The Cloud of Unknowing: A New Translation of the Classic 14th-Century Guide to the Spiritual Experience

In fourteenth-century England an anonymous monk wrote an extraordinary text illuminating the life of contemplative devotion and the drama of the soul’s union with God. Precariously heretical in its day, it became a classic of Christian mystical thought. Dr. Ira Progoff’s brilliant new translation and commentary illustrate The Cloud of Unknowing’s ongoing relevance. Dr. Progoff reveals a bridge spanning the perilous abyss between modern psychology’s self-conscious analytic thought and the pressing spiritual needs of modern man. Praise for Ira Progoff’s The Cloud of Unknowing “One of the classic guides to spiritual experience revealing the dynamics of the inner life.”—The Washington Post “[Dr. Progoff’s] translation makes a psychological genius come alive.”—Harry A. Overstreet “Astonishingly modern and timely . . . This fourteenth-century mystic speaks to us with a message that is as vital today as it was then.”—New York Post “Translated from archaic to modern English with lucidity and fine comprehension . . . a delightful surprise.”—The Dayton Journal Herald