The Complete Cloud of Unknowing: With the Letter of Privy Counsel

by John Julian (Editor)

Overview

The Christian mystical tradition has its roots in Holy Scripture but was enunciated most clearly by the late 5th century author writing under the name Dionysius the Areopagite. It was acquaintance with the medieval version of that work which inspired the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing and led him to develop his insights and perceptions of the obscurity and “unknowability” of God. His understanding was that God was on an entirely different plane of existence from human beings—indeed, so different that time-bound human language was inadequate to describe God exhaustively or accurately. Intellect and emotion both fail in seeking God, who can only be encountered by rejecting of all common earthly means in a “cloud of forgetting” and the discovery of Godself in the dark “cloud of unknowing” which can be pierced only with a “lance of longing love.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612616209
Publisher:	Paraclete Press
Publication date:	04/01/2015
Series:	Paraclete Giants
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.46(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.82(d)

About the Author

Father John-Julian, OJN, is an Episcopal priest and monk. He has been an actor, a professor (University of Rhode Island and Hampshire College), a parish priest (Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Connecticut), a TV commentator, a camp director, a bookseller, the Dean of a seminary (Seminary of the Streets in New York), a contemplative monk, a director of Social Worker training (Social Service Institute in Connecticut), an organizational consultant, an author of fifteen books, a founder of a religious order (the contemplative, semi-enclosed monastic Order of Julian of Norwich in Wisconsin which incorporates both monks and nuns with equal status under the same traditional vows), a waiter, a human relations trainer, a carpenter, a founder of a theater, a psychotherapist, a spiritual director, a hermit, a builder of three churches, an anti-war activist, a member of NAACP—all of this perfect background for a contemplative! Fr. John-Julian has tasted virtually everything the world has to offer and, finally, has chosen to live a life directly contrary to all that, a life constituted of the silence and solitude of contemplative monasticism. He has studied Julian of Norwich each day for over a quarter century. 

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"If I could keep with me only two books and a journal, this book would be one of the books. As far as I’m concerned it’s the most important book (and among the most influential) on Christian prayer in the last two millennia. I'm delighted to endorse this fine new translation and commentary."
—Chris Neufeld-Erdman

Editorial Reviews

The Complete Cloud of Unknowing includes two classics of medieval Christian contemplative spirituality — essential reading for anyone seeking to deepen their relationship with God through the practice of silent prayer. They are rich texts, full of nuanced wisdom that often gets lost in modern translations. Father John-Julian has captured the beauty, humor and literary elegance of the original versions, but also has supplemented his translation with detailed notes that convey the subtle spiritual insight that makes these works required reading. I'm excited about this book — it's a title I will recommend both to beginners and to longstanding students of The Cloud.” —Carl McColman, author of Answering the Contemplative Call and The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader

“With his mastery of the subtleties of language and local idiom, Fr. John Julian reclaims a classic of spiritual literature to its rightful place in the 21st century.  By rediscovering the nuances that the Unknown Author of The Cloud of Unknowing embedded into the spiritual fabric of his work, the reader is drawn into the contemplative life with the fullness of its 14th century origins while being fully relevant in the 21st century.  I would highly recommend this spiritual classic restored and recast for a modern world.” —Dr. Jeffrey P. Wincel, author of Climbing the Mountain of God: The Path to Mystical Discipleship

“In his translation of The Cloud of Unknowing, Fr. John-Julian presents us with an edition that is scholarly yet readable, learned yet spiritual.  His lived experience as a monk combines with deep insight as a theologian to provide an approach to The Cloud that is contemplative in mind and soul.  The book offers a rich introduction and enlightening, provocative notes that will satisfy both novice and veteran readers of the text.  Fr. John-Julian's accessible version does not oversimplify the profundity of the text.  This edition, with its wonderful resources, will keep the seeker journeying evermore back to the work, on both intellectual and practical roads.” —Professor Frederick S. Roden, Department of English, University of Connecticut
 

From the Publisher