The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism

For the medieval mystical traditions, 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, however, place mystical experience at the centre, and modern readers are inclined to mis-understand the medieval tradition in experientialist terms. Turner argues that the distinctivenes and contemporary relevance of medieval mysticism lies precisely in its rejection of mystical experience.