'The Cloud of Unknowing': its inheritance and its inheritors

[摘要] The thesis attempts a portrait of The Cloud in the context of itsposition in the history of Christian mysticism. That theanonymous work owed much to spiritual writers of the precedingtwelve hundred years is not debatable; what it owed maybeslightly less obvious. The Cloud is essentially a work ofDionysian mysticism, and various writers within that traditionwho may have influenced or affected the teaching of The Cloud areexamined. At the same time, however, the anonymous writer owesmuch to the western tradition of Augustinian theology, and therole of this, complementary to the Dionysian mysticism, is alsoconsidered. In Chapter II we look at the theological doctrineunderlying the mystical doctrine of the Cloud corpus. ChapterIII has two major parts, both concerned with the influence ofThe Cloud on the subsequent development of spiritual writing inEngland. The first considers the relationship with WalterHilton. The second examines aspects of Puritan thought which mayindicate that the influence of The Cloud, after the Reformation,was not restricted to Catholic thought.

[发布机构] University:University of St Andrews;Department:Divinity (School of)

[效力级别] Mysticism--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500

[关键词] Mysticism;Mysticism--History--Middle Ages, 600-1500