The Ascent to Truth: A Study of St. John of the Cross
Overview
In this book, Thomas Merton writes that God himself is truth, and this is the truth people must seek. Merton expresses that contemplation—a supernatural experience of God—is an important aspect of seeking the summit of truth.
This book defines the nature of the contemplative experience, describes the necessary interior exercise which precedes it, and illustrates mature contemplation. Merton’s exploration is shared within the context of an exposition of the doctrines of the sixteenth-century Spanish Carmelite, St. John of the Cross.
This elegantly written analysis provides nourishment for people journeying towards truth.
Explore more on the contemplative Christian life with the Thomas Merton Collection (7 vols.).
Key Features
- Presents Merton’s perspectives on contemplation
- Explores how to enter in to a contemplative experience
- Timeless classic on the spiritual life
Contents
- Vision and Illusion
- The Problem of Unbelief
- On a Dark Night
- False Mysticism
- Knowledge and Unknowing in Saint John of the Cross
- Concepts and Contemplation
- The Crisis of Dark Knowledge
- The Theological Background
- Faith and Reason
- Reason in the Life of Contemplation
- “Your Reasonable Service”
- Between Instinct and Inspiration
- Reason and Reasoning
- Intelligence in the Prayer of Quiet
- The Mirror of Silvered Waters
- A Dark Cloud Enlightening the Night
- The Loving Knowledge of God
- To the Mountain and the Hill
- The Giant Moves in His Sleep
Top Highlights
“Far from teaching us to hate this world, John of the Cross is telling us the way to love it and understand it” (Page 43)
“Reason is in fact the path to faith, and faith takes over when reason can say no more.” (Page 22)
“Discernment and detachment (krisis and apatheia) are two characters of the mature Christian soul.” (Page 22)
“The evil that is in the modem world ought to be sufficient indication that we do not know as much as we think we do. It is a strange paradox indeed that modem man should know so much and still know practically nothing. The paradox is most strange because men in other times, who have known less than we know, have in fact known more.” (Page 5)
“Saint John of the Cross is the leader of the ‘apophatic’ theologians, the teachers of the ‘dark’ knowledge of God” (Page 13)
Praise for the Print Edition
To those who shrink from the usual sort of ‘spiritual reading,’ Thomas Merton’s book may be recommended. They will be confronted by a vigorous, questioning mind that again and again anticipates an objection . . .
—The Times Literary Supplement
About Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton was a Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. In 1949, he was ordained to the priesthood. Merton is regarded as one of the most influential Catholic writers of the twentieth century. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 70 books, including his widely acclaimed autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain.
