Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark: Mysticism, Art, and the Path of Unknowing

by James K. A. Smith

Overview

A philosopher journeys back to the mystics to learn how to live with uncertainty in the twenty—first century
 
How do we live when we don’t know what to believe, or who to believe, or how we could even know? In this deeply felt book, philosopher James K. A. Smith explores how radical uncertainty can be liberating, opening us to another way of being. The pain of his own profound uncertainty led Smith to a surprising source for modern consolation: the mystical experiences of St. Teresa of Ávila, St. John of the Cross, and the author of The Cloud of Unknowing. These mystics testify to a deeper truth beneath distraction, anxiety, and fear: love.

Drawing on ancient traditions of contemplation as well as on contemporary novels, poetry, film, and paintings, Smith speaks to the fundamental yearnings that persist in late modernity, including the philosophical quest for knowledge and certainty. He shows us how the gifts of the Christian contemplative tradition and the riches of creative works embody a liberating spirituality that recovers the fullness of being human.

In bringing a philosopher’s questions to the mystics, Smith brings a mystical heart back to philosophy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300279764
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/24/2026
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

James K. A. Smith is professor of philosophy at Calvin University. He is the award—winning author of a number of books, including How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit, and On the Road with Saint Augustine: A Real—World Spirituality for Restless Hearts. He lives in Grand Rapids, MI.

Editorial Reviews

In this thoughtful and finely written book, James K. A. Smith brings together two fields that are rarely considered together: Christian mysticism and contemporary art, literature, and film. Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark articulates the author’s struggle to make sense of his life as a philosopher and practising Christian—though ultimately as a suffering, confused human being. Drawing on a wide range of source materials, Smith skillfully weaves these diverse threads into a passionate and engaging narrative.”—Stephen Batchelor, author of Buddha, Socrates and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times

“As a philosopher whose business is to know, James K. A. Smith invites us into a different way of being—the experience of unknowing. In Make Your Home in This Luminous Dark, Smith shares his unknowable childhood experience of abandonment by his father, and his gentle book teaches liberation found in the down—to—earth contemplative wisdom of the medieval masterpiece The Cloud of Unknowing and of many other sages. May we join Smith in being vulnerable, open, beloved by God, and filled with wonder and loving.”—Carmen Acevedo Butcher, poet, core faculty member at Center for Action and Contemplation, and award—winning translator of The Cloud of Unknowing

“We long for clarity and for comfort, and many books promise it to us. They cannot deliver. James K. A. Smith invites us to embrace mystery, darkness, solitude, and silence, and with all that the hope of true peace.”—Zena Hitz, author of Lost In Thought: The Hidden Pleasures of an Intellectual Life

“This is a deeply moving and invaluable book. Smith is known for his intellectual clarity and sound reasoning, but this book also exhibits heartfelt honesty, vulnerability, and courage. . . . It transforms and transfigures philosophy. Smith takes us into the realm of mysticism and darkness to be met with the Real. As an artist, I truly appreciated his path toward the ‘gift of the unknown.’”—Makoto Fujimura, author of Art Is: A Journey into the Light

From the Publisher