CompleteMartialArts.com - The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism
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Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 230
EAN: 9780521645614
ISBN: 0521645611
Label: Cambridge University Press
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 292
Publication Date: 1998-01-01
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Studio: Cambridge University Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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For the medieval mystical tradition, the Christian soul meets God in a "cloud of unknowing," a divine darkness of ignorance. This meeting with God is beyond all knowing and beyond all experiencing. Mysticisms of the modern period, on the contrary, place "mystical experience" at the center, and contemporary readers are inclined to misunderstand the medieval tradition in "experientialist" terms. Denys Turner argues that the distinctiveness and contemporary relevance of medieval mysticism lies precisely in its rejection of "mystical experience," and locates the mystical firmly within the grasp of the ordinary and the everyday. The argument covers some central authorities in the period from Augustine to John of the Cross.
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Summary: Dense but provocative
Comment: The author characterizes this monograph as "An essay in the philosophical history of some theological metaphors ... of `interiority', of `ascent', of `light and darkness' and of `oneness with God,'" and his primary materials range from Augustine and Pseudo-Dionysius to Meister Eckhart and John of the Cross.
Turner proposes an understanding of mysticism at odds with 20th-century formulations, and founded in the etic sense of late antique and medieval Christian usage, in which (he maintains) the mystical per se was directly opposed to the reduction of God to "experiences." He designates as "experientialism" the positivist, psychologizing approach to religious experience characteristic of (and limited to) modern thought, that results from (or corresponds to) the fragmentation of religious knowledge in the later middle ages. The Darkness of God suggests a greater kinship between the old mystical theology and desconstructivist philosophy, than between the former and its experientialist---and all too often anti-intellectual---progeny in modern "mysticism."
I really enjoyed the book because of Turner's challenge to commonplace formulations in the field of the history of mysticism, and because of his impressive job in making sense out of some extremely challenging primary materials. However, I'm not entirely sold on his meta-narrative of the ruination of mystical philosophy. His desire to make "experientialism" into a (relatively) late development leads him to neglect the medieval affective tradition that is exemplified in the work of Bernard of Clairvaux. It may be that Turner could argue that such works are not really "mystical," but he doesn't even make the effort, and leaves a wide and important hole in his historical treatment.
To be fair, Turner is more of a philosopher than an historian. Readers willing to give serious intellectual consideration to the limits of rationality, the nature of experience, and the ultimate goals of mystical understanding should be able to benefit from this difficult but engaging book.
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Summary: Overwhelming Illumination
Comment: The Darkness of God is a brilliant collection of studies in Western medieval theology (or, as this particular strand of thought is called today, "mysticism") on apophatic theology - that is, the theology of "unsaying" and "unknowing". A significant part of Turner's thesis is that it is entirely inaccurate to read much of medieval theology/mysticism as being "experiential" - that is, concerned primarily with subjective, ecstatic experiences of God. Rather, much of apophatic theology existed as a type of non- or anti- experientialism. It was more concerned with the exposition of certain Biblical modes of thought and theological ways of speaking of God's transcendence: all theological negation must itself be negated.
Western mysticism is suspended between two poles of early Christian thought: Augustinian interiority, in which the self understand her or himself as being made in the image of God the Trinity on the one hand and, on the other hand, the writings of Dionysius the Aeropagite (also known simply as St. Denis or Denys, now called Pseudo-Dionysius due to Renaissance, Protestant and modern suspicion concerning his real identity as being that of an unknown and unnameable 5th or 6th century Syrian monk), whose mystical writings on negative theology, inspired heavily by the Exodus narrative of Moses ascending Mt. Sinai, were just as influential. It is the dialectic of Trinitarian cataphasis ("saying") and Mosaic apophasis ("unsaying") that gives this medieval thought its dynamic.
In many ways, this dialectic reaches its summit in the writings of St. Bonaventure, "the Prince of the Mystics" and greatest known disciple of St. Francis of Assisi who wrote simply and profoundly "Christ is all our language of God". Thinkers such as Meister Eckhart are also engaged; unlike Dionysius who recieves only one essay, Eckhart - like Augustine - recieves two essays. The anonymous author of the popular and well-loved 14th century English work The Cloud of Unknowing is discussed, and after him Denys the Carthusian, a fifteenth century mystical writer and, finally, St. John of the Cross, "the Mystical Doctor" of the 16th century.
It is from Eckart to John of the Cross that Turner covers some thematic developments, concluding his study with a fine essay titled "From Mystical Theology to Mysticism". It is in the High Middle Ages that there is an increasing transformation of mystical theology from being non-experiential to being explicitly aimed against any notions of subjective experience. Insofar as Turner is discussing negative theology, he can accurately make his claim that St. John of the Cross (for example) is not interested in "hyping" subjective experiences, but one cannot read the Mystical Doctor and think that experience is absent from his writing, especially his poems! But, to simply think - and it is at risk of being implicit in this fine work - that "experience" was absent from the thought of medieval mystics is entirely erroneous.
This, then, is the one area that the book really falls short, and readers should not be under the presupposition that the medieval and high medieval era were against what Turner negatively refers to as "experientialism". The intimate experience of God was deeply important to many, including cataphatic "mystics" such as St. Bernard of Clairvaux. This book is a well written and deeply insightful look into "Negativity in Christian Mysticism" (the subtitle), but it would have been welcome if Turner had placed apophatic theology into dialogue - and dialectic - with other forms of theology/mysticism that are not *today* considered "apophatic". Perhaps it is ironic that it is those mystics considered to be "apophatic" *today* that are used by Turner to fight against the notion, equally present *today*, that apophaticism is all about individual experience. This irony should not detract, however, from the depth, rigor and intellectual and spiritual stimulation that these dense and thoughtful essays will bring to its readers.
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Summary: Thought-provoking historical analysis of Christian mysticism
Comment: This book is a history of some important metaphors in Western (as opposed to Orthodox) Christian mysticism: darkness and light, interiority, and ascent. Turner traces these metaphors from the Hebraic and Greek traditions (specifically, Moses' encounter with God on Mt. Sinai and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave") through Denys the Areopagite (Pseudo-Dionysius), Augustine, Bonaventure, Eckhart, "The Cloud of Unknowing," Denys the Carthusian, and John of the Cross, with mentions also of Julian of Norwich, Marguerite Porete, and Teresa of Avila, among others.
Turner's thesis is that the contemporary understanding of these metaphors, which assumes that this language points to experience, is so different from the medieval understanding, which rejected "experientialism," that it doesn't make sense to speak of a single "mystical tradition" encompassing both. I'm not sure I finally bought the argument, but I enjoyed the ride. Turner explores lots of interesting issues along the way, e.g., the use of paradoxical language in theology; systematic "vs." mystical theology; the unknowability of the self; the ascetic practice of detachment; and John of the Cross's "dark nights" in relation to depression.
I would not recommend this book unless you have some background in theology and philosophy and have read at least a few of the authors Turner discusses. Turner writes well, but the book is dense and academic. I'm not sure I would have read the whole thing if it hadn't been assigned reading for one of my doctoral courses, but I'm glad I did. I now have a much better understanding of the Neoplatonic tradition in Christianity and of how the various famous mystics are connected with one another, and Turner provides lots of food for thought about the Western Christian mystical tradition.
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Summary: Solid scholarship and an inventive approach!
Comment: This book will impress you. Turner challenges the recent trend of reading mystical texts as being about "experiences." Rather, he proposes that that the works of such authors as Augustine, Eckhart, Dionysius and Denys the Carthusian exemplify Christian appeals to neoplatonic metaphors of light and interiority in an effort to speak not of a subjective experience, but of an ontological reality that transcends experience's grasp. The insights Turner brings to this topic quicken the spirit and redeem the thought of spiritual greats!
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