordaire">Henri Lacordaire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jaime_Balmes" title="Jaime Balmes">Jaime Balmes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gaetano_Sanseverino" title="Gaetano Sanseverino">Gaetano Sanseverino</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Maria_Cornoldi" title="Giovanni Maria Cornoldi">Giovanni Maria Cornoldi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Emmanuel_von_Ketteler" title="Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler">Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Giuseppe_Pecci" title="Giuseppe Pecci">Giuseppe Pecci</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_Hergenr%C3%B6ther" title="Joseph Hergenröther">Joseph Hergenröther</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tommaso_Maria_Zigliara" title="Tommaso Maria Zigliara">Tommaso Maria Zigliara</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Matthias_Joseph_Scheeben" title="Matthias Joseph Scheeben">Matthias Joseph Scheeben</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/%C3%89mile_Boutroux" title="Émile Boutroux">Émile Boutroux</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modernism_in_the_Catholic_Church" title="Modernism in the Catholic Church">Modernism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Neo-scholasticism" title="Neo-scholasticism">Neo-scholasticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Bloy" title="Léon Bloy">Léon Bloy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9-Joseph_Mercier" title="Désiré-Joseph Mercier">Désiré-Joseph Mercier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Friedrich_von_H%C3%BCgel" title="Friedrich von Hügel">Friedrich von Hügel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vladimir_Solovyov_(philosopher)" title="Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher)">Vladimir Solovyov</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marie-Joseph_Lagrange" title="Marie-Joseph Lagrange">Marie-Joseph Lagrange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/George_Tyrrell" title="George Tyrrell">George Tyrrell</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maurice_Blondel" title="Maurice Blondel">Maurice Blondel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Th%C3%A9r%C3%A8se_of_Lisieux" title="Thérèse of Lisieux">Thérèse of Lisieux</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%">20th century</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/G._K._Chesterton" title="G. K. Chesterton">G. K. Chesterton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/R%C3%A9ginald_Garrigou-Lagrange" title="Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange">Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Joseph_Mar%C3%A9chal" title="Joseph Maréchal">Joseph Maréchal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pierre_Teilhard_de_Chardin" title="Pierre Teilhard de Chardin">Pierre Teilhard de Chardin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jacques_Maritain" title="Jacques Maritain">Jacques Maritain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/%C3%89tienne_Gilson" title="Étienne Gilson">Étienne Gilson</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ronald_Knox" title="Ronald Knox">Ronald Knox</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Georges_Bernanos" title="Georges Bernanos">Georges Bernanos</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dietrich_von_Hildebrand" title="Dietrich von Hildebrand">Dietrich von Hildebrand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gabriel_Marcel" title="Gabriel Marcel">Gabriel Marcel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marie-Dominique_Chenu" title="Marie-Dominique Chenu">Marie-Dominique Chenu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Romano_Guardini" title="Romano Guardini">Romano Guardini</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edith_Stein" title="Edith Stein">Edith Stein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fulton_J._Sheen" title="Fulton J. Sheen">Fulton Sheen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henri_de_Lubac" title="Henri de Lubac">Henri de Lubac</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dorothy_Day" title="Dorothy Day">Dorothy Day</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henri_Daniel-Rops" title="Henri Daniel-Rops">Henri Daniel-Rops</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean_Guitton" title="Jean Guitton">Jean Guitton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Josemar%C3%ADa_Escriv%C3%A1" title="Josemaría Escrivá">Josemaría Escrivá</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nouvelle_th%C3%A9ologie" title="Nouvelle théologie">Nouvelle théologie</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Karl_Rahner" title="Karl Rahner">Karl Rahner</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yves_Congar" title="Yves Congar">Yves Congar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bernard_Lonergan" title="Bernard Lonergan">Bernard Lonergan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Emmanuel_Mounier" title="Emmanuel Mounier">Emmanuel Mounier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean_Dani%C3%A9lou" title="Jean Daniélou">Jean Daniélou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hans_Urs_von_Balthasar" title="Hans Urs von Balthasar">Hans Urs von Balthasar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marcel_Lefebvre" title="Marcel Lefebvre">Marcel Lefebvre</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frederick_Copleston" title="Frederick Copleston">Frederick Copleston</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alfred_Delp" title="Alfred Delp">Alfred Delp</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Edward_Schillebeeckx" title="Edward Schillebeeckx">Edward Schillebeeckx</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Merton" title="Thomas Merton">Thomas Merton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Girard" title="René Girard">René Girard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hans_K%C3%BCng" title="Hans Küng">Hans Küng</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Baptist_Metz" title="Johann Baptist Metz">Johann Baptist Metz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean_Vanier" title="Jean Vanier">Jean Vanier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henri_Nouwen" title="Henri Nouwen">Henri Nouwen</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="background:gold;width:1%">21st century</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II" title="Pope John Paul II">Pope John Paul II</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alice_von_Hildebrand" title="Alice von Hildebrand">Alice von Hildebrand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Carlo_Maria_Martini" title="Carlo Maria Martini">Carlo Maria Martini</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI" title="Pope Benedict XVI">Pope Benedict XVI</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gustavo_Guti%C3%A9rrez" title="Gustavo Gutiérrez">Gustavo Gutiérrez</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alasdair_MacIntyre" title="Alasdair MacIntyre">Alasdair MacIntyre</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Walter_Kasper" title="Walter Kasper">Walter Kasper</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Raniero_Cantalamessa" title="Raniero Cantalamessa">Raniero Cantalamessa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Micha%C5%82_Heller" title="Michał Heller">Michał Heller</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peter_Kreeft" title="Peter Kreeft">Peter Kreeft</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean-Luc_Marion" title="Jean-Luc Marion">Jean-Luc Marion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tom%C3%A1%C5%A1_Hal%C3%ADk" title="Tomáš Halík">Tomáš Halík</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aidan_Nichols" title="Aidan Nichols">Aidan Nichols</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scott_Hahn" title="Scott Hahn">Scott Hahn</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2" style="background:gold"><div> <ul><li><span class="nowrap"><span class="mw-image-border noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:046CupolaSPietro.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="icon" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/046CupolaSPietro.jpg/16px-046CupolaSPietro.jpg" decoding="async" width="16" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/046CupolaSPietro.jpg/24px-046CupolaSPietro.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/046CupolaSPietro.jpg/32px-046CupolaSPietro.jpg 2x" data-file-width="800" data-file-height="600" /></a></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Portal:Catholicism" class="mw-redirect" title="Portal:Catholicism">Catholicism portal</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Modern_spirituality" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Spirituality-related_topics" title="Template:Spirituality-related topics"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Spirituality-related_topics" title="Template talk:Spirituality-related topics"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Spirituality-related_topics" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Spirituality-related topics"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Modern_spirituality" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Spirituality" title="Spirituality">Modern spirituality</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Spirituality" title="Spirituality">Spirituality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_spirituality" title="Outline of spirituality">Outline of spirituality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category:Spirituality" title="Category:Spirituality">Category:Spirituality</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Concepts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Afterlife" title="Afterlife">Afterlife</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akashic_Records" class="mw-redirect" title="Akashic Records">Akashic Records</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Atman_(Hinduism)" class="mw-redirect" title="Atman (Hinduism)">Atman</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Great_Awakening" title="Great Awakening">Awakening</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bodhi" class="mw-redirect" title="Bodhi">Bodhi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chakra" title="Chakra">Chakra</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Consciousness" title="Consciousness">Consciousness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cosmogony" title="Cosmogony">Cosmogony</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cosmology" title="Cosmology">Cosmology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Creation_myth" title="Creation myth">Creation myths</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deity" title="Deity">Deity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dharma" title="Dharma">Dharma</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ekam" title="Ekam">Ekam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Emanationism" title="Emanationism">Emanationism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Enlightenment_in_Buddhism" title="Enlightenment in Buddhism">Enlightenment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Epigenesis_(creative_intelligences)" class="mw-redirect" title="Epigenesis (creative intelligences)">Epigenesis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eschatology" title="Eschatology">Eschatology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eternal_return" title="Eternal return">Eternal return</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eternity" title="Eternity">Eternity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ethic_of_reciprocity" class="mw-redirect" title="Ethic of reciprocity">Ethic of reciprocity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Existence" title="Existence">Existence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/God" title="God">God</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guru" title="Guru">Guru</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Inner_peace" title="Inner peace">Inner peace</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Involution_(philosophy)" class="mw-redirect" title="Involution (philosophy)">Involution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jihad" title="Jihad">Jihad</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Karma" title="Karma">Karma</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kevala_jnana" title="Kevala jnana">Kevala jnana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lataif-e-sitta" class="mw-redirect" title="Lataif-e-sitta">Lataif-e-sitta</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Meaning_of_life" title="Meaning of life">Meaning of life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Metaphysics" title="Metaphysics">Metaphysics</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mind%27s_eye" class="mw-redirect" title="Mind's eye">Mind's eye</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moksha" title="Moksha">Moksha</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nature" title="Nature">Nature</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nirvana" title="Nirvana">Nirvana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paranormal" title="Paranormal">Paranormal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Parapsychology" title="Parapsychology">Parapsychology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Plane_(cosmology)" class="mw-redirect" title="Plane (cosmology)">Planes of existence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prophecy" title="Prophecy">Prophecy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qi" title="Qi">Qi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reality" title="Reality">Reality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reincarnation" title="Reincarnation">Reincarnation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Revelation" title="Revelation">Revelation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Salvation" title="Salvation">Salvation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samadhi" title="Samadhi">Samadhi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Satguru" title="Satguru">Satguru</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Satori" title="Satori">Satori</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shabd" class="mw-redirect" title="Shabd">Shabd</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shunyata" class="mw-redirect" title="Shunyata">Shunyata</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soul" title="Soul">Soul</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vitalism" title="Vitalism">Spirit</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_evolution" title="Spiritual evolution">Spiritual evolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritualism_(beliefs)" title="Spiritualism (beliefs)">Spiritualism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_possession" class="mw-redirect" title="Spiritual possession">Spiritual possession</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supernatural" title="Supernatural">Supernatural</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Synchronicity" title="Synchronicity">Synchronicity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tao" title="Tao">Tao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tatvas" class="mw-redirect" title="Tatvas">Tatvas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yana_(Buddhism)" title="Yana (Buddhism)">Yana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yuga" title="Yuga">Yuga</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Spiritual_practice" title="Spiritual practice">Practices</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Ahimsa" title="Ahimsa">Ahimsa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aikido" title="Aikido">Aikido</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Altruism" title="Altruism">Altruism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ancestor_worship" class="mw-redirect" title="Ancestor worship">Ancestor worship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Asceticism" title="Asceticism">Asceticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Astrology" title="Astrology">Astrology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Testimony" title="Testimony">Bearing testimony</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Born_again_(Christianity)" class="mw-redirect" title="Born again (Christianity)">Being born again</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bhajan" title="Bhajan">Bhajan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bhakti" title="Bhakti">Bhakti</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blessing" title="Blessing">Blessing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Celibacy" title="Celibacy">Celibacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Channelling_(mediumistic)" class="mw-redirect" title="Channelling (mediumistic)">Channelling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chant" title="Chant">Chanting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Contemplation" title="Contemplation">Contemplation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Dhikr" title="Dhikr">Dhikr</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Entheogen" title="Entheogen">Entheogen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theophany" title="Theophany">Epiphany</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Exorcism" title="Exorcism">Exorcism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Faith_healing" title="Faith healing">Faith healing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fasting" title="Fasting">Fasting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Glossolalia" class="mw-redirect" title="Glossolalia">Glossolalia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hymn" title="Hymn">Hymn</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iconolatry" title="Iconolatry">Iconolatry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Japa" title="Japa">Japa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kinomichi" title="Kinomichi">Kinomichi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Koan" title="Koan">Koan practice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mantra" title="Mantra">Mantra</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Meditation" title="Meditation">Meditation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Martyr" title="Martyr">Martyrdom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Minister_of_religion" class="mw-redirect" title="Minister of religion">Ministering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Miracle" title="Miracle">Miracles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monasticism" title="Monasticism">Monasticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Muraqaba" class="mw-redirect" title="Muraqaba">Muraqaba</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonresistance" title="Nonresistance">Nonresistance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonviolence" title="Nonviolence">Nonviolence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pacifism" title="Pacifism">Pacifism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pilgrimage" title="Pilgrimage">Pilgrimage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prayer" title="Prayer">Prayer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qawwali" title="Qawwali">Qawwali</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qigong" title="Qigong">Qigong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religious_ecstasy" title="Religious ecstasy">Religious ecstasy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religious_music" title="Religious music">Religious music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Repentance" title="Repentance">Repentance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Christian_revival" title="Christian revival">Revivalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ritual" title="Ritual">Ritual</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sacrament" title="Sacrament">Sacrament</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sacrifice" title="Sacrifice">Sacrifice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/S%C4%81dhan%C4%81" title="Sādhanā">Sādhanā</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sahaj_marg" class="mw-redirect" title="Sahaj marg">Sahaj marg</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saint" title="Saint">Sainthood</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Self-realization" title="Self-realization">Self-realization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shamanism" title="Shamanism">Shamanism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simple_living" title="Simple living">Simple living</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Simran" title="Simran">Simran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Supplication" title="Supplication">Supplication</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sufi_whirling" title="Sufi whirling">Sufi whirling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tai_chi" title="Tai chi">Tai chi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divinization_(Christian)" title="Divinization (Christian)">Theosis</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tithe" title="Tithe">Tithing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vegetarianism" title="Vegetarianism">Vegetarianism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Veneration" title="Veneration">Veneration</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vipassana" class="mw-redirect" title="Vipassana">Vipassana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wabi-sabi" title="Wabi-sabi">Wabi-sabi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vestment" title="Vestment">Wearing vestments</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Worship" title="Worship">Worship</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Yoga" title="Yoga">Yoga</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zazen" title="Zazen">Zazen</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Belief systems</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta" title="Advaita Vedanta">Advaita</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anthroposophy" title="Anthroposophy">Anthroposophy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Darshana" class="mw-redirect" title="Darshana">Darshana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deism" title="Deism">Deism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Esotericism" class="mw-redirect" title="Esotericism">Esotericism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eutheism,_dystheism,_and_maltheism" class="mw-redirect" title="Eutheism, dystheism, and maltheism">Eutheism, dystheism, and maltheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gnosticism" title="Gnosticism">Gnosticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Henotheism" title="Henotheism">Henotheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kathenotheism" title="Kathenotheism">Kathenotheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monotheism" title="Monotheism">Monotheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Monolatry" title="Monolatry">Monolatry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mysticism" title="Mysticism">Mysticism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_Age" title="New Age">New Age</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nonduality_(spirituality)" class="mw-redirect" title="Nonduality (spirituality)">Nondualism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pandeism" title="Pandeism">Pandeism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Panentheism" title="Panentheism">Panentheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pantheism" title="Pantheism">Pantheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Polytheism" title="Polytheism">Polytheism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religion" title="Religion">Religion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Spiritualism_(religious_movement)" class="mw-redirect" title="Spiritualism (religious movement)">Spiritualism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sufism" title="Sufism">Sufism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoism" title="Taoism">Taoism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theism" title="Theism">Theism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transcendentalism" title="Transcendentalism">Transcendentalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vedanta" title="Vedanta">Vedanta</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Texts</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/A_Course_in_Miracles" title="A Course in Miracles">A Course in Miracles</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Akilattirattu_Ammanai" class="mw-redirect" title="Akilattirattu Ammanai">Akilattirattu Ammanai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bible" title="Bible">Bible</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Book_of_Mormon" title="Book of Mormon">Book of Mormon</a></li> <li><i><a class="mw-selflink selflink">The Cloud of Unknowing</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Dhammapada" title="Dhammapada">Dhammapada</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hindu_scripture" class="mw-redirect" title="Hindu scripture">Hindu scripture</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guru_Granth_Sahib" title="Guru Granth Sahib">Guru Granth Sahib</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/I_Ching" title="I Ching">I Ching</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quran" title="Quran">Quran</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sufism#Literature" title="Sufism">Sufi texts</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching" title="Tao Te Ching">Tao Te Ching</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Torah" title="Torah">Torah</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Urantia_Book" title="The Urantia Book">The Urantia Book</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Zhuangzi_(book)" title="Zhuangzi (book)">Zhuangzi</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Virtues" class="mw-redirect" title="Virtues">Virtues</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Awareness" title="Awareness">Awareness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charity_(virtue)" class="mw-redirect" title="Charity (virtue)">Charity</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Compassion" title="Compassion">Compassion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Empathy" title="Empathy">Empathy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Faith" title="Faith">Faith</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Forgiveness" title="Forgiveness">Forgiveness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gratitude" title="Gratitude">Gratitude</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Honesty" title="Honesty">Honesty</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hope" title="Hope">Hope</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Intuition_(knowledge)" class="mw-redirect" title="Intuition (knowledge)">Intuition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kindness" title="Kindness">Kindness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Love" title="Love">Love</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mercy" title="Mercy">Mercy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mett%C4%81" class="mw-redirect" title="Mettā">Mettā</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moral_courage" title="Moral courage">Moral courage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Patience" title="Patience">Patience</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Seven_virtues" title="Seven virtues">Seven virtues</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wisdom" title="Wisdom">Wisdom</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1038841319">.mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox authority-control" aria-labelledby="Authority_control_databases_frameless&#124;text-top&#124;10px&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1217629#identifiers&#124;class=noprint&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Authority_control_databases_frameless&#124;text-top&#124;10px&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1217629#identifiers&#124;class=noprint&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Help:Authority_control" title="Help:Authority control">Authority control databases</a> <span class="mw-valign-text-top noprint" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1217629#identifiers" title="Edit this at Wikidata"><img alt="Edit this at Wikidata" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="10" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/15px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/20px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20" /></a></span></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">International</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://viaf.org/viaf/204609360">VIAF</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">National</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://id.loc.gov/authorities/n81102897">United States</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12242564q">France</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://data.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb12242564q">BnF data</a></span></li><li><span class="uid"><span class="rt-commentedText tooltip tooltip-dotted" title="Cloud of unknowing"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://aleph.nkp.cz/F/?func=find-c&local_base=aut&ccl_term=ica=unn2012691383&CON_LNG=ENG">Czech Republic</a></span></span></li><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://olduli.nli.org.il/F/?func=find-b&local_base=NLX10&find_code=UID&request=987007369778805171">Israel</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><ul><li><span class="uid"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.idref.fr/031155294">IdRef</a></span></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&oldid=1253316159">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&oldid=1253316159</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:14th-century_Christian_texts" title="Category:14th-century Christian texts">14th-century Christian texts</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Visionary_literature" title="Category:Visionary literature">Visionary literature</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Middle_English_literature" title="Category:Middle English literature">Middle English literature</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Neoplatonic_texts" title="Category:Neoplatonic texts">Neoplatonic texts</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Works_published_anonymously" title="Category:Works published anonymously">Works published anonymously</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Roman_Catholic_mystics" title="Category:Roman Catholic mystics">Roman Catholic mystics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:English_Catholic_mystics" title="Category:English Catholic mystics">English Catholic mystics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:English_Roman_Catholics" title="Category:English Roman Catholics">English Roman Catholics</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Catholic_spirituality" title="Category:Catholic spirituality">Catholic spirituality</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:English_religious_writers" title="Category:English religious writers">English religious writers</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Middle_English" title="Category:Middle English">Middle English</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:English_non-fiction_books" title="Category:English non-fiction books">English non-fiction books</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Works_of_unknown_authorship" title="Category:Works of unknown authorship">Works of unknown authorship</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Mary_of_Bethany" title="Category:Mary of Bethany">Mary of Bethany</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Clouds_in_culture" title="Category:Clouds in culture">Clouds in culture</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Webarchive_template_wayback_links" title="Category:Webarchive template wayback links">Webarchive template wayback links</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Use_dmy_dates_from_September_2020" title="Category:Use dmy dates from September 2020">Use dmy dates from September 2020</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_needing_additional_references_from_May_2018" title="Category:Articles needing additional references from May 2018">Articles needing additional references from May 2018</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_articles_needing_additional_references" title="Category:All articles needing additional references">All articles needing additional references</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_LibriVox_links" title="Category:Articles with LibriVox links">Articles with LibriVox links</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 25 October 2024, at 10:35<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cloud_of_Unknowing&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-vkl22","wgBackendResponseTime":148,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.834","walltime":"1.089","ppvisitednodes":{"value":5571,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":186921,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":12868,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":17,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":7,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":164127,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":1,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 863.910 1 -total"," 18.94% 163.609 2 Template:Sidebar_with_collapsible_lists"," 13.60% 117.455 1 Template:Christian_mysticism"," 12.89% 111.377 13 Template:Cite_book"," 9.93% 85.821 5 Template:Quote"," 9.86% 85.169 1 Template:Short_description"," 9.08% 78.474 1 Template:Infobox_book"," 8.97% 77.454 2 Template:Reflist"," 8.52% 73.600 8 Template:ISBN"," 7.07% 61.042 1 Template:Infobox"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.444","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":9085621,"limit":52428800},"limitreport-logs":"anchor_id_list = table#1 {\n [\"CITEREFButcher2009\"] = 1,\n [\"CITEREFButcher2018\"] = 1,\n [\"CITEREFJohn_J._Kirvan1996\"] = 1,\n [\"CITEREFJohnstonpreface:Huston_Smith1996\"] = 1,\n [\"CITEREFSpearing2001\"] = 1,\n [\"CITEREFWalsh1981\"] = 1,\n [\"CITEREFWight\"] = 1,\n}\ntemplate_list = table#1 {\n [\"About\"] = 1,\n [\"Authority control\"] = 1,\n [\"Christian mysticism\"] = 1,\n [\"Cite book\"] = 13,\n [\"Cite web\"] = 2,\n [\"DEFAULTSORT:Cloud Of Unknowing\"] = 1,\n [\"History of Catholic theology\"] = 1,\n [\"ISBN\"] = 8,\n [\"Ill\"] = 1,\n [\"Infobox book\"] = 1,\n [\"Librivox book\"] = 1,\n [\"More citations needed section\"] = 1,\n [\"Portal\"] = 1,\n [\"Quote\"] = 5,\n [\"Reflist\"] = 2,\n [\"Refn\"] = 3,\n [\"Sfn\"] = 3,\n [\"Short description\"] = 1,\n [\"Spirituality-related topics\"] = 1,\n [\"Use dmy dates\"] = 1,\n [\"Webarchive\"] = 1,\n [\"Wikiquote\"] = 1,\n [\"Wikisource\"] = 1,\n}\narticle_whitelist = table#1 {\n}\ntable#1 {\n [\"size\"] = \"tiny\",\n}\n"},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-ssg57","timestamp":"20241122142333","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"The Cloud of Unknowing","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1217629","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q1217629","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2004-05-04T05:57:13Z","dateModified":"2024-10-25T10:35:56Z","image":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/8\/82\/The_Cloud_of_Unknowing_%28Harley_2373_%29.jpg","headline":"late 14th-century English mystical work"}</script> </body> </html>